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Qualia144 post 01.37.
Best post 2020 so far and says it all really.
Philbatch you’re back! I’m still waiting for a response to my question. Not holding my breath though.
OMG, you actually think that PF doesn’t talk to the client and relies on the local newspapers for information. Hilarious.
You say “What I would hope for and expect is PF to tell us straight up what remaining complications are holding things up, even just in general terms“ having just listed the RNS comment "Contracts are due to be signed once certain financial arrangements between MPS and the port authorities have been put in place, which are in the process of being finalised." Hilarious.
PI frustration is inevitable given our track record of non delivery, though in this instance I’m more confident than at any time in the past it will complete .........folk might want to consider themselves fortunate Tema fell in to our lap .......one can only wonder at what the narrative would be in its absence .........|o:
Morning all. We have dropped over 20% on no news even though revenue continues to come in. There is no linkage between value and sp. the sp is merely a barometer of the markets trust in PF at the moment. [and probably always has been with spikes related to something he promised and then didn't deliver. For me if we get no end of month update then that will be telling us that he has no good news..… we will then go sub nominal …….and then repeat for 2020 what happened in many previous years...….B
I share the same sentiments and have said this recently. We have drifted into an unhealthy holding pattern of no real news and no expectation of what is to come which is now affecting the share price I don't have time to sleuth the internet either and people who have done that often end up chasing up blind alleys anyway. Why should PI's need to do that anyway? It would be possible to tell us more in RNS. E.g What's the hold up? How is it expected to take to reso(ve? When does the board intend to update us again? Hoe mamy boats and TEUs have they scanned? Employees working on the ground? How is this being paid? Are the payments received on full contract terms etf... etc...
Gibbo, you say I "can’t be arsed to read{y} what is already in the public domain" - if by that you mean the RNSs, I have read them. Perhaps with your uncharitable comment you choose to misinterpret me as what I meant was I'm not always able/willing to spend ages sleuthing the internet for news on Ghana's political and economic shenanigans; life happens.
Ordinarily this would indeed be a fair case of "just be patient", but that no longer works in this case due to PF's history (some of which was just bad luck), and my failing patience.
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Just a reminder then on the RNS releases:
28 June 2019: "Westminster's revenues will commence once the final terms have been agreed and the formal contract finalised"
17 July 2019: "The LoI is therefore being extended for a further period to allow for the definitive contract to be finalised with MPS"
15 August 2019: "We expect all contracts to be finalised in the coming weeks"
18 September 2019: "Contracts are due to be signed once certain financial arrangements between MPS and the port authorities have been put in place, which are in the process of being finalised."
[ * 15 November 2019: sp starts to rally just as Temaparty (wink wink) linked to an article on the Web about negotiations appearing to reach an agreement. Then hot on the heels of this ... *]
18 Novenber 2019: "The Company is pleased to note that the ongoing discussions between Meridian Port Services and the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority are reported to have made significant progress and are close to being finalised."
[* Therefore no, it does not look to me like PF or WSG were dealing directly with any parties in question, he seemed to be referring to a news piece - they were "pleased to note" *]
19 December 2019: "We are pleased to note that the ongoing discussions between Meridian Port Services and the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority are close to being finalised which will allow for our contracts to be formally exchanged".
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I can't be arsed to tally for you how long it's been "close to being finalised", mind you ;) hehe
To answer your... demand: What I would hope for and expect is PF to tell us straight up what remaining complications are holding things up, even just in general terms, instead of leaving us to try and do detective work all the time, with it's potential red herrings and pitfalls (Oman anyone!). Just endlessly saying "being finalised" or words to that effect just ends up being worse than useless.
Just imo, off out, fekk off etc etc. Oh, and good luck all :)
Come on Feeks don’t be shy like Philbatch. Let’s have a coherent answer, not just a single random word plucked from the ether.
How about "several"?
Gibbo - :-)
Funny lot in here tonight.
Qualia, you can hardly blame PF if you can’t be arsed to ready what is already in the public domain. He has already stated just 4 weeks ago “We are pleased to note that the ongoing discussions between Meridian Port Services and the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority are close to being finalised which will allow for our contracts to be formally exchanged” Nothing about unions in there was there? Oh and where do you think he got that information from? Yes that’s right, from MPS and GPHA just as you requested.
Feeks/Qualia in the absence of those discussions between MPS and GPHA being finalised, give me some examples of what additional information you think he could have given, that would have provided you with the new news that you clamour for without breaking confidences. In doing so, try not to forget that tariffs being charged at the port are well documented as being very sensitive and subject to huge scrutiny in Ghana to the point that a government minister tried to wade in on the issue back in December.
Eagerly awaiting your examples.
Only1Gibbo I would just like a bit more information, that's all, and it would be possible for the board to give us that without breaking any confidences. All the financial info has been too vague for my liking, and that's the market view too. We seem to be drifting because the market was expecting more detail.
I reserve the right not to have infinite patience ...
Only1, appart from the fact that PF really does have form in making assurances that do not actually pan out, my impatience is with the ongoing uncertainty about what else is holding up the Tema official announcement, I may well have missed some other news (no doubt) but I'm not aware of what else it is. As I said before, I think he needs t provide 'new' news (i.e. found out from MPS or GPHA etc. and not in a link on a BB news post from a PI) about what's holding up Tema either in the Jan update or sooner. I reserve to right not to have infinite patience ...
Maybe PF does have his hands tied behind his back, maybe he cannot day what revenue he is earning On an interim basis, maybe he could tell the client to hurry up as there is a lot of accrued money that could be used elsewhere in the business...maybe maybe.... the fact is we sit 10% above nominal so the market doesn’t give a 5hit about all the extra revenue interim or not or the tech contracts, or the cusps, to them this business is loss making and will continue to be seen that way until Peter the messiah pops out of his cave and does his sermon on the mount or podcast as the world has moved on. So we wait, it’s a formality blah blah blah. B
But it’s not just been the unions up in arms over the fees. Just because they now appear happy it doesn’t mean all other parties are.
So what would you have done differently Qualia? Walked away? Given them an ultimatum, sign or we walk? Stopped scanning containers? Please, I’m interested to know what your strategy would be.
Qualia- I agree. A contractual lock-out period was thought to be necessary, but no actual contract? Is the contract exclusivity period still binding..?
My point being if the TUC are happy then the reason for the delay should be sorted by now. So what else is holding things up? We'll have to wait and see what the Jan update brings anyway (should be pretty good I expect), however he'd better make a clear update statement on Tema; this 'just a formality' nonsense is too typical of PF and hasn't helped the sp in any way.
Well, the Unions are pleased with the MPS-GPHA deal. Now the Ghana Revenue Authority are pleased with (have exceeded) its revenue collection (see below). This despite a reduction in duties: "The government announced a reduction in benchmark values for determining duties by 50 per cent for general imports and 30 per cent home delivery value (HDV) for vehicles, effective April 5, 2019."
Extracts: The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) says it has exceeded its revenue collection target for last year by 3.2 per cent, the first time in two years. […]
Excise duties also posted a significant performance, as last year’s collection saw a 10.32 per cent increase over the previous year’s.[…]
As of July last year, the GRA was behind its target by about 11 per cent, which compelled the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, to visit the Tema Port, in the company of one of his deputies, Mr Kwaku Kwarteng, to engage port users and encourage customs officials to step up their game.[…]
https://www.modernghana.com/news/980166/gra-exceeds-target-over-15-of-2018-collection.html
Coming soon: approve the new tariffs...(imo)
No point badgering him as he ain’t got a clue - 2nd December Tariff agreement is subject to ongoing discussions.
I’ve not seen anything in the media which supersedes MPS’s 7th December output:
“kindly take note that we are in discussion with GPHA regarding implementation of the concession tariff and shall confirm the final position in due course… until then the GPHA published tariff of 2nd December, 2019 shall apply.”
Might be more appropriate to ask him what’s going on with the managed service airport security business ...that’d be the business that’s been the core focus of the company for all of these years .......|o:
How much longer do we need for signing of Tema? Come on Peter Fowler, throw us a bone please. Anyone asked him recently?
"TUC said it is satisfied with the agreement between Meridian Port Services (MPS) and Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) to allow GPHA to handle 20 percent of container cargo at the Tema Port which it believes will help minimize the labour unrest within the maritime industry".
https://citinewsroom.com/2020/01/review-ghanas-trade-policies-to-support-local-businesses-tuc-to-govt/