The chief executive of Toshiba has resigned, taking responsibility for a US$1.2bn black hole in the company's accounts.
Ordinarily in this column, where we take a more bright and breezy tone, we might normally refer to his resignation as “falling on his sword” but it does not seem appropriate usage in this case.
Toyota has admitted a systematic padding of profits in its accounts dating back to 2008.
Hisao Tanaka has resigned, as his predecessor Norio Sasaki, along with six other high-ranking executives and directors.
The company’s shares rose sharply on release of the findings of the investigation into the accounts; the company had warned back in May of accounting regularities.
In his resignation speech, the Toshiba chief said the company now needed a new senior management team.
Talking of which, the new regime at British lender Barclays (LON:BARC) is swinging the axe, and plans to cut 30,000 jobs by the end of 2017, according to The Times
It is not the only high street lender to react to the rapid adoption of online banking, which is severely reducing the need for so many branches, but the cuts look to be on the severe side.
Some of those about to be dismissed could, perhaps, be reassigned as greeters for representatives of the industry watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as it emerged this week that the FCA visited the bank 186 times in 2014 – presumably for reasons other than cashing a cheque, or enquiring about some form of unneeded protection.
The bank received more visits from the FCA than any other UK high street bank last year. HSBC (LON:HSBA) had 85 visits, while state-controlled banks Lloyds (LON:LLOY) and Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) received 65 and 58 visits, respectively.
Elsewhere in the financial sector, the boss of spread betting firm IG Group (LON:IGG) is cashing in his chips. Tim Howkins has been the chief executive of IG for nine years, and before that he spent seven years as chief financial officer, so he has certainly put in a long shift, racking up 16 years on the board; the quotes on his longevity when was first appointed were a mere 5.5 – 6.5 years, market sources tell me, so anyone who went long at 6.5 will be quids in…
AO World (LON:AO.) always sounds to me like a theme park based around the Teletubbies, but rather more prosaically it is an online domestic appliance retailer.
Since floating just over a year ago at what was widely regarded as a “toppy” price, the share price performance has disappointed, but the shares have scrubbed up well today after the company said it was back on track after a tough first quarter.
It seems renewed impetus in the housing market in the wake of the general election is feeding through to increased spending on white goods.
Despite today’s near 10% rise, the shares have halved in 2015.
Finally, in the world of small caps, investor interest in Shanta Gold’s (LON:SHG) operational update has been keen, even if the share price remains becalmed.
The salient points from the update are increased production and reduced costs, but with the gold price under pressure, investors seem hesitant at present to take the plunge on gold miners.
All-in sustaining costs rang in at US$1,157 per ounce in the second quarter, down from US$1,451 per ounce in the preceding quarter, and the company is targeting further reductions in the rest of the year, aiming for somewhere between US$650 and US$680 an ounce.