JARVIS COCKER
I have no intention in entering into a slanging match with Dr. Kev, whomever he is. Clearly a better educated individual than I – sadly, my educational qualifications are only printed after my name, not before, although they are directly relevant to the subject at issue.
But Dr Kev seems to have fallen for the Evan Rolley / Bob Gordon mantra of `what about our community service obligations?’
If Dr Kev were interested, and I suspect he isn’t, I could steer him towards a number of well-researched articles quantifying the benefits to corporations of engaging with customers and the broader community, rather than pursuing a singular goal, being that of profit.
Indeed many, if not most leading Australian listed companies have broad community benefit and non-profit related programs that rarely receive the media attention they deserve. As one example, Dr Kev might light to read Hunter Hall Investment Management’s annual report – the company is a beacon of ethical excellence in an often grubby corporate world. Yet they simply see altruism as part of good business practice. They don’t gloat.
In fact in the hundreds of financial reports I read each year, only two companies go out of their way to highlight their modest contributions to the community. FT and Gunns.
I suggest Hunter Hall deliberately, as its goals and activities are very far removed from Forestry Tasmania, and Dr Kev hints that I may be misguidedly trying to compare FT to `more typical businesses’.
That is not the case. As any professional analyst knows, successfully measuring company performance across different sectors requires considerable judgment and experience. A layman such as Dr Kev might call this trying not to compare apples with pears.
When I comment on the performance of FT, or Gunns later this week, it is after comparison with Australian and global industry peers – not Harvey Norman or the local fish shop. My opinion that FT should be generating far higher levels of earnings is based on that analysis – although I must admit I’m baffled as to why I’m the only analyst/writer who doesn’t just accept FT at their word, and copy their media releases.
If Dr Kev is trying to wind me up, or distract readers from the real debate, then neither will work. I’m guessing I’m a few years older and wiser than Dr Kev, and comfortable with having my work scrutinised by professionals, often industry peers with similar levels of knowledge to myself.
I don’t purport to be an expert on all and sundry – financial analysis and wine are my passions, and I believe my knowledge rates pretty well. I suggest Dr Kev sticks to his areas of expertise, whatever they are.
Jarvis
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