anyone else noticed the picture in that article is a 66 in *FL* livery ? coincidence
anyone else noticed the picture in that article is a 66 in *FL* livery ? coincidence
Ah... What would the mainstream media be without its inaccurate reporting of railway issues?
I agree to a certain extent.
I dont know anything about the aviation industry but I wouldn't expect a picture of a BA plane heading an article about Virgin Atlantic.
While no one can be expected to know everthing about anything, if your going to be writting an article for public consumption at least do some research on the company you are talking about.
While no one can be expected to know everthing about anything, if your going to be writting an article for public consumption at least do some research on the company you are talking about.
Looks like they grabbed the first photo and statement they could find.Didn't GBRF lose the Royal Mail contract ?????
Whoever buys Gfrf its future as a seperate entity must be in doubt. There will simply be no reason for acquiring a business with similar functions as your own and not achieving economies of scale by merging operations.
The value in Gbrf is the contracts it holds. It will have a very small asset base as it leases its kit. The value for Fl or DBS in the deal is absorbing the contracts and running them at a discount as they can do away with much of the Gbrf overhead (management, ops etc).
Its the way of the world the small companies do well and attract the bigger fish who swallow them up and move on to the next meal. The days of the plucky underdog are coming to an end. The Global economy is the playing field of the rich and powerful, for the small fry bottom feeding like crazy and looking over their shoulder at the circling sharks it is a time to worry!
(Reuters) - Transport operator FirstGroup (FGP.L) has put its rail freight operation up for sale, attracting a string of bidders, the Financial Times reported in its Monday edition.
The sale of GB Railfreight follows a period of consolidation where European operators have been sold at high valuations, the FT said.
Citing people familiar with the situation, the paper said French state railway group SNCF, Channel tunnel operator Eurotunnel GETPFN.UL and the UK's Freightliner Group were all interested in acquiring the rail freight unit.
No one at FirstGroup could immediately be reached for comment.
(Reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Bernard Orr)
By Thomas Varela
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES May 03, 2010 09:34
PARIS (Dow Jones)--Channel tunnel operator Groupe Eurotunnel SA (GET.FR) Monday confirmed it is potentially interested in acquiring GB Railfreight, a unit of U.K. bus and rail operator FirstGroup PLC (FGP.LN).
A spokesman said the company is considering the acquisition, but added that Eurotunnel remains cautious about its investments.
Eurotunnel wants to continue to develop its activities in the transport sector, having acquired Veolia Cargo from Veolia Environnement (VIE.FR) in 2009.
A report in Monday's Financial Times cited Eurotunnel, along with U.K.'s Freightliner Group Ltd. and France's state-owned SNCF, as being among potential bidders for GB Railfreight.
A spokeswoman for FirstGroup declined to comment on what she described as "speculation."
Freightliner Group didn't immediately return calls seeking comment on whether it would be interested in the asset.
SNCF declined to comment on the issue, or whether it is interested in expanding its freight operations.
FirstGroup has cut costs and slashed jobs in an attempt to mitigate higher fuel costs and lower demand during the economic downturn. It said in March it would use GBP100 million of cash generation in the current fiscal year to reduce its net debt, which at the end of September last year stood at GBP2.37 billion.
Its total market capitalization is around GBP1.84 billion, according to figures from Infinancials. It doesn't break out performance from GB.
For the year ending March 31, 2009, the latest full figures available, FirstGroup's rail unit--its largest--generated operating profit of GBP92.4 million on revenue of GBP2.12 billion. GB Railfreight's annual revenue is around GBP50 million, a person familiar with the matter said, although FirstGroup doesn't formally break out the distinction between its rail freight and rail passenger units.
-By Thomas Varela, Dow Jones Newswires; +33 (0)1 40 17 17 72; [email protected]
(Jethro Mullen in Paris and Jessica Hodgson in London contributed to this article.)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires