When Francis Lorent announced that Compagnie des Machines Bull SA will cut a further 5,000 jobs between now and December 1991, he provoked a flood of hostile questions from the French press corp and veiled suggestions that he ought to be one of the 1,100 French employees made redundant. Combined job losses between 1989 and 1991 will be in the region of 7,500, approximately 15% of the workforce, and it will be a further three years before we can expect a return to profitability. Losses for this year will be in the region of $578m, and Lorent was unable to provide a watertight guarantee from his shareholders – the government that they are committed to the radical transformation plan. Despite recent statements in the National Assembly that the present government will support Bull – it provided a FF1,000m subsidy last year – the cost of rationalisation has still to be worked out, and specific commitments will only be forthcoming when financial details are on the table. Consequently, there is a perception in France that the national computer industry is in crisis and being destroyed. Why, Lorent was asked, is France bearing the brunt of European rationalisation, and could he not have spread the cuts more evenly? Lorent claims that repatriating activities has weakened Bull in the past, and it is in countries such as the UK and Italy with local manufacturing facilities that Bull’s marketshare exceeds 4%. However, given his intentions to put Bull back in the big league and create a $12,000m company within five years, it seems imperative that Bull acknowledges the logic of partnerships and mergers. Yet, nationalism was rampant, and Lorent showed himself no less willing than his critics to indulge that particular, not always British, vice. He says that European collaborations will come about, but they cannot be forced, and at a time when potential partners are in difficulties, marriages aren’t the ideal solution. On the other hand, he does advocate European solidarity to halt the influential and affluent Japanese. Following what looks to be the demise of Philips NV, and in the aftermath of a Fujitsu-owned ICL, Lorent says that the question is whether we allow the European computer industry to be eaten up company by company, and it is this situation that prompted industry minister, Roger Faroux, to advocate that Bull find itself a large European partner. So where does this leave NEC, the Japanese giant with a 15% holding in Bull HN? He says that Bull’s relationship with Nippon is a balanced one, having been maintained and developed over the years. So, what would happen if NEC indicated that it wanted to increase its shareholding? Lorent insists that the two companies have an equitable and cordial relationship, but when pushed, says that no one has asked whether Bull wants further Japanese involvement in its capital, and it will always remain the majority shareholder. Whether successive governments will agree with Lorent on the way Bull and its subsidiaries should operate remains to be seen, and there is a suspicion in some quarters that the rationalisation is too limited in scope, and possibly too late. But with Lorent at the helm, at least the patriotic can say it will be done the French way. – Janice McGinn
