Does not look like the board even know what is happening or even what to say!
Are there cracks starting to appear?
Comment & Analysis
Silverjet Shoots Itself Down By David Stevenson
Onwards and upwards. Or not, in the case of Luton-based business-class-only carrier Silverjet (LSE: SIL), whose board had a quite extraordinary 'senior moment' this morning.
Two apparently conflicting trading statements within twenty five minutes left investors baffled and the share price battered, fuelling fears of more turbulence at the troubled airline.
At 7.01 am today, Silverjet (LSE: SIL.L - news) cautioned: "We no longer expect the group to be broadly cash neutral...by 31 March 2008".
But by 7.26 am, this had morphed to: "Whilst we expect the group to absorb cash (this financial year), the board continues to be confident Silverjet will be cash generative in March 2008".
Shum mistake surely!
Perhaps the management has had a rapid re-think.
Or maybe it's that early start, befuddling the brain.
Though neither these, nor any other explanation, appear to have filled the market exactly sky-high with confidence.
Particularly after the carrier 'fessed up to a January load factor, the proportion of seats sold per flight, of just 54%. Not only has this dipped below the 12 month average of 58%, it stacks up badly against the 64% level initially specified by the company as a break-even requirement.
After an initial 20% plunge, Silverjet shares rallied briefly but were still over 18% adrift at time of writing.
It all tends to reinforce a bit of recent analytic cynicism...
You may recall the company experiencing a little local difficulty less than three weeks ago. Broker Daniel Stewart had published a damning verdict on the airline's business model, forecasting that Silverjet was "doomed to fail after running out of money".
The carrier's management then hit back, unusually, with an official statement challenging several aspects of the broker's report, claiming the research contained "numerous material mistakes and inaccuracies" including overstated cost estimates.
But now, Silverjet's earlier forecasts of cash generation next year are clearly looking more questionable.
And previous protestations that the airline is in a strong financial position to "revolutionise long-haul business flying" are hardly looking more credible.