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| Sunday, May 17, 11:55:41pm | [ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, [3], 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ] |
| Subject: ERG smartens up with new dealsOctober 1, 2003 | |
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Author: But in Rome, its malfunctioning e-ticket machines are being blamed for traffic snarls. |
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Date Posted: Tuesday, September 30, 09:45:20am In reply to: Newspapers reporting result--March 7 2003 SMH 's message, "Noteholders have tickets to ride" on Thursday, March 06, 08:38:56am ERG smartens up with new dealsOctober 1, 2003 Print this article Email to a friend But in Rome, its malfunctioning e-ticket machines are being blamed for traffic snarls. Smartcard outfit ERG treated its shareholders to not one but two you-beaut announcements yesterday. The first concerns ERG teaming up with T-Systems International, a division of Deutsche Telekom, for upcoming ticketing tenders in Europe. The second revealed ERG and another IT partner, Northrop Grumman Corp, were pressing ahead with a project that "will enable residents of the Washington DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia" areas to use one card to pay for all types of public transport. Good news for ERG's wine-making chief Peter Fogarty, who's watched the much maligned stock tick upwards in the past couple of weeks. This all follows yet another missive last Friday, confirming ERG had "restructured" its Rome ticketing deal. Early this month, Fogarty explained the restructure thus: "The Lazio contract didn't proceed because of changes in the ruling political parties in that region. "And because of that, [business] became less aggressive about roll-out and continued selling paper tickets, which meant the revenue we were generating from the project was significantly less than it should have been." advertisement advertisement The other version is that Rome has many traffic problems and ERG is one of them. Italy's major daily, Corriere della Sera, claims Romans have found it difficult to buy tickets since ERG won the contract four years ago to install the region's first electronic ticketing system. Reportedly, machines on buses have not always worked, leaving travellers to scrawl the date and time on the ticket or be liable to a fine of €100 ($171). The paper adds that some automated ticket vendors failed to respond even after angry kicks. The Italian deal, which had been expected to yield revenue of $400 million over nine years, would now provide ERG with $50 million in cash upfront from a range of transactions plus an expected $96 million from its share of transit fares processed by the system over eight years. Shareholders may feel reassured by the company's statement that the "immediate profit and loss impact of the restructure to ERG will be neutral". Allied to do a runner? On a rare quiet day for Peter Lehmann shareholders it's worth considering what Allied and its advisers at Goldman Sachs might do when, as expected, the winemaker's directors back a lower but less complicated bid from Swiss rival Hess Group after today's board meeting. One option, of course, is for 15 per cent shareholder Allied to up its $4 offer (conditional on 50.1 per cent of acceptances) to a number the board will have to accept. Obviously, the higher the number, the more difficult it will be for shareholders to listen to founder Peter Lehmann's appeals to ignore the London-based Allied and sell a third of their shares to the Swiss-based Hess. The other course of action is to take the money and run. Hess has a $3.85 offer on the table, which is getting very close to the $3.93 entry price Allied paid for its 15 per cent stake. When you take into account positive currency movements, Allied's entry price is more like $3.60 a share - meaning, at the very least, it's sitting on a handy paper profit. Fairfax bid questioned Most analysts were yesterday describing John Fairfax's takeover bid for Text Media as a sensible defensive move. They also said the deal raised as many questions as it answered. For example, what will the company - publisher of the Herald - do in Sydney, where it also faces competition for real estate advertising dollars from glossy suburban newspapers? And what are its long-term plans to meet the challenge from internet companies such as Seek.com that are competing for Fairfax's jobs classifieds? Analysts at Citigroup say such a purchase " is not viable in Sydney where competition and acquisition targets are far more significant". Citigroup also thinks there's a chance of the Melbourne deal being blocked by competition regulators or by a higher bid. Self-fulfilling prophesy It seems the good folk at theinsidetrader.com.au have breathed some life into De Grey Mining, the West Australian gold explorer whose backers include well known prospectors Denis O'Meara, Mark Creasy and Peregrine Corporate - deal-doer Bryan Frost's answer to corporate advisory. Having dawdled around the 12c recently, the stock took off last week, touched 20c on Monday and closed at 18c yesterday. The run prompted a speeding ticket. De Grey said it was not aware of any specific reason for the rise, although it did acknowledge an on-line article last week identifying De Grey as "stock pick of the week". Edited by Jan Eakin [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
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| ERG chief steps aside to recuperate from accident | October 24, 2003 | Sunday, January 25, 09:48:26am |