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帕瑪拉特(Parmalat)的牛奶和乳酪也許很新鮮，但在投資者看來(lái)，它的賬目卻正在變味。上周末，一家債權(quán)銀行的管理人員表示，該公司的基本業(yè)務(wù)尚可，但控制該公司的坦?jié)?Tanzi)家族，其財(cái)務(wù)狀況需要加以改善。
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Parmalat's
milk and cheeses might be fresh but its accounts are looking increasingly
sour for investors. At the weekend, an executive at a creditor bank said
the company's basic business was sound but that the finances of the Tanzi
family, which controls Parmalat, needed to be improved.
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市場(chǎng)再次萌生對(duì)該公司的疑問(wèn)：一家去年實(shí)現(xiàn)75億歐元（合88億美元）銷(xiāo)售額的全球乳業(yè)集團(tuán)，為何會(huì)有53億歐元的債務(wù)和35億歐元的流動(dòng)性資產(chǎn)呢？不過(guò)，帕瑪拉特所擁有似乎很機(jī)敏的能力，可以通過(guò)收購(gòu)快速提高利潤(rùn)和收入，才打消市場(chǎng)疑慮。
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Questions
have re-emerged over why a worldwide dairysgroupswith �7.5bn (.8bn) in
sales last year should have gross debt of �5.3bn and stated liquidity of
�3.5bn. Only Parmalat's seemingly astute ability to rapidly grow
earnings and revenues with acquisitions had placated those concerns.
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而在過(guò)去一周內(nèi)，市場(chǎng)對(duì)帕瑪拉特本來(lái)脆弱的信心動(dòng)搖了。相反，帕瑪拉特公司也成了又一個(gè)讓人警覺(jué)的故事。據(jù)說(shuō)，這家由家族操縱的公司行事隱秘，利用薄弱的財(cái)務(wù)報(bào)告規(guī)定獲益，以便回避投資者的需求。
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During
the past week, that fragile confidence has been shattered. Parmalat
instead became another cautionary tale about a secretive family-controlled
company that profited from weak reporting rules insgroupsto ignore
investor demands.
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分析師表示，帕瑪拉特旗下控股公司網(wǎng)絡(luò)遍布全球，公司之間貸款達(dá)8億歐元。雖然該集團(tuán)不大會(huì)有垮臺(tái)的危險(xiǎn)，不過(guò)要想恢復(fù)市場(chǎng)對(duì)帕瑪拉特的信心，光靠公司管理人員及創(chuàng)建者坦?jié)易逶谏现芩鞯目辗罕ＷC，是遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不夠的。
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Although
analysts say Parmalat's global web of sub-holding companies, with more
than �800m in inter-company loans, appears not to be a teetering house
of cards, it will take far more than last week's bland reassurances from
Parmalat executives and the founding Tanzi family to restore faith.
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帕瑪拉特的麻煩始于一周前，當(dāng)時(shí)，為公司進(jìn)行審計(jì)的德勤會(huì)計(jì)師行(Deloitte
& Touche)指出，公司有近5億歐元現(xiàn)金已投入駐開(kāi)曼群島(Cayman
Islands)的一家不為人知的投資基金中，因此它不能把這筆現(xiàn)金視為流動(dòng)性資產(chǎn)。德勤還表示，帕瑪拉特已把1.35億美元計(jì)入公司上半年的一次性收益，相當(dāng)于公司上半年的凈利潤(rùn)。這筆收益來(lái)自與上述鮮為人知基金的一項(xiàng)貨幣掉期，該基金被稱(chēng)作Epicurum。標(biāo)準(zhǔn)普爾(Standard
& Poor's)立即威脅說(shuō)，要把帕瑪拉特的債務(wù)級(jí)別降至“垃圾”級(jí)。
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The
trouble began one week ago when Deloitte & Touche, Parmalat's auditor,
noted that nearly �500m in cash had been invested in an unknown
investment fund based in the Cayman Islands, which it could not consider
liquid. Deloitte also said Parmalat had booked m in first-half
one-time gains, the equivalent of its first-half net profit, from a
currency swap contract with the same obscure fund, called Epicurum.
Standard & Poor's immediately threatened to cut Parmalat's debt to
junk status.
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上周五，帕瑪拉特承諾，將在兩周內(nèi)從上述基金中撤資，從而初步緩解市場(chǎng)對(duì)公司流動(dòng)性危機(jī)的擔(dān)憂。但接著，該公司再次令市場(chǎng)吃驚。
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On
Friday, after initially easing fears of a liquidity crunch by promising to
pull out of the fund within two weeks, Parmalat stunned the stock market
again.
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首先，帕瑪拉特宣布，公司僅上任8個(gè)月的首席財(cái)務(wù)官即將離職。其次，公司透露說(shuō)，公司負(fù)債第三季度已升至60億歐元，流動(dòng)性資產(chǎn)至42億歐元，同期的營(yíng)運(yùn)利潤(rùn)確實(shí)提高了8%，但利潤(rùn)（不包括稅金及未披露的一次性項(xiàng)目）下降13%，至1.08億歐元。公司沒(méi)有提供凈利潤(rùn)數(shù)字。依照意大利法律，三季度財(cái)務(wù)報(bào)告中不必提供上述數(shù)字。
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Firstly,
it announced that its chief financial officer of only eight months was
leaving. Secondly, it revealed that debt had risen to �6bn and liquidity
to �4.2bn during the third quarter. Operating profit in the quarter did
rise 8 per cent but profit before taxes and undisclosed one-time items
fell 13 per cent to �108m. No net profit figure was given. Under Italian
law, none is required for the period.
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而更糟糕的是，在為分析師召開(kāi)的電話會(huì)議中，盧契亞諾•德?tīng)査鳡栠_(dá)托(Luciano
del Soldato)作出的回答引發(fā)了更多疑問(wèn)。他是公司現(xiàn)任首席財(cái)務(wù)官，且長(zhǎng)期擔(dān)任公司行政官員。例如，分析師詢(xún)問(wèn)，他為何不能透露第三季度的現(xiàn)金流數(shù)字？另外，一筆5.72億歐元的期票（其中“絕大部分”由銀行擔(dān)保）與公司在食品工程領(lǐng)域合資企業(yè)的融資相關(guān)，既然如此，這筆期票怎能作為流動(dòng)性資產(chǎn)入賬呢？而且賬目中沒(méi)有注明合資企業(yè)的名稱(chēng)。
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Worse
yet, during a conference call with analysts, Luciano del Soldato, the new
CFO and a longtime company executive, gave answers that raised even more
questions. Why, for example, could he not disclose third-quarter cashflow?
How could �572m in promissory notes, "a major part" of which
are guaranteed by banks, be considered liquid if they are tied to the
financing of unspecified joint ventures in food engineering?
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德?tīng)査鳡栠_(dá)托先生還提及了一系列與他方達(dá)成的貨幣掉期合約，有些合約贏利，另一些則沒(méi)有贏利。當(dāng)分析師問(wèn)他，既然像Epicurum這樣的公司既沒(méi)有評(píng)級(jí)又不為人所知，那么，他怎能放心地把該公司作為交易方呢？他回答說(shuō)，“因?yàn)樵摴具^(guò)去一直有償付能力”，而且該公司“答應(yīng)在很短的時(shí)間內(nèi)把我們的（基金投資）變現(xiàn)”。
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Mr
Del Soldato also told of a series of currency swap contracts with other
parties, some profitable, others not. Asked how he could be sure Epicurum,
for one, could be considered a sound counterparty given that it was not
rated and not known, he answered: "Because it has always paid in the
past" and it "agreed to liquidate our [fund investment] in a
very short time".
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德?tīng)査鳡栠_(dá)托先生的確重申，帕瑪拉特與坦?jié)易迤煜逻\(yùn)營(yíng)失敗的旅行社之間沒(méi)有財(cái)務(wù)關(guān)聯(lián)。但他承認(rèn)，那家設(shè)在開(kāi)曼群島的基金正考慮向帕瑪拉特可能感興趣的“休閑娛樂(lè)類(lèi)”公司投資，這使投資者感到慌亂，因?yàn)樗麄円彩莿倓偒@悉，上述基金的流動(dòng)性是很強(qiáng)的。
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Mr
Del Soldato did reiterate that Parmalat had no financial connections with
the Tanzi family's failing tourism group. But his admission that the
Cayman Islands fund was looking to invest in "leisure and
pleasure" companies that could have interested Parmalat rattled
investors who had also just been told the fund's investments were to be
highly liquid.
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他沒(méi)有對(duì)帕爾瑪足球俱樂(lè)部(AC Parma)的前景加以說(shuō)明。該俱樂(lè)部是帕瑪拉特?fù)碛械囊患姨潛p的足球隊(duì)。去年，該球隊(duì)通過(guò)發(fā)行一筆由資產(chǎn)擔(dān)保的債券，將自己未來(lái)收入的很大一部分售出。
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Nor
did he clarify the future of AC Parma, the lossmaking football team owned
by thesgroupsthat last year sold a good portion of future revenues through
an asset-backed bond.
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可能要假以時(shí)日，才能從帕瑪拉特獲得更令人滿意的回答。德?tīng)査鳡栠_(dá)托先生過(guò)去曾是福斯托•通納(Fausto
Tonna)的得力助手。通納先生在帕瑪拉特長(zhǎng)期擔(dān)任首席財(cái)務(wù)官，打造了該公司復(fù)雜的資產(chǎn)負(fù)債表，且經(jīng)常怠慢分析師。通納先生今年春天下臺(tái)，因?yàn)樗?jì)劃發(fā)行5億歐元債券，投資者對(duì)此表示不滿。雖然帕瑪拉特當(dāng)時(shí)對(duì)外保證不再發(fā)行債券，但很快就在私下里發(fā)行了另一筆債券。
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Receiving
more satisfactory answers could take time. Mr Del Soldato had been the
right hand man to Fausto Tonna, the long-time CFO who built up the complex
balance sheet and regularly snubbed analysts. Mr Tonna stepped down this
spring when investors complained about a �500m bond he was planning.
Although Parmalat then promised no further bond issues, another was
quickly placed privately.
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英國(guó)基金公司赫莫斯焦點(diǎn)資產(chǎn)管理公司(Hermes Focus Asset
Management)認(rèn)為，帕瑪拉特可以在流動(dòng)性資產(chǎn)占公司收入10%（大約不到35億歐元現(xiàn)金）的基礎(chǔ)上運(yùn)營(yíng)，而多余的流動(dòng)性資產(chǎn)應(yīng)當(dāng)用來(lái)減少負(fù)債。
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Hermes
Focus Asset Management, the UK fund, believes Parmalat could operate on
liquidity equivalent to 10 per cent of revenues, or some �3.5bn less in
cash, and that much of the excess liquidity should be used to reduce debt.
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一位分析師說(shuō)：“我們不太擔(dān)心該公司的贏利能力。直到目前為止，我們擔(dān)憂公司的資金效率實(shí)在太低。如今，我們擔(dān)憂管理層冒了很大的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，而且試圖加以掩蓋。”
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Said
one analyst: "We're not greatly concerned about the profitability of
the business. Until now we were worried that the finances were simply very
inefficient. Now we're worried that management has taken large risks and
has tried to hide them."
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至于該公司的牛奶，買(mǎi)者只想知道奶牛(譯者注:指公司)是健康的。
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As
with milk, buyers like to know that the cows are healthy.
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譯者/江潔
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