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Sorry it has taken a while to reply to this post Clued. I get what you are saying but Bab**** aviation can not be referenced to that of a financial crash. Whilst the rest of the aviation sector suffered due to the pandemic the HEMS and Oil and Gas sector was largely untouched. The point I was making to a certain degree was that they bought Avincis for over £1bn and have run it into the ground. Perhaps it was a weak investment but it is deeper than a few bad eggs. I have seen for myself the way this business makes mistakes and throws millions down the drain. When you look at the aviation sector especially within the HEMS market and O&G it could have been profitable if they appointed the correct people. Instead they appointed weak leaders who had very little clue on the requirements of the business and had no forward plan. I worked within the oil and gas sector which has now been sold and seen some crazy decisions which resulted in the business writing off large sums of money. Bab**** had a great opportunity to take the market share whilst the other operators were on their knees facing chapter 11. I have said this before the saturation in the market caused a price war and turning the screw could have seen them with the market share. Whilst the other operators tired to reduce fleet costs and streamline the business BAB decided to take on some of the most expensive leases in the world if not the most expensive.
People may argue that it was a dog that needed off the books and at the point of sale I would maybe agree. That being said in the early days up until maybe 2 years ago they just ran it into the ground. What always made me laugh was the financial reports they always blamed the O&G market but if you look closely into the fleet rationalisation they moved all the expensive assets on to the books of the offshore business "For the better good of the group" then threw us under the bus in the next set of financials.
I don't want to come across as bitter because I am really not but I think it is important that people can see that this business is not all it is cracked up to be in my eyes. I would not trust them with my money that is for sure. I speak largely in the post about Archie Bethel as I think he was in post for far too long. lockwood pushed the sell button and if I am honest the damage was already done by Archie so I hold no grudges. My concern is from an investment point of view what other sector has been run as bad and when will the cracks appear. The share price decline in the last 5 years is a concern and I hope Lockwood can recover for the people who work for BAB and the investors of which many sit heavily in the RED!
I am not sure on how low this will go but the company is weak in so many areas it is scary. Having worked for them in the past I was amazed at the way they would bring in the wrong people to run sectors of the business. I know that civil aviation will be punted to release cash but dilution is purely a cash grab. I read that Lockwood wanted to get rid of businesses that were not making money that is fair enough but he should be looking at why it is not making money. In the 6 years I worked for them they made fundamental errors and constantly employed people with no clue how to run a business then wonder why it has failed and I refer to the O&G aviation sector. Lazy lazy appointments ran into the ground and sold for buttons.
I was tempted to get in below £3 but knowing how this lot run the organisation I have very little faith of the longevity of this business. Having seen it first hand I am out but good luck to all those involved. I have more faith in Lockwood than I did in Bethel but that is not saying much.
My thoughts matched this but market is up this morning and it’s plummeting. This share makes no sense in regards to trends. Market has been hit recently so I expected the drop but end up ok yesterday when the market was down and today it’s up and it’s down 3%.
The Oil price was at $110 and they were raking in cash and big profits but the world has changed. I don't think it was a bad deal was subject to various factors in Bab**** had no clue how to run a complex aviation business and ran it into the ground. Normally in aviation you appoint strong aviation leaders Bab**** never got that concept.
I agree that Avincis must have laughed all the way to the bank but the offshore business was not lucrative before the downturn and was still potentially profitable if they had ran it correctly.
They didn't buy the Offshore business for £1.6b they bought Avincis group for £1.6bn. The Offshore market was part of that sale but they ran it into the ground with poor management. The Oil and Gas downturn did not help but they really made no effort and constantly blamed it for poor Q result. £10m is a steal when you consider the turnover and how Bab**** loaded it with large corporate costs! This is just the start of the aviation business being sold off next will be HEMs.
I think you are right it appears to be heading in a direction and prepping for a bid. The latest result again blame Avincis purchase back in 2014 but the reality is they bought a complex organisation and ran it into the ground. The appointments at board level to support this sector was lazy and incompetent and now it is worthless.
The best thing that can happen for all shareholders is a sale and cut the deadwood out that has seen this business dilute sectors which should have thrived. You can blame Covid-19 and downturns but they need to learn lessons in regards to why sectors were failing prior to these events.
Sadly it is true and in this case as I stated before it is unfortunate. I don't know the entire picture but the Aviation sector bought from Avincis in a deal I believe to be around £1.7bn and £700m of debt along with it has been completely driven into the ground but extremely poor management. I can't speak for the other wafer thin margin sectors or loss makers but I was amazed at how an investment of that value could be left to rot due to lack of leadership. I think the new board have arrived late in the day and it is not salvageable. I thought Archie would have sorted it but i was miles wide of the mark.
I am not here to shoot you down but you are wide of the mark in terms of the expected completion. They have already stated end of Q2 and that is likely to be optimistic. When you say Aviation unit are you referring to Oil and Gas or the entire aviation sector of the business? I think selling off loss making businesses is certainly sensible but this organisation have allowed this to happen as I have stated previously. I am a shareholder so I would love nothing more that to see this happen but just remember that we know nothing about this sale not even the price at this stage plus is is conditional.
What I will agree is "getting the bad news out of the way" The new BOD seem to actually act whereas Archie Bethel just talked bout acting. It will be interesting to see where this heads long term but selling off a business unit with no desire to improve it or run it correctly at the offset is wasteful.
You are 100% it was out of the norm in regards to the portfolio and they openly admitted that they had to take it to secure the purchase of Avincis. If they showed it a bit of love and invested in the right people they could have been the market leader as Bond Offshore Helicopters had it in a really good place. Downward market and neglect has seen it sell off all assets so I would not be surprised if this is a £1 sale! If you look at CHC they are not and have not been in a great place over the years and lost it's biggest contract to Bab****.
This might have been seen as a dog but as a share holder and knowledge of the industry it scares me how Bab**** do business especially under Bethel's leadership. I can only hope that the new board have a better vision across the board and don't leave businesses to rot to the point of no return.
Between UK, Denmark and Oz its £170m. It is loss making as we all know partly down to the downturn in O&G but 90% down to severe mismanagement. They could have really stole the show in this market and used it as a platform for UK SAR. It is extremely frustrating year after year seeing Bethel blame this sector when they made no effort to make it work.
All valid points sadly Bab**** seems to use certain sectors of the aviation business as the scapegoat. It has been like this since they bought out Avincis and it continues. This business was in a very strong position until this buyout. It goes without saying that the market has changed since but the lack of understanding of how to run a complex aviation business was apparent straight away and is the same today. You can run a business but you need people in the know to support it. Sadly Bab**** have just been extremely lazy in pushing this sector forward and filled it with substandard appointments which resulted in customers leaving for competitors and in many cases the laughing stock in the industry.
I am an employee also bought some at £10+ and down about £7k down although buying in cheap I will never break even now. first time I have had my fingers burnt in one of these scheme's. I really do think this stock is unloved and not sure why when you consider it is doing pretty well considering. Many organisations have lost all income and no sign of it coming back have seen shares do better than this in some cases.
I find this share so low I have actually lost a bit of faith in the stock market. I am around £7k down but bought in recently to reduce my average but removing the dividend last year rally hacked people off as it was at least something for the losses many have suffered albeit a paper loss.
Bab**** under Bethel was a complete joke at the end topping up his pension pot and lost a control to a certain extent. I hope the new CEO has an approach that can give the market back level of confidence it once had a difficult challenge during difficult times. I can see no reason why this share won't be back to £5 mark in 12 months even with COVID. Market value sits at around £1bn and an order book of £17bn and turning a reduced but still healthy profit given the global climate.