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Hatha?
zed44, as I recently posted several times with the 'weak buy' box checked from 5.91p down to 4.50p ["Hub caps found?" on 22 March], taking some gentle ribbing, and posting the 'weak/strong sell' box when Lonrho was above 10.25p a few months ago, your uncivil post is most puzzling. Are you Australian, dyscalculic or a headstanding yogi? I think we should be told. kibu
"Africans on English safari" A fanciful plan to woo African travellers to rural England is being developed by the airline Fly540 who plan to establish a theme-based holiday programme near Luton, England. Landing at nearby Dunstable airfield, visitors will be offered a tour of a British wildlife reserve, play golf, visit an authentic pub and shop at a hypermarket. Tour highlight, Whipsnade Zoo, has been extensively remodelled in recent years to remove barriers between the animals and public. "Wild Wild Whipsnade," which shows several species of animals that lived in the wild in Britain hundreds of years ago, is expected to be a special hit with African tourists. Links to Dunstable are already being upgraded with the Luton Dunstable Busway on the verge of opening. Nigel Young, a local councillor, said, "It's going to be possible to reach the centre of London from Dunstable inside of an hour." The new route will be the first international flight to land at Dunstable. Fly540 uses modified CRJs that can land on grass, however, these are range-limited and a new aircraft will be selected once the aerodrome is paved. Edna Conrad, landlord of the nearby Black Swan said, "Doubtless they'll see my pub as part of 'quaint old England' and it will be good for business. But as a villager, I would worry about the extra airport noise and traffic and, of course, any unforeseen event." Indeed, all may not be plain sailing for the proposed venture known as 'Kichaa Holidays.' Fly540 is currently engaged in a Gordian struggle over ownership with Fastjet. And Luton-based Easyjet, with compete restrictions on former boss 'Stelios,' (now a shareholder in Fastjet) must also be eyeing the international flight plans. Fastjet director David Lenigas was unavailable for comment yesterday. www.soorgoolietimes.co.za 1 April 2013
"Yesterday Lamunu. Today laminate (orange)." After the recent torpedo hit Lonrho's Johannesburg plans, their success in acquiring the lease to Hotel Lamunu at such short notice is to be commended. What a pity that the unbudgeted extra expenses didn't allow a little extra for an accurate proofreader of the public website texts. The public is treated to stuttering English such as "Located at the very the heart of the Braamfontein business," the hotel,"places you within walking distance the vibrancy of the University of Witwatersrand Campus." Clicking on 'Reservations and Enquiries,' it's puzzling to be greeted with Email? [sic] and the phone number. kibu
Was Lonrho at 1.9p a good buy? During the dramatic fall, from 40p+ prices to 1.9p, bullish posters abused the bears. It's happened yet again during the current 5-month collapse from 10.5p to 3.95p. As so many times since 2005, rapid, substantial falls have brought out the woodworm and the hindsight-gifted posters who claim to have made money on Lonrho. I posted strong sells at 40p+ prices and attracted considerable abuse. At 5.91p I posted "weak buy" (neither buying nor being a bull) which fell A THIRD within days yet nary a whinge. What gives?
The 'Hotel Lamunu' website has been hastily updated. The changes were so fast that the new easyhotel, according to the present homepage, is "located next to Africa's first easyhotel." Surely this stuff should have been run past FTI or at least a competent professional before this was released? Two days after the change, it still reads the same. Is it even a hotel or a student dorm? The property owners, South Point, are a "student accommodation" provider. The website, Staysouthpoint.co.za, is, albeit fortuitously, in a suitable shade of orange. Lonrho and EasyGroup's wonderful piece of "luck" is, however, better traced via Douglas Investments. Their business is HNWIs rather than liberated students. kibu
I've spent a fair bit of time checking out the new 'easyhotel' which opened yesterday. I warned what might happen if we left the bus unattended. Sadly, here's what happened http://jsh1949.co.uk/Sentinel/coach%20chassis1.jpg
Jolly, Looks as if incite has moved to abuse. Sorry. Completely unintended and I therefore apologise. Re-reading the posting, which was meant to be humorous, it failed. Poor English. Your retort was humourless but accurate. WADR, it was incomplete. Lenigas really has not left. He has a considerable (well, it was) shareholding in Lonrho and is the Executive Chairmen of a subsidiary that accounts for a considerable chunk of Lonrho's shrunken capital. Your mention of FC put me back on the floor with the doll and pins again, hence the delayed response. kibu
No, not "someone else," yours of 1 November, methuselah.
"Not stuttering. Just Scottish" 22 March 2013 Well worth reading this interview with Lonrho Hotels' CEO "Ewan work-to-begin-shortly-in-Beira Cameron" http://www.moneyweb.co.za/moneyweb-safm-market-update/r-908 Yet again, not a single commercial media source has gone to the heart of the latest Lonrho fiasco. Even The Daily Telegraph, (exhausted or worried about impartiality?) has been silent. This is more than a "stutter." Lonrho has budgeted for sales that simply do no exist. Worse, they have uncovered leasing costs, debts and ongoing payments (esp. to Cambria). When Lonrho plummeted to 1.9p it quickly bounced back. Today's buyers are "playing" an historical 60% downside v. recovery. Today's "Weak Buy" is as much to do with fundamentals as it has to do with our glorious Emperor's clothes. kibu "the foamer"
Oh dear, jolly, do you really think Bruiser's left? You've either got more money than sense or this is another of your attempts at humour. Stick with what you're doing daytime. I'm not sure if we have anything worth discussing publicly but I'm sure you're better off. Good on you. kibu
Stelios and Lenigas live close to each other in Monaco. Wealth and distance do not align their interests with shareholders. While Monaco is at 13C for the weekend, the UK chill may help investors look more critically at the Lonrho Board's achievements since late 2005. kibu
"easyHotel's African expansion stutters" 22 March 2013 News that Africa's first easyhotel is far smaller and in a different location than leased last summer is not the first dramatic U-turn in this increasingly complex and costly story. In September 2011, David Lenigas, on Bloomberg, said that Lonrho/EasyGroup franchise planned "budget hotels in Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt and South Africa." On 4 October 2011, Lonrho announced their first development - in Mozambique. It reached agreement with LonZim to pay $5.1m for an 80% stake in ATdM. This 'company' owned property that included two derelict hotels. Lonrho "plan to refurbish an existing property on the site to establish an easyHotel by Lonrho and provide quality office space for key companies seeking to establish offices in Beira" ran the news release. The former Hotel Dom Carlos would become a 90-bed hotel. The agreement included liabilities of $2.7m. This was the same property that LonZim, managed by the Lonrho BoD, had bought in March 2008. Having done nothing with it, despite announcing grandiose plans, they sold it to Lonrho, and managed to book a profit on the deal for LonZim. After 2011's inspired accounting, the site decayed further. In autumn 2012, Lonrho Hotel's CEO, Ewan Cameron, said that work (was) to begin shortly and that the budget hotel will include 80 beds. In early 2013, the hotel still housed "hundreds of poor families" according to local press. Effectively, this has been a 'dead' investment made by Lonrho's management. Five years this month with no return. Enormous investment will be required to turn the hotel into a place that people would pay to rent a pillow (see "Dom Carlos Beira" Google images). Little wonder that, almost two years into the "MFA" and with no results, the easyHotel venture switched again. This time to South Africa. They signed a 30-year lease with Afhco on part of Stuttafords, an iconic building in Johannesburg. It appears they failed to find out the full extent of refurbishment required. Afhco now has a problem too although one employee today denied that Afhco was involved anymore. Their website, nonetheless, continues to offer retail and office space at Stuttafords. None of this should surprise those who have followed Lonrho's Byzantine business dealings over the years. What may surprise is that easyHotel is such an "ideal" bed-partner. In July 2008, easyHotel upgraded their website. An article 'easyHotel Upgrades Web Site Without Losing Its Cool' references "a plan to introduce 200 hotels in 10 years." Today, easyHotel's website claims a mere "15 hotels" (although there are nineteen - twenty from Tuesday). Their website today still showed the Stuttaford picture. Stelios and Lenigas live close to each other in Monaco. Wealth and distance do not align their interests with shareholders. While
Jolly, WADR you are bonkers. Did you really buy at 4.57p? I posted "weak buy" but clearly qualified the opinion. I didn't spend a sou. Have you been talking to EIMatador? Can you share your secrets to profits please? Then URGENTLY share them with the Lonrho BoD. k
M, At the time you told me to "move on," do you remember EIMatador's 3 November post? Reminds me of a Kaupthing investor. "Slap a bit of cash in here" he wrote, ****ging off my 10.25p "sell." His Wednesday post should also be contrasted with his 5 Feb post. Absolutely priceless. k
Interesting wall decoration at the Hotel Lamunu (aka Easyhotel from next Tuesday): http://yaelastage.blogspot.ch/2011/10/hotel-lamunu-braamfontein-is-blowing-my.html Not enough to get the bus moving without the wheels but at least we'll own hub caps next Tuesday.
Any simple PIs left here? With all the Muppet "mna, mna, mna," clever sausages splitting their PR trousers it's getting increasingly tough to tell the difference between one failed Lonrho supply contract and another. Take Tesco. Maybe Pnag "Thai" Edwin can clear up the misunderstanding about Lonrho's supply contract. Is it Tesco UK or WAS it with Tesco's failed 'Fresh & Easy' US venture?
bakoven, sorry to intrude on your exchange with Jolly, but you and he/she are confusing me so much with your language and sense of direction that I have no idea how to whether to trade this share tomorrow or March honey futures Beckham. Frankly, it's all Bryony to me, mate.
Jolly, I realise that your posts are typically tongue-in-cheek and am therefore never offended by your hidden insults. I am, indeed, beginning to wonder if you work for the increasingly inept FTI bods. 'Inept' applies to FTI but, somehow, you don't seem Pangbourne enough. Maybe I work for WH Ireland? Hey, "WEAK BUY," everyone! "Em" is the only one of the "Quad" that I've not had direct contact with. Will she? Won't she? No, she won't. Pity. On topic: LONRHO NEED(H)A(M) NEW MANAGEMENT kibu
"Week or weak? It's true I posted "weak buy" at 5.91p. Having posted "sells" most of the time since levels above 40p, it felt refreshing. Hah! Over 20% down within a few days, thank goodness I didn't get tempted and hopefully no one else here got caught. It's still a "weak buy" because of the high risk/high reward. There is a lot to Lonrho that a new management could possibly sort out. Bruiser and Slasher (and Gorgeous Emma) have failed miserably and need to go. (Bruiser has, contrary to creative PR, not gone.) They've had over seven years and their 'bad luck' excuses rank. It's also amusing to get some light-hearted criticism for my "weak buy" to contrast with the invective following my "strong sells." One of my favourites has always been,"I can imagine (kibu) writhing around on the floor, foaming at the mouth and pushing pins into a doll he has named Lonrho. Is he a disgruntled ex employee or someone who wants to see this go as low as possible before he wades in? Who knows." The absence of a final question mark suited the poster's limp-wristed 'No opinion' that followed my 7.25p 'Weak sell.' Some people take these BBs far too seriously. When you're reading about Lonrholand, start with a smile and get ready to laugh. kibu