Question
Question of the mini-case below: How has the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, and most importantly in Greece, affected Korres's business and financial results? What
Question of the mini-case below:
- How has the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, and most importantly in Greece, affected Korres's business and financial results?
- What do you think Georgios Korres should do to secure the capital he needs to grow Korres Natural Products?
Mini-case: Korres Natural Products and the Greek Crisis
(Source: Chapter 14 Mini-case (Multinational Business Finance 13th Edition)
"Bringing owls to Athens"in other words, doing something useless. In 414 b. c., when Aristophanes coined this
expression in his comedy The Birds, people commonly
referred to Athens' self-minted silver drachmas as "owls"
since they had a picture of the bird on their reverse side.
Athens' wealth at the time was legendaryand hence it was
pointless to bring any more money to the city-state. Yet,
only a few decades later, the situation had changed dramatically. Expensive wars had wrecked the budget, and 10
out of 13 Athenian communities eventually defaulted on
loans that they had taken out from the temple of Delos
the first recorded sovereign debt defaults in history.
"Sovereign Default in the Eurozone: Greece and
Beyond," UBS Research Focus, 29 September 2011, p. 14.
It was January 2012 and Georgios Korres looked out his
windowhe could literally see the Acropolis from his
office in Athens. Like the Acropolis, the Greek economy
was in dire need of capital. But Mr. Korres's immediate
challenge in this negative economic environment was not
how to fund Greece, only how to fund the growth needs of
his own firm, Korres Natural Products. Before the Greek
debt crisis, Korres had faced little trouble securing funding
for Korres's rapidly expanding global business. But financing was increasingly hard to find for Greek firms, and Korres needed new capital soon if it was going to be able to put
its business growth opportunities to work.
The Cosmetics Industry
Cosmetics is a $170 billion global industry consisting of
five major categories of products: fragrances and perfumes,
decorative cosmetics, skin care, hair care, and toiletries.
Skin care was the largest segment, followed by hair care
and decorative cosmetics. Products are distributed through
larger retail stores, specialized and branded retail stores, as
well as pharmacies, salons, and spas.
Recent years had been hard on the industry. Although
sales were down in 2008 and 2009, the market had turned
upward again in 2010 and 2011. The cosmetics market
was one which rewarded innovation, with continuous
reformulation of products and inputs the norm.
Manufacturing costs are generally higher relative to other
industries due to specialized machinery and chemical
compounds. Consumers have shown a growing willingness
to try new products in all subcategories with performance
and ingredients being the most important considerations
when making purchasing decisions. And products based on
all-natural ingredients were a true growth category.
With its emphasis on creating natural products from
organic sources, Korres was well positioned to compete in
the global market. Consumer consciousness in sustainable
products and a growing backlash against animal testing had
helped drive demand. This same consciousness stimulated
new regulations on ingredients, component and product
testing, and manufacturing. Consumers now demanded
more information about the source of ingredients used in
the products they purchased. Combined with a renewed
emphasis on healthy living, natural product producers
like Korreswere well positioned for the future.
Korres Natural Products
Georgios Korres founded Korres Natural Products in 1996.
The company focused on utilizing pharmaceutical experience
in more than 3,000 herbs to create natural products for use in
skin care, hair care, and other cosmetics. Using pharmacies
as their main means of distribution (5,600 in Greece alone),
Korres had expanded rapidly from 2003 to 2008, and now
claimed a presence in 30 countries. The company had gone
public in 2007 (Athens: Korres). In 2012, Korres had 28
dedicated stores, five in Greece and 23 throughout Europe,
North America, South America, and Asia. The company
now employed more than 300 people within Greece, and
had over 400 natural and certified organic products.
But Korres itself had been changing as illustrated by
Exhibit 1. Group sales had actually peaked in 2008 at 53.7
million, falling the next two years in-step with the Greek
economy, to 50.4 million in 2009 and 44.1 million in
2010. Profits had followed sales down, with net income
falling from 4.0 million (2008) to 3.4 million (2009) and
1.6 million (2010). All things considered, the company's
profitability had remained surprisingly healthy given the
deteriorating economic conditions in Greece, but the
company's share price still continued to slide. Now trading around 3/share, less than a third of its peak of 9.66.
But despite the growing Greek economic and financial
crisis, Korres had found a way to grow. International sales
had continued to increase as a proportion of total sales. By
2010, international sales made up more than 35% of total
sales. At the same time, Korres had entered into a key
distribution agreement with Johnson & Johnson (U.S.),
under which J&J would be the sole distributor of Korres
products throughout North and South America.
Greek Debt Crisis
The Greek government, like many governments, had been
running large budget deficits for years. Although the Greek
economy had enjoyed healthy growth for many years,
the government's finances had continued to deteriorate.
The country's two largest industrial sectors, shipping and
tourism, were highly cyclical and had been hard hit by
the financial crisis of 2008-2009. As the global economy
continued to slow, Greece's sovereign debt to GDP ratio
continued to rise.
In late 2009, Greece's slowing economy and burdensome
debt raised concern throughout the eurozone (the set of
countries within the European Union which use the euro
as their single currency). Eurozone authorities, including
the European Central Bank (ECB), worried that if Greece
were to default on its debt it could threaten the very basis of
the euro itself. EU policy makers suggested a combination
of Greek government spending restrictions (austerity
measures), as well as some form of debt reduction or
bailout. The following year, 2010, Greece received a series
of additional loans and funds that allowed it to meet its
debt service obligations. Exhibit 2 lists other key Greek
bailout events.
However, help from the IMF and EU came with strings
attached. Besides new higher rates of interest, Greece was
forced to implement a series of austerity measures. These
austerity measures included privatization of several sectors
of the economy, cuts in government spending on health
care, pensions and other social programs, and increases
in taxes. The unpopularity of these measures amongst the
Greek people was widespread, as many took to the streets
in protest, including frequent and crippling strikes. But
this had still not been nearly enough. In January 2012, the
Greek government had entered into intense negotiations
with both the private banks and EU members holding
Greek sovereign debt. Greece wanted a 70% haircut on
existing privately held debt, restructuring of the debt to
more than 20-year maturities, new lower interest rates, and
additional bailout totaling more than 100 billion.
Funding Growth
The growth and development of the company's capital
structure is illustrated in Exhibit 3. Korres had been careful and constructive in funding its rapid corporate growth. The initial public offering in 2007 had contributed significant equity capital. A more recent addition to
equity capital was made by a private Greek investor,
Alexia David, who took a 14.1% interest in the firm as a
strategic partner in June 2011 with an injection of
9.5 million. 2
Like all firms funding rapid growth, the company
had increased the amount of bank debt very rapidly
beginning in 2008. Total loan debt jumped from 13.4
million in 2007 to 46.2 million in 2008. The following
year Korres had replaced much of the short-term debt
with new long-term bank debt agreements, guaranteeing
greater control and access over debt financing further
into the future.
The cost of bank loans had also risen. Before the crisis,
Korres was borrowing long term at about 5%, and short-
term funds ranged between 3% and 4%. After the onset
of the sovereign debt crisis, the company had managed to
retain the same rate on long-term loans (an achievement
in and of itself) but short-term interest rates had risen close
to 8%. The Greek banking sector was now under severe
financial duress. With the onset of the crisis, available
credit of all maturities in Greece had declined.
It is estimated that the Greek banking industry will need
at least 30 billion to survive the widening debt crisis. Banks
are undergoing a debt haircut, i.e., writing off 50% to 70%
of the Greek debt and are being forced into accordance
with a new law, which requires banks in the EU to have a
minimum of 9% capitalization by June 2012. In order for
banks to reach this target, there has been a general freeze
in issuing new loans. Banks are also trying to terminate
some of the existing long-term loans.
Working Capital
Korres's capital needs were compounded by the net
working capital cycle of the company. As opposed to the
typical 30-day terms and 45 days in receivables one might
see in North America, Korres was holding about 200 days
sales in receivables. This meant waiting on average 200
days to receive cash settlement on sales, thus depriving
the firm of the cash flow to fund its inventory and pay
its suppliers. As illustrated by Exhibit 4, Korres typically
held over 300 days in inventory and paid its suppliers in
160 days. All told, a net working capital cycle of over
350 days in 2010 was very large, and in this capital-short
environment, costly.
The Crisis and Korres
The company's strategy is to continuously grow both
locally and globally.
- Revenue growth. The revenue goal for the next three
to four years is 30% local/70% international, a massive
shift from the current 65% local/35% international.
Georgios Korres believed that brand awareness is
key, and the company may be able to gain 15-20
million in sales in each of the big European markets
of Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, and Spain.
- The capital needs to support growth is estimated
at 20 million. This assumes strong royalty earnings from the Americas and realized sales gains and
margins from Europe within three years to contribute
to funding demands.
- The company also has the goal of decreasing debt-toequity ratio to reach a 40-60 split. Mr. Korres believes
the company will need to reach total revenues of more
than 100 million in 2014 before pursuing any major
plans for new partnerships in new markets. That
means doubling sales in the next three years.
For the coming two years, 2012 and 2013, the recent
equity injection combined with the maintenance of existing
bank loans should provide adequate funding. However,
for 2014 the company needs to have access to additional
capitalroughly 15 million to 20 millionin order to
achieve targeted international growth. The pressure will be
less if their target for their bigger markets comes true and
the J&J royalties pay off. However, the company cannot be
reassured that these goals will be achieved in just two years
and they will seek additional funding in order to support
their growth strategy.
Financing Options
Georgios Korres was considering a number of different
financial strategies to fund the company's growth.
Cross-Listing. Korres is considering cross-listing its shares
on another exchange beyond that of Athens. Cross-listing
is when a company sources their equity capital in foreign
countries by listing their stock abroad. A company can
cross-list by issuing depository receipts (certificates) to a
bank in a given country, and the bank will in-turn issue
certificates to investors. Basically, the investors own the
shares in the home country, which are represented by the
DRs. These instruments are quoted and paid dividends
just as the underlying shares. The difference is that the
dividends are paid in the foreign currency. Normally each
DR represents a multiple of the underlying share, which
helps the instrument be priced correctly in the foreign
market. Arbitrage makes the DR and the underlying share
end up having similar prices after transfer costs are taken
into account.
By cross-listing, Korres would be looking into
decreasing its cost of capital, improving its liquidity of
existing shares, and increasing its visibility to investors outside Greece. This last advantage would help the company
gain political acceptability to its major stakeholders, being
its customers, suppliers, creditors, and investors. However,
cross-listing has its disadvantages as well. Because the
company will be selling equity abroad, it will have to adapt
to regulations in the foreign country. These regulations
can include more disclosure requirements and investor
relations programs. If Korres decides to cross-list, the
countries that the firm would most likely issue DRs would
be Germany and the U.K.
Private Equity. Korres is also considering private equity.3
In return, the private equity investor would receive a
minority share. Because of the size of the company, its
location, and with projected earnings growth of 150%
within three years, Korres believes a number of private
equity firms would be interested. The downside of private
equity, however, was high expected returns (averaging
14% in recent years) as well as some expectation of influence over management. Korres could potentially fill all its
funding needs from this one source, but at higher expected
returns (higher capital costs) and possible loss of some
control.
Bond Issuance. Instead of issuing equity, the company
could also issue debt in the form of bonds. Although this
would not require giving up ownership control, it would
seemingly add more debt to an already highly leveraged
firm. Because the company's credit rating is currently not
investment grade, the debt would have to be issued as
floating rates. Due to Greece's bad political and economic
environment, those floating rates could be extremely
burdensome.
Private Placement. Another option was private placement, possibly in the United States. Private placement
is the direct sale of securities to an individual or niche
group of investors to raise capital. Common examples of
such investors are large banks, mutual and pension funds,
and insurance companies. The investors would have very
limited ability to sell or trade their positions prior to
maturity. As a result, most markets for private placement
like that in the U.S. limited buyers to a selected and
sophisticated qualified investor audience.
A major benefit of this alternative for Korres is that
the placement would not have to be registered with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and thus
the credit rating of the company is not a determinant to
the deal. The average investor is notified of such a placement usually after it has taken place. Since the private
placement does not require the assistance of brokers or
underwriters, and the company is also exempt from the
usual reporting requirements, this option is often faster
and more cost-effective for smaller businesses. Numerous Greek companies have chosen this financing option
in the past. Georgios Korres favored this option; there
were a number of major insurance and pension funds
which may have a strong interest. He believes that this
is a great channel for smaller companies that are doing
well that would otherwise need to pay very high interest
rates.
The continuing frustration for Korres's leadership team
was that the company was performing wellgrowing sales
globally in 2011, including Greece, despite the debt crisis
wracking Europe and Greece. Leadership believed that the
company should be rewarded for its performance, and not
punished by the struggling Greek economy or plummeting
Athens stock exchange. That meant raising equity in the
private placement markets, markets that focused more on
firm performance than credit ratings.
Korres seems like a very good candidate for a private
debt offering. However, finding the right investor with
ample funding, especially in the midst of a major financial
crisis, is difficult to say the least. Investors continue to
show a lack of trust in Greek companies, and this could
mean a deal based on an undervaluation of the firm. In that
environment, the discount demanded by private investors
may be greatly exaggerated. That meant least capital at
higher cost.
Decision
Some firms are finding ways round the stigma of being
a Greek enterprise and the credit troubles that brings.
The headquarters of Aquis, a firm that runs hotels and
resorts of Greece, was recently moved to London by its
founder, Ioannis Kent. It is now a UK holding company
with a British bank account into which the firm's revenues are paid.
"Greece and the Euro: An Economy Crumbles,"
The Economist, January 28, 2012, p. 70.
Georgios Korres sat and pondered which financing option
would be best for Korres to pursue. He hopes that the
royalties from the Johnson and Johnson deal will be
enough to fund future expansion but in order to feel safe
he will try to secure additional financing to ensure Korres's
future prosperity.
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