Member Info for Snakeman

Bidboy , you have demonstrated all too many many times now what a narcissistic opinionated buffoon you really are. You’re boringly incessant rant about an imminent takeover against what we all know is nigh impossible right now. Tone down your attitude and invest in some manners. You’ll be the better person for it. Trust me.

BT’s sport misadventure takes a half-billion Champions League hit

https://www.thetimes.com/article/bee71d9f-93c3-4e0b-8968-54446b071c8b?shareToken=a9ec85d00a52fb6ed3e9e1b881c37d37

For a BT shareholder, I would view the article as moderately positive overall, despite the ugly headline.

The headline focuses on a £496m loss and a £578m write-down relating to TNT Sports losing the Champions League rights. That sounds negative, but most of the damage is an accounting impairment rather than a cash loss. The write-down reflects lower expected future value after losing the Champions League rights.

The positive points for BT shareholders are:

1. BT is reducing its exposure to sports

* BT’s management under Allison Kirkby has been trying to dispose of non-core assets, including TNT Sports.

* The article suggests BT still expects Warner Bros Discovery (or a future owner) to acquire its remaining stake.

2. Cash commitments are falling

* BT currently contributes about £500m annually to TNT Sports.

* From next month that payment structure changes and BT expects annual payments to fall by roughly £200m. That’s a meaningful improvement in cash flow.

3. The loss highlights why exiting sport is sensible

* BT Sport was launched to support broadband growth, but sports rights inflation has been brutal for broadcasters.

* The write-down effectively acknowledges that the asset is worth less, allowing BT to move on from a strategy many investors have viewed as value-destructive.

4. BT’s core investment case isn’t TNT Sports

* Investors today generally own BT for:

* Openreach fibre rollout

* Cost reductions

* Cash flow improvement

* Dividend recovery

* Sports broadcasting is increasingly peripheral to the BT equity story.

The negatives are:

* Losing the Champions League weakens TNT Sports’ attractiveness and potentially lowers the value BT can achieve when it exits.

* There is uncertainty over whether Warner Bros Discovery/Paramount will buy BT’s remaining stake and at what valuation.

Bottom line

If I were a BT shareholder, I would interpret the article as:

Short-term negative for TNT Sports, but long-term positive for BT.

The article essentially confirms that BT’s sports experiment has been expensive and unsuccessful, but it also shows BT is moving towards a cleaner telecom-focused business with lower cash commitments and a potential exit from an asset that has distracted management and consumed capital for years.

From an investment perspective, I’d rate it 6.5–7/10 positive for BT shares, even though the accounting loss makes the headline look much worse than the underlying economics.

Can anyone explain why PG says it is not necessary for Predator to achieve a flow rate or two and still be able to command a fair price. Surely any transaction price would be substantially discounted without some flow rate ?

Trusting in PG either way…. as I’ve just stacked the chips up all on black ! Spin it Paul ! I’m ready !

I’m reasonably invested here and like many would love nothing better than to see the share price well north of here.

But here’s the thing - there are many on here throwing out what I think are just silly numbers (£1+ and more) for what the company/share may be really worth. To those throwing out these silly numbers please can you riddle me this :

Nobody can dispute that if anybody knows what the company/share maybe worth it must be PG. If so, then why would Paul only a few weeks ago give away a significant chunk of the equity away for a little more than thrupence !!

Surely u don’t really think if PG believed the company was only a few weeks or months away from proving up the value of company he would give a chunk away for a few pence a share.

Please don’t respond unless you have a sensible reasoning.

VIEW FROM VOX

Predator continues to advance operations on its 75%-owned Guercif licence onshore Morocco. The company announced rigless testing at the MOU-3 site 10 days ago, and today updated markets with the results. Testing focused on the promising shallow "A" sand reservoir - the best candidate for CNG development.

PRD

used for the first time its larger 27/8" power jet NOVA guns, which successfully perforated the formation, but could not overcome formation damage to achieve gas flow. The company is monitoring pressure to see if the damage can be overcome with time.

The good news is that the test yielded valuable data that will be used to inform future drilling, starting with the new MOU-6 well that will be fast-tracked this year from the existing MOU-3 pad. The well will be optimised for balanced drilling with a focus on minimising formation damage. The shallow formation is highly prospective, with already confirmed biogenic gas, including helium. Previously in 2023, drilling through the "A" sand registered gas flow, with approx. 50 psi under-balanced at 341m from surface.

Additionally, drilling at the new MOU-5 well started on March 3, 2025 with positive initial results. MOU-5 found its primary target, and is being advanced for gas and helium exploration. The MOU-5 structure holds significant upside that can be unlocked through a large-scale 3D seismic program, which

PRD

plans to fund through a farmout. The prospective gross recoverable gas resource for the Titanosaurus structure - the primary reservoir target at MOU-5 - was last reported as 5.912 TCF (P50).

The Moulouya (MOU) prospect is a low-risk proven gas play that is a potentially play-opening opportunity for shallow gas in multiple, high-quality reservoirs at depths of 2,000 to 5,000 ft. The prospect lies just 9 km from the Maghreb gas pipeline where significant spare capacity exists for the transport of gas either for domestic use or for export to the EU. Capex is expected to be very low given the shallow drilling depths, high recoveries per well based on potentially contiguous reservoir sands, anticipated quality of the dry gas, and proximity to the Maghreb pipeline.

The MOU-3 rigless testing programme was executed under budget. Predator remains debt-free, with a robust cash position at year-end FY24 of £3.8m, giving it sufficient runway to fund all its work programs over the next 12 months.

Who said there was no truth whatsoever that the placing was exclusively offered and taken up by a Moroccan holding passport holder.

The notional market stand-alone value of Openreach has been cited many times by experts as possibly being worth £15bn, £20bn , £25bn, some even say £30bn. So leaving aside who owns network - what would give outside experts reason to value Openreach as having any one of these possible values without owning the network.

Is it the case that the network would be transferred outside of the group along with Openreach and thus such values are used.

So here on results day of all days.. we have our resident share experts who are either silenced or those that make early market comments which only highlight they dont know scooby about what´s going on. The novices dive for cover on the first sound of "Boo" and bail out with a red hide . AK then rocks up and gives a cool update talk after results published and all order is restored. The tanker ship carries on unfazed through the high seas and land is now in sight. You can keep your Carribean cruises I´ll stay upon this tanker for a little while longer.

Candid, there was half a billion of a non cash impairment charge in the 2024 accounts - which largely accounts for the drop in YOY profits. The company is in a slow turnaround mode. That’s what many ‘professional investors’ believe is happening..

Your call of Armageddon is just not what the rest of the market is saying. Place your bet on whatever you think I suppose. Thursday may show us hopefully some more of the picture is looking.

Candid, despite all you say the company is continually posting decent profits YOY. Continues to be cash generative, continues to pay a good dividend, continues to reduce operating costs, continues to chip away at the pension deficit and continues closer and closer to finishing the national fibre build out. There are several analysts covering the stock, most agreeing with share price targets well above the current share price. Even those analysts who have called the share price much lower than now are now raising their lower calls higher.

I graciously gonna give Slim & Mittal the benefit of the doubt and admit they might know a bit more than I do and that they’re probably a lot smarter too.

Financial Realities: A Catalyst for BT’s Shareholder Value

Analysts forecast BT’s stock to rise to $2.34 in the next 12 months—a 6.69% premium from its current price of $2.19—a figure that understates the true potential. While GF Value’s $1.86 estimate reflects near-term uncertainty, the strategic clarity of this deal could catalyze a re-rating. BT’s core UK telecom business is already profitable, with strong cash flows and minimal debt. Offloading TNT removes a major earnings drag, freeing capital for dividends, share buybacks, or reinvestment in growth areas like 5G and cloud services.

The March 2026 deadline for the stake sale adds urgency. Investors who buy BT now could benefit from a potential premium if the deal closes above current expectations—a possibility if WBD accelerates its timeline, as rumors suggest.

Why Buy BT Now?

This deal is a strategic pivot with three key catalysts:

1. Immediate Earnings Boost: Shedding TNT’s losses will improve BT’s bottom line, likely driving a multiple expansion.

2. Shareholder Returns: Freed capital could fuel buybacks or dividend hikes, appealing to income-focused investors.

3. Long-Term Growth: BT’s core UK telecom business is primed for 5G adoption and enterprise cloud services, with minimal competition in its home market.

WBD Closing Price

Conclusion: BT’s Bold Move Signals Telecom’s Future

BT’s divestiture of TNT Sports is more than a cost-cutting move—it’s a masterclass in strategic focus. By exiting a losing venture and doubling down on its telecom core, BT is positioning itself as a high-margin, cash-generating machine. Meanwhile, WBD’s acquisition underscores the industry’s pivot from traditional broadcasting to streaming—a trend that will amplify BT’s value as WBD’s HBO Max gains traction.

Investors should act now: BT’s stock is undervalued relative to its post-divestiture potential, and the March 2026 deadline is a looming catalyst. This is a rare opportunity to buy a telecom leader at a discount, poised to benefit from both its own operational excellence and WBD’s streaming ambitions. The sell-off is over—BT’s future is bright.

Time to act before the market catches up.

BT Group’s Strategic Divestiture: A Telecom Giant’s Bold Pivot to Profitability and Streaming Dominance

Julian West

Sunday, May 18, 2025 6:48 am ET

40min read

The telecom sector is in the midst of a seismic shift. Companies like bt group are redefining their core strategies to focus on high-growth areas, offloading non-core assets that drain capital and distract from profitability. BT’s impending sale of its 50% stake in TNT Sports to Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) epitomizes this transformation—a move that not only alleviates a £187.5M annual loss but positions BT to dominate its UK telecom heartland. For investors, this is a clarion call to buy BT ahead of its March 2026 deadline, as WBD’s premium streaming ambitions underpin BT’s valuation upside.

The Burden of TNT Sports: A Strategic Divestiture Unveils BT’s True Potential

TNT Sports, a joint venture with WBD, was BT’s ill-fated attempt to leverage sports broadcasting as a lever for broadband growth. Launched in 2022, the venture aimed to lock in subscribers with exclusive Premier League content—a strategy that backfired. Fierce competition from Sky and Amazon’s deep-pocketed bids for sports rights, coupled with rising operational costs, turned TNT into a financial anchor. Its £187.5M pre-tax loss in 2024 alone underscores the futility of this experiment.

By divesting, BT gains two critical advantages: capital reallocation and strategic focus. The UK telecom giant can now redirect resources to its core broadband and mobile businesses, where it holds dominant market share. With CEO Allison Kirkby’s pledge to spin off international operations into a standalone unit, BT is sharpening its focus on its home market—a move that aligns with shareholder demands for higher returns.

WBD’s Acquisition: A Play for Streaming Supremacy

Warner Bros Discovery’s acquisition of BT’s stake is no mere acquisition—it’s a strategic bid to dominate Europe’s streaming landscape. By securing full control of TNT Sports, WBD gains access to exclusive sports rights and infrastructure, which it can integrate into its HBO Max platform. This platform, slated to launch in the UK, Ireland, Italy, and Germany by 2026, will be bolstered by TNT’s content library—a critical differentiator in a market where Netflix and Amazon Prime dominate.

For WBD, this is a low-risk, high-reward bet. The transaction likely closes below BT’s £750M stake valuation, given TNT’s underperformance, but the long-term upside is immense. HBO Max’s European rollout, enhanced by sports content, could attract millions of subscribers, transforming WBD’s streaming business from a cash drain to a profit engine.

Financial Realities: A Catalyst for BT’s Shareholder Value

Analysts forecast BT’s stock to rise to $2.34 in the next 12 months—a 6.69% premium from its current price of $2.19—a figure that understates the true potential. While GF Value’s $1.86 estimate reflects near-ter

But there is plenty of overbuild going on. Is it not been reported that there are several players alongside BT building duplicate connections to serve the same households and businesses in streets all over the uk.

Ps : dial down the pompous arrogance and tone of your language. If you want to disagree learn to do it without coming across worse than those who you have a difference of opinion with

I see what you mean.