Sun, sea and skint Spaniards: Spain plans up €300m tourism rescue package after Thomas Cook collapse October 3, 2019 Spain is preparing a $300m rescue package for its tourism industry, after the collapse of Thomas Cook is said to have left bars deserted and beaches empty at its holiday hotspots. The country’s tourism minister said the cash would be split across 13 different measures, including a credit line for companies struggling to cope. Read [...]
Thomas Cook’s Belgian operations announce bankruptcy October 1, 2019 Thomas Cook’s operations in Belgium have officially been declared bankrupt, putting 500 jobs at risk. A commercial court today ruled that Thomas Cook Retail Belgium – the largest Belgian subsidiary of the collapsed travel giant – had collapsed into administration. Read more: FRC watchdog probes EY audit of Thomas Cook accounts The retail arm had [...]
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary says package holiday market ‘is over,’ weeks after Thomas Cook collapse October 1, 2019 Ryanair’s chief executive has taken a swipe at the package holiday industry, weeks after the firm that effectively founded it, Thomas Cook, went bust. Michael O’Leary, the budget airliner’s longstanding and often outspoken boss, said the market “is screwed, it’s over”. Read more: FRC watchdog probes EY audit of Thomas Cook accounts Ryanair cut its [...]
FRC watchdog probes EY audit of Thomas Cook accounts October 1, 2019 The UK’s financial watchdog has launched an investigation into EY’s audit of Thomas Cook’s last set of financial results. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has started its probe into EY’s audit of the collapsed tour operator’s financial year ending 30 September 2018. Read more: DEBATE: Is Thomas Cook’s boss right to defend his high pay? [...]
Audit watchdog beefs up standards in response to corporate failures September 30, 2019 Accountancy regulator the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) today announced it was beefing up audit standards in response to a string of major corporate failures. The FRC said it was introducing a new standard related to going concern status, where auditors judge a company’s financial position. Outsourcer Carillion and department store chain BHS both received clean [...]
Thomas Cook: Travel giant ‘collapsed with a £3.1bn balance sheet deficit’ September 25, 2019 Thomas Cook would have run out of cash by early October had it not gone into liquidation on Monday, such was the calamitous state of the travel giant’s finances, according to reports. In a High Court witness statement, now-former chief executive Peter Fankhauser said the firm had a balance sheet deficit of more than £3bn. [...]
Thomas Cook: CBI backs probe into executive pay after collapse September 24, 2019 Influential business lobby group the CBI has thrown its weight behind a full-scale inquiry into executive pay at collapsed holiday giant Thomas Cook. Nearly 15,000 people returned to Britain yesterday on specially-chartered flights after the firm collapsed under the weight of a £1.7bn debt pile. More than 100,000 people are still awaiting repatriation by the [...]
PwC partner profits jump to £765,000 despite criticism for poor quality of audit work September 16, 2019 Partner profits at PwC UK increased 7.4 per cent to £765,000 this year, despite the firm receiving a dressing down from the regulator for the decline in the quality of its audit work. Profit for the year to 30 June increased to £1.016bn, up from £935m the previous year. Revenue leapt 12 per cent to [...]
Audit bigwigs say lack of timetable for reform of troubled regulator is ‘a concern’ September 11, 2019 The heads of two leading audit bodies have expressed concern about perceived government inaction on the reform of the troubled accountancy regulator. Chief executive of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, Michael Izza, said slow progress on the reform of the Financial Regulatory Council (FRC) “is something of a concern”. Ian Peters, [...]
Grant Thornton quits as Sports Direct auditor August 14, 2019 Sports Direct faces being left without an auditor after Grant Thornton told the retailer it would not apply for reappointment. The decision threatens to leave Sports Direct high and dry as all of the Big Four firms have indicated they are reluctant to take on the role. The Financial Times reported that Sports Direct has [...]