Brexit: CFOs Should ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’

The United Kingdom’s surprise vote to exit the European Union has put the world into a state of agitation.What should CFO’s of businesses operating in the United Kingdom and the European Union do to mitigate the trading and tax change risks of Brexit?Scott McFarlane The vote on 23 June was stunni...

By Scott McFarlane • Aug. 5, 2016

QVC Parent’s Stock Plunges on ‘Choppy’ Outlook

Shares in Liberty Interactive Corp. fell more than 21% to a 52-week low on Friday after the owner of the QVC shopping network reported it had begun to experience “significant headwinds” in the U.S.For the second quarter, Liberty said revenue jumped 21% to $2.42 billion year-over-year, matching an...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 5, 2016

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Tax policy shifts: What CFOs need to know to stay ahead

Discover how evolving tax policies are creating new opportunities and challenges for CFOs.

By CFO.com staff

HSBC Profits Fall 29% But Stock Climbs 4.8%

HSBC reported that first-half profits dropped almost 29% but soothed investors by announcing a share buyback of up to $2.5 billion in the second half of this year.For the first six months of 2016, Europe’s largest bank logged a pre-tax profit of $9.71 billion, down from $13.62 billion in the same...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 4, 2016

‘Shareholder Value’ for Private Companies

Most people think about public companies when they consider “shareholder value” principles. That’s because public companies have quoted share prices and should develop and execute strategies designed to grow the share price over the long term. Yet although private companies don’t have quoted shar...

By Gregory V. Milano • Aug. 4, 2016

Office Depot Posts 3rd Straight Earnings Miss

Office Depot on Wednesday posted lower-than-expected earnings for a third straight quarter but its shares rose more than 5% as the company announced more store closings.For the second quarter, Office Depot earned $210 million, or 38 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $58 million,...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 3, 2016

Blame It on Rio

While the Olympic Games will generate minor short-term growth and employment in Brazil, the net impact of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro will be negative for the host country, predicts Euler Hermes.The trade credit insurer says hosting the Olympics will increase the country’s public deb...

By Vincent Ryan • Aug. 3, 2016

Avon Stock Surges 15% on Q2 Earnings Beat

Avon Products on Tuesday reported an 8.3% drop in revenue for the second quarter but a larger-than-expected profit helped fuel hopes that the beauty company’s turnaround plan is gaining traction.Avon’s shares rose 15% to $4.80 after it posted earnings of 7 cents per share and revenue of $1.43 bil...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 2, 2016

What B2B CFOs Can Learn from B2C Pricing

Successful pricing strategies strike the right balance between the value attributed to a product or service by the buyer and the seller. Rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft have found this balance with their dynamic pricing models that fluctuate with demand. Each Saturday night, a safe drive h...

By John Oosterhouse • Aug. 1, 2016

CFO Week in Review

In case you missed them, CFO offers the week’s most-read stories.To Cut Costs, Push Your Purchasing Dept. Out the DoorPurchasing department employees must spend more face-to-face time with suppliers to drive true value. – Christopher Good, contributorWhat Promise Does the IoT Hold for Your Busine...

By Kerry Maruna • July 30, 2016

How CFOs Can Streamline the Supply Chain

The supply chain can make or break an organization’s profitability, which has prompted many CFOs to focus on issues related to the supplier network. Here are five articles that take a look at improving the supply chain.Focus on Cash, Not Cost, in the Supply ChainCFOs should emphasize reducing day...

By CFO Editorial Staff • July 30, 2016

PlayStation Powers Sony to Slim Q1 Profit

Sony surprised analysts on Friday by posting a slim first-quarter profit as its gaming unit continued to thrive and the downsized smartphone business broke even.The 21.2 billion yen ($205 million) profit was well below the 82.4 billion yen profit Sony reported a year ago, but analysts had on aver...

By Matthew Heller • July 29, 2016

Facebook Revenue Soars 59% to $6.4B in Q2

Facebook crushed Wall Street’s earnings estimates for the second quarter, reporting its fastest rate of revenue growth in two years and reaching the milestone of 1 billion daily mobile users.The social media network said revenue rose 59% to $6.44 billion while earnings per share, excluding certai...

By Matthew Heller • July 28, 2016

Workday’s New CFO Aims to Make Hay with Financial Software

It seems like Workday has been around forever, ceaselessly nipping at the heels of Oracle and SAP. Actually, it’s been only 10 years since the company was founded, and just under four years since it went public.Workday CFO Robynne Sisco At its IPO Workday was valued at $9.5 billion. Today its mar...

By David McCann • July 28, 2016

Carlyle Beats Q2 Estimates But Stock Drops 2%

Carlyle Group’s stock fell more than 2% on Wednesday even though its second-quarter earnings beat analysts’ estimates amid healthier financial markets.The global alternative asset manager reported that economic net income, a key performance measure for private equity, nearly doubled from the firs...

By Matthew Heller • July 27, 2016

FASB Seeks Improved Income Tax Disclosures

The Financial Accounting Standards Board yesterday issued a proposed Accounting Standards Update containing what it contends are improvements in its current disclosure requirements on income taxes.The proposed ASU would change existing disclosure requirements for income taxes as well as provide n...

By David Katz • July 27, 2016

EverBank Reveals Buyout Negotiations

Midsize lender EverBank Financial is in the midst of negotiating a takeover that would be one of the biggest acquisitions of a bank since the financial crisis.The Jacksonville, Fla.-based online banking company confirmed on Tuesday that it was in “advanced negotiations with a well-respected finan...

By Vincent Ryan • July 26, 2016

Democrats Demand Clawback of Outsourcers’ Tax Breaks

Avowing a corporate tax agenda aimed at fighting outsourcing and keeping U.S. jobs at home, the Democratic Party Platform committee writes in the party’s 2016 platform that the nation must “claw back tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, using the proceeds to reinvest in communities a...

By David Katz • July 26, 2016

Accountant Suspended Over Failure to Spot Fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission last week suspended an accountant for conducting a faulty audit of the financial statements of a public company that was committing fraud. The firm where he was a partner at the time, EFP Rotenberg LLP, has been prohibited from accepting new public company c...

By Vincent Ryan • July 26, 2016

Amazon: A Case Study in Tech Valuation

The final article in a four-part series on the drivers of success for shareholders in the technology industries.In 2014, Greg McFarlene wrote in “Amazon Never Makes Money But No One Cares” on Investopedia.com that if you totaled the cumulative net income since Amazon went public, it equated to wh...

By David Fedigan, Gregory V. Milano, and Arshia Chatterjee • July 26, 2016

Intangible Assets: They’re Not What You Think They Are

For centuries, executives expertly managed the total productivity of tangible assets, such as plants and equipment. They monitored both efficiency and effectiveness because tangible assets, or “things,” historically accounted for more than 80% of business value.William Heitman But in the last 40 ...

By William Heitman • July 19, 2016

In Tech, One Measure Rises Above the Rest

This is third article in a four-part series on the drivers of success for shareholders in the technology industries.In the previous article, we showed how growth and return measures are superior to margin measures when it comes to evaluating tech company success for shareholders. In this article,...

By Arshia Chatterjee, David Fedigan, and Gregory V. Milano • July 19, 2016

The Business of Politics

Political uncertainty is altering the spending plans of U.S. companies, according to the latest Duke University/CFO Magazine Global Business Outlook survey. Worried by the upcoming presidential election and continuing Washington dysfunction, nearly half of U.S. firms (47%) are pulling back on hir...

By CFO Editorial Staff • July 18, 2016

Avoiding Budget Busters

tFinance chiefs have to remain vigilant when it comes to keeping budgets in check. Many CFOs are using techniques such as zero-based budgets and rolling budgets to keep tabs on spending and to fine-tune forecasts. Check out these five articles on avoiding the budget blues.Who Should Decide Whethe...

By CFO Editorial Staff • July 16, 2016

Wells Fargo Matches Estimates But Stock Falls

Wells Fargo said Friday its second-quarter earnings fell 3% from a year earlier as low interest rates continued to weigh on its profitability despite strong growth in lending.Both profit and revenue matched analysts’ expectations but Wells Fargo shares dropped 2.5%, to $47.71, on the earnings ann...

By Matthew Heller • July 15, 2016

Avoid These Mistakes When Planning an Exit

Technology unicorns are seeing their valuations crushed, and public tech companies aren’t faring much better. People are wondering whether we’re headed for a correction. But regardless whether this balloons into a full-blown downturn, the tech fundraising climate is undoubtedly changing.Michael M...

By Michael Morgan • July 15, 2016