Buyer is stalking the Irish unit of NTL

viking

Check out:

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=184&si=661254&issue_id=6592

The cable group denies it faces a cash crisis. It is understood to have agreed with banks and bond holders that it will run the business from now on by extracting as much cash as possible to repay debts to these groups, rather than investing in new assets for future growth.

methinks NTL are in serious trouble...

V

MarcusGarvey

This article is written by a Journalist employed by the boss of a rival cable company so its not going to be positive coverage no matter what. Ironic that what they said the company is going to do is probably what will happen with Eircom too.

I wonder will they recoup the money they payed Eircom and RTE for it ?

Doubt it.

Boston

it is my understanding that they allready have, and that the irish ntl is actually making very good profits but is being held back by its parent companies investments in england and other palces.
the .5billion debt it had/has is nothing compared to want it owes

Dustaz

I havnt been keeping up with the finanial reports of ntl, but id be suprised if bostons take on it is wrong. I cant see how a company with a virtual monopoly in Dublin and other areas can be losing money.
Of course worldwide they are in enourmous trouble. didnt they just let a load of staff go?

dahamsta

The Irish Independent reports that a potential bidder for NTL's Irish cable TV business has been preparing a takeover offer in recent weeks. The Irish Independent says a London venture capital house has been assembling an approach for the Dublin-based business in the past four weeks. It was unclear whether NTL, which is based in New York, had yet received the overture. A spokesperson for the Irish operation refused to comment. According to accounts, the business here suffered a pretax loss of IEP9.3 million in 2000, down from a profit of IEP19.1 million which it made the previous year.

http://www.enn.ie/news.html?code=5257074

adam

Boston

dahamsta, im sorry but that is a indy story, which never quiet lies but leaves out certain truths and adds allot of crap.
ask yourself why they didnt put in 2001 profits as well

Bluehair

I remember reading that Ireland has one of the highest cable penetrations in the world so you'd imagine that someone could make it viable independantly of a big group like NTL.

Btw I was on the phone today to check about NTL Digital and Cable-Internet. For a company trying to 'extract as much cash as possible' they hadn't bothered to inform me I could upgrade to Digital now, despite repeated phonecalls a few months ago and promises that as soon as it was available in my area they would contact me.

As for Cable-Internet I was told 18-24 MONTHS before my area *might* be ready (D3). Oh well... guess it's gonna be 'bend-over for Eircom' time....

Boston

no, in dublin we do, of all the cities in the world we have one of the highest, which when you think about it is pretty amazing.
i dont think theres another city you will see the level of cable as here. the Quailty on the other hand is a different story

smokin' an'chewin' man

Originally posted by viking

The cable group denies it faces a cash crisis. It is understood to have agreed with banks and bond holders that it will run the business from now on by extracting as much cash as possible to repay debts to these groups, rather than investing in new assets for future growth.

Seems like IOFFL should be immediately and officially submit to the ODTR that NTL is no longer in a position to deliver on it's commitments as part of it's license contract - and this license should be withdrawn immediately.

SkepticOne

Originally posted by smokin' an'chewin' man


Seems like IOFFL should be immediately and officially submit to the ODTR that NTL is no longer in a position to deliver on it's commitments as part of it's license contract - and this license should be withdrawn immediately.

In what way have NTL not met their licence requirements?

BTW, I'm not a huge fan of NTL:

Sunday Times: NTL lent $15m to bosses’ company

AS financial problems mounted at NTL earlier this year, the cable-television company chose to spend $15m of its scarce cash on propping up a near-bankrupt American telecoms firm — which happened to share with NTL its chairman, chief executive and three of its directors.

meglome

Fom an NTL Ireland source and I quote...

A number of rumours are appearing in the press about ntl, including some pretty negative predictions about the company's financial future. Much of what is being reported is repackaged news and doesn't reflect the positive actions being taken to secure the long-term financial health of the company.

ntl's market predictions have always been that we are fully funded until the end of Q2 2003 at which point we turn free cash flow positive. Analysts are now questioning our ability to deliver against these predictions. This has resulted in a downgrading of our debt ratings and a collapse in our share price.

ntl has now significantly altered business plans to deliver a free cash flow positive position much earlier than previously predicted. The details of these plans will be revealed to market analysts early in the New Year. Some of the details have already been made public, such as the reduction in headcount from 21,000 a year ago, to 13,000 by the end of Q1 2002. The essence of the plan is a reduction in operating expenses to improve EBITDA together with a significant reduction in capital expenditure. These two steps combined, will result in a very significant turnaround in the ntl's requirement for cash.

The effect on the share price and analysts sentiment to ntl is not expected to improve on announcement of the revised business plans. At the moment the markets are adopting a "show me" approach as opposed to a "tell me" approach. It will therefore probably be sometime in Q3, when the effects of the new plans are seen in quarterly results, that market reaction will be
seen.

hmmm

The worst part about that article is who the potential buyer is - "A London Venture Capital House".

Just what we need - both our main hopes for broadband internet owned by vultures who want to extract maximum profit in the immediate short term.

smokin' an'chewin' man

Originally posted by hmmm
The worst part about that article is who the potential buyer is - "A London Venture Capital House".

Just what we need - both our main hopes for broadband internet owned by vultures who want to extract maximum profit in the immediate short term.

a) How exactly could things be worse ??

b) Venture Capital =(usually)= Long term.

smokin' an'chewin' man

Originally posted by SkepticOne

In what way have NTL not met their licence requirements?

Huh ? Doesn't the license commit them to actually DELIVER ? And fi they are slashing their capital investment how on earth can they deliver ? It's time the license was withdrawn and redistributed.
IOFL should be at the forefront of this.

SkepticOne

Originally posted by smokin' an'chewin' man


Huh ? Doesn't the license commit them to actually DELIVER ? And fi they are slashing their capital investment how on earth can they deliver ? It's time the license was withdrawn and redistributed.
IOFL should be at the forefront of this.

NTL have indicated that their emphasis will be on extracting revenue rather than investment but they still need to meet their minimal licence requirements. If anyone has evidence that they are not currently meeting their requirements, let's hear it.

hmmm

Originally posted by smokin' an'chewin' man
a) How exactly could things be worse ??

b) Venture Capital =(usually)= Long term.

Worse? Yes good point I think they could still be worse though. Leveraged venture capital buyouts tend to take on massive debts, because they believe they can sweat the existing assets and sell out quick. Long term investing is sacrificed for short term profits and cash flow. It's what we're about to see at Eircom...

viking

The worst part about that article is who the potential buyer is - "A London Venture Capital House"

One Person who won't be buying NTL...

Denis O'Brien.

Quote from today's SBP:

[Denis] O'Brien has also ruled out bidding for the former Cablelink, his spokesman said. There has been speculation that Cablelink, now owned by British telco NTL, could come on the market given NTL's financial difficulties.

Link: http://www.sbpost.ie/story.jsp?bottomadvert=/common/adverts/bottom/null.jsp&rightadverts=PersonalStandard&rightnav=/common/navs/right/sponsorsnav.jsp&leftadverts=BusinessStandard&advert=/common/adverts/top/sundaypaper.htm&title=Sunday+Paper&story=WCContent;id-34558&list=businesspost

(Also an interesting 3G article...)