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Questions remain about “inaccurate financial reporting” at Averett University
Temporary pay cuts for some Averett University employees will end in about a week. But school officials have not provided many details about how the university’s financial health declined so quickly that it required sudden furloughs.
The private university in Danville revealed in early July that it was facing a budget shortfall due to what it called mismanagement by a former university finance official, including unauthorized withdrawals from its endowment.
The university said it is trying to recapture about $6 million, but officials have not publicly disclosed how much was mishandled.
“There’s no specific amount. There really isn’t,” President Tiffany Franks said in a July 11 interview, pointing instead to a “wide range of misreporting” that occurred over the course of about a year.
Tiffany Franks has been president of Averett University since 2008. Courtesy of the university.
“Spending decisions made during this time were based on faulty data, resulting in us living beyond our means without realizing it at the time,” Averett spokeswoman Cassie Williams Jones said in an email on July 23. Jones said it appears the misspent funds were used to “benefit the university in some way,” including spending on technology and facilities, as well as “debt reduction measures.”
The university has said publicly that there was no embezzlement or other similar criminal activity.
A single tough year for a university’s finances doesn’t necessarily signal a downward trend for the institution, said Kevin McClure, associate professor of higher education at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington’s Watson College of Education.
“Sometimes things happen, and even unforeseen things can happen,” he said.
But it may not take much for unforeseen circumstances like the ones Averett is dealing with to affect faculty and staff. “At all colleges and universities, the primary expense is people, in salaries and benefits,” McClure said. “So any time you have to reduce the budget to account for a mistake or mismanagement, it’s very difficult to find efficiencies … that don’t eventually come down to positions” in terms of salary cuts or layoffs.
The final authority on financial matters is typically the board, McClure said. “There absolutely should be checks and balances,” and final decision-making should not be in the hands of a single person, he said, speaking broadly about the governance of private universities.
When asked about the checks and balances the university has in place to manage the endowment and other funds, Franks said the board of trustees has a committee focused on finance with three subordinate subcommittees.
“These committees meet regularly,” she said. “So they are very, very involved.”
The university does not provide much information about the board’s role or practices on its website. Jones said in an email that the board monitors the university’s finances, protects its fiscal health and “fosters an environment where decisions are made in the best interests of the institution, consistent with its mission.”
Averett’s board has met weekly since the financial problems were discovered in the spring, Jones said, with the trustees most involved in governance, financial matters and fundraising working with Franks and interim CFO Gary McCombs on a daily basis.
Of the more than 20 current and former members of the university’s board of trustees whom Cardinal News contacted to ask about their work on the board and their reactions to the school’s financial troubles, only two returned a call or message, and both declined to comment. A current board member said July 12 that the board was preparing a statement on the financial findings but did not know when it would be ready for release.
Despite what Franks described as strict oversight by the board, she said she discovered the financial discrepancies while reviewing quarterly reports during the spring semester. She ultimately blamed the mismanagement on a former finance employee who worked there for several years and left this spring. Jones previously confirmed to Cardinal News that the person had made unauthorized withdrawals from the endowment.
Cardinal News attempted to contact this person by phone, social media and mail to give him or her an opportunity to comment, but did not receive a response. Two organizations where the former Averett employee appears to have served as a consultant did not respond to inquiries.
About 125 of Averett’s more than 200 full-time employees I have been working four days a week since June 2nd.
Along with the faculty and staff pay cuts, which included nine furlough days over the summer or an equivalent reduction in pay, Averett cut the employer contribution to its retirement plan from 6 percent to 4 percent for next year. The university also implemented a hiring freeze.
University faculty and staff were told at a pre-summer workshop that the university was dealing with some “things related to our financial situation,” Franks said, but they were not notified about the summer pay cuts that would affect them until the last week of May, about a week before furlough days began.
Franks herself took a 25% cut in her annual salary to help make up for the shortfall. The university paid Franks about $322,000 for the fiscal year ending in June 2023, according to the most recent tax records available.
Since we learned of the temporary pay cuts, which were first reported by the Danville Register & BeeCardinal News reached out to more than 25 current and former Averett employees via social media and email to learn about their experiences working for the university. No one was willing to speak for this story.
Franks said she was not aware of any university departures this summer as a direct result of the temporary pay cuts. “Our employees have been wonderful. They have been very, very resilient,” Franks said. She said a variety of approaches were considered before deciding to cut employee pay, but she did not describe what those alternatives might have entailed.
The school said it is making about $6 million in operational adjustments “to align with our revised revenue projections,” Jones said in early July. She and Franks later clarified that that amount is not directly tied to the amount of money that was misspent.
The university is also working with consultants to conduct a broad review of its finances, Franks said. A July 10 staff newsletter noted that “an unnamed funding source” is paying for at least some of that consulting work.
Private colleges and universities are not required to be as transparent about their governance or finances as public institutions.
Averett files a tax return each year, as well as regular financial audits required by federal law. It also discloses a variety of data on enrollment, program completion, and costs of attendance.
But whether a private institution publishes governance policies, board meeting minutes, or even contact information for its board members is largely up to the institution. And that can make it difficult to understand the inner workings of a private college.
Franks said donors have contributed about three-quarters of a million dollars over the course of about 40 days since the problems were discovered. “The donations have really shifted to unrestricted, which is a wonderful way to be supportive,” she said. In the past, donors may have been more likely to restrict their donations to something specific at the university.
“I couldn’t be more grateful,” she said of the school’s donors. “There wasn’t one person who didn’t support me.”
These unrestricted gifts can make a big difference for a school like Averett. “Schools that have smaller endowments don’t really have the leeway to “multi-year financial mismanagement issue,” said Felecia Commodore, associate professor of higher education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
The financial resources of a small private university can vary greatly. For the fiscal year ending in June 2023, Averett had an endowment of nearly $25 million. Emory and Henry The college, which will become a university this fall, has a similar enrollment of about 1,300 students in undergraduate and graduate programs. It has an endowment of about $100 million.
Commodore cautioned against the assumption that a financially strapped private university can simply draw on its resources to cover budget gaps.
“Sometimes that doesn’t translate into cash,” she said. A donor’s contribution might be earmarked for a specific purpose, or it might be a multiyear pledge that hasn’t been completed yet, for example.
Schools typically limit how much can be withdrawn from the endowment each year so that these investments can continue to grow. At Averett, the limit is just under 5 percent, which is a typical spending limit for university endowments, according to the American Council on Education, a nonprofit higher education association.
If a school continues to dip into its endowment to cover operating costs or other expenses and fails to increase its endowment at the same rate, “over time you put yourself in a vulnerable space,” Commodore said. A small school can eventually find itself at a disadvantage, especially at a time of fierce competition for students and the tuition revenue that comes with it.
“If you’re going to be an institution that offers greater access” to students through institutional financial aid “or you’re trying to compete nationally, you need a nest egg that you can fall back on,” Commodore said.
Jones said Averett’s financial troubles will not affect university-sponsored financial aid for students in the upcoming fall and spring semesters.
One point of optimism for the university, despite its recent financial challenges, has been its enrollment growth — which in turn boosts its revenue. Franks said Averett is expecting about 340 new first-year students this fall, and that retention of students from the fall semester to the spring semester has improved.
In the changing landscape of higher education, where small colleges are trying to attract a shrinking group of beginning studentsStrong enrollment and financial strategies must go hand in hand, Commodore said.
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RENO, Nev., August 1, 2024–(BUSINESS THREAD)–Modiv Industrial, Inc. (“Modiv” or the “Company”) (NYSE:MDV), the only public REIT focused exclusively on the acquisition of industrial real estate properties, today announced that it will release second quarter 2024 financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2024 before the market opens on Tuesday, August 6, 2024. Management will host a conference call the same day at 7:30 a.m. Pacific Time (10:30 a.m. Eastern Time) to discuss the results.
Live conference call: 1-877-407-0789 or 1-201-689-8562 at 7:30 a.m. Pacific Time Tuesday, August 6.
Internet broadcast: To listen to the webcast, live or archived, use this link https://callme.viavid.com/viavid/?callme=true&passcode=13740174&h=true&info=company&r=true&B=6 or visit the investor relations page of the Modiv website at www.modiv.com.
About Modiv Industrial
Modiv Industrial, Inc. is an internally managed REIT focused on single-tenant net-leased industrial manufacturing real estate. The company actively acquires critical industrial manufacturing properties with long-term leases to tenants that fuel the national economy and strengthen the nation’s supply chains. For more information, visit: www.modiv.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240731628803/en/
Contacts
Investor Inquiries:
management@modiv.com
Volta Finance Limited
Volta Finance Limited (VTA/VTAS)
Notification of transactions by directors, persons exercising managerial functions
responsibilities and people closely associated with them
NOT FOR DISCLOSURE, DISTRIBUTION OR PUBLICATION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN THE UNITED STATES
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Guernsey, 1 August 2024
Pursuant to announcements made on 5 April 2019 and 26 June 2020 relating to changes to the payment of directors’ fees, Volta Finance Limited (the “Company” or “Volta”) purchased 3,380 no par value ordinary shares of the Company (“Ordinary Shares”) at an average price of €5.2 per share.
Each director receives 30% of his or her director’s fee for any year in the form of shares, which he or she is required to hold for a period of not less than one year from the respective date of issue.
The shares will be issued to the Directors, who for the purposes of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 on Market Abuse (“March“) are “people who exercise managerial responsibilities” (a “PDMR“).
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Dagmar Kershaw, Chairman and MDMR for purposes of MAR, has acquired an additional 1,040 Common Shares in the Company. Following the settlement of this transaction, Ms. Kershaw will have an interest in 12,838 Common Shares, representing 0.03% of the Company’s issued shares;
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Stephen Le Page, a Director and a PDMR for MAR purposes, has acquired an additional 728 Ordinary Shares in the Company. Following the settlement of this transaction, Mr. Le Page will have an interest in 50,562 Ordinary Shares, representing 0.14% of the issued shares of the Company;
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Yedau Ogoundele, Director and a PDMR for the purposes of MAR has acquired an additional 728 Ordinary Shares in the Company. Following the settlement of this transaction, Ms. Ogoundele will have an interest in 6,862 Ordinary Shares, representing 0.02% of the issued shares of the Company; and
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Joanne Peacegood, Director and PDMR for MAR purposes has acquired an additional 884 Ordinary Shares in the Company. Following the settlement of this transaction, Ms. Peacegood will have an interest in 3,505 Ordinary Shares, representing 0.01% of the issued shares of the Company;
The notifications below, made in accordance with the requirements of the MAR, provide further details in relation to the above transactions:
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a) Dagmar Kershaw |
b) Stephen LePage |
c) Yedau Ogoundele |
e) Joanne Pazgood |
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Director |
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b. Initial Notification/Amendment |
Initial notification |
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a name |
Volta Finance Limited |
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b. LAW |
2138004N6QDNAZ2V3W80 |
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a. Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument |
Ordinary actions |
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b. Identification code |
GG00B1GHHH78 |
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c. Nature of the transaction |
Acquisition and Allocation of Common Shares in Relation to Partial Payment of Directors’ Fees for the Quarter Ended July 31, 2024 |
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d. Price(s) |
€5.2 per share |
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Total: 3380 |
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f. Transaction date |
August 1, 2024 |
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g. Location of transaction |
At the Market – London |
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It is) |
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CONTACTS
For the investment manager
AXA Investment Managers Paris
Francois Touati
francois.touati@axa-im.com
+33 (0) 1 44 45 80 22
Olivier Pons
Olivier.pons@axa-im.com
+33 (0) 1 44 45 87 30
Company Secretary and Administrator
BNP Paribas SA, Guernsey branch
guernsey.bp2s.volta.cosec@bnpparibas.com
+44 (0) 1481 750 853
Corporate Broker
Cavendish Securities plc
Andre Worn Out
Daniel Balabanoff
+44 (0) 20 7397 8900
*****
ABOUT VOLTA FINANCE LIMITED
Volta Finance Limited is incorporated in Guernsey under the Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008 (as amended) and listed on Euronext Amsterdam and the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange for listed securities. Volta’s home member state for the purposes of the EU Transparency Directive is the Netherlands. As such, Volta is subject to the regulation and supervision of the AFM, which is the regulator of the financial markets in the Netherlands.
Volta’s investment objectives are to preserve its capital throughout the credit cycle and to provide a stable income stream to its shareholders through dividends that it expects to distribute quarterly. The company currently seeks to achieve its investment objectives by seeking exposure predominantly to CLOs and similar asset classes. A more diversified investment strategy in structured finance assets may be pursued opportunistically. The company has appointed AXA Investment Managers Paris, an investment management firm with a division specializing in structured credit, to manage the investment portfolio of all of its assets.
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ABOUT AXA INVESTMENT MANAGERS
AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) is a multi-specialist asset management firm within the AXA Group, a global leader in financial protection and wealth management. AXA IM is one of the largest European-based asset managers with 2,700 professionals and €844 billion in assets under management at the end of December 2023.
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This press release is issued by AXA Investment Managers Paris (“AXA IM”) in its capacity as alternative investment fund manager (within the meaning of Directive 2011/61/EU, the “AIFM Directive”) of Volta Finance Limited (“Volta Finance”), the portfolio of which is managed by AXA IM.
This press release is for information only and does not constitute an invitation or inducement to purchase shares of Volta Finance. Its circulation may be prohibited in certain jurisdictions and no recipient may circulate copies of this document in violation of such limitations or restrictions. This document is not an offer to sell the securities referred to herein in the United States or to persons who are “U.S. persons” for purposes of Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), or otherwise in circumstances where such an offering would be restricted by applicable law. Such securities may not be sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under the Securities Act. Volta Finance does not intend to register any part of the offering of such securities in the United States or to conduct a public offering of such securities in the United States.
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This communication is being distributed to, and is directed only at, (i) persons who are outside the United Kingdom or (ii) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the “Order”) or (iii) high net worth companies and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as “relevant persons”). The securities referred to herein are available only to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe for, purchase or otherwise acquire such securities will be made only to, relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act on or rely on this document or any of its contents. Past performance should not be relied upon as a guide to future performance.
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This press release contains statements that are, or may be deemed to be, “forward-looking statements”. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the words “believes”, “anticipates”, “expects”, “intends”, “is/are expected”, “may”, “will” or “should”. They include statements about the level of the dividend, the current market environment and its impact on the long-term return on Volta Finance’s investments. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results, portfolio composition and performance of Volta Finance may differ materially from the impression created by the forward-looking statements. AXA IM undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements.
Any target information is based on certain assumptions as to future events that may not materialize. Due to the uncertainty surrounding these future events, targets are not intended to be and should not be considered to be profits or earnings or any other type of forecast. There can be no assurance that any of these targets will be achieved. Furthermore, no assurance can be given that the investment objective will be achieved.
Figures provided which relate to past months or years and past performance cannot be considered as a guide to future performance or construed as a reliable indicator as to future performance. Throughout this review, the citation of specific trades or strategies is intended to illustrate some of Volta Finance’s investment methodologies and philosophies as implemented by AXA IM. The historical success or AXA IM’s belief in the future success of any such trade or strategy is not indicative of, and has no bearing on, future results.
The valuation of financial assets may vary significantly from the prices that AXA IM could obtain if it sought to liquidate the positions on Volta Finance’s behalf due to market conditions and the general economic environment. Such valuations do not constitute a fairness or similar opinion and should not be relied upon as such.
Publisher: AXA INVESTMENT MANAGERS PARIS, a company incorporated under the laws of France, with registered office at Tour Majunga, 6, Place de la Pyramide – 92800 Puteaux. AXA IMP is authorized by Autorité des Marchés Financiers under registration number GP92008 as an alternative investment fund manager within the meaning of the AIFM Directive.
*****
Litter (AAPL) is set to report its fiscal third-quarter earnings after the market closes on Thursday, and unlike the rest of its tech peers, the main story won’t be about the rise of AI.
Instead, analysts and investors will be keeping a close eye on iPhone sales in China and whether Apple has managed to stem the tide of users switching to domestic rivals including Huawei.
For the quarter, analysts expect Apple to report earnings per share (EPS) of $1.35 on revenue of $84.4 billion, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Apple saw EPS of $1.26 on revenue of $81.7 billion in the same period last year.
Apple shares are up about 18.6% year to date despite a rocky start to the year, thanks in part to the impact of the company’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in May, where showed off its Apple Intelligence software.
But the big question on investors’ minds is whether iPhone sales have risen or fallen in China. Apple has struggled with slowing phone sales in the region, with the company noting an 8% decline in sales in the second quarter as local rivals including Huawei and Xiaomi gain market share.
Apple CEO Tim Cook delivers remarks at the start of the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) (Justin Sullivan via Getty Images)
And while some analysts, such as JPMorgan’s Samik Chatterjee, believe sales in Greater China, which includes mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, rose in the third quarter, others, including David Vogt of UBS Global Research, say sales likely fell about 6%.
Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg say Apple will report revenue of $15.2 billion in Greater China, down 3.1% from the same quarter last year, when Apple reported revenue of $15.7 billion in China. Overall iPhone sales are expected to reach $38.9 billion, down 1.8% year over year from the $39.6 billion Apple saw in the third quarter of 2023.
But Apple is expected to make up for those declines in other areas, including Services and iPad sales. Services revenue is expected to reach $23.9 billion in the quarter, up from $21.2 billion in the third quarter of 2023, while iPad sales are expected to reach $6.6 billion, up from the $5.7 billion the segment brought in in the same period last year. Those iPad sales projections come after Apple launched its latest iPad models this year, including a new iPad Pro lineup powered by the company’s M4 chip.
Mac revenue is also expected to grow modestly in the quarter, versus a 7.3% decline last year. Sales of wearables, which include the Apple Watch and AirPods, however, are expected to decline 5.9% year over year.
In addition to Apple’s revenue numbers, analysts and investors will be listening closely for any commentary on the company’s software launches. Apple Intelligence beta for developers earlier this week.
The story continues
The software, which is powered by Apple’s generative AI technology, is expected to arrive on iPhones, iPads and Macs later this fall, though according to Bloomberg’s Marc GurmanIt won’t arrive alongside the new iPhone in September. Instead, it’s expected to arrive on Apple devices sometime in October.
Analysts are divided on the potential impact of Apple Intelligence on iPhone sales next year, with some saying the software will kick off a new iPhone sales supercycle and others offering more pessimistic expectations about the technology’s effect on Apple’s profits.
It’s important to note that Apple Intelligence is only compatible with the iPhone 15 Pro and newer phones, ensuring that all users desperate to get their hands on the tech will have to upgrade to a newer, more powerful phone as soon as it is available.
Either way, if Apple wants to make Apple Intelligence a success, it will need to ensure it has the features that will make customers excited to take advantage of the offering.
Subscribe to the Yahoo Finance Tech Newsletter. (Yahoo Finance)
Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@yahoofinance.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits hit its highest level in a year last week, even as the job market remains surprisingly healthy in an era of high interest rates.
Jobless claims for the week ending July 27 rose 14,000 to 249,000 from 235,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday. It’s the highest number since the first week of August last year and the 10th straight week that claims have been above 220,000. Before that period, claims had remained below that level in all but three weeks this year.
Weekly jobless claims are widely considered representative of layoffs, and while they have been slightly higher in recent months, they remain at historically healthy levels.
Strong consumer demand and a resilient labor market helped avert a recession that many economists predicted during the Federal Reserve’s prolonged wave of rate hikes that began in March 2022.
As inflation continues to declinethe Fed’s goal of a soft landing — reducing inflation without causing a recession and mass layoffs — appears to be within reach.
On Wednesday, the Fed left your reference rate aloneBut officials have strongly suggested a cut could come in September if the data stays on its recent trajectory. And recent labor market data suggests some weakening.
The unemployment rate rose to 4.1% in June, despite the fact that American employers added 206,000 jobs. U.S. job openings also fell slightly last month. Add that to the rise in layoffs, and the Fed could be poised to cut interest rates next month, as most analysts expect.
The four-week average of claims, which smooths out some of the weekly ups and downs, rose by 2,500 to 238,000.
The total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits in the week of July 20 jumped by 33,000 to 1.88 million. The four-week average for continuing claims rose to 1,857,000, the highest since December 2021.
Continuing claims have been rising in recent months, suggesting that some Americans receiving unemployment benefits are finding it harder to get jobs.
There have been job cuts across a range of sectors this year, from agricultural manufacturing Deerefor media such as CNNIt is in another place.
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