View Full Version : Barclay Knapp does well
welwynrose
12-08-2003, 14:34
from the evening standard
NTL founder Barclay Knapp is to receive a pay-off worth £1.3 million after stepping down today as chief executive of the cable company.
The figure, which reflects his three-year contract, comes eight months after NTL agreed a deal with lenders to pull it out of bankruptcy protection.
Mr Knapp said he believed now was the right time to step down as chief executive, after second quarter results showed the company "back on track".
He will hand over control to Simon Duffy, who joined NTL in February as chief operating officer following a spell as finance director at Orange.
Mr Knapp, who helped found NTL ten years ago, said he would remain at the company until the end of 2003 to advise management on strategy.
He was at the helm when NTL was forced to file for bankruptcy protection in May 2002 after debts spiralled on the back of a spending spree made at the height of the telecoms boom. The restructuring handed control to bondholders.
Mr Knapp defended his pay-off, and pointed out that he suffered along with other shareholders in the overhaul, because he had never sold any of his shares.
He added: "I have experienced real highs and lows during my 10 years at NTL and I remain as passionate as ever about the future of cable in the UK."
Announcing figures for the three months to June 30, Mr Knapp said he had been encouraged by a £2.3 million increase in revenues to £551.3 million, and a rise in earnings to £173.8 million from £167.4 million a year earlier.
Bottom-line losses in the quarter narrowed to £159 million, an improvement of 38% on last time.
Mr Knapp added: "NTL is well ahead of the financial targets filed in January as part of our reorganisation."
NTL's core Home division added 39,800 new customers in the quarter while its churn rate - the number of subscribers leaving the service - fell to 12.9%.
MovedGoalPosts
12-08-2003, 14:56
On the face of it some good results.
Well done to Mr Knapp, but these fat cats really do seem to be able to get a lot of money for no visible effort other than sitting in their ivory tower.
As for churn down to 12.9%, how can a company afford to loose over 89,000 customers in one quarter? That's a heamorrhage in anyone's book.
orangebird
12-08-2003, 15:05
Originally posted by MovedGoalPosts
On the face of it some good results.
Well done to Mr Knapp, but these fat cats really do seem to be able to get a lot of money for no visible effort other than sitting in their ivory tower.
I know he's buggered things up a little, but do you honestly think he does nothing all day other than give out instruction?
As for churn down to 12.9%, how can a company afford to loose over 89,000 customers in one quarter? That's a heamorrhage in anyone's book.
Some of that percentage is from involuntary churn - those who ntl cut off through non-payments etc. Not a great deal, but some.
The way things are at the mo, the fact ntl are still gaining more than they are losing kind of helps to bear the brunt. Not ideal, obviously, but again, every little helps! :)
MovedGoalPosts
12-08-2003, 17:09
I'm more than happy to accept that some of the churn will be bad payers and the like. However it must be easier (and less expensive) to retain customers than have to replace them. On that basis I dont think the 12.9% figure is a healthy indication of ntl's current wellbeing. I acknowledge that efforts are being made, and churn has rbeen reduced, but trheres a long way to go. If I was an investor I'd be concerned.
grum1978
12-08-2003, 18:03
Originally posted by MovedGoalPosts
I'm more than happy to accept that some of the churn will be bad payers and the like. However it must be easier (and less expensive) to retain customers than have to replace them. On that basis I dont think the 12.9% figure is a healthy indication of ntl's current wellbeing. I acknowledge that efforts are being made, and churn has rbeen reduced, but trheres a long way to go. If I was an investor I'd be concerned.
if a customer moves house and takes the service with them they are counted on both disconnecting and then a new customer so the figures might not be as bad as it seems :spin:
I cant belive someone who nearly bankrupt a company is getting a huge payful like that.
It proves how messed up this contry is!
Undisputedtruth
12-08-2003, 20:24
Originally posted by grum1978
if a customer moves house and takes the service with them they are counted on both disconnecting and then a new customer so the figures might not be as bad as it seems :spin:
It works both ways when a customer moves into an NTL area, so we can safely assume the figures on customers moving of no consequence.
welwynrose saidMr Knapp defended his pay-off, and pointed out that he suffered along with other shareholders in the overhaul, because he had never sold any of his shares.
Is it my imagination, or does anyone else remember him selling shares around the time befor Leigh Woods left and Carter joined.
I am sure this came out in a meeting we had with Woods, at the time Knapp was telling everyone that the shares were going to top $300 (Approx $90+ when he said it) I am sure that Woods confirmed that Knapp was selling shares when questioned by someone.
Any other employees/ex-employees remember that ?
grum1978
12-08-2003, 20:45
Originally posted by Undisputedtruth
It works both ways when a customer moves into an NTL area, so we can safely assume the figures on customers moving of no consequence.
Think you kinda missed my point never mind!!!! :)
gallego1
12-08-2003, 21:09
Just think
If they sorted London out then the new customer base would be a lot greater than the 39k for last period and the % lost would be a lot less and start to look reasonable.
BUT
Will that happen in this life time ?
Only time will tell
MovedGoalPosts
13-08-2003, 00:41
Originally posted by grum1978
if a customer moves house and takes the service with them they are counted on both disconnecting and then a new customer so the figures might not be as bad as it seems :spin:
One way of ensuring the figures are suitably distorted.
You'd think that such customers would be "counted out" as the churn percentage appears to be the most prominent statistic ntl currently worry about.
I'm sure that as the new chappie in charge "Duffy" I think it is, with his claimed financial background, will mean even more concealed figures and cooked books to make ntl look more financially sound than they are.
*edit: thats not intended to be libelous, just financial reality in the big corporate world.
SMHarman
13-08-2003, 10:27
Originally posted by MovedGoalPosts
One way of ensuring the figures are suitably distorted.
You'd think that such customers would be "counted out" as the churn percentage appears to be the most prominent statistic ntl currently worry about.
I'm sure that as the new chappie in charge "Duffy" I think it is, with his claimed financial background, will mean even more concealed figures and cooked books to make ntl look more financially sound than they are.
*edit: thats not intended to be libelous, just financial reality in the big corporate world.
You have to think how this is counted. I imagine a customers account is permenantly locked to an address, the only way a customer can move addresses is to close that account and open a new one.
This is probably also necessary from a system process to ensure engineers go to the old and new address to add / remove equipment, and to ensure that the signup fees etc are charged.
Churn will be measured by counting the closed accounts and newly open accounts in the period. How do you distinguish between a closed to move and a closed account? Not easily or accurately, would require a new field in the billing closure pages marked as account move, the CSRs would have to fill this out accurately, it could be used to massage churn and what happens if opens flagged as move do not equal closed. You would need system checks and old / new account number s cross matched.
Easier to keep them in.
I'm sure if you cancel a pay monthly mobile phone and then get a new one / new number on the same network, that would be considered churn also.
Originally posted by ic14
I cant belive someone who nearly bankrupt a company is getting a huge payful like that.
It proves how messed up this contry is!
It illustrates how current business thinking has become bankrupt as far as ideas are concerned. Never should failure be rewarded. His shares should be seized and put into the company finances.
in the end it's not Mr Knapp who rescued the company it's the customers who remained loyal and are paying for the disaster he created with higher prices and the bondholders who agreed the deal.
:shrug:
orangebird
13-08-2003, 11:00
Originally posted by Gogogo
It illustrates how current business thinking has become bankrupt as far as ideas are concerned. Never should failure be rewarded. His shares should be seized and put into the company finances.
in the end it's not Mr Knapp who rescued the company it's the customers who remained loyal and are paying for the disaster he created with higher prices and the bondholders who agreed the deal.
:shrug:
I agree with the not rewarding failure etc - but what higher prices are you on about?? The cheaper call packages perhaps? Or 1meg BB being reduced from £50 to £35??.. .:rolleyes:
Originally posted by orangebird
I agree with the not rewarding failure etc - but what higher prices are you on about?? The cheaper call packages perhaps? Or 1meg BB being reduced from £50 to £35??.. .:rolleyes:
What am I on about? So, are you denying Orangebird that there have been price increases! TV digital packages have increased in prices that's a fact! Telephone connexion charges have slowly crept up to 5p. Moving house there's now a £50 charge down here! I rest my case.
BB! What's that? We in exCWC, exVideotron land no nothing about BB aren't you lucky!
:eek:
SMHarman
13-08-2003, 15:23
Barclay Knapps biggest mistake IMHO was to pay for the aquisitions with debt not equity.
Knapp did to NTL what Gent did to Vodaphone. One used debt one used equity. Overpaying for equity with overpriced equity means all remains equal (though not removed from criticism). Paying with debt means that the balance sheet falls apart when the equity value comes crashing down (which few predicted).
Were NTL and Telewest both in a position to merge I'm sure he would have been around for a while longer.
orangebird
13-08-2003, 16:50
Originally posted by Gogogo
What am I on about? So, are you denying Orangebird that there have been price increases! TV digital packages have increased in prices that's a fact! Telephone connexion charges have slowly crept up to 5p. Moving house there's now a £50 charge down here! I rest my case.
BB! What's that? We in exCWC, exVideotron land no nothing about BB aren't you lucky!
:eek:
It's not even cabled where I live, so no, not so lucky really....
Not, I didn't deny anything - I was merely pointing out what you failed to - that there have been plenty of decreases in the past year too, not just increases as in your post. If you add together all the increases, and add together all the decreases, I'm sure you'll find the decreases total more. If I have the patience later, I sort the figures... :)
cjmillsnun
13-08-2003, 18:06
Originally posted by orangebird
I agree with the not rewarding failure etc - but what higher prices are you on about?? The cheaper call packages perhaps? Or 1meg BB being reduced from £50 to £35??.. .:rolleyes:
ERRR, how about the cap, which whilst bb is cheaper per month, means that you are RESTRICTED in the amount that you can download, I would rather have stuck with the UNLIMITED (more expensive) package that I was sold. If you do the maths, the £50/month works out cheaper per byte than the £35/month, in that you can download 3 times as much pre cap (3GB+ /day) than you can on the post cap prices(1gb/day).
The family pack has gone up to £28 / month as well.
Stephen Robb
13-08-2003, 20:02
From Today's Sun
BARCLAY Knapp is to receive a £1.3mil lion payoff after finally quitting NTL, Britainââ‚à ‚¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s biggest cable company.
Co-founder Mr Knapp, whose high-rolling lifestyle included commuting from New York to London on a company Lear jet, leaves on Friday.
The Wall Street financierâ₠¬â„¢s departure marks the end of a rollercoaster ride in which NTL shares rocketed in the dotcom boom.
The firm then came close to collapse with £12bill ion debts and axed almost 10,000 jobs.
Last year Mr Knapp persuaded creditors to swap the money they were owed for new shares in NTL, wiping out existing shareholders in the process.
Mr Knapp, 46, said he was proud of the rescue ††but news of his pay-off sparked outrage.
Interviewed by Bloomberg news agency, John Hatherly, of fund manager M&G, said of NTL: †œThe same man who dragged them down has claimed credit for their survival.
†œHeÃƒÂ¢à ¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€Š¾Ã‚¢s got out of it profitably while everyone else lost their capital.ââ‚ ‚¬Ã‚ÂÂ
NTL reduced half-year losses by 43 per cent to £316mil lion.
Originally posted by Stephen Robb
From Today's Sun
BARCLAY Knapp is to receive a £1.3mil lion payoff after finally quitting NTL, Britainââ‚à ‚¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s biggest cable company...
...ââ‚ ¬Ãƒâ€¦Ã¢â‚¬Å“Heâ ۉâ₠žÂ¢s got out of it profitably while everyone else lost their capital.ââ‚ ‚¬Ã‚ÂÂ
NTL reduced half-year losses by 43 per cent to £316mil lion.
I'm no fan of The Sun but for once they are absolutely bang on! and that's not intended as a pun!
:spin:
orangebird
14-08-2003, 09:05
Originally posted by cjmillsnun
ERRR, how about the cap, which whilst bb is cheaper per month, means that you are RESTRICTED in the amount that you can download, I would rather have stuck with the UNLIMITED (more expensive) package that I was sold. If you do the maths, the £50/month works out cheaper per byte than the £35/month, in that you can download 3 times as much pre cap (3GB+ /day) than you can on the post cap prices(1gb/day).
The family pack has gone up to £28 / month as well.
Errr, is this the CAP that hasn't actually affected anybody? :rolleyes:
And the family pack that has umpteen more channels?...
:)
Originally posted by welwynrose
Mr Knapp said he believed now was the right time to step down as chief executive, after second quarter results showed the company "back on track".
What a cynical piece of media spin by ntl's PR department. I think the following, from yesterday's Times, is probably nearer the mark:
NTL is preparing to ask investors to support a $600 million (£374 million) rights issue, following yesterday's resignation of of its founder and chief executive, Barclay Knapp.
The cable company's board is understood to have concluded that new investors could not be asked to stump up money while Mr Knapp - tainted by NTL's collapse into Chapter 11 protection last year - was still at the helm.
So he's been given the boot because he's a liability, and paid off handsomely to ensure he goes quietly. All these claims that 'my work here is done', 'I've got ntl back on track' etc etc etc are just a smokescreen.
andygrif
14-08-2003, 14:31
Originally posted by ic14
I cant belive someone who nearly bankrupt a company is getting a huge payful like that.
It proves how messed up this contry is!
According to reports on the BBC this morning, shareholders are asking the same question.
andygrif
14-08-2003, 14:33
Originally posted by SMHarman
Barclay Knapps biggest mistake IMHO was to pay for the aquisitions with debt not equity.
Knapp did to NTL what Gent did to Vodaphone. One used debt one used equity. Overpaying for equity with overpriced equity means all remains equal (though not removed from criticism). Paying with debt means that the balance sheet falls apart when the equity value comes crashing down (which few predicted).
Were NTL and Telewest both in a position to merge I'm sure he would have been around for a while longer.
To be fair to him, no-one caught up in the technology boom at the time could see the massive losses on the horizon.
therefore, in my opinion, his biggest mistake was (for the company, not himself) was not quitting when it happened, and allowing someone with some intelegence and experience to take the helm.
I think it is grossly unfair on Gent to compare him with Knapp. Vodaphone, despite heavy losses along with all technology companies, took the company into the number one in market position, it was strengthened through aquisition not weakened like ntl, and has come through several years later - in a hugely dominant position. This was acheived through consolidation of it's marketing, and applied logic to its services, that maintain its position as an innovator whilst extracting additional ARPU.
Compare this to ntl, who several years later, is still operating from a postition of weakness, it has failed completely in the cost benefits of running one big company rather than lots of little ones, as each area is still run in largely diferent ways, it has not invested in marketing (statistically the companies that spend the most on advertising during recessions are the ones who come out at the end strongest - ntl have spent virtually nothing), ntl has not really increased the number of services offered over the last few years, and the only reason that ARPU is increasing is becuase they keep putting the prices up - and this is counter productive becuase the more you put your prices up, the higher the number of offs you get. What they need is more services to increase ARPU.
andygrif
14-08-2003, 14:42
Originally posted by orangebird
It's not even cabled where I live, so no, not so lucky really....
Not, I didn't deny anything - I was merely pointing out what you failed to - that there have been plenty of decreases in the past year too, not just increases as in your post. If you add together all the increases, and add together all the decreases, I'm sure you'll find the decreases total more. If I have the patience later, I sort the figures... :)
Without wishing to sound provocative OB - but I wonder how someone that doesn't actually have cable can be so vocal against people that do, sometimes.
orangebird
14-08-2003, 14:47
Originally posted by andygrif
Without wishing to sound provocative OB - but I wonder how someone that doesn't actually have cable can be so vocal against people that do, sometimes.
Vocal about what? Prices? Why not? I used to have cable..... :rolleyes:
Originally posted by orangebird
I know he's buggered things up a little, but do you honestly think he does nothing all day other than give out instruction?
To be quite honest with you Yes! I doubt anyone has seen him maning the phones in CS, digging up the roads to fix cables or perhaps seen him installing someones cable modem?!! Don't make me laugh!
I wonder how far his £1m plus payoff would have gone in developing the enhanced TV so it actuarily compared to some of the other digital providers rather than being more at home on Fred Flintstones TV! lol
andygrif
14-08-2003, 22:51
Originally posted by orangebird
Vocal about what? Prices? Why not? I used to have cable..... :rolleyes:
No I was referring to your overall rebuutals to most things that criticise ntl. Maybe it is just a perception of mine, but to me that certainly seems the case. As I said, it is not intended to be an attack.
DonFluffy
16-08-2003, 03:17
This wonderfull man kicked out a lot of good staff.
If I had a nice rifle..with scope......
10,000 peeps would still have their jobs
handyman
16-08-2003, 10:30
1.3 million is 100 fmr/csr on the phones taking an extra 10000 calls per day on average or 70000 per week.
To put that into perspective a busy franchise can expect something like 50-60000 calls in a month into a faults I imagine a cmc does something like 100,000/ month.
May sound like a lot but you'd be surprised how little a query people call in with sometimes.
m
Verbal saidThis wonderfull man kicked out a lot of good staff.
I agree to a point, but management all the way down are to blame.
A lot left before they were pushed. Wales lost some very good key people even before the ntl-cwc merger, the company was struggling to find suitable replacements for these people. People left because they were being made promises that were basically lies!
Many of the slackers had jobs created for them when they were on the redundancy list in Wales, and people who officially asked for redundancy were not even added to the national list from Wales. I asked and was told by HR "We don't know if you have a job or not, but you are at risk" This situation went on for about 5 months and was long after the company was saying that everyone affected had been informed.
I think in some cases the ones who got made redundant were better treated than the ones that the company pi**ed off so much that they walked.
I walked without my 13 year payout, I was concerned at the time but speaking to some of the guys on a regular basis, I know now that I made the right decision.:cool:
cjmillsnun
16-08-2003, 17:05
Originally posted by orangebird
Errr, is this the CAP that hasn't actually affected anybody? :rolleyes:
And the family pack that has umpteen more channels?...
:)
The cap, has affected people, NTL may not have contacted anybody, but people left the service because of that, also sites like Anticap.co.uk say that it has affected people.
And yes the family pack has more channels but none of the new channels are any good, as they are mainly shopping channels.
grum1978
16-08-2003, 17:06
sky one mix :rolleyes:
cjmillsnun
16-08-2003, 17:34
Originally posted by grum1978
sky one mix :rolleyes:
Grum, I stand corrected, however MOST are crappy shopping channels.
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