A consolidation is simply a reduction in the number of shares on...

A consolidation is simply a reduction in the number of shares on issue. While you end up with less shares, the value of those shares increases proportionally.
If it is done as a 1 for 10 consolidation then you end up holding 1 share for every 10 that you previously held and the share price would increase by a factor of 10 resulting in the value of your holdings remaining constant. The company ends up with one tenth the number of shares on issue but the market cap stays the same.

No difference to the fundamentals, the value of your holding or the market cap of the company. It is simply a type of window dressing where the company miraculously ends up with one tenth as many shares on issue and then people stop complaining that there are too many shares on issue - as if it makes any difference to anything. Waste of time and money IMO. Some investors think it's good to have less shares while others fear it because many stocks doing a consolidation often fall in value afterwards. However it's not the consolidation that makes those stocks drop but other factors which would have seen those stocks drop in any case- consolidation or no consolidation. The consolidation in some of those cases is most likely done as a distraction from real problems those companies are facing.