Jesimore,I have been holding AXM for some months, and watching...

Jesimore,

I have been holding AXM for some months, and watching HC threads of course. I thought (hoped?) you tended to be a bit too much to the negative side, but always valued your posts. With hindsight, you have been much closer to the mark than a lot of wishful thinkers here. In these times, a company with positive news to report could be expected to do so. Conversely, the recent silence from AXM does now appear to be have been due to delays, and possibly other unexpected cost overruns ( I agree with Webral above that there are quite a few unanswered questions about the numbers!)

Re the issue of "trust in management" that often seems to be thrown back at anyone who raises any questions, let me say in advance that I did research both the company and its top management to a reasonable extent (commensurate with my investment/risk profile), and actually do still think AXM is a reasonable LT hold. That said, the managers are no personal mates of mine. I don't know them personally at all, so why should I trust them as individuals? Track records are useful, but as the brokers say, past performance is not a guarantee of future performance. I have been burnt by enough supposedly "good" managers in supposedly blue chip companies (e.g. CBA, IPL, TSE) of late to not place blind faith in any managers, especially when most of them have not weathered anything like the current economic conditions.

So Jes, please keep up the good work, and continue raising the issues and questions that we should all be pondering.

Cheers,

J