Stephan Bernstein, CEO of GreenRoc, details the PFS results for the new graphite processing plant. Watch the video here.
@trytobuylow
Thats a good succinct post.
It is what it is. Athough how it has got to this remains mind boggling. I suspecf the lack of communication at the moment is there maybe a top level shuffle underway and the current BoD are restrained to make too many announcements.
The problem here is shareholder value has eroded to such a low point there's not much left to go. A change of BoD may help to uplift the SP and that may allow for more breathing space.
All those posters listed have probably taken a hammering on their holdings.
You wouldnt want to listen to their advice or you'll be broke and penniless by the end of the week
@regvarny
You can call it what you will, a few here have used more colourful language LOL. Its not their plan nor words.
Here are the 2 key summary points from that announcement
"We have accelerated strategic decisions including to simplify and align the Software portfolio with core Capita
Disposal proceeds will be used to strengthen the balance sheet"
As for the longer term his last sentence covers their outlook and objective.....
“We expect to make further disposals which, alongside other measures, will strengthen the balance sheet and help build towards a more focused, sustainable Capita for the long term. These are unprecedented times and we need to adapt but our strategy remains the right one.”
So, thats their plan. There is no takeover planned nor expected. I very much doubt Serco would make a move at this stage.
If you think Serco have formulated a takeover, good luck to that.
The smart money would be let Capita carry on and pick up the pieces. After all Capita are hell bent on the path they are on.....
@regvarny
Theres no such thing as black and white as Plan A/B going on here.
Read the statement....
https://www.capita.com/news/capita-plc-half-year-results-2020
The strategy is plain and simple and they are full steam ahead down that path.
Im just waiting to see what price ESS will go for. News should be out shortly......
Here you go.....if you didnt know the plan, here it is....
Jon Lewis, Chief Executive Officer, said:
“Capita and its people faced a challenging first half of the year, like many other companies. Thanks to our transformation progress over the last two years - and the hard work and professionalism of our colleagues - we were able to deliver a strong and decisive operational response to the COVID-19 crisis.
“However, this crisis has come in a pivotal year for Capita when we had expectations of beginning to generate revenue growth and sustainable cash flow.
“Instead, we have had to focus on managing our way through the crisis, while accelerating some strategic decisions, including our plan for the disposal of Education Software Solutions, a standalone business in our Software division.
“We expect to make further disposals which, alongside other measures, will strengthen the balance sheet and help build towards a more focused, sustainable Capita for the long term. These are unprecedented times and we need to adapt but our strategy remains the right one.”
@jinny122
You do realise that Capita are not only firmly pursuing their current strategy but are actually accelerating it? They confirmed it at interim announcement.
The ESS disposal is well under way already.
Secondly you cant ever have a 'plan' to be taken over. To do such you would have to deliberately erode shareholder value in what would be an act of financial sabotage.
Mind you looking at the last 2yrs that looks exactly what has happened LOL
@regvarny
Im afraid those are your own interpretations of Plans available, not mine. I dont think any takeover is going to be announced tomorrow.
What you are saying is completely hypothetical. If thats what your research leads you to believe, good luck.
Im just waiting to hear on the ESS deal. Will know from there if its a pyrrhic moment for CPI or not.
If your strategy is in the view there is an imminent takeover, then certainly good luck to that. Events and matters however do take a bit longer......
I think Capita are currently considering the ESS offers. I said a few weeks ago it would be lower than what they needed and Capita will be put into an awkward take it or leave it situ.
I suspect they will look to accept it and bolster the/any shortfall by exploring other roads.
Any interested party is open to make a hostile bid for Capita. However, I would say there is more sense and value in wait and see.
Interserve fell into the hands of lenders last year......
I very much doubt Serco would want acquire Capita when its saddled with so much debt. They may have aspirations to grow but I would say that is all for now.
Lets wait until tomorrow. If there was an all share deal happening over the weekend, I think we would have heard of it by now.
Here's the article......
Serco, the UK outsourcer, is hunting for acquisitions ahead of a forecast wave of consolidation in the sector in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis.
Just 18 months after the group made a hostile bid for defence rival Bab****, Rupert Soames, chief executive, told the Financial Times that “the market is facing an era of consolidation and we are in a position to be a part of it”.
Serco, which employs 60,000 staff worldwide, is entirely focused on public sector work and is best known for running prisons. The company fared better than most outsourcing rivals during the pandemic, securing contracts worth about £157m between February 1 and September 7. It has won work mobilising 10,500 contact tracers for the NHS Track and Trace programme as well as helping set up drive-in testing centres.
Although both contracts have faced criticism, Mr Soames is adamant that the government could not have set up either facility so speedily without the help of the private sector.
“I don’t believe local authorities could have set up anything like this nearly as quickly,” he says.
Serco furloughed 2,500 staff, now down to 1,200. Almost all are in leisure centres, which closed during lockdown. It has promised to pay back £50m in liquidity support from government by the end of the year but has so far kept furlough payments to help keep staff employed.
Despite public campaigns against Serco, including by the pro-renationalisation group We Own It, Mr Soames is confident that its reputation has been “enhanced in government”.
The pandemic has compounded some of the pre-crisis problems for the outsourcing sector, with Covid-19 contracts offset by a slowdown in other government awards and less demand for cleaning, security, transport and back-office services in the private sector during the lockdown.
“There are signs of distress in the sector,” said Mr Soames. “We’re not a deal machine but acquisitions are part of our armoury.”
Serco tops UK outsourcers for Covid-19 contracts
Interserve is in the hands of its lenders, while Capita is trying to sell off parts of its business, including its education software arm, in an attempt to reduce debt.
Mitie recently attempted to buy Interserve’s facilities management arm to boost its public sector work, although the deal is being scrutinised by the Competition and Markets Authority. G4S, which also runs prisons, is facing a hostile bid from a smaller Canadian rival, while Bab**** has faced a turbulent few years and its relationship with the Ministry of Defence has sometimes proved difficult.
Serco has made two approaches to Bab**** — one in 2018 and another January last year in a deal that would have created a £4bn defence services giant, with operations stretching from the UK to the Middle East and Australia.
Last year, it paid $225m for US engineering company Alion’s naval defence unit, which supplies ship and submarine services to the US Navy.
Serco has been posturing like this for a while, as well as trying to get into the Govts good books for a change......
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.ft.com/content/3fcc81e7-dad3-43a5-b199-e7f967f0b211
Anything's possible but I would say its improbable at this stage.
Serco have had a keener eye on Bab and have failed twice in their attempts..
Capita have a number of options still available to them and they will probably explore them first. Selling out to Serco will unlikely be on their radar or in consideration at this stage.
Unless you've heard news of it by tomorrow as you are expecting Im afraid this is all speculative far out stuff at the moment.
Here's some more info.....
The contractor at the centre of a row over the NHS test and trace system is preparing to bid for more essential work as Britain’s trains come back under Whitehall control.
Serco, recently criticised over the performance of the Covid testing initiative, plans to seize on the failure of “bonkers” franchising to make a return to the railways.
The company stopped bidding for rail franchises in 2014 after judging them to be too risky.
Rupert Soames, the chief executive, said the new outsourcing system due to be introduced next year is “more in our bailiwick”, however. It is expected to offer fixed fees for operators.
Serco runs transport contracts around the world on this basis. Mr Soames said: “It is what we do with the Dubai metro, for instance.
“We stopped bidding for UK franchises. It was one of the first things we did when I arrived. I could not understand the margins and risk. The old model produced some good results, but the economics of it were bonkers.
“The risks that companies were being asked to take versus the rewards were tiny and we wouldn’t have anything to do with it.”
Ministers revealed plans to cancel franchising last month, a quarter of a century after the railways were privatised under John Major.
The reforms, which will be introduced from next year, are expected to force some operators off the railways.
Whitehall officials last week confirmed a report by The Sunday Telegraph that it is in discussions with operators over “termination payments”.
Rail bosses have warned the penalties, which could total £500m in aggregate and are designed to ensure they do not benefit from the early cancellation of franchises, could leave them no choice but to abandon train lines.
Serco told the stock market in an unscheduled update on Friday that it expects to beat forecasts this year due to coronavirus-related work, which include NHS test and trace contracts.
@regvarny
As I said yesterday, Serco want to be considered for upcoming contracts. The trading announcements were likely just a bit of flag waving to say they are more financially stable unlike others like Capita.
'investigation into cine share price'
You gotta laugh, no evidence, woke up confused, took a day out to clear his head.....LOL another drowning man clutching at straws
@dubaidave
He bought £40k and was £31k down overnight. Read his other posts elsewhere and his whole portfolio appears a busted flush.
Do the ethical thing and hit ignore or just read his posts for a laugh ;-)
@jinny122
Thats exactly what trytobuylow has been saying here for ages.
You sell a profitable division and are then only left with the rubbish. The long term outlook is a dead end.
But you have to remember, the vision of the restructure was to move and reshape the whole business more upstream. LOL
Im sure competitors are eyeing it up but that would be all for now. Just watch and observe.
The CEO is a geologist from what I understand.....he must be because he landed CPI on the rocks in no time LOL
@regvarny & jinny122
Much would depend on the purpose of the acquisition as any potential party may value other areas as a better fit than simply ESS.
ESS appears merely an invite to get interested parties in talks. The restructure that was mapped out for the last 2 years went beyond just disposing one division. CPI will be looking to offload others units asap as well.
CPI has been looking ripe for ages. Its fat, overweight and tardy. Schroders couldnt afford to allow another party to get influential interest in there so they jumped in at 27p.
If you want to extract maximum value, its a break up.
@Jinny122
I dont disagree with you. If you look at the landscape within this sector theres only a number of ways it could go.
Serco's timing could just be a statement to say 'we're doing alright jack' . They are competitors after all and it kind of turns the screw and ups the heat on CPI