The Infigen … err, we mean the infinite wisdom of Arthur Daley

By an STT team member

Growing up, television was strictly rationed in our household.

The box in the corner was considered a bit uncouth – unpredictable and liable to bring unwanted things into the lounge.

But there were exceptions: the ABC News (my father), the Mike Walsh Show (my mother) and a weekly half hour of Minder (this was my father, but we were all made to watch).

Minder followed the exploits of Arthur Daley – a socially ambitious but unscrupulous importer-exporter, wholesaler, used-car salesman, and anything else from which there was money to be made – whether inside the law or not.

Dad  was a bit of an Arthur Daley himself.

He was a property developer before it became the “thing to do” – buying up concrete boxes on the outskirts of Perth – slapping on a coat of paint, putting in a new garden, fluffing up the kitchen and bathroom then putting them back on the market to make a tidy profit.

Minder ran for 15 years, starring George Cole as Arthur and Dennis Waterman as his sidekick and minder, Terry. The script was beautifully written – dry, tight and unavoidably English.

Here’s an example:

You get the idea.

Which is why, every time we read something about Infigen, or its CEO, Miles George (the former head of Babcock and Brown Wind Partners) we get a strange sense of Arthur Daley deja vu.

Here’s a recent statement the company made to the Australian Stock Exchange. Note how packed full of detail it is, and how satisfied you feel after reading it.

But wait! There’s more.

Miles George recently provided an interview with the Australian Financial Review.

In short, Infigen is in deep financial trouble and wants to flog off its wind farms.

It owes $1 billion – and nearly every cent it makes from turbines (mainly through RECs, according to our calculation) goes to servicing its debt.

We are not, of course, suggesting any Arthur Daley-type dodginess by anybody at Infigen. Of course not.

But certainly the size of the company’s owings would have made even old Arthur just a tad nervous.

But here’s the bit that really made us chuckle.

“Mr George said the improved business climate in Australia for renewable energy, with the near-certain retention of the 2020 renewable energy target, offered Infigen the opportunity to consider asset divestments to cut debt and lift the appeal of the stock for institutional investors.”

Note the Arthur-type use of language. “Improved business climate.” Of course, my son. “Asset divestment”. At that price, it’s a steal.

And the near-certain retention of the 2020 renewable energy target? See our earlier post re this likelihood.

In our opinion, only a modern entrepreneur constantly gazing into the “crystal ball of opportunity” could make such a prediction.

As Arthur said once: “You make contact with your customer. Understand their needs. And then flog them something they could well do without.”

In the meantime, here’s three minutes of the real Arthur. Substitute “wind turbine” in your mind for the car – and you’ll get the idea.

In our next post, if George is Arthur, then who is Terry?