Thursday, 17 April 2014

Co-op Group Loses £2.5 billion

It's difficult isn't it? To comprehend the magnitude of 2.5 billion. 2.5 billion (using the short scale) has 9 zeros after the 2.5. Get it? 2.5000000000. Let me put it another way. That is 2,500 million. OK, let us look at this another way to try and understand the value of this...

Imagine you win £1 million on the lottery (that's a 1 and six zeros, or 1,000 x 1,000). That is a huge amount of money. Would probably set you up for life, correct? Nice home in the country, a Range Rover for you, a BMW Mini for your wife, maybe a small yacht, and plenty left over to enjoy life to the full.

OK. Multiply that by 2.5. You win £2.5 million. Now we're talking. Add a town house in Brighton, a Maserati Quattroporte and stretch that yacht to a 40 footer.


I can dream....

Let's add another zero - now we are up to £25 million. Can you imagine such a sum in your wildest dreams? Become a philanthropist perhaps and donate monies to hundreds if not thousands of charities. Could you ever spend £25 million in your lifetime?

How about £250 million? This sum is already becoming beyond most people's comprehension. An income of £3.57 million per year for 70 years is one way of looking at it. Or, if you can comprehend, this is one quarter of a billion on the short scale.

OK. Now considering your incomprehensible windfall of £250 million pounds, multiply that by 10. Get it? 10 lots of £250 million. Probably enough to buy a small country or 28,000 Maseratis (I only want one, thank you) or how about 10 A380Airbuses, a snip at just £250 million apiece.

£2.5 billion. It's difficult to get your head around, isn't it? Well, I reckon the Co-op Group are finding it difficult to reconcile just how you lose 10 x A380 Airbuses in just one year of trading....

It certainly beats me. 

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