I like being a conduit for information between Listed companies and investors, so thought I would try out a new format for a company meeting. So instead of them running through their results presentation, and me regurgitating it, I just asked for a Q&A session with the Directors of Vianet (LON:VNET) today. They agreed this was a good idea, so we ran through the questions that investors had submitted to me, via email, Twitter and the company bulletin board on advfn.
Please note that the market cap of Vianet is currently £20.3m at 72p per share, based on 27.4m shares in issue.
Voluntary disclosure: I own shares in Vianet.
The latest results are interims to 30 Sep 2013 and can be read here.
The company helpfully have issued their results presentation & commentary for these results to all investors, and it is available here.
This results presentation is pretty much exactly the format that Institutions were given, so I praised the company for making this available to all investors by putting it online. I also commented to them today that they have transformed their investor relations for the better - it really feels as if Vianet is now listening to investors, and wants to communicate with us, instead of avoiding contact with shareholders, as they tended to in the past. All good stuff.
So here are the Questions & Answers:
Q1. PH asked by email - What is the contingency plan if the Government's proposed Statutory Code goes against you?
A1. Vianet do not have a formal contingency plan, as they consider this outcome very unlikely, and the key actions necessary could be pulled together in 24 hours, and would involve cancelling management leave, instructing lawyers, etc. So bottom line is that if the Statutory Code goes against them, they will fight the decision through the Courts.
Also, the Pubcos have been lobbying like crazy, and have publicly stated they will also go legal if the Statutory Code goes against them.
Q2. Alan@bj asked - Are management feeling optimistic or pessimistic about the Statutory Code? When will the outcome be announced?
A2. An announcement is expected from the Government in the next 2 weeks, but the timing could slip again. Vianet are not panicking, and are fairly confident of a fair outcome. But they say…
