Most Hated @ MarketWatch

J.C. Penney

Why are some companies hated? The answer often depends on who is asking. Corporations can anger their customers, fail their shareholders, and mistreat their employees. 24/7 Wall St. analyzed each of these angles to pick the 10 most hated companies in America. Topping the list? J.C. Penney JCP -0.93%   went from being a mediocre national retailer with modest challenges to one of the great public company management disasters of the past few years. Former Apple retail chief Ron Johnson joined as CEO in November 2011, and promptly decided to radically change the chain’s pricing policy. The negative reaction was immediate. Sales fell 20% in the first full quarter after Johnson began to implement his plans, and the company continued to lose sales at a rapid rate. Customers defected in droves. And with its stock falling more than 40% since Johnson joined, shareholders are also livid with the company, which has also eliminated its dividend.

Dish Network

Dish DISH +1.38%   alienated itself from its customers last May when it dropped several channels, including AMC. Among the shows that went off the satellite service were the highly popular “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad.” Employee ratings of their experiences at the company are as terrible of those of its customers. In a recent BusinessWeek story titled “The Meanest Company in America,” former and current employees called the environment created by the company’s founder as a “culture of condescension and distrust.” Glassdoor’s employee rating for Dish is among the worst in its entire survey that covers thousands of companies.

T-Mobile USA

Last year, plans were in the works for AT&T Inc. T -0.73%   to buy the U.S. branch of this struggling wireless carrier from its parent company, Deutsche Telekom. In December, AT&T canceled those plans after the Justice Department sued to block the acquisition, saying the deal would “substantially lessen competition” in the industry. It appears that Deutsche Telekom is now stuck with what is increasingly becoming the black sheep of the big four U.S. carriers. T-Mobile’s 4G network in the U.S. lags the other three carriers, and customer satisfaction is tied with AT&T mobility as the worst among wireless carriers, according to the ACSI. T-Mobile also rated as one of the worst in customer service according to MSN/Zogby’s annual poll. T-Mobile plans to improve its position through a marriage with smaller wireless company MetroPCS. It also plans to finally offer its customers the iconic iPhone. The fact of the matter is that these changes may be too little, too late.

Facebook

Facebook alienated its investors in a particularly public fashion. Its IPO was one of the most widely anticipated since the dot-com public offering bubble years of 1999 and 2000. From its IPO price of $35, the stock fell to below $20 in less than three months. FacebookFB -2.44%   has had customer satisfaction issues for some time, but recently did a particularly good job of alienating a portion of its nearly one billion members. This comes in part from the company’s continuing user privacy concerns. The company did not help itself in this regard after it announced that it had the right to republish any and all photos in the accounts of its Instagram users. According to the University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index, Facebook is one of the most strongly disliked American companies.

Citigroup

Citigroup C -0.28%   sacked CEO Vikram Pandit, left, late last year, after he had shepherded the bank through the financial crisis and then fired thousands of workers as well. Pandit’s successor, Michael Corbat, said he would fire 11,000 more. The bank’s board may have been frustrated with the pace of cost reductions under Pandit, but that was not the only issue that the board apparently believed had hurt long-term shareholder value. Pandit’s mishandling of the sale of its Smith Barney unit caused Citi to write down $2.9 billion, and the action triggered a cut in its credit ratings by Moody’s. Such actions did not endear Citi to investors. The recovery of Citi’s shares since the global financial meltdown has been far worse than its major competitors.

Research In Motion

The RIM BlackBerry was once the pre-eminent smartphone in America and most of the world. According to recently released data from comScore, its share of the market has dropped to 7.3% in the U.S. and is falling rapidly still. After the launch of the BlackBerry Storm, which was roundly criticized by consumers, RIMRIMM +10.25%   was unable to release a consumer product that attracted any meaningful sales. Service outages further harmed its reputation and angered customers. RIM’s customers have been the lucky ones, actually. The company has fired thousands of employees in an attempt to restore profits. RIM’s share price is off by over 20% in the past year, and 80% in the past two years. At left: RIM CEO Thorsten Heins discusses features of the BlackBerry 10 in San Jose, Calif. last year.

American Airlines

AMR, parent of American Airlines, has, in a remarkably short period of time, ruined its relationships with shareholders, bondholders, pilots, customers, suppliers, and most of its other employees. The November 2011 Ch. 11 bankruptcy filing of AMR virtually wiped out shareholders. Recently, American was also able to cut financial obligations to airplane manufacturers and holders of the corporation’s debt, harming the financial status of these. The company has been bickering with its pilots for months over compensation. The mass layoffs that often accompany bankruptcy proceedings began long ago. American’s image with passengers has also taken a beating. It was recently named the U.S. carrier with the rudest employees.

December 8, 2012 12:19 am

AMR recovery closer as pilots back deal

By Robert Wright in New York

AMR Corporation, the bankrupt parent of American Airlines, on Friday “crossed an important milestone” in its restructuring after pilots voted heavily in favour of a new labour agreement, the company’s chief executive said.
Tom Horton told staff in a letter that the airline was now approaching the end of its restructuring and “the beginning of the new American” after pilots ratified the deal months after rejecting a previous agreement.

The lack of a new contract with crew has been one of the most important barriers in the way of an agreement for AMR to leave bankruptcy protection, which it sought on November 29 last year.

The pilots rejected a proposal in August and the company, operator of the third-biggest US airline by passenger numbers, subsequently suffered a serious decline in punctuality.

It blamed pilots’ insistence on reporting minor mechanical faults such as broken coffee-makers for the problems, which the pilots blamed on the airline’s ageing fleet.

AMR has been in talks with US Airways, operator of the US’s fifth-biggest airline by passenger numbers, about a potential merger, although it has said it could also emerge from bankruptcy as an independent company. One person involved said the agreement removed some uncertainty over American’s future costs and revenues.

It would also be easier with the new, more flexible pilots’ agreement to add new routes and improve flight frequencies.

However, the person warned that further, complex negotiations over the stake that unsecured creditors and others would hold in the post-bankruptcy company still lay ahead.
“There are many really complex issues that need to be discussed before the parties can be satisfied about valuation,” the person said.

Keith Wilson, president of the Allied Pilots’ Association, which represents American’s pilots, said there had been a 5,489 to 1,951 vote in favour of the new deal, which will give the pilots salary increases and a 13.5 per cent stake in the new company.

The pilots also agreed to allow more of the company’s flights to be outsourced to lower-cost regional carriers.

Mr Wilson said the APA would now turn its focus to ensuring that full consideration was given to strategic alternatives before the restructuring concluded.

The union has been a long-term supporter of a US Airways merger.

“The APA leadership continues to support a merger with US Airways as the best path to a stronger, more competitive American Airlines,” Mr Wilson said.

American Airlines révise des accords d'achat de Boeing et d'Airbus

Source : Reuters

15/01/2013 à 09:05 / Mis à jour le 15/01/2013 à 09:24

American Airlines a fait savoir lundi qu'il avait révisé certains accords d'achat d'avions Boeing et Airbus. /Photo d'archives/REUTERS/Tim Sharp

American Airlines a fait savoir lundi qu'il avait révisé certains accords d'achat d'avions Boeing et Airbus.

La filiale d'AMR précise dans un communiqué qu'elle a conclu,  avec Boeing , un accord définitif d'achat de 100 737 MAX livrables de 2018 à 2022. La compagnie a aérienne a également une option sur 60 autres 737 MAX livrables de 2022 à 2025.

Elle ajoute qu'elle a aussi révisé un accord d'achat d'Airbus, filiale d'EADS, de 2011 portant sur des modèles A320.

A l'été 2011, avant son dépôt de bilan de novembre, American avait annoncé qu'elle achèterait 200 Boeing 737 et 260 Airbus A320, qualifiant elle-même sa commande comme étant la plus importante de l'histoire de l'aviation.

Les accords révisés doivent encore être approuvés par l'administrateur judiciaire, a ajouté American Airlines.

Karen Jacobs, Wilfrid Exbrayat pour le service français

© 2013 Reuters - Tous droits de reproduction réservés par Reuters.

Nokia

Nokia NOK -1.70%   recently lost its long-held position as the largest handset company in the world, to Samsung SSNGY 0.00%  . A disaster in the smartphone market, over the past five years, starting with the year the iPhone was released, Nokia has squandered any leverage it might have had and has permanently lost a position in the rapidly growing smartphone sector—mostly to Apple AAPL -3.57%   and Samsung. As Nokia has fallen behind in the smartphone race, its shareholders have had to contend with a sickening drop in the value of its shares. The stock is down 20% in the past year, and 60% in the past two years. All of these factors have contributed to a loss in one of Nokia’s most important assets—its brand value. More: Read the full story at 24/7 Wall St.

Sears Holding Corp.

Sears CEO Lou D’Ambrosio stepped down recently due to “family health matters.” His legacy is one of unsuccessfully attempting to give two iconic American brands—Sears and Kmart—some stability. He leaves the company SHLD +8.91%   with chairman and founder Eddie Lampert, who will become the fifth CEO in seven years for the faltering retail giant. Over the past five years, Sears shares have dropped by roughly 60%. The company lost nearly $500 million in the most recent quarter, and more than $2.8 billion in the most recent reported 12 months. Meanwhile, main competitors Target Corp. TGT +0.53%   and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. WMT -0.48%   have both handily outperformed the S&P 500.

Hewlett-Packard

H-P HPQ +4.89%   may be the most mismanaged major company in the U.S., which gives shareholders a reason to turn on it as well. Five years ago, the company had annual net income of more than $8 billion. In the 12 months ending in October, H-P lost $12.6 billion. The company shares are down more than 40% in the past year. Further complicating matter is H-P’s acquisition in October 2011 of British data company Autonomy, which is now under investigation for fraud for misrepresenting its value. H-P may have lost billions in the deal. Last year, in an attempt to restructure and stop the bleeding, the company laid off 27,000 employees, more than double any other company in 2012.