Latest news with #KeithDalrymple
BBC News
23-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Ideas vital to regenerate town centre decay, lobby group says
Ideas from residents in the north of the Isle of Man are "vital" to regenerating town centres in "decay", a steering group has said. The Northern Chamber of Commerce (NCOC) is holding an exhibition in Ramsey, urging people share their views of the town's potential sessions in the town hall are running until 14 August, and the NCOC hopes it can use the input to draw up a "master plan" that has the community backing. NCOC chairman Keith Dalrymple said: "The retail sector in Ramsey is in need of increased footfall, not just [people] visiting the town to shop, but people living in the town and working in the town." He said public confidence in the island's economic situation was at "a low ebb", as was "confidence in decision makers".Small businesses and enterprises were "thinking a week ahead not years", he continued, adding he hoped a master plan developed through the exhibition could stimulate investment. 'Empty buildings' While he said there was "no simple magic bullet that is going to reinvigorate the high streets", he wanted to engage "the whole community" in efforts "to increase footfall, to address the empty buildings, to address the fact that town centres have been allowed to decay over decades".Mr Dalrymple said: "One only has to walk around the town to see the opportunities that are there."But opportunities for development are one thing, making them economically viable and sustainable is another, and this is part of the exercise."He said the steering group had taken inspiration from volunteers working on the town's dilapidated Victorian Queen's Pier. They "got tired" of waiting for "anybody else to step in and do something about it, so they're doing it themselves", he exhibition is open Monday to Thursday from 08:45 until 16:30 BST and on Saturdays between 08:45 until 16:00 Dalrymple said: "Residents' ideas are vital."Ramsey and the north have a proud history, a colourful history."We have wonderful assets and we are endeavouring to encourage people to look around, see them and to make their voices heard." Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
WillScot Holdings Corporation (WSC): A Bear Case Theory
We came across a bearish thesis on WillScot Holdings Corporation (WSC) on Substack by Keith Dalrymple. In this article, we will summarize the bears' thesis on WSC. WillScot Holdings Corporation (WSC)'s share was trading at $23.21 as of April 16th. WSC's trailing and forward P/E were 161.53 and 15.80 respectively according to Yahoo Finance. Aerial shot of a modular space surrounded by poratable storage units. WillScot Holdings Corporation (WSC) recent investor day and unexpected $500 million debt offering have raised serious concerns about the company's liquidity, fleet condition, and future strategy. While management had previously indicated they would refinance the maturing $525 million 2025 notes using their Asset-Based Lending (ABL) facility—citing $1.7 billion in borrowing capacity at a lower interest rate—they instead opted for a second lien note offering at 6.625%. This sharp deviation suggests that ABL lenders may have reassessed the collateral value of WSC's aging fleet and reduced the company's access to credit, effectively pushing WSC into the high-yield junk market. The timing of this shift, which followed a series of public critiques about WSC's deteriorating fleet condition, supports the idea that lenders may be growing wary of the asset base that backs the ABL line. Investor day remarks from President and CFO Tim Boswell only added to the skepticism. His detailed discussion of WSC's 'idle fleet' being 'parked' for future remanufacturing was interpreted by many as a veiled admission that much of the fleet is no longer rental-ready. Instead of generating near-term cash flow, the fleet requires material capital expenditures to be viable again, which undermines its utility as collateral. Boswell's effort to frame this as a capital-efficient advantage fell flat, as it contradicted prior messaging about the fleet's immediate monetization potential and suggested the assets were effectively scrap with uncertain recovery value. This pivot away from emphasizing utilization—a key metric in the equipment rental industry—further signals that management is distancing itself from traditional benchmarks, which may be revealing in itself. Management's statement that the company doesn't 'price based on utilization' and its focus on remanufacturing idle units paints a picture of a company facing capital constraints and asset degradation. While the debt deal staves off a near-term liquidity crisis, the higher rate, speculative credit rating, and withdrawal of cheaper funding speak to diminished confidence in WSC's underlying business health. The equity value is now questionable in light of limited fleet monetization potential, tighter lender scrutiny, and the risk that stock buybacks—funded by new debt—are no longer aligned with lender interests. In total, WSC's recent moves suggest not just a tactical refinancing but a strategic retreat from earlier financial narratives, leaving investors to question what the company's assets are truly worth and whether the core business model remains intact. WillScot Holdings Corporation (WSC) is not on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 58 hedge fund portfolios held WSC at the end of the fourth quarter which was 52 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of WSC as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than WSC but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: 8 Best Wide Moat Stocks to Buy Now and 30 Most Important AI Stocks According to BlackRock. Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey. Sign in to access your portfolio
