Originally Posted by
Be Realistic
I don't think this place is worth a billion in assets. Far from it unless Allegiant owns sunrise aircraft management etc, then the aircraft assets are not allegiants to sell. This place is a very low asset business from what I see. They don't own much (HQ is owned by MG and leased to G4, gate leases in secondary cities are about worthless, WFS owns 90% of our infrastructure of staff, MG owns the ECTC), they lease where they can, and use contractors. What exactly does their balance sheet contain in assets? How many of the fleet is leased vs owned by the airline. I know the 13 new airframes are shown to be owned by G4, but there is probably still a large bank note on those.
I believe the value of this place has always been in the profitability of the business model - something that the powers that be are screwing up big time right now.
Well that's a great question. Does Maury actually own Sunrise Asset Management and the other aircraft holding company (can't remember the name right now) that own most of the aircraft free and clear? Does he still own most of G4's assets and lease them back to the company? Does he still contract most of the services the company uses back to the company? My understanding is yes to all.
Sure his actual stock is only about 12% now, and its a publicly traded company, but he still very much controls the company. Who are all the silent partners in these sub companies btw?
It seems to me he could choke the company out and still own sizable assets. We also know that he controls the board and the major investors by the friendly banter and softball questions at the investor conferences. Except that Richard Pfilfinger whatever guy. He's a hoot. He hasn't said much since they b1tch slapped him a couple years ago though.
I'm just spitballing here. There's got to be a reasonable explanation why the company stock flew high for 10 years then suddenly nosedived while every other airline has mostly maintained status quo.
Also every other time in this company's history, when the country was heading into recession and the other airlines were scaling back Allegiant has been bullish. This company has always profited at the demise of other airlines. "Opportunistic growth" I think they like to call it. This time they seem to just be plodding along hoping the ax doesn't fall* instead of planning a major expansion. I don't get it. What changed?
*"Hope is not a strategy" - Maury Gallagher