news:uk bookies bet against multiplex. Hope the contractors aren't taking the price!!
Daily Telegraph
Multiplex tackles new problem
By JOHN ROLFE Business Editor
January 06, 2006
FRESH doubts have emerged that Multiplex can finish Wembley Stadium before the FA Cup final.
A leading bookmaker has begun offering shorter odds on the game being played at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium than at Wembley.
London newspaper The Daily Mail reported on Wednesday that any chance of the new stadium being completed for the May 13 final had "effectively disappeared" because of a four-month delay in building a walkway.
A dispute with Quintain Estates, a local landowner, means the path won't be finished until "well into May", the paper added.
This report – and the demand from punters – has led Britain's No. 2 bookmaker William Hill to slash its payout on the game being moved to Cardiff to just £1.50 per £1 bet. The return on Multiplex finishing the £760 million ($1.8 billion) stadium in time for the big game is now £2.50 per £1 bet.
The woes at Wembley have caused major damage to Multiplex's reputation, analysts say, not to mention financial losses of as much as $165 million – plus potential penalties of £14 million ($33 million) for missing the original January 31 handover deadline.
Multiplex's most recent statement to the stockmarket revealed a fifth earnings downgrade for 2005 and that it was aiming to complete construction by the end of March. However, Multiplex warned there remained "a material risk that these dates will not be achieved and the stadium will not be available" for the Cup final.
Work on the walkway only began on Tuesday. It was supposed to start in September.
A Multiplex spokesman yesterday said the delay was not its responsibility, but the client's.
The path is supposed to take 20 weeks to build.
That suggests Multiplex would fail to finish it in time.
However, work will be "accelerated", the Multiplex spokesman said.
"We think we can get there. This is a challenge we must overcome," he said.
There have been plenty of challenges already.
Reports of problems at Wembley first emerged in August 2004, although they were dismissed by Multiplex at the time.
In December that year, it raised $120 million from investors at $5.45 a share.
Two months later Multiplex shares slumped when the company said it wouldn't make a profit on Wem- bley and announced a $68 million writedown.
The founding Roberts family agreed to underwrite $50 million of losses.
The debacle eventually cost John Roberts his job as executive chairman in May when he revealed losses would reach $115 million.
Those estimates have since been widened to $165 million and ASIC is investigating.
Multiplex shares closed at $3.18 yesterday, up 5c.
MXG
multiplex group
