down 22% in one day, page-11

Wow, smashed!

The posts I made a few months back still hold true. In short, management still have a massive task to turn this company around. If we cast our minds back long enough, WAN was trading at $11 and there were still buy recommendations from brokers. If management can turn things around there will be great buying opportunities along the way. I sometimes think dividend yield clouds judgement on this stock. I want strong strategic outcomes first.

My concerns at the moment:
-'poor advertising conditions' is a cop-out. I think performance is more to do with their offering (platforms and content). Current conditions will be an ongoing reality.
- paid too much for afl rights. Too many eggs in one basket!
- fragmentation of media landscape continues to devalue traditional media
- org structure still means media inventory is still being sold in silos.
Advertisers/ marketers aren't interesting in just buying newspaper or tv placements, it's about reaching the right targeted audience as efficiently as possible. Where is the cross-platform packaging when it comes to meeting needs?
- Debt. And lots of it.
- as they say, content is king and I don't think they are in the best position to deliver the best content through right platforms to Australian households.

I reckon the ISPs/ telcos are better poisoned to capitalize on new content as they have the technical ability to deliver and have access to data rich subscriber bases. IMO they will become the next dominant players in the media game and their business models will evolve. I think IIN is a prime example and a winning horse worth backing. I've been building my holding over several years now.

As another alternate media stock I reckon APN is also worth a look due to cheap price and exposure to outdoor media. Outdoor is one of the few media assets that are delivering growth as its not subjected to the same fragmentation or change in audience habbits as TV or press. Many advertisers are now shifting TV and press dollars to outdoor to combat these issues. The private equity guys are certainly awake to this as evidenced by recent developments. They are on to something!

Anyway having said all this, there are some smart people running Swm and could be worth a nibble at current prices, but my interest in media is predominantly with other stocks. Thanks for reading.