Aras,I think this point deserves its own thread and we haven't...

Aras,

I think this point deserves its own thread and we haven't discussed it sufficiently.

I make the following comment and would like the feedback of others:

If you are geared at a certain level, say 65%, this figure is a representation of liabilities over assets expressed as a percentage. Surely you realise that selling assets for less than book value and expressing this as a fraction and then a percentage means you reduce the numerator AND the denominator. Your BORROWINGS go down but so do your assets. Thus it stands to reason that although asset sales reduce BORROWINGS, the same asset sales in this climate can and probably will INCREASE the gearing ratio NOT decrease it.

This does not change my view on CER. Quite the opposite, it re-enforces what and why GR has said what he has said.