George and thread,
New to following IFCI. Just listened to the CC. I'm not familiar with management. Can anyone comment on whether they've historically been "straight shooters" concerning the company. Or do they have a history of spin? I really like what I heard in the call concerning business prospects, and _if_ management can be trusted this sounds like a good risk to me. I do have concerns though given the vagueness of a couple of the answers.
I get the feeling they don't have the quarterly numbers worked out yet, but that they're fine with the $0.43 EPS figure for the year. Don't know how significant that is, but find it somewhat strange to not have the quarterly stuff ironed out for the CC. One of the analysts asked specifically about Q4 results and they wouldn't say $0.12, but they would quote the year end $0.43, and said last quarter year to date they had $0.31. I've never seen management dance around such a straight-forward question. If they've got issues with how the quarters break out they should say so IMO. Don't shroud the answers and hope investors won't notice. If anyone can give insight as to credibility of management I would appreciate.
Sounds like they're hiring new PR firm. Is the breakup with "Laviakis" (sp?) significant? Sounded like they either fired PR person, or they quit?
I couldn't make sense of the comments concerning the auditors, but it didn't sound like a major firm, and they apparently did have an auditor change during the year. This, combined with the uncertain quarterly numbers makes me think that maybe there was some disagreement with the auditors along the way?
Maybe all of this is nothing, but the clarity of communications definitely is lacking from company. If they want to get the market to value them "properly" (like they mention in the CC) they're going to have to do a better job of communicating with investors.
I'm interested in investing in IFCI, but right now am uneasy because of the above. Positives exist to counter the above, especially the mention of the large ATT/TCI build going on. Demand is not a problem. Long term outlook is great. But if I can't become comfortable with management, ... well, you understand.
Any comments are appreciated.
Shane |
