Charles Jillings, CEO of Utilico, energized by strong economic momentum across Latin America. Watch the video here.
Cheers, bus. Yes, all over the news today. Indian variant apparently spreading like wild fire. Are we ever going to get rid of this bloody thing.
It was quite concerning to see the price drop by 5.23% on Friday. This was obviously following Thursday's announcement that the deal would go through.
However, what I also noted on Friday was that the entire bus sector was down. GOG was down 0.08%, SGC was down 3.06% and NEX was down 3.45%. Does anyone know the reason why the bussers are currently struggling?
No it doesn't. That will be deducted when the dividend is actually paid.
Bit of a sell off again this morning. Nothing too drastic yet though. Coast Capital have been on TV this morning moaning about the deal again. Think I’m going to continue to hold for now.
What do we reckon then guys? Is this going up or down now? There was an initial period of selling shortly after the announcement, but it looks like it has stabilised. It certainly doesn't look like a mass sell is going to take place. Just a bit of a tree shake.
Lots of people currently dumping.
Sale has gone through. RNS.
Just read through the article. Given the amount of negativity currently circulating regarding this deal, it's difficult to understand why the share price is continuing to gradually push up ahead of the vote. Just some wild speculation, but could there be some insiders mopping up these shares on the cheap ahead of the announcement on Thursday?
Anyone know when the result will be known?
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the two largest shareholders account for around 25% of the total shares. It will be interesting to find out how the other institutions are voting. I think I heard that one institution, holding around 10%, was voting for the deal.
Based on a snapshot of the opinions on here, it feels like there are also a significant number of retail investors who will vote against the deal. The board have been very pro-active in trying to counter the Coast position through the release of an RNS rebuttal each time Coast has spoken out. The vote looks like it could end up being a close one.
I suspect Coast could be taking a hard line to try and obtain an improvement on the 30p per share payout. It doesn't seem to make much sense to try and scupper the entire deal. It's going to be an interesting week ahead.
Big changes ahead for the industry. All the more reason to proceed with the sale, clean up the balance sheet and put the company into a robust financial position to be able to carry out the reforms which will be necessary going forward.
At the same time, the Board has committed to keep the balance sheet position of the retained group under review and will consider the potential for making further additional distributions to continuing shareholders, in addition to the proposed return of value to shareholders described in the Sale announcement and circular.
As previously stated, the Group is consulting with major shareholders as to the most appropriate distribution mechanism for the return of value to FirstGroup shareholders. Full details of the proposed return of value described in the circular will be made available shortly following completion of the Sale. The Group would also note that the shareholder approval process for the transaction with EQT, including the timetable, is entirely in line with company law and market practice for a UK listed company.
The Group, including the Chairman, has consistently engaged with Coast Capital over several years, carefully considered their proposals and followed up with introductions they proposed. The Group has also sought to correct a number of inaccurate assertions, many of which appear in Coast Capital's statement of 17 May 2021. Several such points were directly addressed within the circular approved by the Financial Conduct Authority that was sent to all FirstGroup shareholders on 10 May 2021.
The Board has received financial advice from Rothschild & Co, J.P. Morgan Cazenove and Goldman Sachs in relation to the Sale. The Board unanimously recommends the transaction as being in the best interests of all shareholders and recommends shareholders vote in favour of the Sale at the General Meeting on 27 May.
FirstGroup plc (‘FirstGroup’ or the ‘Group’) notes the statement by Coast Capital LLC in relation to the agreed sale of First Student and First Transit to EQT Infrastructure announced on 23 April 2021 (the 'Sale'). The Coast Capital statement contains numerous inaccuracies and speculations which the Board would like to correct.
The Sale followed a comprehensive and competitive process in order to seek the best possible price for First Student and First Transit, which was well-publicised for more than a year (having been announced in March 2020). Through the sale process, the businesses were widely marketed and the Group and its advisers actively engaged with more than 40 potential buyers. The exclusivity arrangements included in the sale agreement signed with EQT are in line with standard US practice, particularly following an extended and broad sale process. The Board is aware of its fiduciary responsibilities to shareholders and continues to comply with them at all times.
This process overseen by the Board led to the agreed Sale for a full strategic value, which looks beyond the pandemic and reflects the high quality and long-term nature of these assets. The Group notes that the Sale is described by Coast Capital as "at a significant negative premium to book value", however the net proceeds on sale are above book value as at 30 September 2020.
In the context of a competitive process to extract the most attractive proposal, an earnout structure was agreed for First Transit which would benefit continuing shareholders in the Group. This reflects First Transit’s strong prospects for future performance, not least in light of the Biden Administration's commitments to investment in infrastructure and public transportation. Under the earnout FirstGroup will receive up to a further £170m, payable on the third anniversary of the Sale (following an independent valuation), or sooner if sold to a third party.
The Group has a number of longstanding liabilities. As previously set out, in determining the use of proceeds the Board has sought to balance returning value to shareholders while also making a necessary and substantial contribution to the UK pension deficit, reducing its debt (including repayment of Covid Corporate Financing Facility to the UK government) and addressing other longstanding liabilities. In parallel, the Board carefully considered the appropriate capital structure and distribution policy for the ongoing Group, and it concluded that a well-capitalised, de-risked balance sheet will provide the retained group with flexibility to navigate end market uncertainty at this point in the pandemic recovery, pursue its strategy going forward and support a progressive annual dividend from 2023.
Good bit of RNS research there, gooner. So they’ve basically been off loading about 1% per month and if that trend continues they should be completely out in the next couple of months if that is their intention.
... in theory... DYOR GLA
pmsl. That’s one of the funniest posts I’ve read in a while. There’s people here who have got serious amounts of money invested, bogle. Why wouldn’t we be obsessively interested.
Banbury’s insights and analysis of the accounts are second to none and are always warmly welcomed across the board. He’s the SAGA board equivalent of a Major League Baseball hall of famer.
Seems to be a lot of mixed opinion on this board. Given that the company has not paid a dividend for 8 years, isn’t a 30 p per share special dividend a good thing for shareholders?
It works out at about 3.75 p per share, per year over the 8 year period. The company comes out with a clean balance sheet after a tough couple of years and can look forward to the future and rebuild.
There has been no coronavirus rights issue here and presumably the sale would all but eliminate the possibility of this in the short term. Despite this the share price has not yet returned to its pre coronavirus level, so it still looks like a potential recovery play.
Bus and Rail is likely to become more important in the UK over the next 10 years as the government steers the country towards a greener economy and net carbon zero. There could also be a bumper couple of years ahead as the economy powers out of recession and pent up demand is unleashed in the leisure and tourism sector.
The £1m is the closing auction. Price seems to be stabilising.
Big bonuses often raise a few eyebrows. Perhaps they’re eligible for this level of reward due to having successfully sailed the ship through some very stormy weather and rough seas over the past year.
I’m aware of the multi bag potential here for long term holders and I’m already invested. What my question above relates to is shorter term price action.
There’s been two big price re-ratings here since the rights issue. I’m interested in opinions on what upcoming events in the calendar might drive the next one.
What are the likely upcoming events that could potentially drive upwards or downwards price action here? i.e. government announcements, trading updates etc.
My current understanding is that the 17th May is the "earliest possible date for foreign travel". Are there any announcements due before then that will provide further clarity on this.
Looking at the chart, we appear to be stuck in a holding pattern trading range again. We've seen it several times before... a big news driven price rise, followed by a period of up and down price oscillations within a range. The big mistake, as committed by me previously, can be to trade in and out and miss the big rise.