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You'll regret it big time by close of play Friday!!

This always seems to happen if the results are going to be good. The rise starts gently but surely before the results, based on a few nods and winks what might guess. Then bingo!
The results were meant to come out today. I'm thinking between 11.00-2.00pm.

By the way, I'd be more concerned by what they are going to say on contract profitability. But my take on that is that the Order Book might see some adjustments (losses) in order to increase margin. In short, going forward what we will see in Bab**** is a 'slightly' slimmer but more profitable business. Also, expect some improvements in Net Debt.

This was previously reported so now just being used for profiteering out of volatility.

Also, total assets in April 2020 Annual Report were £7.53 Billion. So even if it is a £700m write down, it is only 10% and not highly unusual given the circumstances.

"Why would the SFO want to destroy PFC? A large tax paying UK company which, ironically pays their wages!!"

The law of unforeseen consequences. When the SFO investigation was opened, there was no Covid and EV and Climate Change were not what they are now. If PFC can't keep it's order book up at decent margins then it is inevitably going to reduce in size and it's path back to a stable and growing profitability is going to take longer.

IMHO PFC are in a pickle because of the following.

The entire oil services sector is in trouble because of the previous fall in the oil price due to Covid; and the uncertainty about oils future due to Climate concerns and electric propulsion.

The ADNOC issue provided the following twist. In that, PFC didn't do too well in the previous year winning new orders, with business(s) excluding PFC from tendering it is seen as being harder this year even if total new contracts on offer are said to be about £42Bn. PFC's order book now is as big as WG's, but many now think it will reduce relatively.

The most important thing pfc need to be working on right now is getting the SFO case put behind them, before the full post-covid resurgence in oil contracts really kicks in. If they don't then no one is going to be able to foresee when, if ever, PFC gets it's market share back. Now is not the time to risk being left behind. This is how the SFO may potentially destroy pfc.

I am in heavy here, but feel like I am gambling now as much as investing and I can't afford a stagnation in pfc SP for the foreseeable future.

Looked at a few articles but can't find a selling price for the deal. The deal will be finalised in Q2 2021. I would imagine the figure will go a long way to mitigating the need for a much feared Rights Issue.

And by the way, there will continue to be speculation up until the announcement in, I think, April. One thing is for sure, the reaction, good or bad, will show us the real 'bottom' for this stock. Until then, expect more speculation, low volumes and small fluctuations.

Absolutely, that article is someone's opinion. An opinion in a way they are forced to produce in order to fill column inches or they are out of work. It is no more valid or better researched than an article I could have written. Furthermore, it is amazing how fast such 'news' becomes old news.

If I were to summarise events for BAB over the last few months, it is that the CEO is behaving very responsibly. His behaviour demonstrates that BAB is less likely to become a basket case. What would some prefer, that he puts his head in a bucket and just takes his salary for as long as he can. Changing Auditor was a also a Governance requirement and not because anyone suspected PWC of incompetence or cooking the books.

As for a Rights Issue. We all know that the current crisis as beset all companies with cash flow issues. As such a RI is an option anyone could guess at; as is taking on more Debt, cutting Divs, cost cutting, cutting investment, etc. A RI might be true or not true.... but right now it's someone's guess.

Tories ..... old pledges regurgitated; I should have known!!!! Soz

Announced after the markets closed yesterday, the Government is set to increase defence spending by £24BN over the next 4 years. That's £16.5BN more than the manifesto pledge and will mean a total of £190BN over the next 4 years. Good news for any business in the defence sector!!!
Surely this, along with economic confidence increasing due to the vaccine rollout, should mean a good move up next week.

I was looking at Royal Mail earlier in the year, March, as it bottomed to 125. For the previous two years you could see it's share price falling. If you had drawn a Chartists line over the decline it would have shown the trend was 'oblivion'.
The Shorts were over 6%.
The Fundamentals and the News were not good. Basically, the word was the Royal Mails days were numbered for one reason or another.
So, I didn't buy. Always the worrier.
Since then, from March 2020 to today, the Royal Mail SP has risen 350%.
I think PFC today is where Royal Mail was last March. I'm in big here and I'm going to stop worrying and hold.

Hi Boyo, trouble with charts is that they can be made to show what you already see or want to see. I can draw a trend line on the same chart that shows, without the SFO investigation, the SP would be about 260 right now. Which seems about right to me. And the current fall to 260 we could attribute to the Oil price and pandemic. I can conclude from this, that like Wood Group, without the SFO, oil price and pandemic, we would be over 400+. But maybe, that's just what I want to see :)

The sentencing shouldn't change anything with regard to the SFO decision to continue with an on going investigation or not. The SFO could close this case now unless they have other work to do on it. Fact is; we are all blindly speculating, and hoping, about what is going on. It will end when it ends.

It is ultimately not what is alleged but what can be proven in a court. If there was strong evidence against Warner I think he would have been charged by now after all he left PFC 7 years ago. You might be right, but it does seem a stretch that he would be charged from now on.

From the SFO wedsite; "On 6 February 2019, David Lufkin, 51, a British national, and previously Global Head of Sales for Petrofac International Limited, pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates’ Court to eleven counts of bribery".

This was 2 years ago. No one else in PFC has been charged since. Nor does it look likely that anyone else is about to be charged.

"On 14 January 2021, David Lufkin pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates’ Court to three further counts of bribery".

Even though the SFO finish this page with the comment, "The SFO’s investigation into the activities of Petrofac, its officers, employees and agents for suspected bribery, corruption and money laundering continues. This is an active case and the SFO can provide no further comment at this time". This sounds like a bog standard comment for any day. If no further employees have been charged over the last two years, I think it is highly unlikely anyone will be. However, there is no reason to assume a rush to close this investigation. Any 'negotiations' of or establishing an appropriate fine if there is to be one could take months.

What I think it does mean is that there are no further issues relating to this case that are unknown and therefore no further reason for the SP to fall because of it; other than unexpectedly poor year end results. If I were a Hedge Fund, I would realise by now that PFC is about as low as it is going to go and start to close my positions; as ANY good news is now likely to force a rapid re-rate.

After today, is there any identifiable reason for the SFO to continue with PFC?
Why is the share price falling today?
Which Hedge Fund is going to give up first and run for the door?
There is going to be one hell of a buying frenzy coming.

If after 4 years the SFO has nothing more than what they have now, then why continue. It's the Law of Diminishing Returns. Is it really worth the input from SFO on the grounds they might find a little something else. There has to be a consideration that PFC is now clean and has learned any lessons the SFO would want.
There are other companies for the SFO to look into and I'm pretty sure they will have a backlog now because of staffing levels/productivity due to covid and behaviour of some businesses due to covid; plus others.

When the SFO investigation hit in May '17 the shares fell to 350 and from there became range bound between 400 and 650 until Feb '20. A SP of 400 was the given minimum with an SFO fine built in. I see a return to 400 over the next 12 months as minimum bounce we should be looking for.

Declared Shorts went up 0.65% yesterday to a total of 7.75%. Really, so many hedge funds think this share is going to tank well below the current 116???