TartinTom and bmiexpat
It is you and not TBirdFrank who are being taken in here. If you wish to believe figures produced by corporate bean counters, configured in such a way as to produce the results that "management" want to support their actions, it shows your lack of experience and that you are not worldly wise in business practices, that have been doing the rounds for the last 25 years or more.
All you are doing is believing "facts" that company management want you to, without question and as it's coming from such large corporate bodies, then it must be correct.
All senior management are interested in is self glorification, their pay cheques and their bonuses. They have to be seen to be at the controls, even if they are not and their decisions, whilst looking good in the short term are a disaster waiting to happen in the longer term.....when they have moved on to pastures new and someone else comes in to clear up their mess, unfortunately again with a short term fix.