UK 06:17 Wednesday, 21 October 2026
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Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from ShareProphets). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
By now Fastjet (FJET) must have negative net assets or near as damn it and insolvency is very much on the cards. Meanwhile the great son of the mighty Hellenic Republic Sir Stelios (don't tell fascist PR bullies Citigate but we love the Greeks here, especially Sir S), is talking of legal action to reclaim his brand. But at least today there is light relief with a shock boardroom departure.
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Comments
Duck and Dive
More clickbait nonsense. How can Collings departure be a “shock” when it was announced four months ago? The fact that he is leaving a couple of months before the AGM is of little consequence — he was only appointed to the Board because his fund owned a chunk of Fastjet shares, which it had to sell (mostly to other major shareholders) when he closed the fund down.
The nearest thing to a shock in the RNS is the news that Burnham is to stay on the Board (if re-elected), his departure having also been announced in December. Your fabricated assertion that Fastjet “persuaded” him to stay is typical of your brand of very bad journalism. He may simply have fallen out with Ed Winter…which ceased to be a problem with Winter’s departure.
Have you ever moonlighted on the Sunday Sport?
http://www.funnyjunk.com/Sunday+sport+comp/funny-pictures/5442327/
Halfback21
D&D, I must stand up for Tom here – you can’t simply comment/refute the easy points with Fastjet, if you are going to play down things such as this you must decry the other Fastjet articles too. Losing a number of key exec’s and supervisors does not inspire long term confidence regardless of the timing of their announced departure surely?
Cheryl Coles' Gusset
As a new reader since only the beginning of Feb 2016 I can only assume, based on Duck & Dive’s continual disagreements with what seems to be (nigh on) factual information, or at the very least honest and genuinely presented statistics & commentary, that he either; A: has a major vested interest in Lenigas associated stocks or B: is just a typical “my black cat is blacker than your black cat” type of person that would argue the grass is actually purple as opposed to green if you tried to tell him otherwise.
My guess is a bit of both….. #BBM
Drunken Sailor
Pantomime is spot on. And indeed it is just a meaningless diversion from the real issues.
One point of order: Sir Stelios is a Greek Cypriot which makes him a bubble but not part of the “mighty[ly bankrupt]” Hellenic Republic.
The RNS we should have had is one giving us the passenger numbers. The ramp has all been about how Easter figures are going to turn the disastrous start to the year round. Sir Stelios, the bubble, demanded that they be released to the market on 5th working day of the month – so where are they?
They have clearly told Sir Stelios to fuck off. How smart a move is that when he has already served notice that he will seek injunctive relief to remove the brand. Now we may not have that much faith in the brand as another brand user obsesses about having too many cocks in the cockpits, whilst upsetting VIP travellers going to Crete to play backgammon with their Mrs. However there is no way FJET could afford a rebranding exercise and the work that would be required to market via new URLs.
How much cash has been spunked in the last month? What is the real Net Current Assets position? those are the key issues.
Duck and Dive
@Halfback21 – I try to confine my comments to the topic at hand. If interested, you can find plenty of other comments from me appended to earlier Fastjet articles/podcasts here.
Notwithstanding Stelios’ rants and TW’s wilful disinformation, Fastjet are not trading while insolvent (as TW has now acknowledged elsewhere) and nor do they have any pressing need to raise cash, as clearly stated in last month’s RNS:
http://www.lse.co.uk/share-regulatory-news.asp?shareprice=FJET&ArticleCode=pcv17rvk&ArticleHeadline=Trading_Update
Nor, according to their lawyers, are they in breach of their brand licensing agreement.
As Fastjet have previously stated, they are cutting costs to minimise losses — hence the early departure of the CEO and the shedding of the in-house lawyer (as demanded by Stelios). They are also adjusting flights and schedules to maximise loads and margins; and they have profited from a busy Easter period as well as improved loads/higher prices on several key routes, including the longer hauls into Johannesburg from Dar and Harare.
They will report a sizeable loss for 2015 (as forewarned) and are targeting a smaller loss for 2016. Cash generation is not expected until 2017. Launching a new pan-African airline was never going to generate cash in the first few years so there are no surprises here.
wildrides
I think they will turn it around ……… but it could go well into mid teens first . I just have a feeling …….that traders feeling . Never ignore your gut instinct ……… its what keeps you alive . Duck is generally very well informed, and like me, tends to defend the struggling underdog that has some merit in what its trying to achieve . Its just in our makeup . Recovery plays can be some of the strongest opportunities out there when they turn eventually . Yep its hard to pick the spot it happens but that is why the shares game is hard . Try to avoid the “share prophets blinkers” . Bear Tom and pals tend to behave like sharks in a feeding frenzy once they get going and the flesh starts ripping …….. and that can mean missed opportunities of a good recovery play . Step back and re assess from time to time .