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ASIAN BUSINESS
UTC
Aerospace Systems has been selected by Spring Airlines Japan
to supply the wheels and carbon brakes for its new fleet of 20 Boeing 737-800
Next Generation aircraft. The company will provide the equipment through its Wheels
& Brakes business in Troy, Ohio. The first aircraft is
scheduled for delivery in April, 2013. UTC Aerospace Systems is a unit of
United Technologies Corp.
The 737 Next Generation carbon brakes use proprietary DURACARB carbon heat sink material. The DURACARB carbon provides exceptional brake performance and a 35 percent brake life advantage over competitive products, producing significant cost savings for operators. The wheels and carbon brakes provide a weight savings of approximately 700 pounds (318 kg) per aircraft compared to high capacity steel brakes.
"This agreement, which includes full carbon brake MRO services performed at our Hong Kong service center, demonstrates Spring Airlines' confidence in our track record of providing great products and services with the lowest total cost of ownership," said Cory May, vice president of commercial programs, Wheels & Brakes.
"UTC Aerospace Systems' ability to offer the perfect full carbon brake service solution was a significant factor in our supplier selection," stated Liu Haijun, director of maintenance and engineering, Spring Airlines Japan. "The seamless MRO support and lowest total cost of ownership will enable us to maintain our core business model. We look forward to superior customer focus and exceptional brake life on our new 737NG fleet."
KVH Expands Information Delivery Platform Business in Asia Pacific
The 737 Next Generation carbon brakes use proprietary DURACARB carbon heat sink material. The DURACARB carbon provides exceptional brake performance and a 35 percent brake life advantage over competitive products, producing significant cost savings for operators. The wheels and carbon brakes provide a weight savings of approximately 700 pounds (318 kg) per aircraft compared to high capacity steel brakes.
"This agreement, which includes full carbon brake MRO services performed at our Hong Kong service center, demonstrates Spring Airlines' confidence in our track record of providing great products and services with the lowest total cost of ownership," said Cory May, vice president of commercial programs, Wheels & Brakes.
"UTC Aerospace Systems' ability to offer the perfect full carbon brake service solution was a significant factor in our supplier selection," stated Liu Haijun, director of maintenance and engineering, Spring Airlines Japan. "The seamless MRO support and lowest total cost of ownership will enable us to maintain our core business model. We look forward to superior customer focus and exceptional brake life on our new 737NG fleet."
KVH Expands Information Delivery Platform Business in Asia Pacific
KVH Co., Asia’s leading information delivery
platform headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, today announced it is broadening its
presence in Asia Pacific with the expansion of an information delivery platform
business through the launch of two new data centers in Singapore and Hong Kong,
as well as extending the KVH Cloud Services (infrastructure-as-a-service)
platform to reach 10 sites throughout Asia and Europe in partnership with Colt
Technology Services.
This expansion is aimed at addressing the increasing
demand in Japan and Asia Pacific for data centers and public IaaS services due
to business globalization. With the addition of the new data centers and launch
of the IaaS platform, KVH will be able to provide integrated IT infrastructure
offerings that comprise of advanced data center services, managed IT services
and network and communication services in Asia Pacific.
Two New Data Centers in Singapore and Hong Kong
Available immediately, KVH Singapore Data Center 1
(SGDC1) and KVH Hong Kong Data Center 1 (HKDC1) will be the eighth and ninth
data centers KVH currently offers in Asia Pacific. As an extension of
KVH’s information delivery platform, these Tier 3+ facilities will each offer a
full range of colocation, managed IT, and cloud services, as well as
connectivity to KVH’s highly reliable pan-Asian ultra low latency network spanning
11 financial centers.
KVH SGDC1 is a purpose-built data center offering
retail colocation and managed IT services and is in close proximity to
Singapore’s central financial district. The facility is ISMS and ISO-compliant
and offers true power redundancy to ensure the highest levels of security and
reliability for international enterprises. KVH HKDC1, provided in
partnership with HKColo, is a data center offering colocation and managed IT
services and is strategically located adjacent to Hong Kong Exchange (HKEx) to
provide financial services customers with optimal HKEx proximity hosting and
colocation solutions. Building on KVH’s strengths in serving financial
customers, KVH HKDC1 will address the needs of leading edge low latency
electronic trading strategies, including those of the high-frequency trading
(HFT) industry, as well as offer robust data center and colocation services for
enterprises seeking a presence in Hong Kong. KVH SGDC1 and KVH HKDC1 will
support up to 1MW of power each.
ASIAN MANAGEMENT
Jet
Aviation has added seven aircraft to its charter fleet in Asia, bringing the
total number of managed aircraft up to 25.
The company has also expanded its operations team to meet the increased demand for aircraft management and charter services in the region.
Demand for aircraft management services in Asia continues to climb, with Jet Aviation adding four of its seven new aircraft to its Asian management fleet in spring 2013. The aircraft include a Gulfstream G450, a Bombardier Global 5000 (Vision), a Dassault Falcon 7X and a new Gulfstream G650.
The company has also increased the size of its operations team and hired a full-time safety manager.
"We are fully committed to meeting and exceeding customer expectations," says Iris Riesen, managing director of Jet Aviation’s aircraft management and charter division in Hong Kong. “We now employ 12 full-time dispatchers to ensure customers receive the highest service levels at all times.” J.A. Air Center has appointed Ron Jennings as the new maintenance sales director.
Jennings comes from an active career in Aviation with 30 years of experience, most recently Jennings spent the last 18 years at Elliott Aviation in the technical sales department representing the company for avionics, maintenance, paint and interior sales.
Jennings said “My entire career has been in aviation, with the focus on maintenance and technical services sales. I’m proud to be a part of the J.A. Air Center team, as we further expand our service into the turbo prop and jet market.”
“We are greatly pleased that Ron has joined the J.A. Air Center family. Ron brings enthusiasm and experience to our fast growing team of aviation experts. His unparalleled customer service and business ethics makes Ron the logical choice to represent our maintenance division.” concluded Brad Zeman, president and co-owner, J.A Air Center.
The company has also expanded its operations team to meet the increased demand for aircraft management and charter services in the region.
Demand for aircraft management services in Asia continues to climb, with Jet Aviation adding four of its seven new aircraft to its Asian management fleet in spring 2013. The aircraft include a Gulfstream G450, a Bombardier Global 5000 (Vision), a Dassault Falcon 7X and a new Gulfstream G650.
The company has also increased the size of its operations team and hired a full-time safety manager.
"We are fully committed to meeting and exceeding customer expectations," says Iris Riesen, managing director of Jet Aviation’s aircraft management and charter division in Hong Kong. “We now employ 12 full-time dispatchers to ensure customers receive the highest service levels at all times.” J.A. Air Center has appointed Ron Jennings as the new maintenance sales director.
Jennings comes from an active career in Aviation with 30 years of experience, most recently Jennings spent the last 18 years at Elliott Aviation in the technical sales department representing the company for avionics, maintenance, paint and interior sales.
Jennings said “My entire career has been in aviation, with the focus on maintenance and technical services sales. I’m proud to be a part of the J.A. Air Center team, as we further expand our service into the turbo prop and jet market.”
“We are greatly pleased that Ron has joined the J.A. Air Center family. Ron brings enthusiasm and experience to our fast growing team of aviation experts. His unparalleled customer service and business ethics makes Ron the logical choice to represent our maintenance division.” concluded Brad Zeman, president and co-owner, J.A Air Center.
Blackstone
Group LP BX -1.65% is upping the ante in Asia,
looking to raise the largest real-estate fund ever devoted to the region at a
time when economic growth there shows signs of slowing.
The private-equity giant, which has become one of
the world's biggest real-estate investors, plans to raise up to a $4 billion
real-estate fund exclusively focused on China and other Asian markets,
according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The target amount for the fund, which will be
Blackstone's first devoted to Asia, is twice what the firm initially indicated
it intended to raise. It also would be the largest Asia property fund raised,
according to data tracker Preqin.
Blackstone believes there is opportunity because
property values have fallen in many Asian countries as economies have cooled,
say people familiar with its thinking.
The Asia fund is another sign that investors are
willing to venture into emerging markets in search for yield, as interest rates
are near rock bottom. Blackstone also may have sensed an opportunity in a
region that many of its rivals have avoided, approached cautiously or pulled
out of. "There's not a whole lot of competition out there," said
Timothy Walsh, director of the council that manages New Jersey's state pension
fund, which last month committed $500 million to the new Blackstone Asia fund.
"Just a few niche guys." A Blackstone spokesman declined to comment
on the new fund or fundraising in Asia. The firm is expected to provide some
details about the Asia fund during its first-quarter earnings call on Thursday.
While Asian economies are among the fastest-growing
in the world, offering a strong foundation for rising commercial-property
prices, recent economic data has been less encouraging. Beijing said on Monday
that gross domestic product growth slowed to 7.7% year over year in the first
quarter. Economists say slower China growth could have a negative ripple effect
throughout the Pacific Rim.
ASIAN SCHOOL OF
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
Asian School of Business Management has been
conferred the coveted 'Excellence in Education-2013' honour from Competition Success
Review for creating a space for itself in imparting Quality Management
education in Odisha.
At a glittering ceremony organized by Competition
Success Review, a leading magazine (by Readership and Circulation) of the
country, on 20th April, at hotel Le Meridien, New Delhi,
Managing Director S.K. Sachdeva gave this prestigious award to ASBM. Dean
of ASBM, Prof. Kalyan Shankar Ray was present on the occasion to receive the
honour. Besides ASBM, other institutes that got this award were, IIM (Rohtak),
NITIE (Mumbai), University of Petroleum & Energy (Dehradun) etc. It
is worthy to mention here that, ASBM had earlier got 'CSR-Top Institute of
India Award' in 2010-11 also.
BANKING
Citigroup Inc reported a higher-than-expected 31 percent rise
in first-quarter profit on Monday as revenue from its securities and investment
banking business swelled.
The No 3
US bank said on Monday that net income rose to USD 3.8 billion, or USD 1.23 per
share, in the period -- the first full quarter under chief executive Michael
Corbat -- from USD 2.9 billion, or 95 cents per share, a year earlier.
"During
the quarter, we benefited from seasonally strong results in our markets
businesses, sustained momentum in investment banking, continued year-over-year
growth in loans and deposits in Citicorp, and a more favorable credit
environment," Corbat said in a statement.
Under
Corbat Citigroup partly recovered from its embarrassing failure last year under
former CEO Vikram Pandit to win approval from the Federal Reserve after a
stress test for its plan to distribute capital.
The
company scored higher capital levels on a new test and received approval in
March for its cautious application to spend USD 1.2 billion on stock buybacks.
Citigroup has not asked to raise its quarterly dividend from its nominal level
of one cent per share.
Excluding
certain accounting adjustments, net income rose to USD 4.0 billion, or USD 1.29
per share, in the latest quarter, from USD 3.4 billion, or USD 1.11 per share,
a year earlier.
Analysts
on average had forecast earnings of USD 1.17 per share before the certain
accounting adjustments.
Total
revenue rose 6 percent to USD 20.5 billion. Expenses fell 10 percent to USD 12.4
billion from the fourth quarter.
The bank
said its net interest margin for the first quarter was 2.94 percent, up
marginally from 2.93 percent in the fourth quarter.
Citigroup,
which is reviewing some of its weaker operations around the world, said revenue
from its securities trading and investment banking business rose 31 percent to
USD 6.98 billion.
The
results were also lifted by the release of USD 652 million in loss
reserves, of which USD 351 million was from the Citi Holdings portfolio that is
largely composed of mortgage assets. These assets are tied to US house prices,
which have been rising.
Robust interest income and loan growth helped YES
Bank post a 33 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 362 crore in the fourth
quarter ended March, 2013.
The mid-sized private sector lender had posted a net
profit of Rs 272 crore in the year-ago period.
Net interest income (difference between interest
earned and expended) increased 42 per cent to Rs 638 crore on the back of
healthy growth in customer assets and net interest margins (NIM). Rana Kapoor,
Managing Director and CEO, said, “There is a strong platform for interest rates
to come down and we will see further reduction in cost of funds. We expect NIM
to increase by 15-20 basis points in FY 2014.”
As on March 31, 2013, total advances grew 24 per
cent to Rs 47,000 crore, while deposits rose 36 per cent to Rs 66,956 crore.
Gross non-performing assets declined to 0.20 per
cent (from 0.22 per cent), while sequentially it increased from 0.17 per cent
in Q3 FY13.
“We plan to de-risk high risk sectors such as power
and select infrastructure segments in the year ahead with the challenging
economy and negative global environment. This can help us achieve credit growth
at 24-25 per cent,” Kapoor said.
The restructured book stood at Rs 144 crore, up from
about Rs 192 crore in the year-ago quarter. For the full year ending March,
2013, the bank posted a 33 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 1,301 crore
compared with Rs 977 crore in FY12. NII increased 47 per cent to Rs 2,219 crore
(Rs 1,616 crore in FY12).
The bank’s board of directors has approved the
proposal to raise $500 million which will be put forth before the shareholders
in the annual general meeting in June.
“We will prefer to raise the funds through GDR
(global depository receipts) or a QIP (qualified institutional placement),”
Kapoor said.
On Wednesday, the bank shares ended 2.18 per cent
higher at Rs 479.50 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
BUSINESS
COMMUNICATION
ShoreTel(R) (NASDAQ: SHOR), the leading provider of
brilliantly simple unified communications platforms, including business phone
systems, applications, and mobile UC solutions, today announced the
availability of the ShoreTel Small Business Edition 100 (SBE 100), a unified
communications solution tailored to meet the needs of small businesses, while
still providing the benefits and functionality that are usually only available
to large enterprises.
ShoreTel SBE 100 is an integrated hardware and
software package that provides organizations with up to 100 users at five or
fewer locations with the benefits and functionality that characterize
ShoreTel's award-winning solutions -- reliability, scalability, and ease of
use, setup and management. Most standard functions, such as adding or changing
phones, and moving users, can be done by anyone with basic IT knowledge and
skills, making it an ideal fit for small businesses that often lack dedicated
IT staff.
"With the right set of tools businesses are
able to compete effectively in the marketplace regardless of their size,"
said Peter Blackmore, ShoreTel CEO. "The ShoreTel SBE 100 brings
enterprise-class benefits to small business environments, helping owners
empower their employees with productivity-boosting UC applications, while
delivering exceptional ease of management and low total cost of
ownership."
For small businesses focused on growth, the ShoreTel
SBE 100 can be easily integrated with their current communications
infrastructure and can also scale seamlessly. With just a software upgrade, the
SBE 100 can go from a small system to a large system with thousands of users --
no hardware change required.
Tamkeen announced today that the “Techania” scheme,
one of the many business support schemes under its flagship Enterprise
Development Support Programme, will now also cover high-tech Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) solutions.
This step, which followed a successful pilot phase
to test its viability, will enable Bahraini enterprises to upgrade their
existing ICT infrastructure, in line with Tamkeen’s ongoing efforts to enhance
the capabilities of the private sector and boost the productivity and
efficiency of businesses in Bahrain.
As with the other schemes under the Enterprise
Development Support Programme, Tamkeen will subsidise 80% of the cost of these
technologies up to BD 15,000 for small enterprises and 20,000 for medium and
large enterprises. The subsidy amount be counted against the available balance
for the enterprise under the “Techania” scheme.
The ICT technologies covered under the scheme
include both hardware and software - such as fixed workstations and modern
telephone systems - provided they directly relate to the core business
activity. Portable devices – such as mobile phones, tablets, and laptops -
which can be utlilised for personal usage are strictly excluded.
Commenting on this announcement, Mohammed Bucheeri,
Tamkeen’s Senior Manager for Private Sector Support, said: “Tamkeen is
committed to the continuous improvement of our support programmes in order to
best serve our customers. The inclusion of ICT solutions under “Techania” will
further enhance the flexibility of our support offerings, and enable business
owners across Bahrain to integrate high-quality ICT solutions into their
day-to-day operations, a crucial element for sustainable business growth.”
More than 4,800 enterprises in Bahrain across all
sectors benefited from Tamkeen’s Enterprise Development Support programme to
date, with an allocated project budget of over BD 119 million as of end of
December 2012.
INDIA BUSINESS
Funds raised by Indian companies through retail
issues of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) more than halved to nearly Rs
17,000 crore in 2012-13, even as the capital mopped up through this route
exceeded the targets.
According to latest data available with the market
regulator SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India), a total of 15
companies, including India Infrastructure Finance Company and Rural
Electrification Corp, raised Rs 16,982 crore collectively via NCD route in the
past fiscal.
In comparison, a cumulative amount of Rs 35,611
crore was garnered by 16 firms through their NCDs in the preceding year.
Non-Convertible Debentures are loan-linked bonds
issued by a company that cannot be converted into stock and usually offer
higher interest rate than convertible debentures.
Most of the funds were raised to support financing
activities and to meet working capital requirements.
Four companies – Indian Railways Finance Corporation
(IRFC), Housing and Urban Development Corp (HUDCO), Rural Electrification
Corporation (REC) and Power Finance Corp (PFC) tapped the NCD route twice in
the financial year ended March 31, 2012.
Also, these 15 companies garnered more than the
targeted amount of Rs 13,775 crore through issuance of NCDs.
Barring Power Finance Corp (first tranche), Ennore
Port Ltd, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Dredging Corporation of India Ltd,
National Housing Bank and IRFC (second tranche) and HUDCO ( second tranche),
all the other issues managed to raise more than their targetted amounts.
In 2011-12, the companies had raised Rs 35,611
crore, as against their targeted amount of Rs 31,100 crore.
Individually, IRFC raised raked in a total of Rs
5,373 crore last fiscal, as against the base size of Rs 1,000 crore and India
Infrastructure Finance Company mopped-up Rs 2,884 crore against the target of
Rs 1,500 crore.
Besides, HUDCO raised Rs 2,194 crore against the
base size of Rs 750 crore, while REC garnered Rs 2,017 crore against the target
of Rs 1,000 crore.
The Indian power sector is gaining ground in South
Africa, where it is hoping to secure at least five per cent of global exports
currently dominated by European exporters by 2020, said Sanjeev Sardana.
Sardana, chairman of Indian Electrical and
Electronics Manufacturers’ Association, led a delegation to the two-day 15th
Power & Electricity World Africa 2013 expo that ended here on Wednesday.
Indian companies were out in force at as they try to
boost the annual $2.5 billion exports to the African continent.
Expoconsult India and Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII) with the support of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry
arranged the Indian Pavilion at the expo.
As many as 39 Indian companies participated in the
areas of electrical equipment, power generation, transmission lines and parts
and renewable energy.
Sardana said of the $4.5 billion exported from the
power sector by India each year, $2.5 billion was to Africa.
“There is great interest from our members to come to
Africa not only to sell their products but also to find technology partners
where they can talk about doing technology transfer,” Sardana added.
“Africa spends about $93 billion a year on power
sector reform, about 50 per cent of this in transmission and distribution,
which is what we are all primarily here for.
“The market in South Africa has been dominated by
European players, but now Indian companies are also getting a foothold because
a lot of our members have gained approval from the South African Bureau of
Standards with certification to international standards.”
Sardana said his organisation was confident of
success in South Africa, setting a target of achieving at least five per cent
of the global share by 2020.
“This was an ideal platform to meet all of Africa’s
power operators, government, power producers and all energy stakeholders
together under one roof,” Sardana said.
INDIA MANAGEMENT
BlackBerry launched its BlackBerry Z10 device in
India six weeks ago and last week showcased the BlackBerry
Enterprise Service (BES) 10 at the BlackBerry Experience Forum in New
Delhi.
While BlackBerry primarily has always targeted
enterprise customers with BES, the vendor is hoping the latest release will
make inroads into the medium-scale businesses in India.
With the growing acceptance of IT consumerization
and bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend, businesses
are looking at ways manage personal devices and corporate data. BES10 is
touted to offer mobility management, bringing together device management,
security, unified communications, and applications. It allows businesses to
easily deploy, manage, secure, and control BYOD and corporate devices--not just
for BlackBerry, but also iOS and Android devices.
At the BlackBerry Experience Forum, I met Sunil
Lalvani, director of enterprise sales for BlackBerry India. He told me that
while they’d like BlackBerry to be a preferred device, they are looking to be
the vendor of choice for managing Android and iOS devices in the
enterprise.
"Some companies have allowed BYOD,
but there are challenges in managing those devices. Some even prohibit personal
apps," Lalvani explained. "We launched only 40 days ago, and
have over 500 enterprise customers already in India. Few SMBs (small and
midsize businesses) have also adopted BES10. There are several tiers of
mobility management with BES10."
Blind people will
soon be able to read SMSs and emails on their smartphones. Innovator Sumit
Dagar, whose company is being incubated at the Centre for Innovation Incubation
and Entrepreneurship
(CIIE) based on the Indian
Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A ) campus, has developed the unique
device.
Send this unique smartphone an
SMS or email in any language and it converts it into blindfriendly braille.
Dagar, who holds a postgraduate degree from the National
Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, had always been passionate about
making technology more usable. He is now collaborating with the Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. "We have created the world's
first braille smartphone," he said. "This product is based on an
innovative 'touch screen' which is capable of elevating and depressing the
contents it receives to transform them into 'touchable' patterns." Dagar
started the project three years ago while studying interaction designing at NID.
After working with a couple of companies, he gave up
his job to concentrate on his technology, formed a team of six people and
started his venture Kriyate Design Solutions. Currently, the venture is being
funded by Rolex
Awards under its Young Laureates Programme, where they select only five people
from across the world every two years to fund their projects .
INSURANCE
ING U.S. Inc., the American insurance unit of ING Groep NV
(INGA), plans to raise as much as $1.54 billion in an initial public
offering as its Dutch parent focuses on operations at home.
The division and its parent are offering 64.2
million shares for $21 to $24 apiece, the U.S. business said yesterday in a
regulatory filing. Amsterdam-based ING Groep will own 75 percent of ING U.S.
after the IPO, the filing showed. The unit plans to change its name to Voya
Financial after the share sale. At the midpoint of the range, the American
unit’s market value would be about $5.78 billion, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg. ING Groep is selling shares after U.S. stocks have risen to record
levels and volatility in the market has subsided. The company has to divest the
business as a condition of its 2008 bailout.
“It seems like it’s fairly priced,” said Vincent
Lui, an equity analyst at Morningstar Inc. (MORN) in Chicago. “It’s still a very
difficult environment” for insurers, he said.
Based on a valuation of $5.78 billion, the company
would trade for about 42 percent of book value, a measure of assets minus
liabilities. That compares with more than 60 percent at MetLife Inc.
(MET), the largest U.S. life insurer.
An Arkansas
proposal to use Medicaid money to buy private insurance for poor residents was
passed by the House, a move that may help efforts for health- care overhaul in
states with Republican-led legislatures.
Seventy-seven lawmakers voted for the legislation
today, while 23 opposed it, surpassing the 75 votes needed for approval of a
bill enabling spending for health care. The same measure had failed to achieve
the votes yesterday, prompting House Speaker Davy Carter, a Republican, to seek
another vote. “Arkansas now leads the nation with a conservative alternative to
the policy forced upon us by the federal government,” Carter said in a
statement.
Governor Mike Beebe, a Democrat, received informal
approval Feb. 18 from the federal government to use money for Medicaid
expansion under President Barack
Obama’s Affordable Care Act to instead buy private coverage. The measure
now goes to the state Senate.
“Many states were considering following suit
depending on the Arkansas vote,” Robert Field, a Drexel University law
professor who specializes in health-care policy, said in an interview before
today’s vote. “It was hopeful that Arkansas would be a middle course by
expanding Medicaid and making it work with Obamacare, but reassuring
conservatives it was more of a private-sector approach.”
INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS
The International
Monetary Fund said Wednesday that banks and businesses are still fragile in
the eurozone periphery, which extends from Cyprus and Greece
to Italy and Spain.
"The debt overhang at listed companies in the
euro area periphery is sizeable" and "unsustainable", especially
in the context of weak growth, the IMF said in its
twice-yearly Global Financial Stability Report, citing in particular companies
in Portugal and Spain. "Many banks in the euro area periphery remain
challenged by elevated funding costs,
deteriorating asset quality, and weak profits," the IMF said.
The bank crisis in Cyprus has exacerbated the situation
by scaring investors region-wide and sparking a sell-off in bank shares
throughout the eurozone, the IMF said.
The Fund expressed concerns about the health of some
non-financial companies because of debt accumulated before the financial
crisis, especially in Ireland and Spain.
The problem of excessive debt does not mean
companies will default, the IMF said, but they will need to take steps, such as
cutting operating expenses and investment, to bring debt down to sustainable
levels.
Even so, the IMF called for vigilance over the
quality of periphery firms' assets, stressing their capacity to pay back debt
is "much weaker" than in the eurozone core.
Although acute risks in the euro area have declined
in the six months since the last report due to " strong
policy action," significant challenges remain, the IMF said.
"More work needs to be done in the short term
to improve bank and capital
market functioning, while moving steadily toward a full-fledged banking
union," it said.
As for the sovereign debt crisis in the 17-nation
bloc, the IMF noted that the European Central Bank's government bond-purchase
program had helped boost confidence in public debt but its impact was
dwindling.
In September 2012, the ECB unveiled its new Outright
Monetary Transactions program but has not used it, with its existence alone
helping to bring down eurozone countries' borrowing costs in the markets.
An international business group is urging World
Trade Organization members to strike a deal to simplify global customs
procedures at a trade ministers meeting in Bali in December to prove the WTO is
still a force for trade liberalization.
"We think it's important, indeed indispensable,
for the WTO to come out of Bali with something that the world will see as a
positive result," said Jim Bacchus,
a former WTO appellate body judge who now chairs the global investment and
trade committee of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The group,
which has members in more than 120 countries, will formally release its
recommendations for a Bali package at its meeting next week in Doha, Qatar,
where the unsuccessful Doha round of world trade talks was launched in late
2001.
It wants the WTO to wrap up the Doha round, even
with a vastly scaled-down package, so that members of the world trade body can
move on to new agenda of negotiations in areas such as services and green
technology.
A study done for the ICC by the Peterson Institute
for International Economics estimated a WTO "trade facilitation"
package to simplify customs and other procedures for handling goods at the
border could boost world exports by more than $1 trillion, including $570
billion for developing countries and $475 billion for developed countries.
The reforms also could increase global economic
output by $960 billion and create about 21 million jobs, most of those in developing
countries, the Washington-based think tank said.
While the Doha round has faltered, the United
States, the European
Union and more recently Japan have looked increasingly to regional trade
agreements to create new export opportunities.
LOGISTICS
Agri-logistics player Shree Shubham Logistics has
concluded an agreement with Tano India Pvt Equity Fund to raise Rs 80 crore to
fund its capacity expansion plans.
Shubham Logistics, a subsidiary of Kalpataru Power
Transmission Ltd, currently operates about 90 agri-warehouses across India with
a total capacity of about 11 lakh tonnes (lt). Out of this, the company owns an
inventory of 3.6 lt, the rest is operated through tie-ups and long-term lease
contracts.
“The fund will support our expansion plans in
Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and down south in Andhra Pradesh and
Karnataka,” Aditya Bafna, Executive Director, told Business Line.
He said Tano would now hold a minority stake of
below 20 per cent in the company.
Tano is currently investing from its second India
fund, Tano India Private Equity Fund II. Tano Capital was founded by Charles E.
Johnson, formerly Co-President of Franklin Templeton Investments and CEO of
Templeton Worldwide Inc.
The logistics firm, which provides the entire range
of warehousing services, including transportation, grading, sorting, testing,
storage and fincing of agri commodities, is executing a Rs 270-crore capacity
expansion programme.
“We will be adding a new warehousing capacity of
about 2.4 lakh tonnes by October this year, as part of this expansion. These
facilities are coming up in Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh,” Bafna
said.
After this phase, the company has plans to take up
another Rs 200 crore expansion to add a capacity of about four lt in the next
two years. “After this, we will own about 10 lakh tonnes of capacity and
operate a total of 20 lakh tonnes warehousing capacity,” he said.
Global
Logistic Properties Ltd. (GBTZY, MC0.SG), which paid about 3 billion Brazilian
reais ($1.5 billion) last year to become one of the country's leading operators
of logistics real estate, expects to invest at least BRL1 billion in the next
two years to expand its business in Latin America's biggest economy, Chairman
Jeffrey Schwartz said Tuesday.
GLP last
year bought 35 properties from Hemisferio Sul Investimentos, a Brazil-based
real estate private-equity firm, giving GLP about 1.1 million square meters of
warehouses and distribution centers in Brazil. This year, GLP plans to spend
about BRL1 billion to start construction on an additional 1 million square
meters, with completion of those projects expected during the next four years,
Mr. Schwartz said in an interview at GLP's Brazilian headquarters in Sao Paulo.
The
company is also studying other opportunities, which could increase investment
beyond BRL1 billion, Mr. Schwartz said.
Despite
disappointing economic growth last year--gross domestic product expanded just
0.9% in 2012--Brazil is still a promising market, he said.
"We're
not here to flip these properties like a private-equity firm," he said.
"We're building our business for the next 20 years, looking at Brazil's
young demographic, its good natural resources like oil and gas, but also water
and agriculture. We'd like to take advantage of the slowdown to gain some
market share."
MANAGEMENT
Enterprise Mobile, a business unit of Intermec
Technologies Corporation, and a pioneer in delivering comprehensive mobility
managed services, today announced the availability of its Global Telecom
Expense Management (TEM) services. This service expansion reflects the
company's continued commitment to helping businesses control costs and reduce
the complexities of in-house mobile management.
Available in connection with Enterprise Mobile's
suite of mobile device deployment, helpdesk, device depot and MDM enablement
services, or as a stand-alone service, Enterprise Mobile's TEM service will
actively manage the full mobile communications lifecycle including automating
inventory, expense management and ordering, procurement and fulfillment across
the globe.
With the unprecedented growth in corporate and
individual-liable devices, telecom departments need comprehensive mobile expense
management (MEM) solutions to centrally manage, track and optimize spend to
reduce costs, while ensuring corporate policies are enforced. Leading analysts
estimate that up to 80% of telecom bills have errors that range from 7% to 12%
of the amounts charged. By streamlining procurement and fulfillment processes
and optimizing monthly mobile expenses through the use of cloud-based
applications, Enterprise Mobile can help companies reduce recurring telecom
services fees by 10-30% or more.
"Our clients turn to us because we can support
their mobility initiatives, regardless of the mobile device types or operating
system platforms they are using," said Jay Gordon, Vice President at
Enterprise Mobile. "The introduction of our Global TEM services offers a
way for companies to standardize mobility deployments across multiple
geographies. We're looking forward to helping customers solve the problem of
consistent ordering and fulfillment processes, lack of visibility into spend
patterns and overspending on wireless carrier service."
ODISHA BUSINESS
The Odisha expert committee of the Indian Chamber of
Commerce (ICC) has urged the state government to constitute a high-level
committee to address problems faced by companies that have invested over Rs
1,000 crore in the state.
The industry chamber pointed out that at the Union government level, the Cabinet Committee on Investments (CCI) chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has already been formed for speedy implementation of projects worth Rs 1,000 crore and above.
“Odisha has already witnessed investments of over Rs 1,000 crore and above by several companies in different sectors. On behalf of ICC Odisha expert committee, we request you to address the problems being faced by the companies having invested Rs 1,000 crore and above in the state,” Vishal Agarwal, chairman, ICC Odisha expert committee wrote to Rajesh Verma, principal secretary (steel & mines)-Odisha.
A bulk of investments in the state has been grounded in sectors like steel, aluminium and power.
Steel makers that have signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Odisha government have so far invested Rs 91,655.86 crore, nearly 46 per cent of the total investment of Rs 1.98 lakh crore envisaged in the sector.
Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd is the biggest of all steel investors with an investment of Rs 25,000 crore. The investment has gone into building a 2.4 million tonne per annum (mtpa) steel mill and 248 Mw captive power plant (CPP) at Sambalpur. Another Bhushan Group firm- Bhushan Steel Ltd has invested Rs 21,817 crore . The company’s three mtpa integrated steel plant is in operations at Meramundali near Dhenkanal. The steel company’s MoU that expired on December 31, 2008 has been recommended for extension by Industrial Promotion & Investment Corporation of Odisha Ltd (Ipicol).
The industry chamber pointed out that at the Union government level, the Cabinet Committee on Investments (CCI) chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has already been formed for speedy implementation of projects worth Rs 1,000 crore and above.
“Odisha has already witnessed investments of over Rs 1,000 crore and above by several companies in different sectors. On behalf of ICC Odisha expert committee, we request you to address the problems being faced by the companies having invested Rs 1,000 crore and above in the state,” Vishal Agarwal, chairman, ICC Odisha expert committee wrote to Rajesh Verma, principal secretary (steel & mines)-Odisha.
A bulk of investments in the state has been grounded in sectors like steel, aluminium and power.
Steel makers that have signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Odisha government have so far invested Rs 91,655.86 crore, nearly 46 per cent of the total investment of Rs 1.98 lakh crore envisaged in the sector.
Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd is the biggest of all steel investors with an investment of Rs 25,000 crore. The investment has gone into building a 2.4 million tonne per annum (mtpa) steel mill and 248 Mw captive power plant (CPP) at Sambalpur. Another Bhushan Group firm- Bhushan Steel Ltd has invested Rs 21,817 crore . The company’s three mtpa integrated steel plant is in operations at Meramundali near Dhenkanal. The steel company’s MoU that expired on December 31, 2008 has been recommended for extension by Industrial Promotion & Investment Corporation of Odisha Ltd (Ipicol).
The Odisha government which has decided to go for
electronic sale of key minerals like iron ore, chrome ore and manganese is
awaiting the directive of the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered
Committee (CEC) to enforce e-auction on mine owners.
"Unless we get a directive from the CEC, we cannot make e-auction mandatory on all lessees. There is a possibility that a lessee may initially agree to participate in e-auction and back out later. We had discussions with the CEC and they have responded positively to our move for introducing e-auction," a top official source told Business Standard.
The state steel and mines department has missed its target to roll out e-auction from April 1 this year. The e-auction services were to be provided by Kolkata-based MSTC Ltd. Discussions with all stakeholders are through on introducing e-auction.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was to be signed between the state government and MSTC for rolling out e-auction services.
The MoU would outline the roles, responsibilities, scope of work and remuneration for MSTC. A suitable government order will be issued, making e-auction compulsory from a certain date for sale of iron ore, manganese ore and chrome ore. The state government, through, a recent notification, had stated that a decision has been taken for introduction of sale of iron ore, manganese ore and chrome ore by all lessees and licensees in order to bring transparency and improvement in the existing system as well as to generate more revenues.
MSTC would set up its office in Bhubaneswar for coordination and execution of e-auction-related work. All users of e-auction will have to register with the MSTC website either as buyer or seller. Registration of buyers and sellers will be a continuous process.
Users from the Odisha government will be provided with a master password by MSTC for monitoring purposes.
"Unless we get a directive from the CEC, we cannot make e-auction mandatory on all lessees. There is a possibility that a lessee may initially agree to participate in e-auction and back out later. We had discussions with the CEC and they have responded positively to our move for introducing e-auction," a top official source told Business Standard.
The state steel and mines department has missed its target to roll out e-auction from April 1 this year. The e-auction services were to be provided by Kolkata-based MSTC Ltd. Discussions with all stakeholders are through on introducing e-auction.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was to be signed between the state government and MSTC for rolling out e-auction services.
The MoU would outline the roles, responsibilities, scope of work and remuneration for MSTC. A suitable government order will be issued, making e-auction compulsory from a certain date for sale of iron ore, manganese ore and chrome ore. The state government, through, a recent notification, had stated that a decision has been taken for introduction of sale of iron ore, manganese ore and chrome ore by all lessees and licensees in order to bring transparency and improvement in the existing system as well as to generate more revenues.
MSTC would set up its office in Bhubaneswar for coordination and execution of e-auction-related work. All users of e-auction will have to register with the MSTC website either as buyer or seller. Registration of buyers and sellers will be a continuous process.
Users from the Odisha government will be provided with a master password by MSTC for monitoring purposes.
RETAIL
That Reliance Industries’ retail business – Reliance
Retail - has come of age can be judged from the fact that the company for the
first time in its analyst presentation divulged details about this business.
For the year ended March 2013, RIL announced that its retail business revenues
crossed the Rs 10,000-crore mark. Further, the division has managed to post a
moderate profit at the operating level.
Reliance Retail saw a sales growth of 42% in FY13 from Rs 7,599 crore to Rs 10,800 crore, but importantly earnings before depreciation, interest and tax swung from a loss of Rs 342 crore to a profit of Rs 78 crore. Though Reliance Retail may be catching up with Future Retail (erstwhile Pantaloon Retail) in terms of sales, it has a long way to go when we look at both companies’ profitability.
On a consolidated basis Future Retail reached a turnover of Rs 7,900 crore in FY09, but unlike Reliance Retail it posted an operating profit of Rs 615 crore. When the company touched revenues of Rs 9,769 crore in FY10, its operating profit improved to Rs 966 crore. Reliance, on the other hand, has barely turned positive at the operating level on reacing the Rs 10,000-crore sales mark. The reason for the lower profitability of RIL’s retail business is its sales mix. As per the details in Reliance’s analyst presentation, Value Format stores accounted for 56% of Reliance Retail’s revenues coming from 760 stores (nearly 50% of its store strength). Reliance’s value format stores are now the largest grocery retailer in the country and have posted the highest growth rate of 18% within its various categories. Importantly, growth in this category came from same-store (like-for-like) sales and not new store additions.
Reliance Retail saw a sales growth of 42% in FY13 from Rs 7,599 crore to Rs 10,800 crore, but importantly earnings before depreciation, interest and tax swung from a loss of Rs 342 crore to a profit of Rs 78 crore. Though Reliance Retail may be catching up with Future Retail (erstwhile Pantaloon Retail) in terms of sales, it has a long way to go when we look at both companies’ profitability.
On a consolidated basis Future Retail reached a turnover of Rs 7,900 crore in FY09, but unlike Reliance Retail it posted an operating profit of Rs 615 crore. When the company touched revenues of Rs 9,769 crore in FY10, its operating profit improved to Rs 966 crore. Reliance, on the other hand, has barely turned positive at the operating level on reacing the Rs 10,000-crore sales mark. The reason for the lower profitability of RIL’s retail business is its sales mix. As per the details in Reliance’s analyst presentation, Value Format stores accounted for 56% of Reliance Retail’s revenues coming from 760 stores (nearly 50% of its store strength). Reliance’s value format stores are now the largest grocery retailer in the country and have posted the highest growth rate of 18% within its various categories. Importantly, growth in this category came from same-store (like-for-like) sales and not new store additions.
Liquor maker United Spirits Ltd today said its brand
McDowells No1 has achieved retail sales worth $3.8 billion (over Rs 20,000
crore) in 2012-13.
“McDowell’s No1, created a historic landmark today
clocking retail sales worth $3.8 billion for nearly half a billion 750 ml
bottles of its whisky, rum and brandy franchise, sold in the year 2012-13, ”
United Spirits Ltd (USL) said in a statement.
“...Half a billion standard (750 ml each) bottles of
McDowell’s No 1 portfolio, of which the whisky forms the most significant part,
is an endorsement of our early recognition of the prestige and premium opportunity
in India,” Vijay Mallya, Chairman, UB Group said.
He added that McDowell’s No 1 Whisky has created an
equally iconic landmark in global markets, clocking nearly half a million cases
of sales in a single year in Nigeria.
“Going forward, with the emerging markets
initiative, I am confident that this portfolio will continue to be a front
runner in creating shareholder value through consistently delighting consumers
through path breaking innovation and market activation,” Mallya said.
Commenting on the development, USL President and
Managing Director, Ashok Capoor said the success has been driven by USL’s
premiumisation strategy and innovation — introduction of premium brands under
the McDowell’s No1 banner.
“The brand has created new benchmark be it by way of
contribution to USL’s top-line and bottom-line, retail value or, growth vis a
vis industry performance,” Capoor added.
SUPPLY CHAIN
Local
firms in Apple Inc.'s supply chain came under pressure Thursday morning amid
lingering concerns over global demand for devices provided by the U.S.-based
consumer electronics giant, dealers said.
The fears
were increased by a plunge in Apple's share price on Wall Street overnight
after Cirrus Logic Inc. of the United States, one of Apple's audio chip
suppliers, reported excess inventory, implying slowing demand, the dealers
said.
As of
11:30 a.m., shares of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., which assembles iPhones
and iPads for Apple, had fallen 1.54 percent to NT$76.50 (US$2.56), with 29.39
million shares changing hands.
Also in
the Apple supply chain, smartphone camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co.
witnessed its share price shedding 2.28 percent to NT$729.00 on trading volume
of 1.32 million shares.
The
weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) was up 0.05 percent at
7,813.12 points.
“The dive
of Apple's share price overnight provided investors here with a good reason to
cut their holdings in Apple concept stocks such as Hon Hai and Largan,” Hua Nan
Securities analyst Stan Chang said.
Apple
shares closed down 5.5 percent on Wall Street overnight after the warning from
Cirrus, which raised concerns over iPhone sales.
“Just
before Apple is due to release its first quarter results next week, Cirrus's
comments have scared off many investors, prompting them to dump Apple shares,”
Chang said. “Investors have turned more downbeat about Apple and even its
suppliers, like Hong Hai and Largan.”
Chang said
that as more and more institutional investors release negative assessments on
Apple, it is possible that local suppliers will encounter more downward
pressure in the near future.
Supply
chain contracts offered among Japanese carmakers are an area where additional
attention is needed in regards to both quality and safety are concerned. These
two aspects should be at the top of the list when offering such contracts. Mark
Johnson is one such supply chain expert who has studied the factors which
Japanese car makers concentrate on when offering these contracts and has found
them lacking where quality and safety are concerned.
Japanese
auto makers include Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mazda
all of which have had to resort to car recalls to the tune of a total of 3.4
million. These auto makers all receive air bags from Takata Corp who has been
supplying faulty airbags which has been known to catch fire and injure
occupants of the vehicle. These problems first surfaced in October 2011 with
repeated occurrences since then.
Auto
companies have an obligation to put quality and safety in top priority when
offering contracts for procurement of auto parts and should put their focus on
procurement of quality parts over price and costs involved in ordering these
parts from their supply chains.
Dr
Johnson, Associate Professor of Operations Management at Warwick Business
School said, “Perhaps the answer to this is to put quality and safety first
when negotiating contracts for safety critical parts. As more and more firms
focus on what they are good at – their core competences – then their suppliers
will be trusted for greater proportions of the design and manufacturing of
sub-systems and components. This comes with a cost, and that is the loss of
control of their supply chains as they cede responsibility to their suppliers
while procuring parts at a low price.”
Source of
Information for this issue: Google alert accessed on 22nd Apr 2013
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Compilation
Sabita Sahu
Sabita Sahu
Junior Librarian
Concept, Layout and
Editing
Syamaghana Mohanty
Chief Librarian
Chief Librarian
Information and
Documentation Division, Chanakya Central Library
Asian School of
Business Management
Shiksha Vihar Bhola,
Barang Khurda Road,
Chandaka
Bhubaneswar-754012
Tel:0674-2374832, 2374833
E-mail:library@asbm.ac.in, chieflibrarian@asbm.ac.inSabita Sahu :Junior Librarian and Syamaghana Mohanty : Chief Librarian, Knowledge and Information Services Unit, Chanakya Central Library, Asian School of Business Management, Bhubaneswar. chieflibrarian@asbm.ac.in ; www.asbm.ac.in
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