A while ago, I blogged that Fairfax shares were doing badly here.
I was concerned then as Fairfax shares were 86 cents, then they went down to 69.5 cents. Then part of the reason could be explained as much of the ASX went down too. It went up with the market but now, unfortunately, the slide has not stopped, shares in Fairfax Media are today hit the lowest point in the company’s history of 69 cents. This is despite that the ASX as a whole has moved upwards since.
How it will affect us all remains to be seen. I can only imagine more of the same. More cuts, including layoffs, years ago Fairfax before they did anything would send a few people over; they would discuss possible changes and scenarios. I used to see their reps at newsagencies; their senior reps were regulars at our user meetings.
Now I think the number of people have gone n Fairfax has affected service levels. People I have worked with for years are no longer there. The new guys seem to change around a lot. I do not see how they can collect the relevant experience simply because they keep changing around. A good distribution executive needs years on the job to learn.
The last major price change was disgracefully handled. The advice is given only in the last minute, much of the important details were missing, such as the dates and there was a refusal to supply details. Their attitude I think could be described as “We do not care."
For a company like Fairfax, the distribution should be one of the top priorities I wonder what other departments are similarly affected and maybe these lower prices on their share reflect some of these concerns by the shareholder.
Note: If Fairfax believes that they can get the revenue required from digital and drop printing in the short term, I think they are dreaming and maybe that is what the shareholders think too.
