THE will-he-won't-he saga of whether Gerald Ratner leaves the company seems to be closely linked to the will-they-won't-they meet their bond repayments question. The charitable view holds that James McAdam, chairman, gave him a ringing endorsement at Wednesday's stormy annual meeting.
'McAdam was very loyal, linking Ratner with the future of the company and fielding questions to him,' said one analyst. 'It was a show of confidence that things were on the turn.' But the Machiavellian tendency believes Mr Ratner could be a fall guy should the company have to delay repayment of pounds 58m worth of bonds on October 30.
Another analyst said: 'By putting Ratner up front he remains very responsible for the financial restructuring. If those bond repayments are delayed, someone will have to take the blame.'
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