Management & Leadership

Altice’s Caribbean selloff signals shrinking ambition

23 Nov 2017

Patrick Drahi’s telecom and cable group may dump its Dominican Republic unit just four years after buying it. That adds credibility to the entrepreneur’s plan to cut debt by flogging assets. It also underscores that Altice’s days of heady, M&A-led growth are firmly in the past.

India eyes governance brute force to check tycoons

23 Nov 2017

A proposal to follow the UK and require listed companies to have separate chairmen and CEOs is heavy-handed. It comes amid an effort in India to learn from past mistakes that have brought a mountain of bad debt, but an overly prescriptive approach risks unintended consequences.

Meg Whitman’s good management of bad business ends

21 Nov 2017

She took over Hewlett-Packard when Silicon Valley's original success story was in unprecedented turmoil with three predecessors fired, a dysfunctional board and a welter of failed deals. By breaking it up, she brought stability. It's a track record that might work in politics.

Patrick Drahi’s Altice faces tricky debt detox

20 Nov 2017

The tycoon’s telecom group has lost 40 pct of its value following weak results in France. The group is now pledging to cut its 50 bln euro debt pile and sell assets. Yet rising rates, growing competition and a complex financial structure leave Drahi little room for error.

LSE boardroom brawl will produce only losers

20 Nov 2017

Activist TCI wants to oust bourse Chairman Donald Brydon and reverse the departure of CEO Xavier Rolet. The board is preparing a public explanation for Rolet’s exit, perhaps including salty details. Directors, executives, shareholders and the exchange itself will all look bad.

Carillion meltdown shows risk in return-free world

17 Nov 2017

Creditors of the UK construction group face losses in a looming restructuring. The company expanded too fast and took on risky contracts. Meanwhile, BBB-rated Veolia is borrowing at sub-zero yields. Investors should remember that even central banks can’t make default impossible.

Vivendi doubles down on video-game mystery

17 Nov 2017

The French media group won’t buy the rest of Ubisoft in the next six months, but nor has it said it will sell its 27 pct stake. It may even forgo voting rights to avoid making a bid. That leaves investors guessing as to its long-term plan, and marking down the stock accordingly.

Audit defect throws wrench in GKN re-engineering

16 Nov 2017

CEO-designate Kevin Cummings will leave the UK car parts and aerospace group after it unearthed more accounting problems at the unit he ran. The mess reinforces the case for breaking the company into two parts. Yet the governance vacuum makes quick fixes harder.

P&G proxy fiasco is black mark on CEO David Taylor

15 Nov 2017

Five weeks after the Tide and Pampers maker triumphantly declared victory in keeping Nelson Peltz off its board of directors, an independent arbiter says the activist won. It's hard to conjure up a better illustration of P&G's insularity than its handling of the whole affair.

Nestlé makes grown-up changes to infant business

15 Nov 2017

The $260 bln KitKat maker is splitting up its global baby-food unit. Regional differences make that sensible. Competition is a factor, too. Nestlé is also the third big food-and-beverage group to shake things up in a month – a sign of traditional consumer-goods firms’ struggles.

Rio Tinto could have high-grade chairman in Davis

14 Nov 2017

Big miners usually prefer statesman-like chairmen to dealmakers. So former Xstrata boss Mick Davis would be an odd choice at Rio, especially at this point in the commodity cycle. But he’s smart, thinks big and would keep headstrong CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques on his toes.

GE’s shaman exorcises ghosts of false expectations

13 Nov 2017

It doesn't take much imagination at work to grasp John Flannery's approach to the $178 bln conglomerate. He has halved the dividend, cut earnings guidance and questioned GE's portfolio of industrial assets. Next up is a total restructuring of GE's bloated, under-engaged board.

Britain brings the gloom to global defence party

13 Nov 2017

Shares in Ultra Electronics fell by almost a fifth after a profit warning due to UK project cancellations and delays. It is a rare sour spot in a sector that has rallied this year. With UK spending tight, mid-market defence groups might face foreign invasions of their own.

McKinsey needs to run a matrix on itself

10 Nov 2017

The consulting firm has been facing tough questions over hiring in Saudi, and work in South Africa. Neither helps its image. But more worrying is how data is making consulting a commodity. Doling out advice looks less valuable when one’s own business is struggling.

Altice turnaround hinges on credit given to Drahi

10 Nov 2017

The European cable group’s founder is retaking the reins after shares fell by a third in a week. Only the Patrick Drahi faithful will see more potential in the same strategy, while memories of a 2015 block sale to pay back loans at his holding company could keep others sceptical.

Mickey Mouse offers Sky investors an escape hatch

9 Nov 2017

Walt Disney has expressed interest in buying parts of Twenty-First Century Fox, including its 39 pct stake in the British TV group. That gives Sky shareholders another option if regulators block Fox’s 11.7 bln pound bid for full control. Disney may even be a more logical owner.

Burberry’s risky new look rules out missteps

9 Nov 2017

CEO Marco Gobbetti’s plans to take the UK brand upmarket mean no sales or operating margin growth until 2020. Investors who lopped 1 bln pounds off Burberry’s market value will now be unforgiving. Only perfect execution and the right new designer can prevent a further slide.

UniCredit’s choice of new chairman is a good omen

8 Nov 2017

The Italian bank has sent a welcome signal by picking Fabrizio Saccomanni, a former finance minister and central bank official. It’s a break with the cronyism of the past that gave too little weight to banking expertise. The lender could do with more like him on its board.

M&S swaps comfort food for tougher diet

8 Nov 2017

The UK retailer will speed up closures of its clothes stores, aiming to move sales online. A fresh urgency addressing changing consumer habits bears the hallmark of Archie Norman, the new chairman. That’s all the more important with the usually reliable food business going off.

Bill Ackman is losing his touch

7 Nov 2017

Fewer than one ADP shareholder in four backed the activist's bid for board seats at the payroll processor. That puts his Pershing Square hedge fund on a three-year losing streak after failed bets at Valeant and Herbalife – and makes it easy for other firms to ignore his demands.