Time now for all us Wiggins watchers to move with the times and start using Planestation, the new company identity. The name Wiggins Group plc has now disappeared from the database at Companies House and Planestation is now listed on the LSE website.

So fellow travellers, forget Wiggins, the name of the game is now PLANESTATION. Lets hope it goes like an express train.

Nice one Opto. I'm in long term but I would do a trade if the time looked right.

Results were never going to be brilliant so...MMs / investors looking to buy in at low prices. Wouldn't be surprised to see this one go down a bit further. Wouldn't be surprised to see big buyers coming in later today, It'll start picking up again - no problem ! particualrly if Matin May buys and news on the Liverpool site is released in the coming weeks..(IMHO) :)

The fall has triggered my stop loss so I'm out.

The results caught me by surprise, when was it announced that they would be out today?

Apple

i dont think there was a formal announcement though i did post recently they were expected about now

Planestation still stuck on the runway

Published: 10:40 Tue 6 July 2004
By Graeme Davies, Companies Correspondent


Planestation suffered widened losses in the year to March but new chief executive Martin May reckons he can turn it around by launching low fare flights at its Kent hub from September.

Losses at the airports-to-property group widened from 12.8 million to 17 million due to fewer property disposals and a number of one-off charges.


However the company (PTG) continues to gain support on the back of the strength of its property assets, where other less fortunate companies may have folded by now. This point is proved by the fact Planestation managed to raise a total of 51 million during the year.


Martin May was brought into the company in March to replace Oliver Iny as chief executive and he has slashed costs, including a 49% cut in the board's total salary.


May has identified Planestation's core assets including its airport at Manston in Kent, which currently acts as a cargo hub but from September will host budget flights by Irish airline EUjet. Planestation has cemented this relationship by investing 2 million for a 30% share of EUjet.


At Manston, Planestation has also invested in a border inspection post that allows it to process products arriving from outside the EU. The company is also in discussions with the Strategic Rail Authority over a direct rail link to the airport. Management believes Manston can play a significant part in providing relief to the major airports of the South East of England as demand continues to grow rapidly.


The other core airports in the portfolio are at Melbourne in Florida, close to one of the world's largest cruise ports and Disneyland, and at Lahr in Germany, where an application for a full passenger licence has been made.


Non-core airport assets include the Baltic airport at Schwerin-Parchim in Germany, Pilsen in Czech Republic and Borgond near Lake Balaton in Hungary.


Planestation also still holds significant property assets in Liverpool at the former Garden Festival site which it intends to sell to a residential developer.

The much-vaunted plans for a racecourse close to Fairlop Waters in north east London, which were previously vetoed by John Prescott, remain in development and a revised application has been submitted. Planestation also has a brownfield site at Burford in Oxfordshire which it has earmarked for residential development to ease the property shortfall in the area.


Citywire Verdict:


A great number of investors have placed their faith in Planestation and its previous incarnation Wiggins down the years and it still has a promising portfolio of assets. May has begun his job well, slashing costs and identifying core assets for development.


However Planestation has to finally deliver some truly positive progress and the next 12 months will be crucial in that respect. Its shares, down 0.725p at 5.825p today, are likely to continue to mark time until progress becomes more apparent. May has City support on his side and the company appears reasonably well funded, he needs to repay that faith in the not-too-distant future.

Thanks Fundamentalist but how did you know when?

BTW

What site did the info from "Graeme Davies, Companies Correspondent" come from?

Who does he work for?

Apple

The date came from an article/posting by Edmund Jackson (of the Sunday Telegraph), the other piece from Citywire

Thanks Fundamentalist

Good to see for PTG holders that the steam seems to have gone out of the selling. Small rise this AM

A Manston spy tells me that an EUjet flight from Norwich is due in at Manston at 11:35, listed as EUJ296P. Might be interesting to see what it is and why it's there.

Just noticed what a tight spread is showing for PTG, 5.95/6.00. Can't get much narrower than that!

Socs

WINS are on the offer at 6.0 the next is at 6.5 so im not sure the spread will last for long

Funders
If that means the price may tick up I'm all for it!

And there she goes up to 5.95/6.20

Probably helped by that 178,580 buy.

The Manston spy, at great risk to life and limb, has just reported that the press are gathering at Manston. I surmise that this may be connected with the forecast 11:35 EUjet arrival.

From Norwich you reckon? Sounds like the EUJet investor who heads up Hoseasons Holidays is courting some publicity. Please do keep us posted.

Interesting late trades.

News from the front at Manston says that work on the carpark is continuing and that "the Black Hangar" is being demolished to make space for more offices.

From Hemscott's weekly bulletin:

"Is it a airport? Is it a property company? Wiggins has changed its name to Planestation but new management seems set on throwing the engines into reverse, says Rodney Hobson.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wiggins has been an investors' nightmare for years as it attempted to transform iutself from a property company into an airport operator. The then chief executive Oliver Iny told a compulsive story about forming a chain of airports across Europe and in America, building on his experience at Manston airport in Kent, yet somehow the dream has never translated into reality.


Iny's idea was that smaller airports off the main traffic routes but near enough to fair sized towns and good road systems would attract cargo flights. Development of the Planestation network would be funded by land sales from sites that had planning permission for housing and mixed development. These sites were already owned by Wiggins from its property days and were unrelated to the airports.

Alas, as any developer knows, planning permission is hard to come by and the airports continued to absorb cash, leaving Iny with no option but to launch a series of rights issues to keep going. The shares collapsed to just 3p.

Now Iny has been replaced by corporate rescue specialist Martin May, while John Mackay has taken over as chairman from Richard Bernays. They have already managed one improvement, getting the results for the year to March out in July, just seven months after the last annual figures.

They do not, however, make pretty reading. The pre-tax loss of 17 million are greater than turnover at 12.2 million, the sort of performance that used to be reserved from dotcom start-ups. The previous year's loss was 12.8 million on turnover of 38.1 million.

There is, admittedly, a kitchen sink look about the figures. For example, the value of Baltic Airport hnas been written down to the tune of 1.2 million while head office costs have been reduced at the cost of 1.5 million of one-off charges.

That has been balanced out by the booking of 5.3 million profit from the sale of land into a joint venture back in 2002.

A quick review by May has uncovered the fact that some airports in the system are carrying no traffic but Planestation is paying hefty lease charges. He intends to find airline partners or walk away.

May said today with chilling frankness: 'There is no-one on the payroll who is an expert on running airports.'

He referred to Planestation as a property company, adding: 'If that breaks a few hearts along the way, you've got to decide why you're here.'

Planestation shares currently trade around 6p. They represent a great recovery gamble but there is no guarantee that May can sort out the mess, although he has raised enough cash to keep the group going. Restrict any investment to modest proportions.