Publishing

Cost cuts won’t save Pearson or its CEO

5 May 2017

The UK education publisher is planning 300 mln pounds of savings by 2020, with the troubled North America business taking some of the pain. Markets aren’t giving embattled boss John Fallon much credit for the plans, and falling revenue could cancel out the gain to shareholders.

New York Times and CNN should beware news cycles

3 May 2017

What Donald Trump calls a "failing" publisher and "fake news" network revealed impressive subscriber and viewer numbers. Political fatigue is among the risks to the recent growth, however. Ad trends are scary, too. The companies can't believe too much in their own headlines.

Pearson buyout would be a study in low returns

23 February 2017

The UK education publisher's stock is down 22 percent this year, and its sprawling global business looks ripe for a breakup. Factor in the chance that the core U.S. textbook market is in terminal decline, however, and private equity would be brave to write the cheque.

Review: Defending America against the Fed

10 February 2017

A new book by Danielle DiMartino Booth, an adviser to ex-Fed hawk Richard Fisher, castigates the U.S. central bank's Ivy League groupthink and failure to change course since the crisis. Though Booth has a point, Janet Yellen and her colleagues aren't as omnipotent as she implies.

Review: The hollow promise of ending GDP worship

3 February 2017

Switching from the touchstone of economics to broader measures of value would be more truthful and could make the world a fairer place, Lorenzo Fioramonti argues. But his optimistic vision overlooks the inevitability of growth and integration – and humans' competitive drive.

BT boss is behind Pearson’s in CEO sack race

27 January 2017

Both the UK telco and the education publisher have recently released profit warnings wiping a fifth off their market value. BT boss Gavin Patterson has a less-bad shareholder return record than Pearson's John Fallon. Some of the firm's bigger problems are also out of his control.

Pearson chief Fallon gets an F

18 January 2017

The education publisher's shares fell almost 30 pct after a profit warning from boss John Fallon - not his first. A hit to textbook sales through retailers should have been foreseen, and Fallon's tenure has been bad for investors. This latest shocker puts him on the naughty step.

Harry Potter can add magic to predictive power

23 December 2016

As J.K. Rowling's boy wizard turns 20, it's a good time to recall how many agents and publishers rejected him. Similarly closed minds help explain why recent political upheavals have surprised many and economic forecasts are often wrong. A little more imagination goes a long way.

Newspaper business model imposed by market

2 November 2016

New York Times quarterly print revenue declined a fifth and the Wall Street Journal is radically redesigning to cope with tough conditions. A long-running debate by publishers over the merits of advertising versus subscriptions seems quaint. The choice has been made for them.

Review: UBS whistleblower sounds cautionary note

28 October 2016

Bradley Birkenfeld helped expose tax evasion at the Swiss bank, landing it with a big fine. He was put in jail but also collected a $104 million reward. As Wall Street braces for more penalties, his memoir outlines the perils facing whistleblowers – and those who listen to them.

Review: Greenspan as saint, sinner, political hack

7 October 2016

An era of cheap money makes it easy to oversimplify the former Fed chairman's record. Sebastian Mallaby's new book, however, revels in the complexities of Greenspan's intellect, instinct and ego. His runs in Washington circles and spirited personal life are the real surprises.

Review: The bad and good of a world without work

23 September 2016

Will robots liberate everyone from boring labour, or will they make many workers redundant? Ryan Avent's "The Wealth of Humans" suggests they could do both. So it's up to governments to find new ways to share out the benefits. Past experience suggests this will not be easy.

Italian newspaper war has “man bites dog” ending

18 July 2016

The battle for Corriere della Sera publisher RCS has delivered a surprise outcome: a share-based offer beat a rival cash bid, and the old guard of Italian corporate finance, led by Mediobanca, got a bloody nose. Italian corporate finance is changing, but remains no less complex.

Review: “Gray Rhino” rambles into financial lexicon

24 June 2016

A new book uses the nose-horned beasts as a metaphor for obvious threats ignored by corporate and political leaders. Myriad examples enlisted by author Michele Wucker are engaging, but the solutions come off oversimplified. The gray rhino may not keep pace with the black swan.

Tribune twists governance to wager investors’ cash

24 May 2016

The board turned down Gannett again and sold stock to an L.A. billionaire, now the publisher’s second-largest owner. The move could draw a higher offer. But a poison pill and other blocking tactics mean shareholders could easily be stuck, powerless, with a declining asset.

Gannett’s higher bid lays waste to Tribune defense

16 May 2016

The owner of USA Today has upped to $490 mln its offer for the L.A. Times publisher. It’s a 99 pct premium and a better multiple than virtually all but the most outlandish recent newspaper deals have commanded. Stalling Tribune Chair Michael Ferro has little choice but to engage.

Tribune’s foot dragging on bid is bad stewardship

2 May 2016

Gannett is asking Tribune shareholders to withhold votes for directors after going public with an $813 mln offer for the L.A. Times publisher. Trib Chair Michael Ferro looks like he’s stalling. Small wonder: He and his management team will struggle to beat Gannett’s 63 pct premium.

New M&A marriage vows raise cost of fooling around

31 March 2016

Markit must ensure the CEO of merger partner IHS gets the top job or risk breaking the combined company’s bylaws. AbbVie gave the boss of Pharmacyclics similarly ironclad rights. A rise in stock deals is forging stronger prenuptial agreements for so-called social issues.

Review: A tycoon’s vision for Chinese consumers

18 March 2016

Wang Jianlin says business books are “nonsense” that entrepreneurs don’t need. His own “The Wanda Way” is no exception. Though China’s richest man explains how his overseas M&A spree serves his aim to dominate the country’s consumer market, it fails to deliver juicy details.

Review: A love letter to shareholder poison pens

4 March 2016

In “Dear Chairman,” hedge fund manager Jeff Gramm unearths prickly missives fired off to boards to chronicle decades of pushy investing. The book, which features Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett and Carl Icahn, is a breezy but sophisticated guide for today’s activist era and beyond.