Chapter 205: What Was The NPLA?
"I am disappointed in all of you."
Slam!
One of the board members slammed his hand on the table and stood up in anger as he heard Mark say that he was disappointed in them! Who did this boy think he was talking to!? A mere boy was telling them that he was disappointed in them like they were his children. How dare he!?
"If you came here to insult the members of this board, then I will not sit here and take it from the likes of you! I have served this company with my lifeblood in your father's absence, and rather than thanking us, you are trying to make us look like fools!"
The man who spoke was a middle-aged man. He had a bit of white hair on the side of his head, but the hair at the center of his head was so black that it was obvious to everyone that he had been dyeing it.
The man was named Vincent, and he was one of the most vocal supporters of Sinclair in the company. In fact, this man was the one that Sinclair used to put forward the motion that Sinclair should take over as the next CEO instead of Mark.
If Sinclair put forward the motion on his own, then the members of the board would have thought that he was power-hungry, so Sinclair told Vincent about his plan, and Vincent decided that he would be the one to speak about it first instead.
Immediately after Vincent spoke, Sinclair also spoke up while leaning back in his seat calmly.
"I suppose we shouldn't have expected much from someone who only knows how to use violence to solve problems. I placed my guards out there and told them to be as respectful as possible since you were the son of the former CEO, and yet you injured my headguard so much? That is quite disappointing. Really, I expected much more from that man's son."
"Hey, Sinclair…"
Sinclair's eyes widened as Mark suddenly tilted his head to the side and glanced at him with a narrowed gaze. Sinclair swallowed quietly, and he felt his heart rate spike as Mark spoke calmly.
"Don't you ever talk about my father again, do you understand?"
Sinclair looked away from Mark without giving an answer, but Mark made sure that Sinclair got the message before he turned his gaze to Vincent.
"Sit down, Vincent."
"You have no right to do this!"
"I said, Sit. Down."
Vincent bit his tongue as he realized that Mark was no longer joking around! From the amount of veins popping out from Vincent's forehead, everyone knew that Vincent was extremely angry at that moment! Some of them even thought that Vincent would pop a vein with how angry he looked!
Poof!
Vincent sat down forcefully and folded his hands as he glared at the space in front of him, and Mark finally turned back to look at the old woman who first spoke up. Kate was looking at Mark as well, and even though there was still a bit of disappointment in her gaze, Mark could also see some approval there. Mark had always known Kate to be his father's greatest supporter.
She was like a mother to Mark's father, and she always cared about the Vanitas family as if they were her own family. Kate's concerns and disappointment didn't just come about because she wanted to take Mark's power away from him. It was the sort of disappointment that a mother would feel if they heard that their child fought in school against another child.
If the situation had allowed it, then maybe Mark would have tried to explain things to Kate and tell her what really happened. He might've even invited her over to have a meal in his house. But things were different now. Mark did not have time for things like that; he was in this forest to tear down rotten trees.
"Now, let's really get down to business. Like I said before, I'm really disappointed in all of you. It's been four years. Four very long years since my father and mother passed away. Now, I won't say that things have been good throughout those four years. The entire world has been through a lot, and this company is no different.
But that is still no excuse for something like this. Can anyone tell me, what was the NPLA three years ago?"
The Net Profit and Loss Analysis? Most of the shareholders started to look amongst themselves in surprise as they heard Mark ask for something like this. Mark looked from one person to the other, and he waited for someone to speak up. Finally, after some time, Hugo spoke up.
"On average, we saw an increase of thirty percent in our stocks. The sales that year were greatly affected by the destroyed roads. Most people saw no point in purchasing cars as they would not be able to drive them."
Mark nodded as he reached his hand to the side. Ryan had been standing at Mark's side since Mark came into the room, and he handed Mark a folder. Mark opened it and brought out a piece of paper.
"And when we account for the inflation that year, what would be the NPLA?"
This time, it was Kate who spoke up.
"Twenty-five percent increase on average across all four quarters."
Mark threw the paper from his folder on the table, and the person nearest to it picked it up and began to read through it. The paper was a graph showing the movement of the stocks for that year as well as the comparison of the stocks with previous years.
Just like Hugo said, the stocks did not perform that well that year compared to other years, but it was understandable, and no one would ever complain about it. They did very well for a bad year.
"Now, who can tell me the NPLA for last two years?"
"I don't see the point in all of this. What are you trying to prove?"
Sinclair spoke up with a sneer as he heard Mark ask another question, and Mark just turned his gaze to him as he picked up a new paper from the folder.
"I said, what was the NPLA? As a prestigious member of the board, I'm sure something like that would be easy for you to remember."
Sinclair narrowed his eyes at Mark in irritation before he spoke up.
"Fifty-five percent on average across all four quarters."
Mark nodded.
"Now, when we account for the inflation for that year, what would be the new NPLA?"
"I don't—"
Mark narrowed his eyes.
"Answer me, Sinclair."
Sinclair grit his teeth angrily before he spoke up.
"Twenty-eight percent increase on average across all four quarters."
Mark hummed sarcastically while saying.
"Wow, would you look at that. There really weren't any changes at all."