gamesinvestor
08 Mar 2018
Normal service... has been resumed, the shares are back down 4.83% as I type.Someone obviously accidentally fell on the green button late yesterday.Games
contrarianstyle
07 Mar 2018
Re: 12% pop - FT headline If this was true and it was early 2017, the share price was around £2.50. That means Mackenzie really messed up if he the private equity offer(which must have been at least the value at the time) undervalued the company...lets hope they come back to the table with the new mngt with the price way lower now anyway...
Kool Keith
07 Mar 2018
Re: 12% pop - FT headline Been sent this from a friend..... Shares in the AA closed 15 per cent higher on Wednesday afternoon on claims from the former chairman of the roadside assistance group that the company had been approached by a private equity firm interested in buying the business early last year.In September separate talks involving plans to merge the company’s insurance division with rival Hastings Group were reported to have divided the AA’s board.The discussions ultimately collapsed, but the disagreement between the group’s executives over the deal sparked the physical altercation involving Bob Mackenzie that prompted his dismissal for “gross misconduct” last July. The AA did not give details of the circumstances of his departure at the time.Fresh documents prepared on behalf of Mr Mackenzie disclosed the private equity approach, which was apparently rejected because the former chairman believed it undervalued the London-listed company.A spokesperson for the AA said:“We were astonished to receive the claim after the documentation was leaked by or on behalf of Mr Mackenzie to the press earlier in the day, in a clear breach of confidentiality. The Board and all the directors acted with utmost propriety and appropriately in respect of the matters of this claim. Mr Mackenzie was dismissed on 1 August 2017 having launched an unprovoked, sustained and violent attack on a colleague. We will vigorously contest the claim.”
Bill1703
07 Mar 2018
Re: 12% pop - FT headline "hmm a bidder would be ideal at the moment but not sure who`d want to..."I've just seen the following headline on the FT website:"AA climbs 15% on reports of 2017 private equity takeover interest"I don't have access to the full article so still generally in the dark - we'll doubtless hear more on this tomorrow. But I would observe, if this about an approach, whether actual or potential, back last year, it would have been on the basis of a price way above the current SP... would be kind of nice for private equity to bail us out here, given it was they who stiffed all the shareholders with its "unique" capital structure back at the IPO...
Bill1703
07 Mar 2018
Re: 12% pop "... perhaps Neil Woodford has bought the rest of the company ?... or was that the other AA he's turning to? "I doubt Woody has any money left for that, Games - what with all his clients cashing in, and the need to keep some back for the various emergency rights issues his biggest holdings have sprung on him...But I alsodoubt he's turned to the bottle, even now - despite you holding his feet to the fire. He's far too healthy and generally dull for that..."Maybe we'll get our money back eventually lol !!... Oh why oh why was I so lax in thought to enter into this eh?"You knew what you were doing, Games - and what this was. Highly speculative, with a wide range of potential outcomes - in either direction!Anyway... don't be so short term! Plenty of time to make it all back, and more... or indeed lose the rest of it, of course... Over 14m shares traded .... not sure the normal volume is for this, but that sounds heavy. Could be something is indeed "up"... maybe Numberbiter has turned buyer?
contrarianstyle
07 Mar 2018
Re: 12% pop hmm a bidder would be ideal at the moment but not sure who`d want to... I did top up at around 75p recently as looked too oversold
gamesinvestor
07 Mar 2018
Re: 12% pop It looks like someone is buying the AA, it's up 15.35% as I type.Maybe we'll get our money back eventually lol !!Games -- Oh why oh why was I so lax in thought to enter into this eh?
contrarianstyle
07 Mar 2018
Re: 12% pop Can`t find anything either at moment. usually when woodfood buys it drops, so maybe he`s sold up 
gamesinvestor
07 Mar 2018
Re: 12% pop Can't see anything -- perhaps Neil Woodford has bought the rest of the company ?Games - or was that the other AA he's turning to?
contrarianstyle
07 Mar 2018
12% pop Sudden 12% rally on my screen. looking to see if any news
kracken
07 Mar 2018
winter weather costs With the harsh weather of late it does impact massively on roadside costs with having to increase the garaging budget which can happen most years but AA have been lucky for the past 6-7 years with mild winters in comparison to this winter but the difference this winter is the roadside patrols have not been offered any incentives to work extra hours that were desperately needed hence garage expenses increased.Indoor staff were offered incentives so as you can imagine this upset a lot of roadside staff who didn't begrudge indoor staff the extra pay but felt it should have been paid to all.
Bill1703
06 Mar 2018
Re: charlatan on trading update "Some would argue it has already collapsed so i presume you are saying that the AA will be finished in the not to distant future?"FYI - Numberbiter first popped up on the AA board on 22nd Feb this year, the day after the SP collapsed to 83p. So, sure, it's gone down a bit more since then - but hardly the stuff of George Soros??As I've argued before, with substantial SP slumps following new information, it is more likely than not that a SP continues to slip for a while at least, until the market finds some kind of level of support, if not outright confidence. So NB is generally on fairly safe ground, on average, with his habitual after-the-event "Strong Sell" calls. "As I have said a number of times, it is easy to predict that a share price will collapse, it is just impossible to know when. AA's price will collapse when you least expect it."Well, it's obviously easy enough to know when your share price has just collapsed - Numberbiter will suddenly pop up on your board with a "Strong Sell" tag! And most likely with the usual Janet-and-John accounting tale about intangible assets being worthless and your business being "effectively bust"... I stress, once again, that NB may well be proved "right", in this case... sometimes, in such cases, stocks recover and often even prosper, in due course - and sometimes they don't. Only time will tell here... and given the market mindset is now (clearly) firmly against it, it is likely to be a long haul, at best. FWIW I, like JDS and perhaps a couple of others on here, remain optimistic on a number of counts ... but here, more than usually, the normal warnings should apply... "caveat emptor", DYOR and so on.
Bill1703
06 Mar 2018
Re: charlatan on trading update "... I am holding (in percentage terms) more cash than normal... I did recently take a punt (half my usual stake) on Moss Brothers... I bought Easyjet on the grounds that Monarch went bust and Ryanair was experiencing problems... I believe there is still some way to go... A significant proportion of my portfolio is in shares where the local currency is the Euro as I believe that after Brexit Europe will recover quicker."Thanks NB - it is always interesting to hear what others are thinking, and about their experiences, good and bad!FWIW I too am fairly "long cash", though less so after putting a fair chunk in after the original recent 'correction'. On balance, I am still looking to run this down, albeit with a cautious eye on things generally... but in general, I am a big believer in the adage that "time in the market" is what delivers long term returns, not "timing the market".Haven't looked at Moss Bros for a while, but I do have a few (probably more than enough) UK retail punts. Contrary to current (market) expectations, the whole of Retail simply ain't going to disappear down the plughole (or into the Amazon vortex), and I have no doubt that some current valuations will prove to have been a wonderful entry point - but as to which ones, that (as ever) is a very good question!As for EasyJet, I've always stuck to the rule of "never invest in football clubs, investment banks and airlines" - inter alia, all businesses where it's generally better to be an employee than an owner! Though I suspect it's somewhat old-hat now, with the likes of EYJ and RYA having rewritten the industry rules... probably still a case of, there're good times to buy them and good times to sell 'em, but EYJ doesn't look too demanding at the moment. And I am aware that my structural reticence stopped me buying WizzAir when I was intrigued, and that would've done me very nicely...As for Euro stocks vs GBP, longer term... it kind of depends what Brexit we end up with! But a bit of balance seems broadly sensible at the moment - and neither Euro nor UK markets are at all expensive currently (with a large number of compelling opportunities on both sides of the Channel).
Johandesilva
06 Mar 2018
Re: charlatan on trading update Excellent debate; however we have not identified what exactly has changed to cause the City to buy this from 250p to 400p and then back down 70p???"I agree that I am assuming that the banks will not lend AA anymore money, but the clue is that the dividend has been slashed." - The clue was in the strategy; that is to build a business for the long run. Burrowing more money would not fit in with this strategy and that of the previous aiming to reduce "both the amount of debt and the cost of servicing it over time". If anyone has any evidence to prove they are not delivering this please let us know.
kracken
06 Mar 2018
Re: charlatan on trading update Some would argue it has already collapsed so i presume you are saying that the AA will be finished in the not to distant future?I would have thought that there would be a lot of director buys at these levels unless they agree with nb
