Overheard

"Who's running the business – you or the banks?"
Question time at Pacific Brands' half year results announcement turns into a war of words. An interested party accuses the group of "carving" up its business to appease its banking partners.    

"It sounds to me like someone saw the debt sheet, panicked and decided to cut the business to ribbons."
The interested party goes in for round two.

"You've lost an enormous amount of management over the last months."
And Ding! Ding! Ding! Round three gets under way. 

"It's not spin."
Chief executive Sue Morphet keeps her cool when questioned about the group's decision to wind down its onshore manufacturing arm.

"Have we thought about this long and hard? You betcha we have."
Morphet makes herself loud and clear.