Member Info for expatwelsh

Aus, I wish it was only one thing but I think you are missing things if you only think Brexit. Successive governments have hit UK pension funds going back years from thatcher’s allowance of pension holidays to browns dividend tax credit grab to various restrictions on where pension funds can invest causing massive reduction in the share of pension investments in equities as funds had to move to fixed interest to meet stress test requirements. Add to that the crazy drive to ESG focus which has hit fossil fuel and defence companies then add over regulation which hit telcos like BT and reduced the inclination to take risk in banks ( article in past week on this , I think in the Telegraph. ) Also allow for erratic tax policy from investment allowances to corporate tax rates to windfall taxes . On top allow for on off views on support for nuclear and new oil investment .For remainers Brexit is an easy target but it’s only one of many things that have reduced liquidity and inclination to invest in U K . All of them are consequences of successive governments not having a cohesive plan for growth in the UK. I wish the answer was just it’s all Brexit but in my view our dear government and its predecessors have made us unattractive in all sorts of other ways. And the politicians still seem to kid themselves they can drive growth when they’ve been a blocker for decades.

Move Along ……I’ll second that

It’s not my money that’s needed it’s the huge amounts of liquidity sloshing around the USA that brings all sectors valuations to a big premium on UK valuations. Lots has been published on this fact lately , check it out.

Thanks Fleccy ,I’d forgotten that . Not sure a secondary listing is the same as the main listing. As for litigation risk the hundreds of companies listed on USA exchanges seem to manage that risk so probably not insurmountable. I’d love to see it mooted as a possibility if only to see the media meltdown and all the “ disgusted of Tunbridge Wells” crowd worked up into a frenzy at the possibility. It would be great entertainment and to be fair as a long term holder BT hasn’t provided much of that in recent years !

Is there any reason why BT couldn’t follow Shell and look at moving its listing to the US market. Telcos are valued much higher there , I can imagine the fury in the media if Kirkby said this was being considered.

Why not?

Held

Who is Alison Kirkby?

Is it beyond the realms of possibility that they are talking if dividends cuts because they are shorting?

Chicken egg. Egg chicken?

I agree about the shorters but when day after day the S P goes up in the morning only to lose all the gain and often more in the afternoon I suspect they’re more in control than we really appreciate.

MaryBr, generally agree on all brokers but whether we believe it or not at least JPM provides a logical explanation for their view. Not something all brokers do especially UBS at the other end of the spectrum on share price expectations.

Not sure the Price Cap is quite the same as it was introduced as an emergency response to the war impact on utility supplies rather than an attempt to manage business as usual pricing. Even the apparent downward pressure it applied allowed British Gas profits to increase tenfold from 22 to 23 more than compensating for the costs they incurred during Covid.

Seeing this prompted me to wonder if ,as an independent company, there are any constraints on how much profit BT can make in any area of its business. I can only assume there must be otherwise the Class Action wouldn't possibly have a case and the lawyers clearly think they have a chance of winning.. On the other hand if there is a limit then surely OFCOM would be policing the pricing.

I can't think of any other business where Government or their agencies decide how independent companies price their products, don't think gas and electric are decided by government as Centrica made huge profits last year when people were struggling with their bills.

Can anyone explain how this works ? I'd assume that if BT were to consistently overprice then ultimately they'd slowly go bust but I'm obviously missing something.

I wonder what the benefit of staying British owned is especially how it will help the share price.

Could any of the keep BT British crowd explain please.

thanks

Interesting ,two days in a row institutions ( probably algos )selling into an early rise to end the day with little movement

Jb100, everything you say is true BT is an essential part of the country’s infrastructure.If everything stopped chaos would ensure.

The market doesn’t care about that and neither do the media and government.

Until ,a bid comes in when BT will become a jewel in the crown essential to the UK economy and too important to allow a sale to another company.

Why is like this? total mystery to me.

Understand the various posts about debt,pension liability,class action etc etc but none of them justify BT trading at a PE of 5 against a FTSE 100 average of 10.5.

I think as much as anything the problem is the dead hand of the regulator always being to stamp on any sign of energy and enterprise from BT and the assumption that they are a utility that can be controlled by government despite the appalling lack of control they have on other utilities (/water and electric come to mind).

The same dead hand will no doubt stamp on any efforts to raise funds by selling any parts of the business. A labour government is unlikely to make the situation any better.

I’m a long term holder but losing faith that the board and chairman even see the lousy share price performance as an issue.

I think it’s a joint venture with 3 . Can’t see why BT share couldn’t be sold.

Sale and lease back of towers?

Sorry to go off topic and discuss BT rather than Rod/Mandy.

I just came across an article about Tower sales from August last year. I am amazed at the huge amounts Deutsch Tel and many others have raised by selling all a a large share in their tower estate.

https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/analysis/the-great-telecom-tower-sell-off/

When the SP is languishing so low I do wonder if the Board really care very much about shareholder value as they don't do anything but promise recovery in 4 years time and this looks like it could help today.

.I understand the questions around the viability of selling the whole of BT but I wonder why the board have never considered selling towers as the income would pay off a huge part of the debt and pension liabilities without compromising it's ability to manage in future. This is would be jam today that would lift the share price and the much talked about future cost reductions would surely easily fund the leaseback costs in future.

I seem to remember the new CEO has been on the board of a private equity company that is in the tower business.

I wonder if she will consider this as it may provide an early win to show she means business.

Any thoughts on this?