Compass Share Discussion Threads

[ciderosie] 23/10/2005 15:23

There is a short piece in Todays Sunday Times online 'US group eyes Compass'

[paraiso] 22/10/2005 18:17

see my previous post. heads right at the top should roll. all advisers should be sacked. this is a huge mess, the company is unmanageable in its present form. chairman and ceo are a disgrace and incompetent.

[maywillow] 22/10/2005 17:33

would be nice to know what % of population think like you.

[maywillow] 22/10/2005 17:31

mo, agree totally

[momentos] 22/10/2005 13:45

Agreed.

Not sure why we are going on about bird flu from south east asia. This has been an issue for years and years and years and years and years. Its where the worst flu's have all come from.

OK, so it may be a nasty strain, but you do wonder how much it is the politics of controlling your population by keeping them scared.

[gulliverr] 22/10/2005 12:49

ANOTHER storm in a teacup. Falls on rumours of corruption. Wow! Corruption? That's a new one!!!
And possibilities of a bird flu pandemic which doesn't transmit human to human and if it did it wouldn't be through eating anyway. So what if the panic-stricken dopes among us stop eating chicken, you reduce your chicken menus and serve beef, until the next BSE horror story and it's back to chicken or salmon which is diseased by fish farm parasites. This is assuming we are all around to eat and a total world pandemic originating in frog spawn doesn't wipe out the human race. I have a low opinion of the human race and it gets lower every day.
Of course the hedge funds and the shorters are delighted to pounce on another victim of human stupidity and contribute to driving the price lower by frightening everyone into a financial panic. Not me.
I see everyone is getting out of Florida now. I wonder how many were accidentally killed in the exodus? By the time the storm hits it will have downgraded to a regular tropical storm, it's already down to 3 level. Panic kills more often than the event itself. I wonder how many people are nursing losses on CPG through panic selling this week who will be kicking themselves in six months when the price has recovered? Not me.

[maywillow] 22/10/2005 10:34

UN suspends British catering firm in food contracts probe
22/10/2005 - 09:19:32

The United Nations has suspended a subsidiary of British catering giant Compass as a supplier for the world body amid an investigation into a food-for-peacekeepers contract scandal.

The suspension is the latest blow to UN procurement, which in recent months has seen the arrest of two Russians by the FBI for alleged money laundering.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Eurest Support Services (ESS) had been barred from seeking new UN contracts pending an investigation into allegations that it "improperly obtained" internal UN information about proposals for a contract to supply food to UN peacekeepers in Liberia.

It was reported today that that ESS obtained confidential documents that helped it outbid competitors for the £34m (€50.3m) contract to supply food and water to the Liberia peacekeepers.

ESS is a subsidiary of Compass Group, the world's largest catering company, which confirmed two weeks ago that ESS was co-operating with authorities in a wide-ranging investigation into UN contract procedures.

Compass said yesterday it had suspended two executives while it investigated the contract between ESS and the United Nations. The company said it had hired London law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer to investigate the relationship between ESS, the UN, and IHC Services, a former UN contractor.

ESS currently has seven contracts to provide food to about 30,000 troops in UN peacekeeping missions in Lebanon, the Israeli-Syrian border, Cyprus, Liberia, Ethiopia-Eritrea, Burundi and Sudan.

Dujarric said ESS would be allowed to continue to carry out these contracts subject to the results of the investigation. But he said the United Nations intended to issue new tenders as soon as possible to provide food for various peacekeeping operations.

On a related case involving allegations against IHC, Dujarric said the company would remain suspended pending the completion of investigations.

"The UN reiterates that it will strictly enforce a zero tolerance policy concerning unethical, unprofessional or fraudulent behaviour for UN contractors," Dujarric said.

Compass said earlier that "its business practices are governed by a strict, zero-tolerance based code of ethics that applies to all employees without exception". It added that UN contracts amounted to less than 0.5% of group revenues last year.

The UN's internal watchdog is continuing to investigate UN procurement activities.

Vladimir Kuznetsov, a Russian diplomat who chairs the powerful UN budget oversight committee, was indicted in early September for conspiring with a UN procurement officer to launder hundreds of thousands of dollars from foreign companies seeking contracts with the world body. He pleaded not guilty.

Alexander Yakovlev, a Russian who worked in the UN procurement office, pleaded guilty on August 8 to soliciting a bribe from a company seeking a contract under the UN oil-for-food programme.

He also admitted his guilt on wire fraud and money laundering charges for accepting nearly one million dollars in bribes from UN contractors unrelated to the oil-for-food programme.

The oil-for-food programme is the target of numerous corruption investigations. Those investigations have highlighted serious mismanagement of the £65bn (€96.2) programme and management failures in the United Nations – issues highlighted by the arrests of senior UN procurement and budget officials.

[sibeks] 21/10/2005 20:44

Down everyday this week.
Next week can only get better

[psps] 21/10/2005 17:11

looks like it.
Brandes accumulating either to BID or sell to a third party

[dhb368] 21/10/2005 16:22

3 huge transaction totalling 35m + shares @ 175. Would think these must be buys. Connected to Brandes announcement as at 18/10.

[psps] 21/10/2005 14:20

give the CEO job to K Clark

[simon gordon] 21/10/2005 13:29

Buy high, Sell Higher.

If you are a buy low speculator - it is impossible to know when CPG have hit rock bottom.

I was tempted at £2.20 early in the year and I am glad I held back. The market maxim to buy quality is shown in how a company making mistakes keeps making them.

CPG has become a low quality company that needs a rapid management overhaul not a Sven like torpor.

[careful] 21/10/2005 13:19

The corrupt UN investigating curruption on catering contracts.
You have to see the funny side.

[jaafar1] 21/10/2005 13:18

Careful:
no ...the stock will not go bust...it will partially recover..infact it has partialy recovered

[firenza2] 21/10/2005 13:05

This is just another doomed stock in its final death throws.

[psps] 21/10/2005 13:03

Its friday

[waldron] 21/10/2005 12:42

Compass Still Down But Shorts Booking Profit

Friday, October 21, 2005 6:52:57 AM ET
Dow Jones Newswires



1039 GMT [Dow Jones] Compass (CPG.LN) retains the position as the biggest faller on FTSE 100, -6.5% at 173.75p, but off its earlier lows. CMC Markets Paul Greenaway attributes the slide to the suspension of a divisional CEO pending an investigation into procedures involving UN contracts. "This stock continues to be heavily traded by our clients, with notable profit taking on short positions upon the stock reaching a new 52-week low of 168.5p," he says. (DWE)

[momentos] 21/10/2005 12:18

Er....

Don't kid yourself its that important either.

Looking at worse events, like Spitzers attack on Insurance brokers, particularly Marsh, in the US, a few exec heads may roll but the business carries on, albeit damaged.

They are hardly being accused of fraudulent accounting (Enron style) more of greasing the wheels...

They are not trawling through ALL the contracts and there is no suggestion they need to - there are thousands of concessions / contracts operated by Compass.

[brian spaceship2] 21/10/2005 11:55

Hmmm........dont kid yourselves about the UN business being only 0.5 percent of turnover and therefore unimportant. If you have a wide ranging investigation of contracts by the authorities they may uncover widespread use of corrupt practices in a whole range of contracts. Large fines, suspension of chunks of the salesforce, a massive diversion of management efforts away from running the business and towards personal survival. This probe looks like a desperate measure at protecting the company....dont forget a few weeks ago they were saying there was no suggestion of any wrongdoing. Once all those forensic accountants start trawling through all the contracts goodness knows what they will find. Remember Enron!

[psps] 21/10/2005 11:52

and here i am thinking that BIRD flu is what
one gets after getting in touch with a girl

[momentos] 21/10/2005 11:29

But is this a chicken stock?

Is Bird flu like Bloke (Man) Flu?

[waldron] 21/10/2005 11:21

Compass Holders More Concerned By Bird Flu?

Friday, October 21, 2005 4:52:32 AM ET
Dow Jones Newswires



0837 GMT [Dow Jones] Compass (CPG.LN) clocks up the biggest losses on the FTSE 100, -6.3% at 174p. David Greenall at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein attributes the slide to concerns over the effects of bird flu along with news the regional CEO has been suspended pending an investigation. Investors are concerned the company may be hit by higher food prices, similar to during the BSE crisis, if bird flu spreads to the UK. CEO's suspension may knock confidence for some existing customers but the bird flu issue is the main reason for the slide. "It doesn't help a stock that's been under pressure of late," he says. (DWE)

[psps] 21/10/2005 11:11

out of FTSE and in FT250

[evilwebby] 21/10/2005 09:33

Gonna be out of the FTSE-100 soon at this rate!

[careful] 21/10/2005 09:01

i own shares in cpg.

very worried about suspensions and ousting of high level execs.
should i cut my losses..are GPG going bust.?