Re: Some key points from CC
Unfortunately from an investment perspective debt remains the biggest issue and until the associated risk, perceived or otherwise, is reduced UPL will likely continue to be saddled with a very low PE. Debt was the first question out of the box during the Q&A and there were lots of follow up questions. MW admits they have more debt than they would like. It seems that Plan A is for natural gas prices to rise (in tandem with lower operating costs) and simply provide the cash needed to pay down debt. Plan B is a small sale of non-core assets. I was wondering if there was a Plan C, which I assumed would be an equity offering but MW didn't seem like that was on the table or necessary at this point.
So, operationally UPL seems to be making strides but it doesn't look like that is going to get shareholders out of the dumpster on its own. The forthcoming tax benefits that was mentioned is nice but I don't think MW should have joked about spreading that over the officers pay checks...not a smart comment when you look at the extended period of dismal stock performance under his watch. It only highlights the sad state of corporate governance and the "Heads I win, tails you lose" situation that we have in the E&P sector. Without a doubt it is good to be President, CEO and Chairman and on the compensation committee to boot. At least UPL management is able to live large during the this E&P meltdown...