struggling again, page-2

Hi, Allco has been raising quite a deal of debt and equity lately, most recently its hybrid notes issue.

There have been articles filtering through the major papers about the series of funds it will be setting up, including a new unlisted $500M aviation fund being offered to institutional investors. Like Macquarie and BNB it will establish a further series of funds producing recurring fee income, catering to the superannuation and wealth management boom for hopefully some time to come. Indeed funds management is becoming the new focus area for Allco's future growth, particularly with the relatively recent appointment of David Clark as CEO. David Coe has been Chairman as well as Managing Director for a while now so two heads will now be better than one without the distraction of the protracted Qantas bid.

I agree that while AFG has seen little SP growth this last year, it has a very impressive longer term chart.
It is clearly a growth stock in that regard and it may well be still settling its merger with Record. Staff numbers have been increasing - as the usual earnings growth gauge - along with its geographical representation. Key investments like its US wind farms are also starting to come on line.

The impact of the Qantas bid failing would have hit more than any of the bidders care to admit. The bid dragged on so long, one day it was totally off, the next totally on, etc. AFG's SP was dragged up then heavily down. AFG senior management would no doubt have been completely distracted by the sheer drama of this audacious attempt.

I think a lot of people are scratching their heads why the Qantas takeover was even attempted given the Government/union/xenophopic aspects and the sheer scale. Declaring the bid price final as soon as the Board accepted it sealed the ultimate outcome. That said, it showed AFG had the guts and the muscle to go for the massive returns on offer!