dargieappreciate your posts and cautionary outlook on this one...

dargie

appreciate your posts and cautionary outlook on this one over recent weeks however, I do not share (to the same degree) the concerns of a few others here about the risks in BBI.

Unlike BNB, MFS, ABS, CNP/CER, OZL and a few others, BBI have had no negative news to the market over the entire time of all this crisis. Yep - they cancelled dividens - that was a wise and prudent move which (understandably) led to another sell off by Instos (Managed Funds etc) but they have had ZERO negative news about loan covenants, profit warnings, significant forced asset sales or loss of clients etc etc.

There is no indication that ANY of their lenders across any of their businesses is exerting ANY pressure on the group that I am aware of.

All that I AM aware of is that BBI management have proactively acknowledged that the world has changed and consequently that they need to review their business strategy (debt ratios, capoital management etc).

These guys haven't come running to the ASX every 5 minutes with news releases but they have kept the market informed about the business-as-usual events occuring across BBI. Managemenmt are clearly being prudent in exploring some asset sales, and have in fact pulled off a couple. They have acknowledged that the corporate debt is being discussed with lenders due to the changed global credit issues and actions are in place which are addressing this.

In a nutshell - there really hasn't been any fundamental "smell" about this one other than a mass sell off which may - in the fullness of time - prove to have been sheer panic (coupled with the need of Instos to sell down due to mass redemptions in Managed Funds).

BBI has always been highly leveraged. They have been addressing this in an orderly way.

I humbly suggest that the worries surrounding BBI have been overdetermined by the market.

In closing, let me re-iterate - I am not attacking you but I respectively disagree with your view that the risks outweigh the rewards at current prices.

Thanks agin for your analysis however, it is most appreciated.

Regards

Coop