Forum Archive Index - January 2000

["Colin or Bibi Pannell" <obtc@paradise.net.nz>]

Ben,

 

Thanks for your recent info. on NGL (New Call).  I certainly don't like the dilution of shares without the input from shareholders.  As for strategic direction, guess you can liken it to companies like Netco.  Netco based in Auckland have three parts to their company trading under their own unique names.  Firstly, they're best known as a seller/lessor of eftpos terminals, secondly, they're a value-added reseller of Telecom services (fits nicely with eftpos since if you don't have a data line, you may as well throw away the eftpos terminal - unless it's some kind of offline draft capture device) and thirdly, they have a company which is an onseller of electricity.

 

You can view their business this way in my opinion.  While you're in contact with a prospective (or existing) customer, make the most of it - one part of your business may cross-subsidise the other, but, ultimately, any part of the pie is better than none.  To my mind, NGL's move is not too dissimilar to companies like Saturn offering bundled services - I used to have my Paradise account directly with my ISP (Paradise) - now I have it bundled on my Saturn account and I save a dollar (I probably save Paradise more than a dollar from not having to issue me a statement).  Companies have to "work" their marketing databases.