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Re: Avation (AVAP)

Posted: May 1st, 2018, 5:24 pm
by simoan
Hi Carcosa,

Thanks for your continued updates. I must admit I think we are hitting our heads against a brick wall with this one, and I'm about ready to chuck the towel in - it's not even as though it's worth holding for the dividend!

It's difficult to see what more the company can do, other than sell itself at a premium to NAV to trigger a share price re-rating. I see Richard Wolanski was at Mello 2018 banging the drum again last weekend but no-one is really interested in what is now quite a stale story. I've come to the conclusion that Avation is just one of those shares that will always look cheap because the market puts it in the "too hard, can't be bothered" pile. Sometimes in such cases a trade buyer does recognise the value and buys the company, but there doesn't see to be much prospect of that with Avation as it adds no real scale to a potential acquirer.

It's currently top of my list for disposal next time I see a decent opportunity that is a better use of the funds. What are your thoughts on current prospects for a re-rating?

All the best, Si

Re: Avation (AVAP)

Posted: May 2nd, 2018, 4:45 am
by Carcosa
Si,

I understand your frustration especially when comparing to other AIM stocks which can unexpectedly spring a surprise to the upside (or downside!). The boring predictability of Avation is something I find relatively positive and a counterbalance to other shares I hold

It is highly unlikely IMO that Avation are going to spring a surprise on shareholders outside of a takeover; and there are no compelling reasons why industry players should be interested in Avation simply because Avation are so tiny, as you say so yourself. When I visited them early this year I got the impression the board would want to see 350-400p before they would capitulate. Doubt that is feasible.

Avation are a long term holding and although I find Richard's presentations are so repetitive it is because the business is really a 'wash and repeat' exercise. As I mentioned in the S&P post I don't think we are going to see any new jet aircraft entering the fleet in H1 or early H2 as I think it may have a negative effect on credit rating outlook; so things are meandering along for quite a while aka investor boredom!

In terms of safety/risk I think things are actually good. The fleet is healthy, customers are enjoying good operational profits, we have hidden value in the ATR options, credit ratings marginally moving in the right direction and trading below NAV. The one item I do have a look at as a real risk is the $/GBP exchange rate and I must admit until recently I was thinking of reducing my holding in Avation because of that. Furthermore, although we shareholders know what the revenue is going to be in 2018 I suspect that when it is released the market will react positively although not as positive as you or I would like! I do recall however Avation saying they can get cost if debt down further but how and when remains unknown.

The procurement of the A330/B777 has effectively stymied any other fleet activity and its not until the income from those aircraft starts to permit additional debt to be taken on (when EBIT interest cover is lower) before we see changes to the fleet. I would like, really like to see, some real activity in selling the older jet aircraft as that may have a real impact on EPS. It would be nice to think that this extended downtime in aircraft procurement is focussing the company more on reducing debt interest or getting a particular sweet deal for the next aircraft/customer but I suspect that is just wishful thinking on my part.

So in summary, I understand your frustrations and you have to make the decisions in your own portfolio that you are happy with. Avation is boring and no real surprises can be reasonably expected with this company but it is that reason why I have it as part of my portfolio.

Re: Avation (AVAP)

Posted: May 4th, 2018, 8:17 am
by Carcosa
So today Avation got round to issuing an RNS on the $300m notes which will will save 1.0% of the $150m GMTN notes which will 'save' US$1.5m per annum plus an additional one-off saving of those notes are trading above par (I have no idea of they are, they certainly were a few weeks ago)

There is an additional press release issued yesterday from Fitch which explains things in greater details.

Overall a positive step.

Re: Avation (AVAP)

Posted: May 4th, 2018, 11:57 am
by simoan
Carcosa wrote:So today Avation got round to issuing an RNS on the $300m notes which will will save 1.0% of the $150m GMTN notes which will 'save' US$1.5m per annum plus an additional one-off saving of those notes are trading above par (I have no idea of they are, they certainly were a few weeks ago)

There is an additional press release issued yesterday from Fitch which explains things in greater details.

Overall a positive step.


Hi Carcosa,

Yes, another small step for mankind... every little helps etc.

On your previous post, I hold for many of the same reasons but no longer with any great conviction - it's an asset play and I don't have many of those. Like you I don't see too much downside and the 2% dividend is just about enough to maintain interest. I've not been concerned by cable as the currency effect is balanced by other holdings in my portfolio. Currently, I have cash spare to invest so don't need to sell up but one day out of boredom I am likely to hit the button. The idea with an asset play is that the assets are used to make a return for the shareholders, not just keep the directors in jobs, and if not, there's not really much point in holding shares in such a company, or for that matter the company being listed on a stock exchange.

All the best, Si

Re: Avation (AVAP)

Posted: May 11th, 2018, 8:45 am
by Carcosa
RNS issued today saying that A320 MSN 1922 lease has been extended by seven years to May 2025 with the same operator (Virgin Australia Regional Airlines, the old 'Skywest Airline'). The extension will allow Avation to pay off the loans hence the asset will become unencumbered.

Firstly Avation had previously indicated the lease extention would be for six years, not seven. So perhaps a bit of horse trading went on between Avation and VARA; who the winner is, I have no idea.

The aircraft has been up for sale for at least two years with no buyers. With this long term lease I would hope that the asset becomes more marketable and the aircraft will be disposed off by years' end. This would have a positive effect (albeit minor) for credit ratings given the age of the aircraft. it's nearly 16 years old and disposing of it would obviously help with lowering the average A320 fleet age.

Re: Avation (AVAP)

Posted: May 11th, 2018, 11:36 am
by simoan
Carcosa wrote:RNS issued today saying that A320 MSN 1922 lease has been extended by seven years to May 2025 with the same operator (Virgin Australia Regional Airlines, the old 'Skywest Airline'). The extension will allow Avation to pay off the loans hence the asset will become unencumbered.

Firstly Avation had previously indicated the lease extention would be for six years, not seven. So perhaps a bit of horse trading went on between Avation and VARA; who the winner is, I have no idea.

The aircraft has been up for sale for at least two years with no buyers. With this long term lease I would hope that the asset becomes more marketable and the aircraft will be disposed off by years' end. This would have a positive effect (albeit minor) for credit ratings given the age of the aircraft. it's nearly 16 years old and disposing of it would obviously help with lowering the average A320 fleet age.


Yes, and the market just yawned! :-) Only 9K shares traded (at time of writing) following this news...

All the best, Si

Re: Avation (AVAP)

Posted: June 1st, 2018, 10:53 am
by Carcosa
So today Avation gives us an update (apparently forced due to the customer releasing its own press release) on the first of three ATR72-600's due for delivery before the end of 2018. The customer will be Far Eastern Air Transport Corp (FAT) of Taiwan

This airline has been around for decades, since 1957. In the late 2000's the company got into serious financial difficulties and ceased operations for a while. They now have a relatively small fleet of ten aircraft; 2 ATR's and some old MD-82's/83's which will be replaced with B737-Max 8 aircraft in due course.

The airline has a littenay of screw ups from major flight cancellations/fines/ground accidents to claims of unhelpfulness by the government

The two ATR's already in service are leased from Nordic Aviation Capital (World's largest lessor of Regional aircraft). Of the next two ATR's to be delivered we now know that one will be leased from AVAP. It would not be unreasonable to assume the second ATR will also be provided by AVAP.

Given the risk associated with FAT I don't think this customer can be regarded in any way as high quality. Presumably a marginal increase in the lease rates will have been negotiated. Similarly I can understand why Nordic do not want any further exposure to the airline; hence giving AVAP the opportunity.

Re: Avation (AVAP)

Posted: June 1st, 2018, 12:33 pm
by simoan
Hi Carcosa,

I can't say I'd heard of this airline (nice initials though, FAT!) so thanks for the background, even if its past sounds somewhat chequered! As you say, hopefully the lease rates offset the risk. Do you believe this is a sign they are struggling to place the 3 ATRs? I'm sure they would've preferred a higher quality customer, so perhaps it's a case of "beggars can't be choosers"?

All the best, Si

Re: Avation (AVAP)

Posted: June 1st, 2018, 12:59 pm
by Carcosa
simoan wrote:Do you believe this is a sign they are struggling to place the 3 ATRs? I'm sure they would've preferred a higher quality customer, so perhaps it's a case of "beggars can't be choosers"?


That was my thought too. Am almost certainly stretching an idea here but I wonder if ATR have been rushing to place the ATR's scheduled for Iran Air with better quality customers due to the renewed sanctions. Am not so familiar with what has been going on with the Iran ATR's though.

On the other hand maybe these ATR's are a way into FAT that may lead to leasing new B737 MAX aircraft to the airline. Could be, as you say, "beggars can't be choosers". It maybe AVAP are happy with the risk over the next 3-5 years in which time they could potentially off-load the aircraft to another lessor, or if the airline goes tits up then they can relatively easily reallocate a new aircraft to another airline. Downside to me is that although they have diversified with another airline (good for credit rating) the quality is poor. FAT is a subsidiary of Huafu Group Huafu Group (construction, entertainment, aviation, tourism and hotel industries) which to me implies that things can change rapidly depending on the performance at Group level.

With respect to the B737 Max aircraft discussions with candidate lessors are reportedly underway, and that it expects to finalise the discussions "very soon." In their initial announcement, the airline said the two 737s will be delivered annually from late 2019 onwards. The airline is also planning to operate nine ATR 72-600s by 2023; although they currently only have two ATR's on order (one of which is AVAP).

I suppose AVAP may be thinking there is nothing substantive they can do for a number of years to improve their credit rating, so FAT is not a bad customer at the end of the say?

Re: Avation (AVAP)

Posted: June 13th, 2018, 8:08 am
by Carcosa
Today Avation released an RNS stating they were to lease two Bombardier CS300 aircraft to Latvian airline airBaltic. This is a new aircraft and airframe manufacturer for Avation.

Lease term length for both aircraft is for a duration of 12 years. Actual delivery date has yet to be confirmed.

The C300 is a narrow-body, twin-engine, medium-range jet airliners designed by Canadian manufacturer Bombardier Aerospace. From all public reports it has proven so far to be very reliable and operationally economic.

The CS300 is aimed to compete with the Boeing 737 MAX 7, Airbus A319neo and Irkut MC-21-200. This is a very competitive market albeit the market size is seen as some 6000 new aircraft over the next 20 years.

Furthermore it has been fraught with political interference with the Americans imposing a 300% import duty from Canada; effectively making it unable to sell the aircraft in America however this was somewhat circumvented by Airbus taking a majority stake (next month) and an assembly plant being constructed in USA although deliveries will not commence until 2020 from this plant.

However Boeing are taking the fight to Bombadier as, for example, Boeing reportedly gave US based United Continental a massive 73% discount on a 737 deal to lock out Bombardier, dropping the price of the B737 to $22 million per aircraft, well below the CS300 market value at $36 million.

Just what the real selling price is of the CS300 is a guessing game. The 'list price' is $89.5m but huge discounts for American customers eg Delta Airlines at around 65-70% off may make the final price to be around $24.6–28.7m.

With airbaltic being the launch customer and a major customer to Bombardier I can only assume they have substantial discounts too but perhaps not as great as Delta Airlines obtained. So for now I am assuming a sale price of some $32m generating a revenue of say $2m per annum for each aircraft.

Depreciation however could be problematical. Aircraft in this sector tend to only be around for 17-20 years and with it not being a Boeing or Airbus product the market for them is going to be limited and lowly priced. It would not be a major surprise to me to find some impairment statements regarding the NAV of the aircraft in years to come.

I guess Avation are continuing to diversify customers, geogrphically and feel assured that what is effectivey a state run expanding airline is a relatively safe bet. Given they have a 12 year lease with perhaps a marginal improvement in lease margins they should end up with the aircraft paying for itself at lease termination.

Re: Avation (AVAP)

Posted: June 21st, 2018, 10:01 am
by Carcosa
Avation's financial year end closes at the end of the month and with no further fleet changes expected now is a good a time as any for a review. We may have a Interim management Statement and dividend announcement in a week or so though.

Headlines as I expect to see them:

Lease Revenue +13%
Fleet Value +33%
Operating profit +10%
Profit Before tax +29%
EPS +9%
P/E 8 (227p)
Gross Yield 11%
P/TBV 0.9 (@257p)
Leverage x5.5 (+12%)
ROE 11% (+10%)

Over the last year we have had the following fleet additions (costs are my best guess):
* A330-300 delivered Dec 2017 at a cost of $97.6m
* B777-300ER delivered Dec 2017 at a cost of $150m
* CS300 delivered June 2018 at a cost of $32m
* ATR72-600 x 3 Nov 2017 (1), Dec 2017 (2) Total cost $56.5m

So that's a total of $336m of new assets compared to $744m last year. I now calculate total NAV for the fleet to be $991m (The difference being depreciation of the $744m)

As a rough estimate if we assume LTV of 78% that gives us $218m i.e. $3.47/share or ~ 257p/share at an exchange rate of $1.35. PLUS any cash. At current share price of 227p I believe that 13% discount provides adequate downside protection.

Revenue at end December 2017 was stated as an annualised run rate of $115m. Adjusting for timing issues of the wide bodied aircraft and adding in the CS300 the actual revenue I am expecting to be reported is $106.6m which is 13% higher than 2017. That includes the loss of revenue income (about $29m) from the six ATR's sold to Chorus Aviation Capital Corp.

Furthermore we will have a relatively small income from finance leases and a gain of around $2.2m from the placement of the ex Air Berlin A320.

It is worthwhile noting that we can forecast 2019 revenue to increase to $122m (+6%) without any further change to the fleet (but we will also have another CS300 and maybe x2 ATR's yet to enter the fleet which will increase 2019 revenue ~11% as a minimum).

I think Operating Profit will be around $66.7m (+10%) and after deducting finance expenses a profit Before tax of $39m (+28%).

Profits should be taxed at the new lower rate of 8% under the Singapore Economic Development Board ALS scheme which drops out to an expected EPS of $0.40. This compares with forecast analyst EPS of $0.27!! This is where I really hesitate in believing my own figures. For such a huge discrepancy I must have missed something rather major! In the last seven reporting periods I have never been out by more than 15% (once). Hopefully the forthcoming IMS statement will be of interest!

It perhaps cannot be overstated how sensitive all of the above is in regard to Loan to Value (LTV and Cost of Debt. For example an adverse 1% change in cost of debt means around $8m additional cost!

Assumptions:
Cost of Debt 4.7%
No asset impairment
LTV 78%
Borrowings of $838m
Admin cost of $10m

NB: Looking ahead for 2019 we should get:
Full year revenue from the widebodied aircraft 22.4m v 11.4m to date
Plus CS300 and x3 or x4 ATR's deliveries
Revenue 6%++
Lower cost of Senior Debt (1%) will take effect

As a consequence I'd say Avation is a firm Buy!

Re: Avation (AVAP)

Posted: July 10th, 2018, 1:07 pm
by Carcosa
Today CS100 & CS300 series aircraft have been officially renamed the A220-100 and A220-300, after Airbus took majority ownership of Bombardier recently. Airbus expects to sell a “double-digit” number of the jets this year and sees demand for at least 3,000 of them over 20 years. 2 years ago they said it was a doomed!

The move also sets the stage for a broader confrontation with Boeing, which last week announced a tentative deal to take over the commercial unit of Bombardier’s competitor Embraer.

Image

Re: Avation (AVAP)

Posted: July 11th, 2018, 12:02 pm
by Bouleversee
[quote="Carcosa"]Avation's financial year end closes at the end of the month and with no further fleet changes expected now is a good a time as any for a review. We may have a Interim management Statement and dividend announcement in a week or so though.

Headlines as I expect to see them:

Lease Revenue +13%
Fleet Value +33%
Operating profit +10%
Profit Before tax +29%
EPS +9%
P/E 8 (227p)
Gross Yield 11%
P/TBV 0.9 (@257p)
Leverage x5.5 (+12%)
ROE 11% (+10%)

Over the last year we have had the following fleet additions (costs are my best guess):
* A330-300 delivered Dec 2017 at a cost of $97.6m
* B777-300ER delivered Dec 2017 at a cost of $150m
* CS300 delivered June 2018 at a cost of $32m
* ATR72-600 x 3 Nov 2017 (1), Dec 2017 (2) Total cost $56.5m

So that's a total of $336m of new assets compared to $744m last year. I now calculate total NAV for the fleet to be $991m (The difference being depreciation of the $744m)

As a rough estimate if we assume LTV of 78% that gives us $218m i.e. $3.47/share or ~ 257p/share at an exchange rate of $1.35. PLUS any cash. At current share price of 227p I believe that 13% discount provides adequate downside protection.

Revenue at end December 2017 was stated as an annualised run rate of $115m. Adjusting for timing issues of the wide bodied aircraft and adding in the CS300 the actual revenue I am expecting to be reported is $106.6m which is 13% higher than 2017. That includes the loss of revenue income (about $29m) from the six ATR's sold to Chorus Aviation Capital Corp.

Furthermore we will have a relatively small income from finance leases and a gain of around $2.2m from the placement of the ex Air Berlin A320.

It is worthwhile noting that we can forecast 2019 revenue to increase to $122m (+6%) without any further change to the fleet (but we will also have another CS300 and maybe x2 ATR's yet to enter the fleet which will increase 2019 revenue ~11% as a minimum).

I think Operating Profit will be around $66.7m (+10%) and after deducting finance expenses a profit Before tax of $39m (+28%).

Profits should be taxed at the new lower rate of 8% under the Singapore Economic Development Board ALS scheme which drops out to an expected EPS of $0.40. This compares with forecast analyst EPS of $0.27!! This is where I really hesitate in believing my own figures. For such a huge discrepancy I must have missed something rather major! In the last seven reporting periods I have never been out by more than 15% (once). Hopefully the forthcoming IMS statement will be of interest!

It perhaps cannot be overstated how sensitive all of the above is in regard to Loan to Value (LTV and Cost of Debt. For example an adverse 1% change in cost of debt means around $8m additional cost!

Assumptions:
Cost of Debt 4.7%
No asset impairment
LTV 78%
Borrowings of $838m
Admin cost of $10m

NB: Looking ahead for 2019 we should get:
Full year revenue from the widebodied aircraft 22.4m v 11.4m to date
Plus CS300 and x3 or x4 ATR's deliveries
Revenue 6%++
Lower cost of Senior Debt (1%) will take effect

As a consequence I'd say Avation is a firm Buy![/quote

Isn't Bank Rate due to go up in the near future? What is that likely to do to their cost of debt figure?

Re: Avation (AVAP)

Posted: July 11th, 2018, 1:05 pm
by Carcosa
Cost of debt would increase; but so would the lease rate for all future aircraft.

There would be no discernable disadvantage for Avation because it would apply equally to all leasing companies.

In practice debt cost would hardly be impacted as the company has access to cheaper debt in the short term as previously arranged through their loan note programme and change in apportioning debt across the various types of available debt.

Worth noting it's US dollar denominated debt rates we are discussing.

In principle because 96% of debt costs are already fixed for the terms of the lease period and its a US dollar business the interest rate environment is of no real concern.

Re: Avation (AVAP)

Posted: July 11th, 2018, 1:30 pm
by Bouleversee
Carcosa -

OK, thanks.

Re: Avation (AVAP)

Posted: July 16th, 2018, 3:48 pm
by Carcosa
David Neeleman, founder of JetBlue Airways Corp., and a group of investors are seeking to acquire 60 A220-300 aircraft to be announced during the current Farnborough Airshow. These aircraft may be destined for a new low-cost carrier in the U.S potentially called 'Moxy'.

However there does seem to be some confusion as to who the customer is as the same reports are also attributable to Jet Blue, which is far more believable since Airbus announced an MoU!

Always possible I guess that we there are two separate orders, both for 60 aircraft!

Neeleman also helped establish Morris Air, Canada’s WestJet Airlines Ltd. and Brazil’s Azul SA, in addition to JetBlue.

Such a large deal would enable the aircraft to be acquired at a very low cost (reports saying > 70% discount) and that sort of acquisition cost/financing would presumably sit very nicely with Avation's risk appetite in addition to opening up potentially new territories and customers so hopefully we may hear something about Avation getting a piece of the action in a year or so(?)

Re: Avation (AVAP)

Posted: July 17th, 2018, 10:41 am
by Carcosa
Just to follow up on my prior post and perhaps my last comment regarding the aircraft type (unless specifically directly affecting Avation)...

Confirmed that both JetBlue and Moxy are ordering 60 aircraft. First deliveries can be in 2020. When added to the order for 75 A220-100s by Delta Air Lines this, nearly fills out the new (yet to be completed) Mobile, Alabama production line through 2024.

If these orders are firmed up and the likes of Spirit Airlines (US), United Airlines (US) and American Airlines, (with a fleet of more than 100 Airbus A319s to be replaced), will be in a position to consider the A220 early next decade. However Boeing will not be taking this lying down. There are many hurdles to be overcome in the next few years but if the fleet can get over a 1000 aircraft into service then residual aircraft valuations will likely hold-up.

Currently there are ~300 ordered/delivered.

Re: Avation (AVAP)

Posted: July 18th, 2018, 6:34 am
by Carcosa
Fitch Affirms Avation PLC at 'BB-; Outlook Stable issued yesterday. Previously it was BB+

Perhaps the ex Air Berlin impairment charge spooked them?? Overall positive commentary for the longer term.

In general, the ratings are in line with my prior commentary. i.e. need a [expletive deleted] load more aircraft, diversification in customers and regions and ensure leverage does not get out of hand.

Full Fitch review shows:
AerCap Holdings N.V. (AerCap)
--Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) affirmed at 'BBB-'; Outlook Stable.

Air Lease Corporation (Air Lease)
--Long-Term IDR affirmed at 'BBB'; Outlook Stable.

Aircastle Limited (Aircastle)
--Long-Term IDR affirmed at 'BBB-'; Outlook Stable.

Avation PLC (Avation)
--Long-Term IDR affirmed at 'BB-'; Outlook Stable.

Aviation Capital Group LLC (ACG)
--Long-Term IDR upgraded to 'BBB+' from 'BBB';
--Outlook revised to Positive from Stable.

Avolon Holdings Limited (Avolon)
--Long-Term IDR affirmed at 'BB'; Outlook Stable.

BOC Aviation Limited (BOCA)
--Long-Term IDR affirmed at 'A-'; Outlook Stable.

Intrepid Aviation Group Holdings, LLC (Intrepid)
--Long-Term IDR affirmed at 'BB-'; Outlook Stable.

SMBC Aviation Capital Limited (SMBC AC)
--Long-Term IDR affirmed at 'A-'; Outlook Stable.

Transportation Partners Pte. Ltd. (TP)
--Long-Term IDR affirmed at 'B-' and withdrawn; Outlook Stable.

Re: Avation (AVAP)

Posted: July 18th, 2018, 9:58 am
by Carcosa
Oh my, I seem to be posting daily. This has to stop! ;-)

Today's RNS announces a change in CFO.

Had a couple of queries from other investors asking what I thought about it. The concerns seem to centre around the timing of the announcement; right after the year end and before the prelims/finals are released and the fact the departing CFO did not get a 'thank you' in the RNS. Sometimes a typical reaction when things have gone awry and the CFO nis deemed at fault. Also, an investor thought it was a Senior Board member who has stepped into the CFO role (I should have caught this error but did not!)

Anyway, I asked the Finance Director about it via email and confirmed with him I could share the response on social media. His response was:

While timing is not optimal the CFO is imply moving back into the private sector.

Iain Cawte is not and has never been a Board member. He started with the company in 2014 as CFO and then moved into the Treasury role after two years as we built the finance team to cope with the fact that the company size has doubled twice since this time. Iain is simply moving back into a role he was doing previously and is extremely close to.


Probably the best investors could hope for in terms of a response. Up to the reader to determine if there is anything to come out of the woodwork. Personally, I'd give Avation the benefit of the doubt and say there is no cause for alarm in this instance; although I do find on occasion Avation's RNS's could be worded a little clearer.

Re: Avation (AVAP)

Posted: July 18th, 2018, 10:49 am
by simoan
Carcosa wrote:Oh my, I seem to be posting daily. This has to stop! ;-)

Today's RNS announces a change in CFO.

Had a couple of queries from other investors asking what I thought about it. The concerns seem to centre around the timing of the announcement; right after the year end and before the prelims/finals are released and the fact the departing CFO did not get a 'thank you' in the RNS. Sometimes a typical reaction when things have gone awry and the CFO nis deemed at fault. Also, an investor thought it was a Senior Board member who has stepped into the CFO role (I should have caught this error but did not!)

Anyway, I asked the Finance Director about it via email and confirmed with him I could share the response on social media. His response was:

While timing is not optimal the CFO is imply moving back into the private sector.

Iain Cawte is not and has never been a Board member. He started with the company in 2014 as CFO and then moved into the Treasury role after two years as we built the finance team to cope with the fact that the company size has doubled twice since this time. Iain is simply moving back into a role he was doing previously and is extremely close to.


Probably the best investors could hope for in terms of a response. Up to the reader to determine if there is anything to come out of the woodwork. Personally, I'd give Avation the benefit of the doubt and say there is no cause for alarm in this instance; although I do find on occasion Avation's RNS's could be worded a little clearer.

I saw the announcement, and quite frankly it doesn't read well. It's customary for a company to thank a board member for their service and the lack of any kind words to the outgoing CFO leaves a bad taste and the doors wide open for conspiracy theorists that financial problems have been discovered. Thanks for sharing the email response although unfortunately it doesn't really help, unless "moving back to the private sector" is a coded way of saying he's been sacked because he was not good enough to be CFO of a publicly listed company!

All the best, Si