Chapter 72 The Storm Is Coming

"Father, the situation is somewhat clear. The United Group must have misappropriated the money it planned to pay to Germany in October, and at the same time made adjustments to the settlement."

"Settlement adjustment?" Old Agnelli raised his eyebrows and asked his son with great interest, "How to adjust?"

"Because President Ciano is visiting the United States, for the sake of caution, all financial matters need to be reviewed and discussed collectively by the management, which will increase the process and operation time. Therefore, the settlement of each order will be postponed for 10-15 working days until the president returns to China. After that, all processes will return to normal.”

Old Agnelli tapped the armrest lightly: "Tell me, what does this mean?"

"First, United Group's finances have cash flow problems, and now they need to delay payment; second, Leo is too young to be able to suppress the management below. He is just an alumnus of Ciano, so he can't do it at a young age. After becoming an assistant president, in terms of qualifications, experience, and level, maybe any department manager in the United Group is better than him, right? Third..." Little Agnelli pondered, "It is not ruled out that Leo is trying to reduce some losses. As for the proposed move, two re-loans of 70 million lire in July were not implemented. The total re-loan of 200 million in August was increased by 0.3-0.5 percentage points according to your instructions, and the United Group also accepted it... If it can be done Postponing payables for 10-15 working days can actually reduce interest payments by 2 weeks, for a total of 52 weeks a year. Reducing two weeks can reduce interest expenses by almost 4%. Calculated based on the current interest rate of 7.3-7.5%, this is quite It can be offset by 0.3 percentage points.”

Old Agnelli nodded, his son still knows a lot about financial management!

"No matter what the reason is, it shows that United Group is timid in terms of cash flow." Old Agnelli said happily, "Look, what a strong contrast...Little Ciano took Ada to spend money like water in New York. , but his group used the excuse of his absence to postpone the settlement. What do you think this news will cause in the banking community?”

Little Agnelli immediately understood.

As a result, within two days, rumors spread like wildfire that United Group had financial problems. The business community regarded this news with a dubious attitude: On the one hand, United Group used to make payments much more readily than other large groups. , other companies basically have to delay settlement for 3 months, United Group can usually achieve settlement in the next month, and often even settle on the last day of the previous month. For suppliers, their credit is very good, so they instinctively on the other hand, the current delay in payment by the United Group is indeed true. Although the official claim is that the time has slowed down due to the increase in the process, and promised that it will be restored when the president returns, but looking at the current situation, it seems that the payment will be delayed before October. Is it a sign that I can't leave the country?

The suppliers were hesitant, but still did not waver. After all, they only said it would be postponed for 10-15 days. This should be understood. Who has not encountered trouble? If you can't do it, it's not too late to make trouble again.

However, the response from the banking community was much stronger. In particular, several banks that followed government instructions and provided loans with credit guarantees were somewhat anxious. If the United Group collapsed, others could still get the collateral, but they couldn't even get the collateral. Come on, what should I do? Should we withdraw a few payments in a prudent manner and wait until the United Group has passed the test of the crisis or provide other guarantees before arranging re-loans?

At this moment, in the headquarters of the United Group, Leo was also angry: "Which fucking bastard created this rumor? Is there a problem with the funds of the United Group? If there is a problem with the United Group, will there be a problem with Italy?" company?"

Other subordinates, you look at me, I look at you, I don’t know how to answer this sentence. In fact, they knew the inside story: In order to make up for the failure of part of the re-loan, Leo, with the consent of the president, misappropriated the deposit paid to Germany in October. Contini said that he had already raised the money. Before October It was guaranteed to be paid to Germany on time; as for deferred payment of accounts, it was a suggestion made by someone. The reason was not the first and second of Agnelli's analysis, but the third of cost-saving, and Leo accepted it.

In the final analysis, Leo, like many managements, does not understand why Contini wants to tighten the payment period of United Group so tightly. Although we are not short of money, it may be better to save a little...

Faced with such rumors and pressure, Leo, who was in command, was determined to trace the source of the public opinion, and on the other hand, he told Contini, who was still in the United States, exactly what had happened.

After receiving the telegram, Contini sighed: "It seems that someone in the country is trying to take advantage of us."

Antonio frowned and said, "Who is so bold? But the timing was really good. We happened to be away, and they suddenly got into trouble. Leo alone couldn't suppress them, let alone deal with a circle of old foxes outside."

"Is it for politics or for financial gain?"

"It's hard to say, it might be a combination of both... But from the perspective of the method, it has a strong flavor of a large consortium. Many consortiums rely on this method to defeat competitive small and medium-sized enterprises." Antonio said solemnly, " When working in Italy, political connections are important, but economic connections should not be underestimated... It is unprecedented for you to do something like this... I have lived for more than 60 years, and I have never seen any precedent. "

"Leo hasn't seen it either... He and those financial managers are all bound by dogma and those things in school!" Contini shook his head, "Why should I develop a good and fast payment system? Winning over our upstream and downstream partners, we can give them a little economic sweetness, and they can do a lot of things for us... For example, mobilizing cooperative customers to boycott the Socialist Party is a precedent. It's not that Leo and the others don't know how to settle accounts, but they are too shrewd in doing so. In the face of rising market interest rates, can customers understand that we want to deduct money from them? Of course we can! But if we need customers to cooperate in doing something in the future, do we have to understand if they have difficulties? appeal to customers.”

Appeal is what Contini values ​​most. At this stage, what he wants is popularity and fame. Whether the United Group makes money or not is a trivial matter. He has no hope of making money at all. Even if he wants to consider it, it will be a matter of the future.

"Of course, we also have some problems here. We should tell the headquarters about the loan we obtained, instead of vaguely telling them not to worry, just use..." Antonio laughed, "Master, if I didn't know that you are in the U.S. stock market I am the first to object to your troubles in China after such a big vote has been made in China!”

"But this news cannot be told... If the news that we hold so many shares of American companies is revealed, what if someone attacks us in the stock market? These Wall Street tycoons are more powerful than we see. sharp……"

"What about domestic matters?"

"Let Leo refute the rumors and say that there is no financial problem. At the same time, to compensate all customers, I will complete the monthly settlement in the first month after I return, and the settlement will be settled as I go..." Contini said, "Since Leo represents United Group has made a public statement, and this face cannot be dismissed, otherwise no one will listen to him in the future. What I have to do is to reduce the bad news to a minimum. "

On September 21, United Group held a press conference to refute the relevant capital chain issues. At the same time, it repeated what Contini said and vowed that the president would definitely return to Italy before the end of October.

"Even if the refutation is suppressed? If only things in the world could be that simple. News does not depend on whether it is true or false, but on making people believe it... As long as someone believes it, what is false is true; if no one believes it, what is true is also false. "..." Old Agnelli smiled nonchalantly, "I told two banks we are familiar with and asked them to take back another 100 million lira loan on the grounds of tight money and liquidity difficulties. I'll see how the United Group can deal with it. ”

"Another 100 million missing?" Leo listened to the report from his subordinates with some disbelief.

"Yes, the other four banks said that they had 200 million loans originally provided by providing credit guarantees. In view of the current situation, they hope to secure the collateral and then arrange for re-lending... It is best to wait until the president comes back to discuss this. Something!”

"Asshole!" Leo finally got angry, "Are these bankers done?"