18th March, 2005

Back from NY this morning after a week in our office there I was intending to give you a blow by blow account, but this is a momentous week in my old stomping ground, Asia. Altria Group ( Philip Morris ) have made an offer to buy HM Sampoerna, the Indonesian cigarette manufacturer. This acquisition could backfire for 2 reasons. One is if you ever wanted a sure fire way to give up smoking, force yourself through a packet of kreteks. Secondly, I hope they have done their due diligence. HM Sampoerna was one of the first companies I visited when I moved out to Hong Kong in 1991 and was given Indonesia to specialise on. The head of our office sent me down to Surabaya with the specific purpose of finding out why the company had so drastically missed the profit forecast it had issued in conjuction with a rights issue they had launched a couple of months prior. Management were refreshingly honest with me. "Well, did you see the fine marching band that was playing outside when you arrived? And do you like this very wonderful new office building that we are in? You investors would never have supported the rights issue we needed to pay for these if we had told you what we were really going to make in profits." True story. Anway, apart from a brief hiccup during the Asian crisis the shares havn't looked back since I visited them and came back with a don't touch it with a bargepole recommendation so who knows maybe Philip Morris willn't get their fingers burnt.
I have ranted before about the dreaded Easyjet, so how ironic that as I sat in the Virgin lounge waiting to board my first long haul flight in four years who should sit down beside me but Stelios. I couldn't help myself and had a long chat with him about my idea for giving frequent flyers, especially on the Stansted-Edinburgh route, the outrageously generous incentive of an automatic place in the first grouping allowed to board thereby avoiding being squashed in the middle row or ending up with the seat next to the loo at the back. He was quite taken by the idea. You heard it first here. By the way I'm sure I later heard him complaining that the Virgin flat bed was too short for him. What a cheek eh.
As for New York, it is a theme we might revisit, but I was struck by the problem they had in getting my name right. The boss sent round a message to the entire office when I arrived encouraging them to make "David Sanderson feel welcomed". I took some consolation from the fact that he hadn't referred to me as "Dave", but 99% of everyone else I met immediately rechristened me as such. I spent one day wandering around with a visitor pass calling me Dave Macgregor ( my Grandmothers fault really ). Such anonymity was not a bad thing though and I don't feel lobotomised, although I was told it would be a painless process. Whatever. Headed to Starbucks for a 2% latte and a bagel. Have a nice day now.