Flybe looking to sell out

California Dreamer

Airline Flybe says it is in talks with a number of "strategic operators" about a possible sale of the group

Source: Sky News Breaking

Locker10a

Could they possibly be just trying to raise their share price?
An attempt to buy Norwegian who seemed to be plummeting into disaster worked wonders for them and boosted share price and confidence

blackwhite

Locker10a wrote: »

Could they possibly be just trying to raise their share price?
An attempt to buy Norwegian who seemed to be plummeting into disaster worked wonders for them and boosted share price and confidence

If they aren't actually engaged in talks, then that would be a case of stock price manipulation and would be a fairly serious offence for the directors of a listed company to engage in.

Unless Elon Musk is advising them, then I'd say it's unlikely.

sandbelter

Caught this little gem in Daily Star of all places

"In Flybe’s results, auditor PwC said there was “significant doubt” over whether Flybe could continue as a going concern because of the possibility its two main card processors could increase the level of cash collateral they demand and that Flybe might not be able to meet that."

Source: https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/742373/flybe-sale-2018-flights-airline-trouble-half-year-results-share-price-news

My accounting training sees this is a red flag given the legal liabilities that come with it. gut feel is nobody will move now until it's in administration ans we are looking at only select assets being rescued. You have to feel for the staff and hope for the best for their futures, having gone through this 10 years ago I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

Suspect a number of UK airports will be savagely hit by this (smaller ones and also cities relying it as a hub specifically).

but, BE is at the graveyard end of the market with its hops so short fixed costs (airport and statutory charges) are high and inflexible proportion of the cost base so there's little variable cost to play with, combined with demand being highly elastic due to bus and rail competition, and its a struggling business model.

vectorvictor

I would imagine the end is near.

November so little coming in at poor yields. A need to publicly announce they need a buyer pretty much shows that nobody they've silently approached has any interest.

Shame if they do go. Nice little operation with alot of history to it (woeful reliability though). I'd be thinking in days not months on this one

Tabnabs

The only airline serving Dub-Sou. Is there anyone else who would pick up the slack on this route?

Locker10a

Tabnabs wrote: »

The only airline serving Dub-Sou. Is there anyone else who would pick up the slack on this route?

Maybe Aer Lingus regional, they currently serve Cork-Southampton

billie1b

Tabnabs wrote: »

The only airline serving Dub-Sou. Is there anyone else who would pick up the slack on this route?

Maybe Ryanair will start the route early

Locker10a

billie1b wrote: »

Maybe Ryanair will start the route early

I think they be load restricted from SOU runway, plus, it would hurt their own new route to Bournemouth which is only down the road.
Flybe used to sell connections onto EI from SOU-DUB-US hence why I think without Flybe EIR are probably most likely but who knows

billie1b

Locker10a wrote: »

I think they be load restricted from SOU runway, plus, it would hurt their own new route to Bournemouth which is only down the road.
Flybe used to sell connections onto EI from SOU-DUB-US hence why I think without Flybe EIR are probably most likely but who knows

1850 mts is plenty enough for RYR a/c, especially with their SFP aircraft without restrictions, it’s starting in April so a few months early won’t make a difference

rivegauche

Good luck to FlyBE. they provide a valuable service to the British Isles and they may not necessarily be replaced on the routes they fly if they liquidate.

rivegauche

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/flybe-sale-takeover-airline-financial-losses-passengers-flights-update-a8635186.html

Flybe: everything you need to know about the ailing airline

key takeaway points:
Airline will almost certainly continue operating in some shape or another for the near to medium future.
As a Customer to protect yourself pay for your tickets with a Credit Card and you have no fear of losing money, just don't make non-refundable bookings for Hotel or Hire Car until nearer the date of your trip as the Credit Card won't refund you for those secondary costs.

With the very low stock market valuation I can see why they have opted to sell the company in its entirety; If any investor had tried to buy a share in the company on the stock market then it would have been just too easy for a competitor to buy a small holding in the company to frustrate the investor; it is just too cheap a share. If an investor has plans for this company they really need to buy all of it and the decision of the board of directors makes complete sense.

arccosh

billie1b wrote: »

1850 mts is plenty enough for RYR a/c, especially with their SFP aircraft without restrictions, it’s starting in April so a few months early won’t make a difference

Ryanair are starting flights to SOU in April? Or am I picking this up wrong?


I think SOU would be far more lucrative for Ryanair over BOU, if they got in... the small apron would be restrictive though....

billie1b

arccosh wrote: »

Ryanair are starting flights to SOU in April? Or am I picking this up wrong?


I think SOU would be far more lucrative for Ryanair over BOU, if they got in... the small apron would be restrictive though....

Yea they are,

https://corporate.ryanair.com/news/new-london-southend-base-to-open-in-summer-2019/

Locker10a

billie1b wrote: »

Yea they are,

https://corporate.ryanair.com/news/new-london-southend-base-to-open-in-summer-2019/

SOU is Southampton
SEN is Southend which is what Ryanair are starting

billie1b

Locker10a wrote: »

SOU is Southampton
SEN is Southend which is what Ryanair are starting

Ooppppsssss

rivegauche

This Dutch report suggests that FlyBE's presence at Schiphol has value. I haven't seen this being reported much in English language reports.

It is something which may stoke the interest of the bigger operators and Low Cost Carriers.
https://www.upinthesky.nl/2018/11/19/schiphol-is-de-kers-op-de-flybe-taart-analyse/

Tenger

rivegauche wrote: »

This Dutch report suggests that FlyBE's presence at Schiphol has value. I haven't seen this being reported much in English language reports.

It is something which may stoke the interest of the bigger operators and Low Cost Carriers.
https://www.upinthesky.nl/2018/11/19/schiphol-is-de-kers-op-de-flybe-taart-analyse/

Im not sure if its still the case but about 18 months ago FlyBE actually served more airports in the UK than BA. They provided a lot of traffic into AMS from UK regional airports for onward transfer. This were a valuable feeder for KLM.

LXFlyer

Tenger wrote: »

Im not sure if its still the case but about 18 months ago FlyBE actually served more airports in the UK than BA. They provided a lot of traffic into AMS from UK regional airports for onward transfer. This were a valuable feeder for KLM.

That wouldn’t be hard Tenger given that Flybe serve everywhere that BA do in the UK and a lot more regional airports. Of course when Loganair was a Flybe franchise that was a lot more!

California Dreamer

Sky Sources: Virgin Atlantic is in talks about a takeover bid for the London-listed airline Flybe