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From: | "Ian Andrews" <iandrews@ihug.co.nz> |
Date: | Sat, 3 Nov 2001 08:43:11 +1300 |
The recent "profit announcement" is just a repeat
of the estimate delivered by the company on March 6, so if anything it is
already factored in the price. 7 months have elapsed since
March 31 but the figure in the press last week is still not audited. Rather, the
Wilson Neill board, without any fanfare, pushed the Balance Date back to 30
June. Is delay in reporting audited results ever designed to benefit
shareholders? I think there is more likely to be unpleasant news coming when the
audited 15 month result is delivered; with losses being booked on NZ Business
Times, Flying Pig, Yipee , Estar & Radionet to name a few. The
Company admitted in the ODT article that WECU is 5 months behind already in
settling on the Radionet purchase.
A charge was placed on the full Wilson Neill
group of companies on 11 October. This points to either additional indebtedness
or scared existing creditors.I'm not aware of any business
acquisitions. Could it be that Wecu ( a Carribean-based company
which nobody can find much about) have secured their own debts over
WNC?
Small investors should look for companies with
reliable management, good governance & at least one independent
director. Tim Connell promised all of these in February, but since Wecu ousted
him in July he has gone to ground, & his role in the Wecu takeover has never
been explained.
There is still no independent director on the
Board; but then I couldn't see anyone worthwhile wanting to become
asociated with the this level of secrecy.
Certainly, the same people are running the company,
including Chairman Mason, convicted & fined $20,000 in the Dunedin Court in
June for not disclosing several massive share issues & who has just been
censured & fined for the second time by the Institute of Chartered
Accountants over his handling of Wilson Neill affairs.
Forms continue to be filed late at the Companies
Office. The imminent letter to shareholders promised 6 weeks ago has still to
materialise. Ditto for the announcement from Wecu of 4 months
ago.
The only business worth serious mention is Cobb
& Co, which succeeds because the restaurants are managed by owner-operators
who know their business - WNC merely clips the ticket. IT Media's
Rugby, Fishing & Boating titles seem to be popular, but they seem to be
carrying a disproportionate number of losers.
The rest of the group is hot air.
Brokers have been trying to sell large blocks of
WNC shares offmarket at 1.8 cents recently, so the current price is no surprise.
It seems to have now dropped out of the descending triangle which saw the
price bounce of crucial support at 2 cents. 2 cents, by the way, was the price
at which shares were issued when the company recapitalised 3 years ago.The next
meaningful support level would probably be 1 cent, making it a high risk
trade. It might reach Cavill White's 30 cent price target of a year ago;
but I would expect to see pigs flying first.
Disc: Own 2200 shares.
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