Smurfit Kappa Share Discussion Threads

[smicker] 29/5/2009 17:16

LBO,
Havent a link but Credit Suisse upgraded the target price today from circa 4 euro to 5

[lbo] 29/5/2009 11:56

Smurfit Kappa is believed to be in talks with its lenders about easing its banking terms as the heavily-indebted group looks to put itself on a better financial footing in a deteriorating paper packaging market.

[lbo] 26/5/2009 07:58

Ryanair's chief executive Michael O'Leary, on Monday condemned the decision of the Government to replace what it termed "one failed (Anglo Irish) bank director, Gary McGann, as Chairman of the DAA airport monopoly, with another failed bank director, David Dilger, who has been a director of Bank of Ireland Plc since 2003." O'Leary said the appointment is totally inappropriate and confirms that the "golden circle" of failed bank directors is alive and well and still being appointed to boards of Semi-State companies by this "clueless Government." Dilger took a €13.5 million lump sum pension last year when he retired from Greencore in 2008.

[lbo] 24/5/2009 15:37

Stand by for the new rights issue stampede



Top of the list must be Smurfit Kappa. With its share price down almost 80 per cent since its March 2007 flotation and the company only taking bite-sized chunks out of its €3.2bn debt mountain, fresh equity is urgently required at the paper and packaging firm.

Even after the recent rise in the share price from just €1.16 on March 9 to €3.65 on Friday, Smurfit Kappa is still only capitalised at €811m. Meanwhile, its €289m annual interest bill is gobbling up all of its operating (pre-interest) profits. Chief executive Gary McGann should take advantage of the current strength in the share price to get a rights issue away as quickly as possible.

[lbo] 11/5/2009 18:40

Packaging group Smurfit Kappa yesterday effectively ditched its previous earnings guidance, saying it's too difficult to judge the outcome for the remainder of the year after it posted a 47pc drop in first-quarter pre-exceptional operating profit to €82m.

Smurfit blames 'reckless lending' for slump

[lbo] 08/5/2009 08:32

Smurfit Kappa's operating profits slump 47%

[lbo] 24/4/2009 20:07

TWO YEARS into his retirement, Michael Smurfit watches the rampant disruption in the business world with concern. Dire stock markets have dented the fortune he accumulated during his time in charge of the Smurfit packaging empire

For all his vast experience, Smurfit admits to being surprised at the scale and depth of the economic crisis. "I don't think anybody foresaw how fast these events would unfold. I would consider myself relatively astute at watching these things but I didn't see it coming. If I had, why would I have kept a share or a piece of land or anything? By the time you woke up to the seriousness of the problem, it was too late to sell and too late to do anything about it, and a lot of people are stuck in that particular situation. I don't think I'm alone in it."

Though it is often unloved by the stock market, the packaging business has been good to Smurfit. Habitually well-paid in his working life, he received €9.71 million in compensation for his loss of office when the business returned to the stock market in 2007.

Floated at €16.50, the shares rose to €20.88. Since then, however, the downward slide has been relentless. The stock currently trades at around €1.80 and dropped below €1.02 last autumn.

This, no doubt, has been a painful experience for Smurfit, who says he remains the largest personal shareholder in the business. He will not quantify his stake so his losses cannot be gleaned with precision, but they are such that he refers to the "ex-personal personal wealth" lost in the decline of his shares


Michael Smurfit to join Ballymore Properties board

[lbo] 19/4/2009 22:44

And who was the worst value for shareholders?

[lbo] 17/4/2009 00:32

Shareholders take a double hit as firms slash dividend payouts

[lbo] 08/4/2009 22:01

Over the last number of months we have highlighted the adverse trends that are present in the European containerboard market, that is, declining volumes, pricing pressures and too much capacity. All the indications from the sector are that the first quarter of 2009 has been extremely difficult. The release of Smurfit Kappa's Annual Report yesterday, and specifically the detailed note on goodwill, clearly highlight these deteriorating trends for the period under review. Of particular note is the scale of contraction in the headroom over the carrying value of goodwill year on year, and consequently, the risk of further impairment. While there is no change to the impairment testing methodology (nine year forecasts and a terminal value based on a 7.1x earnings multiple), the underlying assumptions (i.e. management's estimates of future profitability etc.) have been significantly revised to reflect the more difficult markets. In its preliminary results on 11th February, Smurfit Kappa announced a goodwill impairment charge of €171m (7-8% of total goodwill), which the note states related to 3 specific cash generating units (France €74m, Italy €65m and Spain & Portugal €32m). This charge arose as the carrying value of the goodwill exceeded the recoverable amount (based on value in use) of the relevant units. More importantly, the note also reveals a significant contraction in the headroom over carrying values of the four most significant cash generating units (circa 60% of total goodwill) providing further evidence of these deteriorating trends that are being reflected in management forecasts.

[lbo] 31/3/2009 13:29

Smurfit Kappa; Not a pretty picture being painted at RISI European conference

RISI is currently holding its two-day European Pulp and Paper Outlook Conference in Berlin. Yesterday the majority of the speakers were directly from the industry, where the theme was surviving the current downturn. Today's sessions will be presentations from RISI staff on its forecasts for the various paper grades. While there was no great surprise that all the speakers yesterday were outlining a difficult 12-18 month period ahead, you definitely got a feeling that Q1 has been particularly difficult for all paper grades (double-digit volume declines were being talked about) with customers continuing to de-stock. So it looks like the Q1 results season from the sector is not going to be pretty (Smurfit Kappa is due to release Q1 results on May 8th). Given this backdrop, further significant capacity closures will be required and business failures are inevitable. However, the difficulties may not disappear at the end of the current cycle, as some argued whether the current downturn has accelerated adverse structural trends that were already in train. For example, an examination of the relationship in the US between corrugated box volumes and non-durable goods, clearly shows that corrugated boxes have been loosing market share in recent years

[lbo] 23/3/2009 19:50

Lenihan to restrict 'crony' directorship practices



Former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Seán Fitzpatrick, who was forced to resign after it was revealed he concealed loans of up to €122 million by temporarily transferring them off the bank's books, had previously been chief executive of the bank.

Mr Fitzpatrick also sat on the boards of two companies, Smurfit Kappa and Greencore, at the same time that Smurfit Kappa chief executive Gary McGann and Greencore chairman Ned Sullivan sat on the board of Anglo Irish Bank.

[lbo] 12/3/2009 11:58

Dilution looms at Smurfit

[smicker] 11/3/2009 19:40

LBO,
Have you a link for the rights issue mentioned?

[lbo] 11/3/2009 13:01

I heared a rumour he can't pay for it and he cant sell his old one either! OUCH



"A boat of that size takes three to four years to build, so if it is due to be completed by 2010, it was probably commissioned before the current downturn,"

And now his partner Gerry Gannon in the K Club is in trouble Smurfit and may need to pump money into it and the Divi is gone for Smurfit kappa aswell and it may need a rights issue. They paid €130m for the K Club back in 2005! The only liquid way to raise funds would be to sell shares in SKG. And all at a time when Irish tax exiles are under pressure to pay their tax and have become the focus of Irish peoples anger.



Even the Michael Smurfit-owned K Club in Co Kildare has began to discount. It is offering one night's bed and breakfast, a round of golf on the Smurfit course and one round on the Palmer course for €285 per person sharing

[lbo] 06/3/2009 12:13

Venezuela takes over Smurfit Kappa land

[lbo] 25/2/2009 11:50

Standard&Poor's Ratings Services revised to negative from stable its outlook on Ireland-based paper and packaging company Smurfit Kappa Group

[lbo] 24/2/2009 23:28

McGann to quit as DAA chairman

[lbo] 12/2/2009 19:30

Mr McGann, who resigned from the board of Anglo Irish Bank after its nationalisation last month, declined to comment on the controversies surrounding the bank. On Ryanair's call for his resignation as chairman of Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) after his departure from Anglo, he said: "I'm appointed by the shareholder. I continue to be chairman of the DAA and life goes on."

[lbo] 12/2/2009 16:12

smicker looks like he will buying a dingy!

Smurfit Kappa suspending its dividend payments

[smicker] 09/2/2009 22:19

But buying a new one, i thought from the headline he was getting ready for a tilt at SKG!

[lbo] 09/2/2009 21:56

Packing magnate Michael Smurfit is selling his luxury yacht for €16.5m after buying it eight years ago for more than €40m.