wsj article, page-11

This sounds like a general media briefing he has given, probably by phone, hence the "here in Australia". If it was a WSJ exclusive, I have a feeling they would have said so. We don't know when it took place either, but I would assume yesterday US time.

I'm always disappointed when I get information through the media or other sources. It happens so often with so many companies. I realised a long time ago that the playing field is not level but rather than let it eat me up, I just change my game to compensate.

There are two key pieces of newish information in here:

1. "Mr. Rufrano said it was unlikely that Centro wouldn't be granted an extension."

Which I think is one of the best indications of an Australian bank debt extension we have heard from the company to-date.

2. "The reason we can do this is because we've been given good support from our banks to not force us to make a deal" to sell properties or equity at detrimental prices."

We long thought that the banks may be forcing Centro to make a deal to get the loans paid back without regard for the shareholders. This does not now appear to be the case. It also suggests we may not see a sale of CAF or CAWF in the short term, which is great news for earnings and decoupling the complex ownership.


As for the administration part, there could be a number of reasons for mentioning this but, when you couple it with "unlikely an extension won't be granted" I suspect it means there are a few more Is and Ts to cross and dot before it's in the bag. With multiple lenders, multiple entities, etc, etc, I imagine this is a mountain of complexity.

Being around corporations for so long, the cynic in me knows that the top guys always under-promise and over-deliver. I can just hear, "Gee Glenn, it seemed like you were almost in administration there for a while. You did a great job pulling the company through and scoring those loan extensions."

So in summary, from what the big fella said it's unlikely that the company won't be given an extension and the banks are not forcing them to made a deal on asset sales or equity injection.

Well dunno about y'all, but boy am I glad we bought some more CNP this week. With only 7 days to go, I reckon we'll be fine.