Yesterday I took a phone call which at first appeared like it had the potential to ruin my Christmas and New Year.

As the day wore on I began to feel like I would be spending the holiday in discussion with lawyers and firing off letters in a tone that could at best only be described as aggressive. Bad Santa seemed to have a hold on my hopes for a relaxing, festive break.

Things worked out well in the end, but it did start me thinking about a few people who may well have a Yuletide vacation overshadowed by a grim sense of foreboding about the New Year.

Bob Mellors came to mind, the embattled FD of Sports Direct, bedeviled by criticism from the City about his performance.

City folk have complained he won't meet them, hasn't explained strategy and this week wondered why he hadn't made clear whether an unsuccessful currency deal could have been avoided.

Interims results released this week showed that things are not well at the company and Mellors must be wondering what 2008 holds for him. More grief from the analysts? A worsening financial performance? Could he at least find someone outside Sports Direct to articulate some form of support for his work? More negative headlines in the papers?

Mellors has become the most notorious FD working in a public company this year and must be praying for something next year
to turn that around.

No article of this kind would be complete without making mention of the FD of UK plc - Alistair Darling. He must be hoping for some of what Gordon Brown had during his tenure in charge at the treasury - no more crises.

Can't help feeling Darling is one of the unluckiest politicians around. During Brown's time in charge he faced no disasters, no crises that threatened his position.

For Darling, after just a few months in charge, the troubles have come in spades. Northern Rock, lost data discs, non-dom row and a credit crunch that threatens the economy. How he must be wishing 2008 produces some good news.

Spare a thought there for every FD contemplating a write down as a direct result of sub prime exposure (it's not over yet) and all those FDs who thought they were going to be seeking for funding for a deal only to find the credit markets are not nearly welcoming as they were a few short months ago.

One FD in the thick of it still is Northern Rock's David Jones who only joined in September, succeeding Bob Bennet, to find himself in the midst of what is commonly know in some circles as a s*** storm.

Of course, no blame can be attached to Jones, having come in so late, but a run on the bank, bail out by the Bank of England, plus a potential sale, can hardly have been on the agenda for the job interview or, in fact, the job description. No, that would have all been an added bonus. It's going to have some impact on his CV when he moves on though.

 

December 21, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Can't help thinking there are some nervous FDs out there thinking about their annual audit and wondering how they stop their credit crunch popping up on the balance sheet and spoiling Christmas.

After warnings this week from the FRC, and from KPMG chairman John Griffith-Jones, that the credit crunch will be a test for auditors and FDs alike, the pressure is really on to come clean about the state of the accounts.

In fact, we could see auditors become absolutely brutal in forcing their clients to do the right thing. I can imagine 2008 becoming the year in which auditor/client relationships could be strained  as never before.

Dare I suggest it could be the moment that challenges the view, all be it misguided, that client/auditor relations are much to cosy.

 

December 19, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)