Is DCC chief executive Donal Murphy warming to the idea of the group being taken private, with two investment firms facing a \u201cput up or shut up\u201d bid deadline of 5pm on Wednesday? <\/p>\n
Murphy highlighted the short-term and sometimes fickle focus of public markets at a conference on Monday. <\/p>\n
He noted that one of the constant challenges public companies face is chasing quarter-on-quarter growth. It\u2019s something the Trump administration is concerned about too, with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposing last month to allow companies to do away with publishing quarterly reports, saying \u201cexcessive focus on quarterly results can distract management from executing long\u2011term strategy\u201d. <\/p>\n
Murphy also noted how quickly big investors can change their priorities. While the group was being drilled in every meeting with fund managers a few years ago about ESG (environmental, social and governance), \u201cno one\u2019s asking\u201d those questions now, he said. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing how quickly that went from one extreme to the other extreme,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
DCC\u2019s own investment pitch is known to have evolved during the period. Having once really pushed the green-transition narrative of how its energy businesses \u2013 which runs the gamut of operating 1,173 petrol stations in Europe to distributing liquid gas on both sides of the Atlantic, and installing and maintaining solar PV and heat pump systems \u2013 fits into the green transition, it is now emphasising the role it plays in security and affordability of supply. The war in Ukraine and, more recently, the Middle East conflict have brought these issues to the fore. <\/p>\n