RE: Read this and it tells you all ,28 Jan 2023 23:04
There is of course a risk that hindsight is unduly
harsh on the Warren East era, at the expense of
letting others off too lightly.
Erginbilgic's predecessor certainly inherited a
basket case. Unfortunately that was how he left it
too, despite seven years of toil. East's entire tenure
was almost onelong battle for survival.
The seemingly cursed Trent 1000 engine was a
never-ending source of problems; he was forced to
issue a thumping profit warning virtually on day
one - the fourth of five over a catastrophic 20-
month period; before delivering an eye-watering
£4.6bn loss in only his second year in charge.
When the pandemic struck, the company went
from Elbn of positive cash flow to a full-blown
liquidity crunch almost overnight. Catastrophe
was averted by the mother of all rescue acts - a
£7bn emergency cash call, combined with a rescue
refinancing, a fire sale of assets, and 9,000 job cuts
designed to save €1.3bn of costs.