This was an interesting article. It's no surprise the company...

This was an interesting article. It's no surprise the company wheeled out the new chairman for an interview - this is standard practice when there has been a change. However, it looks like only The Australian got a crack at it. I wonder if this was deliberate or whether other papers will publish interviews in the next few days.

I like the fact we are seeing quotes from the chairman, not just the CEO. Healy went very quiet on us for a few months there.

Anyway, there were a few take-aways for me in this:

(Quote)
Mr Cooper said the latest debt reprieve of a fortnight ago, when its bankers extended $2.75 billion of borrowings until December 15, was a turning point for the group.
(End)

I wonder if it was a lot more touch-and-go than we thought leading up to the debt extensions? I imagine there was also a huge psychological element to this within the company as well.

(Quote)
"We're confident about our future and the banks have shown that they share our view," he said.

"With a good property portfolio and a track record of managing those assets well, the main issue for Centro is its balance sheet," he said. "If we can address the balance sheet correctly, we have a good future.
(End)

I like this part. The market is still pricing Centro for live/die and a comment from the Chairman in this regard is a big positive.

(Quote)
However, how much debt and an update on asset sales were questions the new chairman declined to answer.

"On sales, we're testing the market and we will see where that ends up."
(End)

This doesn't sound like a man who is in a huge rush to sell assets to me. This distils down to two scenarios: either they cannot sell assets due to price, etc. or they are working on a silver bullet solution which is going to reduce the number of assets needed to be sold. After all, we have been told the banks are not putting pressure on for asset sales and GR has said a couple of times that his preference (as an operator) is not to sell anything.