Reuters' new Starbucks special

Following an earlier Starbucks scandal prompted by Reuters reporting, here is the same reporter with a new one. It starts like this:

Starbucks told investors its European businesses made a $40 million profit in 2011, but accounts filed for its UK, German, and French units, which make up 90 percent of European revenues, showed a loss of $60 million.

Did the coffee giant lose $100 million in the year between advising investors and filing its returns to European tax men?

Far from it. An examination of Starbucks's company accounts in Germany and France shows the firm employed the same tactics there that Reuters recently showed it has used in the UK: reporting losses to the taxman while boasting healthy cashflows to investors.

Now read on.