Member Info for expatwelsh

That’s a fair view but one that says Sell…..are you still holding?

Hi CZ, possibly but I don't know enough about how that would work and how much meddling that OFCOM would do.

Good to see the JP Morgan positive update today................looks like we aren't alone in seeing the potential rather than the Tangoed view of how things are !!

It's hard to see how BT won't end up benefitting from the TT situation. If they acquire they need to avoid overpaying and if necessary let another pay too much and deal with the expense and time of integration whilst BT are picking up disgruntled customers. Integration must be simpler for BT than the other possible bidders. Many of the 3.2 million will only have one choice and OFCOM may be fretting about competition but maybe this government will realise that their obsession with that has caused huge waste through unnecessary overbuild which is now hitting the altnets as they can't recoup their build costs with their poor penetration rates. More tinkering by OFCOM is liable to do more harm than good, I do wonder what bargaining chips BT has as the supplier of last resort. It's time for AK to talk and act like she's serious about winning. Onwards and upwards to £2 +++

Good grief! A late payment is just that it goes out of one year into the next so improving that year. The exception of course is if TT defaults entirely in which case BT is likely to become the default supplier. Before that happens they will take steps to protect themselves by withholding services which will either hasten TT folding or hasten a big cash injection which would solve the problem. The analyst has clearly never run a business in difficult times, he appears to believe that BT just sits a waits for the next disaster to come along without preparing defences. Adopting an old saying… those that can do…….those that can’t watch and analyse others who can.

Thanks, good read. Whilst it’s hard on some of the altnets wasn’t this situation bound to happen? Shifting a massive incumbent was always going to be tough. The debt laden altnets business plans must have had very optimistic penetration rates to expect to service their debt let alone make a profit. The government and OFCOM have tried to limit BT ability to compete and helped out altnets but they’ve done nothing to signal what a free and openly competitive broadband market should look like in five years and they must have known that a 100 plus suppliers was never going to last.

Interesting, I’d forgotten about the discussion of taking BT into private ownership.

Wonder what options that would open for management of a private BT with a UK private equity house leading and DT,Mittal,Slim as minority shareholders so avoiding some of the national security issues perhaps but allowing for faster changes.

Interesting that one of those posts says that Peter Leukerts old boss at DT has retired and been replaced by one of her reports. I wonder if BT got Leukerts as he was passed over for the top job at DT?

No it’s not you.

Whose not who’s

I don’t recognise any of the numbers to date . I get 70 mb from FTTC and pay 55 for complete Wi-Fi halo 3 with three WiFi extenders. I pay £3 for the landline and £16 for Netflix now tv and the BT box. I checked with zoom who’s fibre passes my home and they quoted 35 or so but couldn’t guarantee whole house WiFi or always up guarantee. If BT was rubbish and totally off on pricing would they be achieving the levels of penetration they get on new fibre?

Not wishing to get involved with the war between Rod/candidbloke and others but for the sake of some truthfulness in the debate about minority shareholders and what they can and can’t do.

It’s worth googling “ activist investor “ there are many, many articles about investors, mainly hedge funds taking minority holdings and bringing about major changes in listed companies without ever being part of the board or executive management. Start off by checking out Elliot Management, Carl Icahn for starters. We may not like it but there are few absolute truths in the world of top level corporate finance.

Interesting to see the new BT board member and Chief Digital Officer Peter Leukert just appointed has been Group Chief Technology and Information Officer at Deutsche Telecom since 2017 , on the face of it a step down to BT. Simply some shareholder activist help from Deutsche Telecom or early signs of something more??

Is it a coincidence that this downgrade comes two weeks before the Q4 results?

If bad news comes out it may be seen as prescient , if good news comes out then perhaps it

Could be seen as something intended to create a buying opportunity.

Good point on the perhaps unintended consequences of the Indian Trade deal.

Mmm…..artificial intelligence vs No intelligence….. tough call !

Agree it’s nice to be nice but do any of us invest and happily take poor or no returns because of inefficiency in the company we invest in?

The points on this are unquestionable and have been admitted by BT in the past. Their answer is a massive cost reduction play over the next few years and a UK first focus starting out by recent disposals. Citi and UBS historically have allowed for the altnets hits ( whilst rarely mentioning said altnets are living on debt laden borrowed time and penetration rates a fraction of that achieved by BT) and largely ignored the cost reduction benefits. I guess it’s going to be a couple of years before we know who’s right. In Trumps turbulent times I’d say a UK focused business with no tariff hits is an okay bet for the moment. I’m staying, as someone recently posted here do you follow the money of billionaires or the words of financial traders?

Looks like a typical lazy MF article. Doesn’t mention lease obligations in debt and doesn’t mention altnets or question whether the value that led to the base for the 50+ % increase was remotely reflective of fair value. I’d give MF an even wider berth than the analyst community, at least the latter have research departments behind them. MF is paid by the word freelancer hacks.

Increase in forecast albeit small and we are red . Downgrades always knock a few points off though.

How does this work??

In an uncertain Trump dominated world BT looks like a safe place to continue to see profits with potential upside.

I think it's got further to go just because of the toxic environment for investors that Trump is creating.

if they can improve on what they've already promised that would bring even more upside.

Is there another!!! Read before sending 😀