SBB - comment
The CFO appointment at SBB puzzles us and suggests the problems for SBB are worsening. Difficult discussions are coming up with banks, bondholders and the Swedish government. A restructuring CFO is what is required. An internal promotion suggests that SBB has been unable to find a sufficiently experienced replacement for the departing CFO in the time it has available. Or, SBB could be in denial about the size of its problem. We lean towards the former. Most likely the new CFO will find himself reporting to a chief restructuring officer (CRO) during the coming weeks. The banks are likely to be directing this process and will have their own ideas as to potential CROs. Whoever the executive team is they will need to persuade banks to roll their debt whilst also managing the sale of assets to fund bond redemptions.