$40m asset sale in the context of a $9bn asset base... not even a rounding error.
That said, there are a few takeaways that one could make:
1. Selling an asset at 57% of its carrying value is somewhat of a comment about the shareholder value-diluting empire building that a succession of FBU executives have undertaken over the past 15 years, spurred on by dirt cheap cost of capital.
2. Why invest in, let alone operate and retain, a business that represents a mere 0.045% of your asset base?
3. I suspect FBU's portfolio contains many of these sorts of illogical, sub-scale business units which contribute negligible earnings and therefor are probably just a drain on management time and focus.
4. In the light of the above comments, if this portends something of a root-and-branch, strategic review of the company's asset base, it could be the start of a much-needed asset rationalisation phase which has the potential to restore part of the shareholder value that has been destroyed. But it is tantamount to unscrambling the egg, so I don't think one should hold one's breath.
FBU Price at posting:
$2.68 Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
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