Broken Promises & Fallen GiantsFamous Last Words
Famous last words
Every promise this column has buried. The sentence as it was said, the day it was said, and the day it stopped being true.
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“External servicing revenue growth of about 10 per cent a year”
Intrum, capital markets day, on what the company would look like by 2026BROKENPromisedSeptember 2023·Died23 October 2026It did not grow by ten per cent. It shrank. The target is still on the website.
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“Exemplified integrity and commitment”
Tongaat Hulett’s board, on its retiring chief executive Peter StaudeSUEDPromisedOctober 2018·Died29 November 2019Thirteen months later the forensic investigators published their findings. The sentence was never withdrawn.
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The cast
- The OutlierThe market that was always going to be fine, and never is.
- The Rescue That Needed RescuingThe plan that fixes everything except the thing.
- The Website Nobody UpdatedWhere old targets go to live for ever.
- The Board That Did Not CheckSigns the farewell letter. Never the audit.
- The ApplauseArrives for the person leaving, never for the person staying.
Not investment advice.
Each quote links to the column that examines it. Anyone charged is presumed innocent until a court decides otherwise.