National Grid Share Discussion Threads

[utyinv] 08/4/2019 16:30

Yanks have spoiled the recovery.

Also, Nora Mead-Brownell (US)non exec Director has quit with immediate effect as she quotes that she didn’t realise the involvement / time required she had to dedicate to the role. She has just Joined Pacific Gas & Electric.

Where do they get these non-execs from? Complaining they have to work for their remuneration.

Leaving with immediate effect .... more to the story than meets the eye ‘me thinks’!

[gbh2] 05/4/2019 11:04

Company Directors are the pits of the earth but we're stuck with them due to the iron clad contracts that their "unions" have developed this last decade!

[utyinv] 05/4/2019 11:00

NG has lost nearly 7% in less than 2 weeks. What is the Company doing to promote confidence in investors?

Newbank mentioned in post 6896 that Pettigrew appears to have turned his back and ignores investor concerns. I am inclined to agree.

Maybe he is not interested in the share price or how it performs as he still gets his £5 million pay packet and bonuses irrespective of the fact that since he took over the price has fallen 30%.

Any of the Employees who are entitled to bonuses based on delivering results would be facing the sack never mind losing the bonus. Why should it be any different for a CEO?

[gbh2] 03/4/2019 19:26

1carus; I've been in and out of NG for the last year and made a few quid up to now.

However I'm keen to diversify my investments because I've had far too much of my cash in just two companies.

Today I halved my TW & LLOY and now picking up a few K in companies that are close to releasing Results.

I don't expect to be here long if Labour get in, in fact should they ever look like winning the next election my cash will in another Country along with me :)

[jonnycash1] 03/4/2019 17:31

No idea Uty. My interactions with the younger generation at work only ever make me grateful I was born in the 70s.

[1carus] 03/4/2019 17:08

gbh2, I might put a sell on these at 800 as it has crashed through that on the dips before, which might give me a rebuying oppo if its just general noise. But it would also protect against a big drop if labour were to get in or an election pop up. Which is my main worry for holding these, and I have a fair number. Without that threat these would surely be higher in my opinion.

[gbh2] 03/4/2019 15:54

Purchased a few today so share price was bound to drop :)

[utyinv] 03/4/2019 08:16

jonnycash1,

Yes, but how many of the youth 18 - 20 will understand these facts / economics?

How many 16 - 17 year old who will vote next year or the year after, understand how the economy works until it’s far too late.

[jonnycash1] 03/4/2019 07:41

UK government issues Gilts, only the yanks issue government bonds. The socialists argue that we can currently borrow at low rates (historically) and use the money to nationalise industry and create jobs through government funded projects. The price of Gilts starts at par, or 100p and is adjusted according to interest rate prevailing. Rate and price are negatively correlated, so as rates rise the real value in pence of each gilt correspondingly falls. Thus it is cheaper to buy the gilt back in the future.
Unfortunately, this theory never seems to pan out, with future generations lumbered with the debt mountain for generations to come. We will be paying off Gordon Browns little stint in office until about 2040 for example.

[bountyhunter] 02/4/2019 18:41

UU. has dropped back about 8% in the last couple of weeks, more than NG.

[timmy11] 02/4/2019 18:36

why is ng. being targared when uu. is riding high

[newbank] 02/4/2019 17:19

willoicc,

Post 6903

From Uty's post (6902) above, what's the difference?

[willoicc] 02/4/2019 16:50

That is if they do not nationalise without any compensation at all.

[utyinv] 02/4/2019 16:39

Bounty, it’s whether those bonds are reflecting the true price of the Company. If they create fear then the price comes down and then the Labour Party just issue bonds at what they think is justified.

Don’t forget when McDonnald said last year they were going to bring the utilities back into public ownership Andrew Marr pressed him about how he was going to afford it and at what price would he pay. His response was that they would borrow and issue Bonds. On pressed at what strike price he would value the Company at he said “we will determine the price at a later stage closer to the time” ie saying in plain English when we have trashed the price we will compulsory purchase the Company and issue Gov Bonds instead.

Plain day light robbery.

[bountyhunter] 02/4/2019 14:55

I think his half-baked plan is to issue loads of governement bonds, but wouldn't that result in a boost to inflation!

[loganair] 02/4/2019 14:10

Is why when ever there is a Labour Government they always leave Britian in a financial mess.

[jimbox1] 02/4/2019 13:29

Apparently the money will come from MMT (Modern Monetary Theory), otherwise known as the Magic Money Tree. Either way, it is the same process used in Zimbabwe and Venezuela.

[loganair] 02/4/2019 12:58

Where is Corbyn going to get all the billions of pounds to natinalise the utilites and then the further many, many more billions that these companies will need to spend on renewing their infrastructure.

[jonnycash1] 02/4/2019 12:39

Obviously Corbyn and crew want to nationalise everything in sight. Hardly merits comment or debate really, does it? The Tories will vote for 'no deal' before the turkeys vote for Christmas. Personally, I now doubt an election will happen on the back of the Brexit debacle, although a better opposition may have managed to make that happen. Still, anything's possible! You might have Boris Johnson running the country within 6 months! Fun times!

[newbank] 01/4/2019 10:53

Must admit, I am not impressed with how quiet Pettigrew and the Company have been. The Company said last Dec when Ofgem hit NG with draconian prospects for RIIO 2 and NG at the time said they were disappointed but would respond in full in the New Year.

In Full?

They have capitulated to OFGEM's demands.

Leak in the BBC news last Thursday that Corbyn was preparing to talk about a Paper they have produced outlining plans to take NG into public ownership. No one at the Company was available for comment.

What defensive plays have Pettigrew and his team undertaken with all these negative vibes hitting the media?

One of the reasons why Andrew Bonfield left NG to work for Caterpillar was not only the remuneration being offered or the fact that he wanted to spend more time in the US, I have it on good authority one of the main reasons was Pettigrew's insistence on not diversifying enough to protect Investor capital.

Pettigrew and his Board have received increased pay awards and bonuses, yet since he stepped in to Steve Holliday's shoes nearly three years ago, the share price has fallen from £11.64 to today £8.4. Three years of growth yet the share price falls approx 30%.

If you take inflation into the calculation the real effect is far worse.

So why is Pettigrew and his Board rolling over to any threat to the business?

Having been an investor in many Companies over the years, there is a concerning theory as to why there are so few RNS's or presentations to investors on the prospect for NG share price growth, it's because Pettigrew hasn't got a clue and is sticking his head into the sand and capitulating. Maybe he fancies being in charge of running a Nationalised Energy Company with his current Final salary pension already protected and the prospect for a Government backed pension for anyone running a state owned Company, in reality he will be coining it in.

Dean Seavers (NG US Chief), was quite open at one of the last AGM's to a friend of mine who asked him why doesn't NG invest far more in the US, where business is treated more favourably than the UK (UK draconian Regulation and a Marxist shadow Gov wanting to take control of our economy), and his reply was 'Absolutely right' but the Board are looking at opportunities. A polite way to say the 'Board' can't see the car crash that NG are heading for, what with OFGEM wanting NG investors to invest for very little in return and the Marxists waiting in the wings to confiscate assets and wealth.

Two presentations a year a 'Final' and an 'Interim' and a couple of courses to tell Investors how great National Grid is growing. No mention of the disastrous share price, no mention of the fact that Pettigrew still got his £5million pay packet and bonuses for achieving his performance targets. WHAT PERFORMANCE TARGETS? Surely the main Performance target for a CEO is the share price which reflects an independent view on Business confidence and prospect.

I honestly think that Pettigrew has turned his back on Investors and no longer figure in his priorities. AIMO

[bountyhunter] 31/3/2019 11:21

An interesting article...



"...From election to nationalisation
The Labour Party manifesto commitment is to nationalise a wide range of industries, including private rail companies, energy networks and water companies. If it gets into power with a workable majority or in coalition with the Scottish National Party, I think we should expect a nationalisation bill to be put before parliament.

However, getting a bill through could possibly take years, with significant political and technical obstacles to overcome. National Grid could be particularly complex for the government to nationalise, because — unlike 100% UK-based water utilities — about half its assets are in the US. But what if National Grid did get nationalised?

Compensation
The Labour Party has suggested shareholders would be compensated by receiving government bonds in exchange for their shares. This would be fine — bonds can be sold. But what if the government tried to get National Grid on the cheap, by issuing bonds that valued the company below fair value?

Legal protection
There are a number of legal avenues UK investors could pursue for fair compensation. However, the most robust legal protection (from which UK investors could indirectly benefit) is held by the many overseas institutions invested in UK utilities or, specifically, those in territories with which the UK has a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) — around 100.

Under the UK model BIT, these investors would be entitled to “prompt, adequate and effective” compensation. Furthermore, such compensation “shall amount to the genuine value of the investment expropriated immediately before the expropriation or before the impending expropriation became public knowledge, whichever is earlier.” And a disputed valuation can be brought before an international tribunal, rather than the UK courts.

At the end of the day, if it came to it, I think it would be politically unrealistic for a Labour government not to pay UK shareholders the same price for their shares as they were paying overseas investors. This is why I’d still be happy to buy National Grid shares today..."

[bountyhunter] 30/3/2019 18:02

Cheers UI, clearly quite a complex situation which I suspect Corbyn may not even be fully aware of?!

[utyinv] 29/3/2019 16:32

Bounty,

From 1st April the system Ops element of NG will become a ring fenced separately run Company but owned by NG. My take, and I don’t have sight of Corbyn’s plans, but he could effectively take control of the Elect Supply industry by making the system Ops part of his new Gov run energy outfit.

The US business will be secure, can’t imagine Trump agreeing to do anything to help Corbyn and his Marxists, so the US business might be a jewel in the Private hand, so to speak.

Now, the Transmission operator is another ball game entirely. Yes they are regulated by OFGEM but they have separate licence arrangements to the SO. If Corbyn wanted to compulsory purchase the TO I would hope NG would challenge them in the Courts and preferably in the US courts. Just like many of the banks (during and after the crisis) were tried and found guilty of misdemeanours where US investors lost money and we all know what happened to Barclays. So a challenge would make it very difficult for Corbyn. But, if NG sold part of the TO to foriegn investors even better.

The Interconnectors are 50:50 owned between NG and foreign companies so they would politely stick their middle finger up at Corbyn, HOPEFULLY!

The media exaggerate issues to sell news, and it may be that his plans are just to take control of SO. With the DNO’s and TO as a future project one step too far never to be achieved.

To joe public National Grid is System Ops as they do not understand the Company setup.

Under the market cap SO only accounts for £70-£90 million of the £3 billion profit. But it does have a market cap of £500million.

I recall the Elect Privatisation years 1990/1991 and Powergen the smaller of the two Generators ( Nat Power being the bigger) seemed to do far better on the stock exchange than Nat Power. Powergen were far more switched on financially. Point being, sum of parts may end up being far more lucrative financially than one big Company plagued with the Marxists always appearing to be round the corner.

So who knows without any interference from the Marxists we could see the US business achieving a share price beyond our expectations

AIMO

[atlantic57] 29/3/2019 15:47

As the vote has been lost for the third
Time.i guess realistically we now have two
Options.

A No deal Brexit

B a long delay

I guess both of these events will support
Ng share price