Papa John’s And Wendy’s Have Rough Quarter; Aegean To File For Bankruptcy

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THE HEADLINES

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I’M THE CAPTAIN NOW

Aegean

Aegean


One of the worlds largest suppliers of physical marine fuel (because apparently there is a large market for the make-believe variety) has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The news comes on the heels of the Greek company’s auditors finding a $300M shortfall in its books. ” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ” – Aegean management, probably.

The company alleges that more than a dozen rogue employees went full “fractions of a penny” on Aegean. Almost $300M was siphoned to a company called OilTank Engineering & Consulting in 2010 as part of a deal to build a ship bunkering terminal in the United Arab Emirates. Sooo what exactly have Aegean’s Arthur Anderson’s been doing for the past 8 years?

But wait, there’s more! An audit was initiated following another less-than-scrupulous going on (shocker!). Aegean’s founder, Dimitris Melissanidis, a man whose name just screams Greek yogurt mogul, was bought out of his shares in the company in 2016. But he remained on the payroll as a consultant. After a proposed $367M purchase of Mr. Melissanidis’ other company (HEC Europe) fell through earlier this year, the Feds started sniffing around and launched an investigation June.

Aegean has secured $532M in post-bankruptcy funding from a Swiss-based commodity trading firm. Shares of the company which were halted on the NYSE hit 66 cents on Monday.

Water Cooler Talking Point: “So does this technically fall under maritime law jurisdiction?”

 

UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT

Papa Johns

iStockphoto


Apparently erasing the memory of your slur-slinging former CEO is pretty pricey, especially when his name is on the front of your stores. Papa John’s, which spent $3.6M to repair its sullied image following the departure of embattled CEO John Schnatter, saw losses of $13M in the third quarter.

Wendy’s losses, on the other hand, can be attributed to much more wholesome reasons, like a good old-fashioned price war. The company, who saw losses for the first time in 8 years, has been competing with the likes of Burger King and McDonald’s, who are enticing diners with severely discounted food. Did someone say 10 nuggets for a dollar?

Wendy’s is expecting to see only a 1% rise in same-store sales for the year, compared to a forecasted 2.5%. The company cites labor costs eating into margins as a culprit for its poor quarter.

Water Cooler Talking Point: “All Wendy’s can do now is hope that audio leaks of the Ronald McDonald using a racial slur to describe Grimace.”

 


IN OTHER NEWS

news

iStockphoto


  • What’s Glencore’s kryptonite? Radioactive cobalt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, of course. Radioactive uranium has been detected in Glencore’s mine, leading the miner to shutter the plant until a $25M removal system can come online. Cobalt is one of the essential components of batteries that power electric vehicles.

 

  • “It’d be a lot cooler if you did.” – the banking industry. Banking lobbyists the Bank Policy Institute and American Bankers Association asked the Federal Reserve and other bank regulators to “do less.” As in removing any formal punishment associated with banks violating regulators “guidance.” To which regulators replied, “if you don’t get in trouble, I won’t have to punish you.”

 

  • Solar Arabia. SoftBank is planning to build a $1.2B solar power plant in Saudi Arabia. The plans, which are in the very early stages, would result in a power plant that’s north of Riyadh and generates 1.8 gigawatts of power a year. The Saudis have a goal of reducing their oil and gas energy dependence. As a part of this strategy, they have plans to build around 16 nuclear reactors over the next 25 years.

 

  • CME Group is moving its entire short-term financing for the European market out of London and over to Amsterdam. And it has nothing to do with hookers and weed. It’s because the exchange operator wants to be able to guarantee that continental firms have access if there is a no-deal Brexit. Reasonable concern.

 

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The Water Coolest is a daily business newsletter consisting of business news, financial advice, and unfiltered commentary. Delivered fresh in your inbox every morning so you're ready to snap necks and cash checks. Written by Tyler Morrin, AJ Glagolev, Nick Ellis, and Ian Barto.