James Packer and his CEO, John Alexander, are not hiding how much contempt they have for the Australian stockmarket and institutions.

The two were no doubt supported by the PBL board (with the likes of Qantas CEO, Geoff Dixon, Chris Corrigan, David Lowy and former UBS banker, Chris Mackay) in the attempt to push through the 2007 profit report this week without a briefing for analysts.

It’s impossible to find out if there will be any briefing for the media, such is the disdain PBL and its board have for the sector these days. After all its stake in the media is now down to just a 25% bit of PBL Media, plus 25% of Foxtel, 33% of Sky News and 50% of Premier Media (AKA Fox Sports).

The attempt to ignore the brokers saw its bluff called last week. But instead of scheduling the briefing for the day of the profit announcement, on Wednesday, the briefing will be two days later on Friday.

Local cheer squad members for PBL include: Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan and Credit Suisse.

This blase attitude has no doubt helped PBL’s shares underperform the wider market.

PBL shares haven’t been all that popular in the market in the past three months. Brokers and big holders worry about the exposure to Macau where the Chinese Government controls the market and the number of people who can visit, not the local Government.

PBL shares finished at $16.40 on Friday, down $1.38 over the week. That’s also around $5.60 or 25% under its peak in May of $22 when it sold 25% of PBL Media to CVC plus Ticketek for more than $700 million. Those fairytale values will no longer be supported in the market and it is clear that CVC was Packer junior’s Alan Bond.

The plan not to brief analysts brought protests from the market and PBL was forced to change its mind.

It’s a curious decision because after the split (assuming it happens), Packer will need a lot of support from the local market (not the brokers) because Crown will be just a middle-ranked gambling stock on an international comparison, while the media half, Consolidated Media will have no clout and be a collection of rats and mice with no cash flow or profit earning power.

The company is still embroiled in arguments with the Tax Office over the treatment of the $3 a share distribution to shareholders in the forthcoming split of PBL into gambling and media companies (Crown and Consolidated Media Holdings). That split has been delayed until October at the earliest.

A growing number of analysts are uncertain as to what sort of returns PBL will be getting from its gambling investments in Macau, Las Vegas and Canada.