In a note yesterday headlined "Strategy, what strategy?" Arbuthnot Securities said that BP had done nothing in the wake of strategic shifts by rivals such as ExxonMobil, Shell and ConocoPhillips, which has won plaudits in recent years for announcing a stream of asset sales that have helped fund higher dividends.
The present value of a stream of earnings can be mathematically computed from the current worth of assets and the growth rate.
It also commands a stream of revenue from asset forfeiture that reached about $3 billion in 2012, including more than $2 billion from a failed Ponzi scheme and about $160 million from an online poker operation, DealBook's Peter Lattman reports.
While many are somewhat cash-squeezed now, in recent years they have formed a steady stream of buyers for the assets the slimming down companies divest.
The firm claims that Prince's estate may be pursuing other outlets for streaming that could infringe on their own agreement, and they are "concerned that the special administrator may be negotiating with third parties concerning the digital streaming of the musical assets, or other rights to exploit the musical assets" with companies like Apple or Spotify.
Call it stream-of-consciousness shopping.
In such a situation the trustee should calculate the net present value of each stream of future payments as the asset of each owner.
Given the downturn in the mortgage market, he said that investors are looking for new classes of assets that will provide dependable revenue streams over many years.
Valuation is fraught with controversy over discount rates, reinvestment risk and longevity, for starters.Some firms have tried to reduce their risk by swapping pension assets for a stream of annuity payments from an insurance company or other provider.
These kinds of bonds, called asset-backed securities, have been around for years, usually backed by mortgages, credit card debt or any other sort of asset with a regular stream of payments.
