Investors typically look to a company's chief financial officer for guidance about its earnings outlook. But in the midst of this recession, many of Europe's top CFOs are openly acknowledging that the future is as clear as mud.rn"We pride ourselves on being pretty good with our forecasting," says Robin Freestone, CFO of U.K. publishing company Pearson. "But this year we've stopped giving guidance on sales and margins because it's too difficult to get that accurate."rnThat stance, which would have invited swift punishment from the market in years gone by, wins acceptance from investors in these volatile times. Instead of focusing obsessively on earnings targets, shareholders are looking for candor from CFOs about business developments, cost control and capital management. Such actions build the credibility that is vital to maintaining confidence in hard times.
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机译：投资者通常会向公司的首席财务官寻求有关其盈利前景的指导。但是在这次衰退中，许多欧洲顶尖的CFO公开承认未来就像泥泞一样。rn“英国的出版公司Pearson的CFO Robin Freestone表示，我们对自己的预测非常满意而感到自豪。 “但是今年我们已经停止提供有关销售和利润率的指导，因为要获得如此准确的数字太困难了。”这种立场在过去的几年中会引起市场的迅速惩罚，在这种动荡的时期赢得了投资者的认可。股东们不是将注意力集中在收益目标上，而是在寻找首席财务官对业务发展，成本控制和资本管理的坦率态度。这些行动建立了信誉，这对于在困难时期保持信心至关重要。
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