Corporate conference calls aren't typically a source of entertainment, but the rules go out the window when Jim Shaw is holding court.
Mr. Shaw, outspoken CEO at the cable company that bears his family name, just can't help but mix it up with equity analysts when he's got them on the line. And analysts, for the most part, are caught flat-footed when the boss of one of the country's largest companies starts to tease.
The pattern is always the same, though the target shifts. An analyst asks a question, Mr. Shaw returns fire with some sort of a shot, then laughs off the whole exchange. It's more than a little weird, yet compelling.
On Monday, when Shaw Communications was explaining its planned $2-billion purchase of CanWest Global Communications' TV assets, RBC Dominion Securities analyst Jonathan Allen walked into the CEO's cross-hairs by asking whether the company plans to sell shares, to rebuild its balance sheet in the wake of the acquisition.
Completely oblivious of the walls that are meant to separate corporate finance and research - or perhaps highly conscious of how thin those walls can be - Mr. Shaw replied: "I heard the other day that Royal Bank wanted to do some interim financing. Sorry, sorry, sorry."
The reply from Mr. Allen: "Would love to help."
Then there was Mr. Shaw's give-and-take during the last earnings call with top-ranked Bank of American Merrill Lynch analyst Glen Campbell, who posed an innocuous question on capital spending.
"Why can't you move your rating on us?" demanded Mr. Shaw.
Mr. Campbell said he was just hoping to hear the answer to his capex question, and Mr. Shaw then said: "Constantly wrong and you're -- oh, I forgot you work for Merrill. I'm just joking. Just teasing you a little bit there, dude."
Then there was this immortal dose of Jim tartare from an earnings call in 2009. We quote from the gospel according to Thomson Financial's transcription service. One again, RBC Dominion's Mr. Allen got the ball rolling, asking whether the cable company planned to retire outstanding bonds.
Jim Shaw - Shaw Communications: "So, you know, we're going to have a bit of a negative carry here for a bit. But we decided that we wanted to have the money. And just so you know how things work here, we had like a group hug ... yesterday, and we hugged the satellite guys and we were hugging the cable guys and we were hugging everybody, and said, you know what? I don't know if you're not feeling the love, but you know what, it is coming down really quick.
"Now, that $2-million or $1-million a month or whatever it is in negative carry, that will be eaten up right away, right? We will get that fixed up. So I can tell you that one thing you deal with our group is totally anal, and last I looked, we all live on Uranus. That is our planet. And you know what, you know, somebody told me one time, that is just how it works. And if you do not think that our shop don't run that way, it runs totally that way.
"And the good thing is that even if I am not around and I have to leave for a week, Peter is here, Brad is here. And if you do not think the love ain't coming out of here, you don't know much about our shop. There is a lot of love happening here, and you know what? We expect it to be delivered at the end of the month. So, you know what, you just deliver it, deliver it all day."
Mr. Allen - RBC Dominion: "I'm not really sure how to respond to that, Jim, but let me -- (laughter)"
Jim Shaw - Shaw Communications: "You asked the question; I just gave you the response by saying, you know what? You want to know the love? You want to hear what the inner works are? These are the inner works. And you know what? If you want some love, just call us."
Adam Spielman - PPM America: "All right. Final one, just a macro question - can you help us - some of us down in the U.S.? It does seem like there's at least two economies in Canada, maybe three. Clearly the West has slowed down, as Jim alluded to, but it is still my understanding - I would like you to confirm it is still a lot better shape than, say, the Toronto area. And then is it different in Quebec or is that kind of more like Eastern Canada versus Western Canada?"
Jim Shaw - Shaw Communications: "You'd be asking the wrong dude. Last I looked, I looked at Calgary and then I've got a home in So Cal. So you know what? Listen, operator, we're going to close the call off today. We're about done here. So anyway, thanks, everybody, for joining. We will talk to you next quarter."
Andrew Willis