Is Tony Abbott about to be mugged by the Board of Qantas.
Given that the share price has fallen to 1/3 third of the price since the appointment of the CEO why hasn’t someone looked at selling the CEO.
Good business is not driving down the price with competitive practices that the current shareholders have paid for, then handing it over to foreign interest.
One would have to consider whether the share price decline has been orchestrated by the management, to force the arm of the Government to allow for the sale of it’s assets.
We know the management have been more competitive with sales but what about costs. Have they reduced their hours at work, if they have been working really hard to drive the price down perhaps they should have a few days off and let the business carry it’s self for a while. Qantas shares haven’t been below $2 since 1996 without half of this board at the helm, let alone the removal of QAN from the S&P/ASX50 on 21/3/2014.
The above chart shows the appointment time of the current Board. (Only 4 Members have any Airline experience and not 1 of the members holds a pilot licence or worked as a steward or Aircraft mechanic. Is it any wonder they are cannot communicate with the workforce.)
With the exclusion of the appointments from 2012 everybody else on the board has stood by to watch the price slide from above $3 to the current low. Didn’t the board notice any part of the $252 Million dollar Half Year loss as it was happening. Perhaps they were fiddling on the roof top, while the fire alarms were going off.
I put it to the Board that it has been the Mum and Dad investors and the Superannuation investment that has paid the price for you to compete without proper money management practices. After all that’s how you lose money by selling your goods for less then what they cost to produce.
“We have met these challenges head on. Over the past four years, we have been carrying out the biggest transformation since Qantas was privatised – cutting comparable unit costs1 by 19 per cent over four years, introducing new aircraft and technology on a large scale, modernising work practices and revitalising service. But this is not enough for the circumstances we now face.”
What guarantees are the Board going to give that the low prices and competitiveness of Qantas will remain under a new foreign ownership. What will become of the rural routes that Qantas provide as a sole carrier to remote locations. What will become of Qantas FIFO to remote locations.
Are the board refusing any bonuses and payouts until the price exceeds the level it was at when they were employed. You cant just run a company into the ground at the expense of the investors, sell it to foreign interest and put your hand out for money.
Alan Joyce was Employed shortly after the last great foreign takeover attempt, that drove the price to $5. Was he deliberately put in place to make the sale go through and force the arm of the Government.
It’s just unfortunate that Tony Abbott will ultimately be the fall guy who will be remembered as the guy that sold Qantas at the bottom.
Raef Mackay
