Count FinancialLimited managing director Barry Lambert has hit back at claims that Count’s recent share price rally occurred due to a bidding war between Westpac andCPH Investment Corporationfor ownership of the group.
An article in Tuesday’sSydney Morning Heraldstated that Lambert had been seen talking with CPH’s chief executive Chris Cuffe recently.
Lambert, who labelled the article “obviously fiction”, says that it is actually three months since he last spoke to Cuffe and disputed that this could be regarded as “recently”.
He pointed out that he also enjoys “friendly relations” with Commonwealth Bank chief executive David Murray and Westpac chief executive David Morgan.
Lambert did however, confirm theHerald’s assertion that Count is Westpac’s largest wrap client, and that he enjoyed a “close relationship” with Chris Cuffe during his time at Colonial.
The share price rally instead, he claimed, was due to increased broker interest in Count and improved market performance – evidenced by the ASX share price exhibiting similar recent performance to Count.
“This obviously rules out any claim that Count’s share price rally has been caused by an imminent ownership tussle – the fact is that the market has been showing signs of improvement, and Count has remained focused on improving its business model,” Lambert says.
He strenuously denied that Count has any plans for sale.
