BEP 323 – English for Discussing Company Performance (1)

BEP 323 - Business English Collocations for Discussing Company Performance

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on English for talking about company performance.

The economy is in a state of constant change. Companies grow, and companies shrink. New companies are born, and old ones disappear. And you don’t have to be an investor to get excited about the boom and bust of markets and the story of how company’s respond. But if you are an investor, your whole retirement might depend on whether companies make the right moves at the right time.

This makes company performance a popular topic around the business table, or at the pub. And when we talk about company performance, we often use special expressions called collocations. An English collocation is a combination of words that are commonly used together, such as “company performance” or “state of change.”

Native speakers use these collocations automatically. In fact, our brains store these groups of words together, as if they were one word. You can learn to remember and use these collocations too. Studying collocations is a great way to learn vocabulary and sound more natural. So, as you listen to the dialog, try to pick out some of these collocations and we’ll discuss them later in the debrief.

In the dialog, we’ll hear Maria, Claudia, and Taylor, who work at a private equity firm. Basically, it’s their job to invest in the right companies for maximum profit. The three are discussing the performance of several companies they’ve chosen to invest in.

Listening Questions

1. Why does Claudia feel positive about Ranger Gold’s performance?
2. What is Taylor worried will happen if Ranger Gold builds a new mine?
3. What does Maria think Intuition Software needs to do to remain profitable?

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Business English News 39 – India Economic Outlook

Business English News 39 - India Economic Outlook

Emerging markets have been through a lot over the past few years: The oil-price drop in 2014; China’s botched devaluation of its currency in 2015; and India’s bungled “demonetization” in late 2016. This year, however, seems to be putting all that in the past, particularly for India. The BRIC nation has made strides in all areas which has led to a boom in business

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VV 52 – Financial English: Company Finance and Startups (2)

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In this Financial English vocabulary lesson, we’ll look at business English vocabulary related to company financing.

Companies may seek ongoing funding through debt financing, or loans, which require collateral. Or they may use factoring and lines of credit to access cash quickly. Other sources of funds include crowdfunding and public offerings, in which a company sells shares.

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VV 51 – Financial English: Company Finance and Startups (1)

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In this Financial English vocabulary lesson, you can learn business English vocabulary related to company financing.

All companies need to raise capital to begin operations. These startup companies may choose to bootstrap the company using personal funding to provide seed capital for the early stages. Or they may seek out angel investors and venture capital by offering equity in rounds of financing called series A, B and C. They may also seek out strategic investors for extra capital and advice.

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Business English News 34 – The Sharing Economy

BEN 34 - The Sharing Economy

Whether it’s ridesharing with Uber, lending your power drill to a neighbor with Peerby, taking advantage of a home exchange with Airbnb, or dozens of other examples, the so-called “sharing economy” is firmly established in our daily life. While the concept has been in place for some time, numerous enterprising groups have found a way to make the most of the current economic environment.

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