ok so my head hurts from reading that. I would suggest someone may not have been taking their medication.
"truth is not as straightforward a notion as some would believe" Yes it is.
Q: What contracts do we hold for Jabiru 2?
A: The sky is made from jelly.
The actual question has a truthful answer. Jabiru 2 has X contracts totaling Y revenues. This represents Z% capacity on the satellite. This is a straightforward question with a quantifiable answer based on factual information available to the company. Any answer that can be empirically backed up with the evidence from their auditable records can be considered 'truth'. The answers they have provided can be considered 'untruths' or some might say 'lies'.
Q: Do we have finance?
A: ??
Now this is where the 'truth' may need clarification with some context. It maybe not straightforward. The answer might actually be 'no but if we get these few things sorted out we will'. The 'truth' is actually 'no'. There may be certain events occurring which have the potential to change the status from 'no' to 'yes' if certain conditions are met but the truthful answer is still 'no'.
A simple illustration will bring this home. I tell you if you stand on one foot, pat your head and rub your tummy I will give you $10. Do you have the $10? Truth = no. You will only get it if you meet the conditions. If you stand on one foot to you have $10? No. You have not met all the criteria. If you stand on one foot AND rub your tummy do you have $10? No - you still haven't done everything. If I give you $10 in anticipation you will pat your head soon then you will have the money BUT it is not yours until you do EVERYTHING I ASK. The truth is until you do everything the money belongs to me and I can ask for it back anytime until you meet ALL my conditions precedent to giving you the $10.
This is the situation we are in. We have not met all the conditions precedent and until we do the truth is WE DO NOT have finance finalised. We have a very very very good chance of having it and the money people are still willing to talk to us and MAY change their conditions (I may not require you to pat your tummy) but ultimately it is their choice. That is the 'truth'. ASX disclosure rules are not written in relativism they have some black and white truths and if you don't believe me read the company's accounts. If you don't know what I am talking about look at how the debt is classified and read the notes.
Now does all this mean we are lost? By no means. We are still negotiating with our lenders and will know in 2 weeks where we stand (unless of course it goes past the date Newsat told us - ie they told us an 'untruth'). Given the current situation it is time for Ballantine to move aside. He has disgraced the company, damaged our reputation with financial bodies and failed to deliver on any number of commitments he has made. That, in anyone's book is reason enough to sack a CEO. Adding insult to injury we paid him $3m last year (including $900k loan which will probably be non-recourse if he is sacked) to fail in delivering anything to shareholders. A few examples:
* the fact bonuses have been paid for financial close despite it not actually being closed but subject to conditions precedent
* recent media reports about company excess
* Jabiru 2 spins in orbit empty despite promises it would be full prior to launch - and we are paying the owner without receiving any revenues
* TrustComm action shows our customers are losing face
"Very little in life boils down to zero-sum"
Does anyone believe that this comment applies to a listed stock? I can tell you if we don't get the finance the worth of our shares will be zero-sum. XXXXXXX x $0.00 = $0.00
