I have a tiny interest in Fairpoint so, naturally try to keep an eye on things. The final report for financial year ending Dec 2016 was expected in April, then postponed until "MId May" then to June. We have but seven working days left. OK, so a week is a long time in politics, as we keep discovering.
The cynic in me had once wondered if the inability to publish results, the majority of the facts of which were known six months ago, was a desire to bury bad news. I no longer find that credible. If that was the case, surely there have been so many days that would have sufficed since April. Besides, who really cares a hoot about this tiny organisation? I mean to say, it's hardly M&S, Rolls Royce or Tesco, is it? Could the company possibly make things look any worse?
It seems to me a possibility that the signal being transmitted from the delay is having a deliberate negative effect on the SP far in excess of any bad news. After all, the year range is 117 to under e tenth of that. Useful dividends have been suspended, although, oddly, that is not reflected in Stocko's charts. Why not?
As with everything else in life, I am asking myself the most basic questions, such as, "Who stands to gain by a fall in SP?" and, "if you can see that your failure to report is depressing the value of your company, what factors would induce you to delay any longer?" I cannot imagine.
What a deafening silence, both from Feckpoint and from this rare but august body of sharecroppers. Any further fall and we could be seeing the share certificates handed out at filling stations like green shield stamps. Either somebody is going to make an absolute killing with these shares or some of us will have to invest in Moss Bros.
