Is MU a short?

By conventional financial yardsticks, the club is grossly overvalued at $3bn (£1.9bn) while also carrying £368m of debt. Now that the most reliable asset is giving up front-line duties, the stock deserves to be a double “sell.”

The valuation issue is basic: revenues were only £320m last year and half that sum was paid straight out as salaries. At the operating level, profits were only £44.9m. That entire sum was then consumed by finance costs of £49.5m, leading to a pre-tax loss of £4.7m. Naturally, there was no dividend …

Ferguson kept the club in the Champions League every season and collected trophies. In doing so, he made the Glazers’ optimistic financial assumptions work.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2013/may/10/man-utd-alex-ferguson-bt-co-op

For the record, I admire Moysie’s track record at the Toffees and respect MU for choosing him, not not some European super star manager management consultant who only know how to spend money to win trophies. MU bought homegrown talent, not FT.

Lions XII! Lions XII!: Where only talent counts

Keep up the gd work. Show the FAS that the “S” stands for S’pore, not “Serbia”. And that S’pore has home-grown talent that can whack the M’sians. And that S’poreans welcome FTs where the “T” stands for “Talent” not “Trash” as in case of SGX.

Coming to SGX, waz point of having FTs as MD and COO (and wanting FTs for six more posts as of late last yr) when 60% of daily volume comes from retail investors (ST report today)? FTs were brought in to bring in foreign biz, not to live off the fat of local punters.

Where “T” in “FT” means “Talent”, not “Trash”

This chap is going to be based here. http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20130122-712467.html?mod=WSJ_FinancialServicesAndInsurance_middleHeadlines

We welcome people like him, like we welcome footie players Bennett and Duric.

But not people like SGX CEO and his deputy. Not anywhere in IPO top 10 for 2012. Yet the CEO and president (both FTs where the “T” can only stand for “Trash” want to bring in six more FTs. I assume the “T” means “Trash” not “Talent”. But our MSM continues praising http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/1249517/1/.html

From Economist http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2013/01/focus

Lions YES! FTs YES! FAS NO ((((

Glad the Lions were parking five buses outside the goal mouth. Glad they were SBS buses. If SMRT buses, the PRC FT drivers would have driven the buses away.

I’ve bitched about Roman before here, but gd for him, and our other FTs in footie team: Duric and Evertonian Bennett. The last two are the kind of FTs I want here. They are part of our community.

But FTF, FAS appointing Roman as Technical Director: the Serbians tua kee BS continues. FAS kept him five yrs too long. The “S” is FAS stands for Singapore, not Serbia!

Lions pls park the bus

When in Bangkok park two buses in front of the goal mouth.

Lions! Lions!

Well done boys.

Thinking about it, the Filipinos have an interesting FT policy that S’pore should think about. Their FT footie boys play in the lower European leagues: there being no footie in the Philippines where basketball rules.

But let’s not take anything away from our boys!

EPL available in Burma

Burma’s SkyNet has bought TV rights for the English Premier league football games. It will show all the matches in the next two seasons.

Wow I didn’t realise that the Burmese too follow EPL teams.

 

LKY gets kicked in the balls

“I’ve seen their property values going up, five times, 10 times, 15 times, 20 times,” our MSM reported him as saying recently.

This is what the SDP said in response, “Yes, and what for? To feel rich? Under the SDP Plan, Singaporeans don’t just have to feel rich. They can have their NOM flats and not be indebted for the rest of their lives. They can have financial security and lead fulfilling lives.” http://yoursdp.org/news/sdp_responds_to_lee_kuan_yew_on_housing/2012-11-07-5435

No comment about about SDP’s plans (this is what ST reported “experts” say): thinking about it. But it sure got great PR people team. Maybe PAP or govt should offer them jobs? MP Baey should recruit them for his firm? Can’t be good for H&R’s local and Asean practice that SDP is running rings round PAP and govt? The Dark Side can offer serious money, unlike the SDP. Unless of course, the rumours of CIA funding are not true. An SDP groupie assures me that CIA funding rumours are juz rumours. SDP as poor as Anglican church mice. Catholic church mice got serious money, what with Tony Tan (the president, not Hazel Poa’s hubbie) and George Yeo as members. Goes without saying that Methodist mice got $. Think Ng Eng Hen and wife (SingHeath CEO), and TJS’s in-laws.

Duric: where the “T” in “FT” stands for Talent

One can call it an indictment of Singapore’s lack of striking options, or a testament to his ability to still find the net at his age … Aleksandar Duric, at the ripe old age of 42, will still be leading the Lions’ attack in their international friendly … as the lone striker in a 4-5-1 formation because his other options are injured.

“People say he is old, but look at the way he has been performing for Tampines Rovers.

“Week in, week out, he has been giving his best and he has been scoring the goals, too. Physically, he is in good shape and his strength is in holding the ball and drawing the attention of at least two defenders.

“That makes the work easier for his other team-mates who play up front,” says S’pore’s injured skipper and striker, Shahril. (Italics from MediaCorp)

More FTs like him, and less of the Amy Cheongs, Romans, and ang moh caws who beat up S’poreans and abscond, and S’poreans would not have problems with FTs.

LionsXII

Relax guys. Juz go out and make sure that Armed Forces don’t score. And try to nick a goal. We can’t expect more than that.

BTW, I smell a rat in the plan to dismember the LionsXII squad. FAS and its Serbian coaches afraid that LionsXII (an almost all local affair) will show how FAS and the Serbian mafia have wrecked our local teams? The govt and S’poreans should remind them that the “S” in FAS stands for “S’pore”, not “Serbia”.

GIC: News not reported by SPH, MediaCorp/ LionsXII

GIC recently sold out of its investment in British Airports Authority http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-17/qatar-buys-stake-in-heathrow-owner-baa-for-900-million-pounds.html

According to FT, the sellers recovered their investment and a little more: not a good deal. But these are difficult times.

Still trying to buy some assets, despite being turned down before at same pricehttp://in.reuters.com/article/2012/08/20/msrresort-auction-idINL2E8JK6UJ20120820

On totally different issue, relax Young Lions. Playing winning football, not attractive football. Fans will forgive you if you play ugly and get into finals. And remember, other side has more to lose than you.

Relax LionsXII

You did well keeping other side to two goals, and to scoring an away goal.

So don’t let the pressure get to you. Juz go out on 2 October and show the FT loving FAS and its Serbian coaching staff that S’poreans don’t need FTs to teach us to play footie!

Three cheers for LionsXII

They did what they had to do. Praise them, not jeer them.

Footie is also abt brains. Better safe than sorry.

Don’t denigrate LionsXII draw, ST

I am annoyed with ST’s comments on the team’s performance against Johor FA. Team did what they had to do.

As a famous Arsenal manager once said,”Strikers win games, defenders win trophies”. Look at today’s Arsenal. Stylish play but where’s the trophies?

Double confirm, MU’s Jewish

The billionaire investor George Soros has bought a stake in Manchester United football club, a US regulatory filing showed.

Mr Soros’ investment fund bought about 3.1 million Class A shares in the club, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission …

His shares equate to a 1.9% stake in the entire club, worth about [US]$40.7m (£25.8m) at Monday’s closing price.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19328750

So with Sity owned by the Arabs, EPL title is shaping up to be another Arab-Israeli conflict. Or Allah versus Yahweh. Last season, Allah won, but only because manager and strikers went to mass (Roman Catholic version).

MU shares worth only US$5?

MU’s purchase of Robin van Persie caused a little wobble in its share price because analysts said he cost too much.

MU’s shares are worth just US$5, well below the US$14 they IPOed at recently, according to an unknown US reseach team.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9474198/Manchester-United-worth-2.2bn-less-than-Glazers-believe.html

It’s Official: MU tells SGX to f***off

MU has applied to list on NYSE.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18699885

So much for SGX’s prostitution of its principles. Three cheers for the central bank. http://atans1.wordpress.com/2012/06/14/you-wont-read-this-in-our-msm-mu-frustrated-with-sgx/

Related posts: http://atans1.wordpress.com/2012/06/27/sgx-learns-from-fas/, http://atans1.wordpress.com/2012/06/28/korean-and-jap-exchanges-are-eating-sgxs-lunch-in-asean/

Three cheers for our Under-16 Cubs

Our under-16s lost 4-1 to Ajax Amsterdam’s under-15s at the Jalan Besar Stadium in the finals of a tournament. The Dutch side gained revenge for their group stage loss.

Given that the Ajax youth teams like that of Barcelona, Arsenal, MU and Everton are well-known for developing young talents for the first 11, and in the case of Everton for sale to richer clubs (one Rooney was sold, restoring the club to reasonable health), beating one of their youth teams is an achievement, even if the Cubs lost the return match.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1211090/1/.html

We don’t need no FTs as players or even as coaches. http://atans1.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/naming-shaming-underperformers-in-footie-and-other-national-teams/

SGX learns from FAS?

(Or “Uniquely S’porean? Rewarding Failure Again”)

A few weeks ago, the ang moh FT CEO of SGX got his contract renewed for another three years. This despite:

– Making a spectacular takeover bid for ASX which no-one tot would succeed. It didn’t because, as widely expected, the Oz authorities blocked the deal. 

– Failing to get mega-listings. MU is not listing here despite reports that SGX made huge concessions on corporate governance to attract MU. Apparently the central bank was not amused with the concessions. Now even KL is ahead of us in the Asian listings league. S’pore Tak Boleh?

– SGX’s dark pool joint venture Chi-East closed in May as business volumes were weak and unlikely to improve.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong exchange agreed to buy L.M.E. for £1.38 billion (US$2.16 billion). It outbid several American rivals, including NYSE Euronext, for control of the 135-year-old London firm. SGX found the valuations too rich to play. To be fair, so do investors in the HKEx. Its share price dropped. But its plans to introduce Yuan-based contracts and Chinese players into the LME could work. Then the LME price would be cheap*.  

So one would have tot it would be about time for the ang moh FT to move on. Nope, he stayed on. Juz like in the case of the Lions where the ang moh FT coach remained despite years of underperformance while the players were moved on.

FYI, the number two at SGX is an ethnic Indian FT. The S’porean who was his equal moved on earlier this year. Not that the S’pore Gan was that gd: he allowed all the S-Chips to list.

Related posts: http://atans1.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/temasek-meritocracy-at-work/ 

http://atans1.wordpress.com/2012/03/29/fas-learn-from-chelsea/

*Update: FYI, HKSx paid 180 times last yr’s earnings, or 46 times forward earnings.

ST misreps yet again

(Or “Four unexplained mystries in WofflesGate”) 

So Germany beat Greece, and are into the Euro semis, which reminded me that even footie facts are misrepresented by the nation-building, constructive ST to promote government’s FT is “betterest” policy (See below. To be fair, ST published the rebuttal. Balls-up or subversion? Or someone with a conscience?). Is nothing sacred? What next? Footie scores get misreported? More likely is that goals scored and saves made attributed to players that fit ST’s agenda of nation-building, constructivism.

I am exaggerating? Look at an ST report of WofflesGate: [in relation to the incident in September 2005,] . . . Wu got Mr Kuan, then 76, to tell police that he was the driver of a car speeding at 95kmh on Lornie Road. Mr Kuan is said to have lied again about a speeding offence committed at 9.45am on Nov 10, 2006. The car was then travelling at 91kmh on Adam Road.

The speed limit in both instances was 70kmh and involved Wu’s car. Court papers did not state who the actual driver was.

The court heard that a notice was sent to Wu to reveal the identity of the driver. Concerned that he would accumulate demerit points were he to accept liability for the speeding offences, he roped in Mr Kuan, then a maintenance technician in his clinic. Now 83 years old, Mr Kuan was also described as a close family friend of the doctor. He has not been charged.

The report makes it clear implicitly that Woolly Wally was the driver by stating that hr was concerned about getting demeit points.  Yet we now know that both the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the Law minister said that investigations were ongoing, as to who the driver actually was; and that the case has not been concluded.

Funnily, ST has not retracted its story. Nor have the authorities asked for a retraction. These are four  mysteries that need to be explained to convince S’poreans that the rich are not different.

———

Read the u/m in ST Forum about two weeks ago.

Go for local football talent

CONTRARY to what the report (‘Talent mining in the sports world’; May 25) implies, Germany does not have an official programme recruiting foreign-born footballers.

Circumstances that led to Polish-born strikers Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski representing Germany differ completely from the mechanics of Singapore’s Foreign Sports Talent scheme.

Klose moved to Germany at age seven, while Podolski did so at two. Both are therefore home-grown German players.

The only non-native player recruited by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) who can be considered home-grown is Daniel Bennett, who came here as a toddler.

Many Singaporeans rightfully question the ‘Singaporean-ness’ of foreign sports talent, something that even Bennett himself is concerned about.

He was quoted two years ago in the Singapore Armed Forces Football Club official website as saying: ‘I am more Singaporean than many of the other foreign players who took (up) citizenship more recently, as I grew up here and it’s my home.’

Apparently concerned by the excessive use of imported players contravening the spirit of the game, football’s world governing body Fifa tried to introduce regulations in 2008 to restrict such usage.

Unfortunately, the FAS remains stubbornly persistent with its push to recruit more foreigners. It claims foreign sports talent plug the gaps in its youth development programme (‘Change of heart by NSAs’; May 28).

Our national football administrators should find answers to why, after almost two decades of S-League football where would-be Lions play with and against foreign players weekly, and years of employing foreign technical directors, the FAS is still struggling to develop quality international-level talent.

It is impossible to prove, but perhaps native and home-grown players strive harder for their country.

Michael Ang

You won’t read this in our MSM: MU frustrated with SGX

“IFR said the club and its owners had become frustrated with long delays in approval from Singapore.” http://www.breakingviews.com/man-utds-ipo-transfer-keeps-owners-in-control/21023624.article

Lions taking a lesson from PA, PAP?

I nearly had a heart attack a few minutes ago when I was skimming thru ST. The Lions plan to field a geriatric ang moh striker in the coming game against M’sia. I mean even Alex Ferguson doesn’t field 41-year old strikers. Mid-fielders and defenders are different. The best age well like Gigsy, Maldini and Barasi. So having Bennett back could be a gd move.

So I guess Roman and FAS must be looking at the example of the PA and PAP in Aljunied where two geratrics were apponted to replace the much younger Mrs Lim and Madam Cynthia Phua as grassroot advisers http://atans1.wordpress.com/2012/03/28/pap-in-aljunied-grc-no-room-for-young-blood/

FAS, what about replacing Roman? If he had been one of ancient Romans, he would have committed suicide long ago to atone for his failures. In S’pore, he gets his contract renewd while the players get sacked. This is not international best practice in footie.   

Even the PAP got rid of BG Yeo from its mgt when he failed to hold Aljunied. And “retired” Wong, Ramond Lim and Mah Bow Tan for not being “popular” enough.

Why S’porean bid for Rangers might fail

(Or “Is Bill Ng a “fit and proper person” to own Rangers?”)

Bill Ng, who is fronting a S’porean consortium’s bid for troubled Glasgow Rangers, is right to be wary of the syndicate  being tipped by the media as the front-runner to win the bid for Rangers

As footie fans will know, Scottish footie is very nationalistic. There are also very serious undertones of sectarianism, racism (interesting distinction between racism and racial discrimination discussed here) and violence. So last yr’s brawl involving Hougang United and Bill Ng’s subsequent comments could count against the consortium because it could give rabid nationalists and racists an excuse to demand rejection of the bid on the ground that Bill Ng would not be a ”fit and proper” owner of Rangers despite the tradition of violence among the club’s fans.

In May last yr, match officials were forced to abandon the tie between hosts Hougang United and defending champions Etoile FC before kick-off, after players from both teams started fighting during the warm-up session. Witnesses MediaCorp spoke to said the scenes resembled a gang fight, with players chasing each other and some rushing onto the terraces.

Bill Ng, the chairman of Hougang, said he was angry and would conduct an internal investigation.

Anyway, for bringing the game into disrepute both clubs were fined S$10,000, with S$5,000 suspended so long as they steer clear of trouble this year. They were also docked five points each.

Ng said Hougang would not let the matter rest, claiming the fine imposed on the club and points deducted were unfair. The “evidence … is not concrete” and the FAS disciplinary committee failed to take into account the actions of club officials to diffuse the matter. He also grumbled that the disciplinary actions would make it difficult to attract new sponsors.

Hell’s bells, whatever the provocation, his players were brawling. Surely that is wrong?

Related post

http://atans1.wordpress.com/2012/

Billy Boy to own Rangers?

(Or “S’poreans Boleh: Hougang boy can own a part of Scottish history”)

So the S’pore consortium fronted by one Bill Ng*, chairman of footie team Hougang Hooligans  (Does the team have WP as a sponsor? PAP not likely to sponsor a team that fights on the field?) is now the favourite to win the bid for Rangers.

The Blue Knights consortium seeking to gain control of Rangers says it is “stepping back” from the process. It was the orginal favourite. The group led by former club director Paul Murray says it cannot compete with Bill Ng’s consortium.

Ticketus, the firm whose money financed Craig Whyte’s takeover, with funding set against revenue from future season ticket sales at Ibrox, has been working alongside the Blue Knights but has also opened talks with Ng.

And the Blue Knights claim its Singapore-based rival had made the offer of a “substantially” better deal.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17736718

BTW, Bill Ng shld make up his mind whether he was a Rangers fan from his school days; or only became a fan abt 10 years ago. He has told reporters both these conflicting versions.

————————

*When he was in stockbroking, he was known as “Brudder Bill” or “Billy Boy” or “Billy the Kid”. When an ex-employer heard that he is reputed to be worth US$80m, he laughed and said he might remind Bill that he, Bill, had debts to settle, and to touch Bill for a loan, “He’s worth a lot more and I”. He also added, “Everyone’s now in private equity” when he heard Bill claimed to be in private equity.

FAS: Learn from Chelsea

FAS is trying hard to justify why our local footballers and coaches are no damned gd. Well they are not paying attention to what the Lions XII are doing. But then Sundram is not an ang moh from Serbia. He is juz yr ordinary S’porean. Worse he is a local Indian, not one of the Aryans. His team performs but as he isn’t an Ang-moh, not an FT Indian, so he must be lucky, FAS must be thinking.

Meanwhile, the rot continues.

Well look at Chelsea. It was really having a rotten season. Then the owner decided to sack the manager, and appointed his deputy to see through the season. Well the season has turned round and Chelsea beat Benefica away. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17441653

Chelsea fans and the owner can juz smell a European League final.

So maybe FAS, juz change the top guy. He has had years to prove himself.

 

 

Managing people, the S’pore way cont’d

In January 2011, after the footie authorities disbanded the national team after a dismal showing in the 2010 Suzuki Cup, but kept the manager, and promised the start of a rejuvenation process, I wrote “Managing people, the S’pore way”.

Well under the same manager, but with different players, the Lions have lost all six games in the third round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

So I republish what I wrote then. Let’s hope this time the footie authorities stop their Serbian tua kee and FT loving ways. Pigs would fly first methinks.

============================================

Managing people, the S’pore way

In the English, Italian, German and Spanish footie leagues, if a team does badly,  the manager gets the sack. The view is that the manager is responsible for managing the players to get them to perform at thier best.

In S’pore, the manager retains his job, the players get the sack, even if the manager has been around for almost a decade.

In Western democracies, the ruling party gets replaced if voters are unhappy.

In S’pore, the ruling party creates GRCS, then super-GRCs, all the time telling the voters they are daft and lazy. And, juz to make sure, imports voters. Reminds me of what Bertold Brecht, a famous playwright and Marxist activist wrote:

After the uprising of the 17th of June

The Secretary of the Writers Union

Had leaflets distributed …

Stating that the people

Had thrown away the confidence of the government

And could win it back only

By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier

In that case for the government

To dissolve the people

And elect another?

He was writing about the East German government after its soldiers had shot some protesters.

At least here, the unhappy voters are not shot, juz ignored, and threatened with a military coup if there is a” freak election result”.

Uniquely S’porean, this method of managing people.

A game where the underdogs sometimes still triumph

The Zambian footie team won the African Cup. Along the way they beat three West African teams, Ghana , Senegal and Ivory Coast (in the finals).

More than half the men in the three west African squads play for clubs in England, France, Germany, Italy or Spain …,  which boast the world’s best leagues. In theory, the Zambians looked much weaker: most play at home, in South Africa or in the Democratic Republic of Congo; only two are with European clubs—in Russia and in Switzerland, which are far from the best. The captain, Christopher Katongo, the player of the tournament, turns out for Henan Construction, in China. So much for statistics: on Sunday night, precision from the penalty spot, and no little emotion, mattered more.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2012/02/african-football

Lions, keep on trying. And local fans, keep on supporting and hoping.

Naming & shaming underperformers in footie and other national teams

I knew our footie teams were not gd. But I didn’t know they were this bad, winning in 2011 only 24%, or seven of 29 matches, across all age groups. The full national squad won only one of seven games (14.2%) played this year, not counting friendlies.

A year ago the Lions team could only remain in the group stages of the AFF Suzuki Cup, and the players and coach Radojko Avramovic were criticised. Our footie authorities did shumething unique, not seen in footie. They sacked the team but kept the coach even though the coach had been around for a decade. When an EPL, Serie A or La Liga team does badly, the manager (we call him ”coach”) gets sacked. They don’t dismiss the players and build a new team around the manager.

But if the Lions are replaced again, but the Lions’ coach remains unchanged, it would again remind me of what Bertolt Brecht German and Marxist playwright and poet   wrote. After an uprising in East Germany that was brutally crushed, he wrote:

After the uprising of the 17th of June

The Secretary of the Writers Union

Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee

Stating that the people

Had forfeited the confidence of the government

And could win it back only

By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier

In that case for the government

To dissolve the people

And elect another?

And while I’m on failure in sports, three cheers for Dr Tan Eng Liang. After the SEA Games in November, he clinically and dispassionately assessed the athletes and sports bodies, giving grades A to D based on medals won, or not won. He gave a D to eight sports – sepak takraw, weightlifting, archery, basketball, football, golf, dragon boat and petanque. They didn’t win a single medal.

He said, “I will make some recommendations to the SNOC and expect the players and NSA (national sports association) to do something with the situation. There could be tightening of selection criteria for example, sports that didn’t get any medals, we might be more strict with selection.”

As taxpayers money and national pride are involved, he is right expect high standards from the sports bodies and athletes.

Related post: http://atans1.wordpress.com/?s=footie

Why Arsenal fans should be very angry

CEO prefers to compete financially, not for trophies. He says Arsenal does not need Champions League money.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/15208498.stm

Hello, the money is incidental. The aim is to win the EPL and the European trophy. There isn’t a trophy for gd, prudent financial mgt.

Why are the Glaziers like the PAP?

The antics of the Glaziers (the owners of MU, in case you are not into footie) in trying to ensure that post-IPO, they can “fix” minority shareholders reminds me of the PAP’s attempts in the late 1980s to restrict the choice of voters.

When faced with the possibilty of losing more than a few seats in Parly, they resorted to Group Representative Constituencies (GRCS), where voters were forced to vote for a group of MPs headed by one (possibly two) cabinet ministers, not an individual MP. Over the years, the system was used to introduce such MPs like Rin Tin Tin (aka Kate Spade), “Waz so great abt NS?” Puthu, and “No money, no dignity” Lim. GRCs worked for the PAP until this year, when the PAP lost a GRC, losing five seats. Two cabinet ministers and one junior minister lost their seats in Parly.

Well the attempt to introduce two classes of shares (with different voting rights) and when that failed, to issue non-voting preference shares (that unusually do not carry a dividend that is fixed and cumulative*) indicates that the Glazers are just as concerned as the PAP about the consequences of the unwashed masses having the vote to push them around.

Too bad for conspiracy theorists that the Glaziers are Jews. Otherwise, it could be spun that they are related to one Harry Lee, the master architect of the GRCs.   

But seriously, there is a link that conspiracy theorists can spin around. Our very own SGX that has been assidiously courting, then faciltating the Glazers, is 23.5%  owned by Temasek. Temasek cannot vote its Temasek shares, but that’s only a detail to conspiracy theorists. After all, a senior SGX official was from Temasek. And Temasek’s president was SGX’s ex-CEO. And conspiracy theorists know who owns Temask, don’t they?

–

*These characteristics make them more like common shares. The reason why preference shares carry fixed dividends and why dividends are cumulative is to make them safer investments. And to compensate holders for the absence of voting rights, and the inability to share in the gains that can accrue to ordinary shareholders. Absent  dividends that are fixed and cumulative; they are like common shares absent the voting rights and the potentially unlimited upside.

To be fair though,  if the company is liquidated, the preferential shareholders will have priority over ordinary shareholders when assets are divided. Unless the Glaziers have gotten rid of this too,

Arsenal fans will not agree

As someone who has consistently warned about the dangers of organisations with sky-high debts, the Arsenal manager would be a positive benefit to the IMF conference. Article

Tell that to the Arsenal fans after the recent trashings. Snigger, snigger. Hehehe.

MU’s net profit

I was searching high and low for this figure, given all the publicity on all other types of other numbers, EBITA, revenues, operating profit etc which ran into hundreds of millions. Example http://www.channelnewsasia.com/cna/cgi-bin/search/search_7days.pl?status=&search=Manchester%20United&id=1150542

It is only sterling 9.8m (S$19.1m).

Adopt Arsenal money model – Uefa

Err but where are the trophies? Fans, and owners (most of them unless they are Americans) want glory before money. Footie is more than abt money. It’s abt trophies and loyalties.

Arsenal have been held up as a shining example by Uefa as European football’s governing body prepares to implement tough new financial restrictions.

From the 2011-12 season clubs must break even over a rolling three-year period or risk a possible ban from Uefa European competitions.

Uefa compared Arsenal’s approach to that of clubs with super-rich owners.

“What model waits for a knight rider on a horse and then rides away?” said Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger’s meticulous and sensible approach to spending has helped the north Londoners strengthen their finances over the last 10 years, as some of their rivals’ own position has weakened.

BBC Online article