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Monday, June 30, 2008

Pouring it on at Central European Distribution

Bala Cynwyd-based vodka maker Central European Distribution Corp. has been in high spirits lately.

As the fiercely bearish Dow shed another 107 points on Friday, shares of the company, which distributes 700 brands of alcoholic beverages in Poland, rose nearly 7 percent, to close at $74.72.

The stock has returned 117 percent in the past 12 months. There’s something for shareholders to drink to.

This follows something of a binge of buying by Central. A month ago, the company took a $181.5 million equity stake in Russian Alcohol Group, the Ruskies’ top vodka producer.

In February, Central European Distribution took 75 percent ownership in another Russian wine and spirits distributor, Whitehall Group.

And now the company has a boosted its cash stash. Last Thursday, it priced a public offering of 3.25 million shares at $68 per share, for a total $221 million.

Listen up, boss
A new study says managers need to listen more to their underlings.

Mostly, employees think the changes they see on the job are managed well, and work out for the best, according to the study by Opinion Research Corp.

But relatively few of 1,437 respondents sense strongly that they’re part of the change process.

That goes especially for workers in Northeastern states including Pennsylvania and New Jersey, according to the survey released last week.

The results showed just 17 percent of Northeastern workers, compared with 23 percent in the South and West, strongly agreeing with the statement, “I have the opportunity to contribute my views before changes are made which affect my job.”

About half of employers have ever conducted an employee survey, according to the workers. And among those who had been asked about job conditions, only half said they had seen any changes as a result.

Overall, 84 percent said those changes were positive. But in the Northeast, only 77 percent — the lowest regional result — said the changes were to their personal benefit.
Posted by Reid Kanaley @ 3:05 AM  Permalink | Post a comment
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About Mike Armstrong
Mike Armstrong, a business editor and writer for nearly two decades, is the Inquirer's business columnist and PhillyInc blog editor. Contact Mike via e-mail or at 215-854-2980
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