Up or Down ??, page-4019

Warburton @ CEDA: " Seven is viewed as legacy media with a multiple valuation to match what people see asa declining industry. While of course you’d expect me to disagree, time and time again the facts prove thiswrong. While it’s something that really frustrates me, it’s our fault. We haven’t toldour story clearly or strongly enough."

What a load of B/S. Stop trying to sell a story. Pay a dividend. The biggest load of crap is when CEOs (on massive, massive multi-million dollar packages) bemoan the market's mis-appreciation of their company.

SWM HAS NOT PAID A DIVIDEND OR BOUGHT BACK ANY SHARES FOR FIVE YEARS.

This means that those who view it as "a legacy media with a multiple valuation to match what people see asa declining industry" are right. It used to make money and pay dividends, it hasn't for 5 years. If that's not a declining industry James, what is? And if its not the industry, is it just your under-performing company?

Its simple, if there is no consistent, ongoing financial return to shareholders, the company is worthless. Believe it or not, some people don't want to have to constantly trade shares to get a return. Moreover, such a practice only takes money from some shareholders and gives it to others. Its a zero sum game. Unless a company pays dividends or buys back its own shares, shareholders are simply in a crap game - they may get lucky and buy / sell at the right time, but for every lucky shareholder, there's an unlucky one.

So James, spare us the crap. Not only are you ridiculously paid, you never buy a single share on market. Your master is worse.

@Snow123 - I understand your frustration, but "manipulation" can't take place if a company pays regular dividends. Your frustration should be directed at Wurburton and Stokes.

@Lev20 - a PE ratio is only relevant if a company pays dividends, as its a proxy for the sustainability of its dividends and the potential return relative to the risk-free interest rate. There's a massive list of companies that have failed to pay dividends and then wasted the retained earnings on ridiculous executive salaries and stupid, executive-ego-stroking investments. SWM has form in this regard.