Share Dealing Discussion Area

Blah99

sabretoothtigger wrote: »

Pretty much a given for any normal company in the uk I'd say. Think I heard similar of BA/Quantas

I think the BA-Quantas issue was that Australian regulatory authorities require domestic airlines to own a majority share of any group airline. Quantas therefore wanted 51% of the BA-Quantas merger, and BA said that didn't represent the relative value of the airlines. Something like that anyway, I didn't pay too much attention.

sabretoothtigger

I hadnt heard that but that figures since I think the two companies have considered this before but met problems

But also:

MERGER negotiations between British Airways Qantas Airways are threatened to be overshadowed by the companies' pensions liabilities, which dwarf their combined market capitalisations by a factor of almost five.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,24749141-23349,00.html

Many pension schemes have seen their funding levels drop heavily - many of those in Britain have gone from 100 per cent to 70 per cent, according to investment consultants, as a result of falling markets. Consultants said many of these pension schemes will have to rely on the companies that sponsor them for more contributions of capital to make up for the deficit.

Blah99

Ah, interesting. Here's what I was talking about, I nearly got it right:

http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/bbdp/british-airways-qantas-in-merger-talks/265010

The BA confirmation on the talks came a day after the Australian government disclosed that it plans to increase the level of foreign ownership allowed in Qantas, but will not permit a takeover. Australian law currently limits a single foreign holding to 25 percent, while a group of foreign holdings can total 35 percent. A federal government policy paper released Monday proposes lifting the foreign ownership limit - whether by one company or a group of companies - to 49 percent. That would allow Qantas and BA to swap equal stakes in each other.

sabretoothtigger

Maybe a special dividend to ba shareholders would address the imbalance then, that'll be nice for them

fullstop

Well, glad I am not a shareholder in HBOS after it lost 90% of it's value this year.

Only bought two shares this year, Diageo which has done very well, and Synergy Health which is showing a small loss, so feeling OK with my picks this year.

sabretoothtigger

Sounds good, I wonder how many of those shares there are besides utilities and oil perhaps.
Standard life was showing a gain on the year up until about a week ago

fullstop

sabretoothtigger wrote: »

Sounds good, I wonder how many of those shares there are besides utilities and oil perhaps.
Standard life was showing a gain on the year up until about a week ago

Wish I had bought some Standard Chartered this year, up another 41p today, so that's one bank that has done very well this year amid the carnage of the other banks.

sabretoothtigger

No, recently yea I would like to be buying into them long term as they operate investments overseas not the uk

Over the year they have halved afaik. 10% yield if the dividend sticks

fullstop

sabretoothtigger wrote: »

No, recently yea I would like to be buying into them long term as they operate investments overseas not the uk

Over the year they have halved afaik. 10% yield if the dividend sticks

Yes I see they have fallen by more than 45% this year, the last month was probably the best time to buy them,but will keep a watch on the share price early in 09 to see what happens, could be a long term hold.

simpywimpy

Anyone have any good companies to watch for 2009?