Branson won't give up on Virgin Blue

[Wirraway]

Fri "The Australian"

Branson won't give up on Virgin Blue
Steve Creedy, Aviation writer
April 01, 2005

RICHARD Branson's Virgin Group has again expressed its determination to stay in Virgin Blue, saying it is confident the airline is well positioned to ride out current conditions.

In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange yesterday, Virgin Group, which founded the airline but sold down its stake in the 2003 share market float, said it had no intention of selling any of its shares under the Patrick offering of $1.90, due to expire at 7pm tonight.

"Virgin Group believes Virgin Blue is well positioned for the current tough trading conditions with a very low cost base, a motivated group of employees and cash reserves in excess of $600 million," Sir Richard said.

"Since Patrick Corporation announced its initial offer on January 28, Virgin Group has purchased further shares on market increasing our shareholding to 25.57 per cent."

The statement came as Patrick announced it had 54.26 per cent of Virgin and had no intention of increasing its bid or extending the offer.

Click here for FULL story (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12717662%255E23349,00.html)

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[TIMMEEEE]

Well no ****e Sherlock !

As of 4 pm Friday Corrigan has just over 64% of VB.
The Mum and Dad investors are now jaded with the Branson/Godfrey circus and fanfare that promised so much and delivered so little - in this case a loss of over 16%.
(And this was in a market period of rapid growth expansion).

Of course Branson will hold onto his shares.
Under Corrigan VB will be run like a more appropriate and competitive business without all the crap that went with keeping in line with the Virgin brandname.

Branson has done nothing in recent weeks but make a fool of himself, especially when he touted that the VB shares were currently independently valued between $2.45- $2.90.
That figure was referred to as nothing less than ludicrous and fanciful by both Corrigan as well as every banker/analyst in the industry.
They weren't actually sure whether Branson had lost the plot so to speak, especially seeing that he never divulged just whom valued those shares after being asked repeatedly by those involved.
Personally I would call it lying to the shareholders.

Facts speak louder than words and Corrigan has proven to be correct and won resoundingly.
From now on expect Virgin Blue to be run like an airline rather than a circus.

[HGW]

Oh how boring that will be. I suppose it will become another Ansett - DEAD. Oh well back to the good old days.

[HotDog]

TIMMEEEE, oh how I wish I were a fool like Richard Branson!

[matca]

I agree, what is it so far, 500 mil in a couple of years and still counting his moula??

[chief wiggum]

...a motivated group of employees...

What seems to motivate them ??? the money ? the terms and conditions ? the 30k they have spent on an endorsement ?

[HotDog]

Chief, you are obviously not one of their employees:rolleyes:

[BankAngle50]

HGW lets only hope it does indeed become another Ansett. At lease that company had some class or perhaps you prefer the thong trotting bottom dwellers that fly Jet*. Perhaps they will get rid of that “Flair” crap finally?:yuk:

The company announcement for VBA on the ASX today states Patrick holds 62% of the company. Looks like its curtains for Brett and Pac Blue!:ok:

[Wirraway]

Sat "Sydney Morning Herald"

Godfrey holds on as Patrick claims 62%
By Scott Rochfort
April 2, 2005

Virgin Blue chief executive Brett Godfrey has sent his strongest signal yet he has no intention of stepping down from the discount airline, declining to accept Patrick Corp's $1.90 a share takeover bid which closed on Friday night.

Mr Godfrey told his employees during the week that he intended to stay at Virgin Blue until the end of 2006. But his decision not to sell his $53 million stake in Virgin Blue to Patrick is seen as the first piece of solid evidence he plans to stay on for the foreseeable future.

"He has no intention of selling his shares - he believes in the long-term value of the company," Virgin Blue spokeswoman Amanda Bolger said.

Patrick Corp announced on Friday afternoon it had secured 62 per cent of the airline.

It was unclear what Patrick held when the bid closed at 7pm.

Talk that Mr Godfrey's days were numbered has been fuelled by the recent departure of the airline's co-founder and deputy chief executive, Rob Sherrard.

Mr Godfrey sold 5 million shares for $9.4 million in December, at an average $1.88 a share.

He still has 28.15 million shares, or 2.7 per cent of the airline.

Virgin Group's Sir Richard Branson has refused to sell his 25.6 per cent stake. With Patrick, Sir Richard and Mr Godfrey holding more than 90 per cent of the airline, Virgin Blue is likely to be a thinly traded stock.

Click here for FULL story (http://www.smh.com.au/news/Business/Godfrey-holds-on-as-Patrick-claims-62/2005/04/01/1112302238462.html)

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[HGW]

BankAngle50, I hope and pray it never becomes like Ansett - dead.
VB has all of the best attributes of the Ansett of 15 to 20 years ago. It was the last 10 years of management and unions that destroyed a great airline. Let's hope and pray that VB don't follow the same path with the "old school" business tactics that Corrigan will employ. So yeah, lets get rid of the flair and end up like the reported fantastic service and moral of Qantas. God help us.

[chief wiggum]

so if he has 2.15 million shares, which is 2.7% of the company , and the shares are valued at $1.90, then by my calcualtions the company, ON PAPER, is worth $1,980,925,925

[The_Cutest_of_Borg]

In my spare time I trade CFD's (like a virtual share for the uninitiated) with a mob called CMC. One of the advantages is the ability to short sell without going through the rigamorole you need for real shares.

They trade the top 250 shares on the ASX of which VBA is one of them. VBA just came up on their list of shares which they won't short sell. Why I don't know, I can only assume there is a good reason. The stock closed at 1.72 today, already well below it's IPO price.

The question is, what do CMC, an organisation that was prepared to take short selling orders on AMP throughout it's epic downhill run, know about VBA?

Not trying to bag VBA here, but if CMC did the same thing with QF, I'd be a tad concerned.