Lesson learnt fromTesco Scandal

沒想到金融重鎮的倫敦, 去年經過馬肉危機後, 今年又來了一個 Tesco舞弊案, 這次的主角是績優生 Tesco。而且採用的是非常粗糙的假帳操作方式, 這個案子也突顯出 通路商對供應商的壓榨 (上架費/DM費/活動費…etc. 這些供應商給的金額全部加總, 剛好等於 Tesco 每季的利潤…哇! 通路也難為啊)

英國因為現代商業發展較一般國家提前200年, 所以 Retailer 經過這些年競爭後, 成了供應商口中的吸血鬼, 不管是 Tesco, Halfords, Homebase, Argos...等等大公司, 全都單方面要求供應商提供 2%~10%營收不等的rebate or funding program, 而且是強迫中獎的方式, 看到英國商人的狠勁了嗎? 這也是我當年我在海外從事銷售工作時, 最討厭遇到的二種人: 英國和韓國人。呵呵呵!

Telegraph 網站上的文章報導值得一讀 if you were one of Retailers. ^_^

In May, we revealed that Halfords had sent a letter to suppliers asking them to pay up to 10pc of their annual sales with the retailer to help fund its £100m turnaround plan.
This effectively amounted to a rebate on already agreed contractual payments. Suppliers claim it came with a warning that if they did not agree, they risked being delisted.

Matt Davies, chief executive of Halfords, was unapologetic about the letter, claiming that the retailer was “making sure that everyone carries their weight”. He argued that because Halfords’ investments in improving its stores would boost sales for suppliers, they should contribute.

However, suppliers saw it rather differently, with some fearing the demands would push them into the red. In the end, because Halfords is the largest bicycle and car parts retailer in the UK, most small businesses decided they had to stump up the cash.

It is not beyond the realms of possibility that a similar request was made to Tesco suppliers – perhaps in return for prime shelf space – and the company then booked all the rebates as income before suppliers had even agreed to it.

Unfortunately, Halfords is by no means alone in making these kinds of demands.

 John Lewis – yes, even John Lewis – told suppliers last year they would be subject to a rebate of up to 5.25pc on annual sales. Again, it justified the letter by saying its sales were only rising due to spending on new stores, refurbishments and its growing ecommerce operations.

Last December, in perhaps the worst example, Debenhams demanded a one-off fee from suppliers worth 2.5pc of its outstanding payments and said it would apply a 2.5pc discount to orders it had already agreed with suppliers.

Argos and Homebase, which are owned by Home Retail Group, joined in on the act in February by applying a 2pc rebate to future orders.

新聞來源:

(1)   http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/sep/23/tesco-finance-director-accounting-profits

(2) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/11122425/Tesco-scandal-could-spark-a-long-overdue-shake-up-of-the-retailer-supplier-relationship.html

(3)  http://money.udn.com/storypage.php?sub_id=5599&art_id=381878 特易購會計出包 股價重挫

英國最大零售商暨超市集團特易購公司（Tesco）揭露，公司上半年獲利預測因為「會計錯誤」而高估達2.5億英鎊，並表示將展開「獨立的全面調查」。特易購同時下修今年全年獲利預測，股價22日至尾盤暴跌11.5%。

9月上任的新執行長路易士（Dave Lewis）代表特易購發表聲明指出：「我們發現一項嚴重問題，並已做出因應。」特易購是世界第三大超市集團，僅次於法國家樂福集團（Carrefour）和執全球牛耳的美國零售業者沃爾瑪公司（Wal-Mart）。

路易士說：「董事長和我已迅速採取行動，進行全面性的獨立調查。」

特易購稍早宣布，因會計錯誤導致上半年獲利預估11億英鎊中高估了2.5億英鎊，幅度達23%。這項利空導致公司股價暴跌，盤中跌幅一度近13%，尾盤跌幅縮小至11.5%，使過去一年來跌幅超過46%。

特易購也表示，今年全年獲利預料將比原先估計的減少46%，降至15.8億英鎊。這已是特易購過去九周來第三度下修財測，反映出該公司近來面對主要市場的強力競爭，營運備感吃力。特易購在8月時也宣布減發期中股利75%，並表示將減少資本支出4億英鎊，成為25億英鎊，反映其降低擴張新店面的速度。

路易士說：「董事會、我的同事、我們的客戶和我本人均期望，特易購本著誠信與透明原則經營，隨著調查結果明朗，我們將果決行動。」

特易購說，初步調查英國食品事業後，該公司相信截至8月23日止6個月的集團獲利預測「估計高估2.5億英鎊」。