Target Managers Face Disciplinary Action For ‘Mind-Blowingly Stupid’ Scheme

Three senior Target managers have quit and several more face disciplinary action after doing something the managing director of owner Wesfarmers called “mind-blowingly stupid”. They artificially boosted the retailer’s earnings by arranging rebates with 31 overseas suppliers for the first half of the 2016 financial year on the promise the retailer would pay higher prices in the second half. That means Target was not on the cusp of a turnaround, as first thought. The troubled child of the Wesfarmers group, which includes the discount retailer Kmart and the supermarket chain Coles, reported an earnings before interest and tax of $74m for the half, up from $70m from a year ago. But this figure would have been $53m if its wasn’t for the $21m in income from the rebate arrangements, Wesfarmers confirmed on Monday after a two-week investigation into Target. Read more at The Guardian.