rest in peace, page-3

re: atc looking good re announcement Hi Laurra,

Please compare and contrast the announcement of 28/11 to that of 6/11.

Similar number of minutes carried. Similar revenue. Except that, on 6/11, ATC advised the following:

"Advantage Telecommunications Limited (ASX: ATC) announced that it has received confirmation from the Chinese telecommunications authorities that the international base call rate for China has been increased
from circa US$0.02 to circa US$0.20 with effect fromthe 1st November 2002.

AdvanTel carried approximately 4m minutes of international traffic to China in the month of October 2002. Assuming no growth during November, the same traffic should generate a commensurate increase in
revenue at equivalent percentage margins. The company does not anticipate a material change in traffic as a result of the rate increase".

So, what happened to the revenue during November?

Why the need for additional working capital?

Is the company again fast runningout of working capital?

Being EBITDA positive for the day (ie: 24/11) is not the same thing as the Company being EBITDA positive generally.

What about the FNT transaction?

Just exactly where are the the E&Y and Aegis papers?

The fact that they have not yet been issued means that the Company's window of opportunity for holding an XGM by 31/12/02 is reduced to exactly that - 31/12/02.

Cutting it a bit fine, aren't they?

What of this announcemnt:
"Post the FNT transaction, AdvanTel's scale of
operations will make it appropriate and economic to establish and staff an office on the Eastern Seaboard of Australia with the specific task of managing the Company's investor and corporate relations".

Back on 17/9, ATC announced to the market that they were going to proceed with a dual listing in London.

In particular, they said the following:
"John Palermo, Chairman, said "Following a meeting of the Board it was agreed that the Company would move to obtain a dual listing in London. The proposed FNT acquisition will give the Company the critical mass and UK presence necessary to achieve such a listing".

I well remember Yanlin arguing some time ago that an Australian presence for ATC was irrelevant going forward, as the Australian market did not figure in ATC's calculations (ie: given its Chinese, European and USA connections).

At the time, I could understand Yanlin's reasoning on this.

I am, however, now somewhat mystified as to why an ostensibly Eurasian carrier operation, with little or no obvious connection to Australia, except for the fact that it is listed here, which previously has announced its intention to dually list in the UK, and which is trying to acquire a business which will grow its revenue base 30x or more, and cede control to the FNT shareholders, would now want to move to the east Coast of Australia.

Far from being a soothing or re-inforcing update to the markets, yesterday's announcement poses far more questions, and opens up many more wounds than what it otherwise seeks to close.

This company is still in need of demonstrating its reality to the market:
1)
closure on FNT;
2)
integrity of investor relations management;
3)
soundness of business plan; and
4)
reliability of forecasts.

In much the same way as criticsm has been levelled at some of the micro-intensity nature of my postings, and my lack of understanding of ATC's bigger picture, according to some posters, I ask you this:
1)
when was the last time that you ever heard of a company posting an ASX release saying that it was EBITDA positive on a particular day, or that it had derived a certain level of revenue for a particular day?

Granted, milestone announcements, such as the first $1.0m in monthly receipts, or a doubling in revenue to date, yes. But, EBITDA positive for a day. Give me a break.