text:
Diebold Nixdorf (DBD) Q2 2019 Earnings Call Transcript
DBD earnings call for the period ending June 30, 2019.
Motley Fool Transcribing
(MFTranscribing)
Jul 25, 2019 at 10:24PM
Diebold Nixdorf (NYSE:DBD)
Jul 25, 2019, 8:30 a.m. ET
Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the Diebold Nixdorf hosted second-quarter 2019 earnings conference call. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Steve Virostek. Please go ahead, sir.
Steve Virostek -- Investor Relations
Thank you, David, and welcome, everyone, to Diebold Nixdorf's second quarter earnings call for 2019. Speakers on today's call also include Gerrard Schmid, president and chief executive officer; and Jeff Rutherford, chief financial officer. For your benefit, we've posted slides to accompany our prepared remarks today. You may access those slides at Investor Relations page on dieboldnixdorf.com.
Later this afternoon, audio replay of today's webcast will also be posted to the IR website. Slide 1 contains a reminder that today's comments will include non-GAAP financial information, which we believe is helpful in assessing the company's performance. We have reconciled each non-GAAP metric to its most directly comparable GAAP metric in the supplemental schedules of our slides. Over on Slide 2.
We inform our participants that certain comments may be characterized as forward-looking statements, and that there are a number of risks -- number of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements. You may find additional information on these risk factors in the company's SEC filings. Also please keep in mind that forward-looking information is current as of today, and subsequent events may render this information out of date. And now I'll hand the call over to Gerrard.
Gerrard Schmid -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining our presentation. I'm pleased to report that our second-quarter results demonstrate strong improvements to profitability and cash flow, which are directly linked to our execution of the DN now transformation initiatives. First half progress provides us with the confidence to improve our 2019 outlook today. Before I comment on our results, I'd like to highlight one of the more exciting developments, the launch of our next-generation banking solutions branded as DN series, which we announced about a month ago.
We believe the DN series further extends our position as market leader by enabling advanced capabilities, which benefit consumers, and support financial institutions' assets to transform their branch environment. Initial feedback from customers has been very strong on the capabilities and performance of the DN series. Key highlights of our second quarter are contained on Slide 3. Total orders during the quarter increased to 5% in constant currency versus one year ago.
In the Americas banking segment, orders were stable versus the prior year, and included more than $90 million for Windows 10-capable machines, our contracts to upgrade BBVA Bancomer's ATM fleet with 750 cash recyclers, and over 100 cash dispensers in Mexico; a product and software contract at a regional bank located in the Midwest U.S. for full function ATMs, as well as, our DN vynamic connection point and security licenses; a new account win at a credit union in the U.S. operated by a Fortune 50 IT services company for ATMs vynamic connection point software and a three-year managed services contract; a $17 million win at Banco Itau Unibanco to transform their branches, and increase automation via cash recyclers, full function ATMs and maintenance services; and a win with another top Brazilian financial institution for 300 cash recyclers and a two-year maintenance services contract. For Eurasia banking, orders increased versus the prior year after adjusting for currency.
We experienced strength from our customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In Asia Pacific, orders improved to a modest decline as we began to anniversary our decision to exercise greater bidding discipline and focus on more profitable market segments. Noteworthy contracts in Eurasia banking included a new frame agreement at Commerzbank in Germany for several hundred ATMs and a multiyear software and services maintenance contract, a new multiyear contract with a German financial institution valued at $5 million to provide cash terminals and ATM as a service, a contract for the top three bank in Saudi Arabia valued at more than $10 million to take the next step in their branch transformation journey with cash recyclers, dispensers, kiosks and Connection Point software; a new contract with the Development Bank of Singapore for about 150 cash recyclers, self-service monitoring and maintenance; an $8 million win at the third largest financial institution in Kazakhstan for more than 300 cash recyclers, more than 100 cash dispensers and about 40 drive-up ATMs; and wins at three leading banks in Africa valued at $15 million for cash recyclers, cash dispensers and software, two of these banks are new accounts for Diebold Nixdorf. Switching over to retail orders.
We delivered meaningful constant currency growth during the second quarter, fueled by the strength of our self-checkout solutions in EMEA and Asia where we experienced record shipments in self-checkout. During the quarter, DN signed a $7 million contract with U.K.-based co-op for more than 400 self-checkout terminals and related services. We also secured a $12 million agreement to deploy comprehensive point-of-sale solutions at a leading supermarket chain based in Germany. And in addition, we signed a $3 million contract to deploy next-generation point-of-sale software to more than 1,200 fuel and convenience stores in Germany.
Our solutions feature greater security measures being mandated by the government, as well as, enhancements to the customer experience. To summarize current market conditions, demand for our banking solutions is solid in nearly all regions. In retail, we've seen growing demand for our self-checkout solutions coupled with an easing of demand for point-of-sale solutions. Moving on to our revenue performance in the quarter.
Total revenue increased by 8% in constant currency versus one year ago excluding approximately four percentage points of foreign currency headwinds of $41 million. Growing product revenue enabled all three segments to deliver constant currency growth, 14% for Americas banking, 4% in Eurasia banking and 6% from retail. Non-GAAP gross profit improved by $54 million versus the prior year led by significant gross margin expansion across all segments and business lines, as well as, a contribution from growing product revenue. Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter increased by 162% or $66 million year over year against an easy comparison as we realized both productivity enhancements and expense reductions from our DN now initiatives.
I am particularly pleased with our free cash flow performance. Improved profitability, along with strong net working capital management, enabled DN to reduced its use of cash in the second quarter by $109 million versus the prior year. For the first half of 2019, unlevered cash flow was a positive $30 million, which is approximately $246 million better than last year. These achievements also had the effect of reducing our leverage ratio from 5.7 times on March 31st to 5 times on June 30th even though we paid $87 million during the second quarter to squeeze out the remaining minority shareholders of Diebold Nixdorf AG.
These financial results illustrate the commitment, focus and the cohesion of our management team. I'm encouraged by the way our team has responded over the past year. On Slide 4, we provide a time line of our key DN now initiatives. Most of you have seen the slide before, and it reiterates our goal of generating $400 million of gross savings through the year 2021 while simplifying our operations, and enabling our employees to increase their focus on our customers.
We are nearly complete with the first initiative, streamlining our operating model, in which we have reduced management layers, and clarified roles across the organization. As a result, we have very good visibility toward approximately $100 million in gross savings in 2019, and cumulative savings of $130 million of savings through 2020. Second, we are targeting about $50 million of savings from simplifying our ATM product portfolio, and optimizing our manufacturing footprint. During the quarter, we took a big step forward by announcing a new product family, the DN series.
Our third initiative is to generate at least $70 million of savings from our services modernization plan through the year 2021. We've executed well on this initiative as demonstrated by the 490 basis points year-over-year gains to our non-GAAP gross service margins. Our fourth initiative is to reduce selling, general and administrative expenses by about $150 million through 2021. I'll provide a bit more context on these initiatives on subsequent slides, but will add that halfway through the year we are tracking to our plan.
We're also focused on improving our net working capital by approximately $100 million in 2019. We are tracking well toward this goal. In the second quarter, the company reduced net working capital as a percent of trailing 12 months revenue to 17.7% from 22.8% in the prior-year period. Our second-quarter performance marks the third consecutive quarter in which this metric has improved by more than 250 basis points year over year.
Finally, we continue to work on divesting noncore assets amounting to about 5% of annual revenue. During the second quarter, we divested our cash-in-transit business for banking customers in Europe, and we continued to action several other projects, which will likely reach resolution through the end of 2019 or the early 2020. Moving to Slide 5, I'll discuss the progress being made on simplifying our product portfolio. Those of you who participated in prior calls know that we reduced the number of ATM configurations we were selling in 2018, and we're targeting a further reduction of 30% for 2019.
This enabled the company to streamline our supply chain, and we have really benefited from a reduction in lead times. We continue to optimize our manufacturing footprint by consolidating subscale facilities, and shifting production to lower-cost locations. Those actions, along with our bidding discipline, are driving meaningful product gross margin expansion for the quarter and year-to-date. Looking to the future.
We are enthusiastic about delivering the next generation of banking solutions, which we've branded the DN series. This product family is the culmination of meaningful investments in consumer research, design, engineering resources, and tooling. Key benefits and features of the DN series include: improving ATM availability and performance using advanced sensor technology, machine learning and connectivity to the DN AllConnect engine; facilitating automated cash management via next-generation cash recycling technology; integrating the Vynamic software suite, which includes integration with mobile devices, and support for biometrics; providing a clear modular upgrade path for our customers as their needs to evolve; simplifying and streamlining our supply chain, and offering a longer-term path to substantially standardizing our platforms globally; increasing note capacity, processing power and improved security in a smaller footprint. The DN series also offers increased flexibility for personalization and branding.
We have received strong positive feedback from 18 different customers who are piloting these terminals in 13 countries. On Slide 6, we've provided an update of our services modernization plan. Since launching this initiative in the third quarter of 2018, we have upgraded more than 20,000 customer touch points, which were generating a higher volume of service calls, and required more spare parts. Our actions are driving a performance benefit to our customers and financial benefits to DN.
We are automating incident reporting and response by connecting more terminals to the DN AllConnect data engine. This solution gathers intelligence from a number of sensors in the ATM, and uploads performance information to the cloud where the data is analyzed. Based on activity to date, we believe the AllConnect data engine could enable the company to reduce call rates by approximately 20%. As a result of these initiatives, we are improving service levels in many countries.
Additionally, we are rolling out value-based pricing policies linked to the age of the ATMs. Our key performance indicators across the services business are tracking well. During the second quarter, we continued to maintain a services renewal rate solidly above our 95% target. Our contract base of ATMs declined modestly to approximately 622,000 as we exit low-margin accounts.
Our key financial metric is the gross services margin, which increased 480 -- 490 basis points year over year, reaching 26% in the second quarter. We saw strong year-over-year gross margin gains in Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Mexico and several other countries. This is the fourth consecutive quarter of year-on-year service margin expansion, and our Q2 margin was the second highest level since Diebold and Nixdorf combined. Our results, coupled with a strong engagement from our services team, is highly encouraging, and provides the confidence to increase our 2021 target to a range of 28% to 29% gross margins.
On Slide 7, I'll describe our progress to further reduce our selling, general and administrative expenses. In our finance organization, we continue to lay the groundwork for centralizing our accounting processes making greater use of shared services and increasing automation. Our information technology leaders signed a new agreement during the quarter to deploy new cloud-based solutions, which will upgrade a number of our fragmented legacy systems. We've also reduced spend on low-value discretionary IT projects and legacy applications.
Using analytics, we have identified significant savings opportunities from consolidating and reducing the company spend with third-parties. About 80 leaders within the company have ownership of this initiative, and we are methodically tracking our progress. Our focus is yielding results as we reduced third-party spend by about $60 million in the last six months with meaningful reductions in logistics, temporary labor and consulting services. Additionally, we continued to consolidate our real estate footprint.
During the second quarter, we made progress in Asia by closing offices in Sydney and Bangkok. On the bottom of the slide, you can see the steady improvements in SG&A, both in absolute dollars, and as a percent of revenue over a trailing 12-month period. The chart shows that we've brought down our non-GAAP SG&A expense by about $40 million versus this time last year, which equates to nearly a full percentage point of annual revenue. Our progress and our plans give us confidence in further SG&A reductions, and we're maintaining our target of 13% to 14% revenue for 2021.
In summary, our second-quarter results demonstrate solid execution from the leadership team, and good alignment on our priorities. Based upon our year-to-date performance, we are raising our outlook to the high end of our prior ranges for revenue and adjusted EBITDA. We are also increasing our free cash flow outlook to a modest positive, which Jeff will detail in a few minutes. And now I'll hand the call over to Jeff.
Jeff Rutherford -- Chief Financial Officer
Thank you, Gerrard, and good morning, everyone. During the second quarter, we made substantial progress toward value creation as displayed by our second-quarter results. That progress today gives us the confidence to raise our outlook to 2019. For my prepared remarks today, I will center on the non-GAAP metrics, unless otherwise noted.
On Slide 8, we've provided a year-over-year revenue comparison for our three segments and business lines, both as reported and on a constant currency basis. Collectively, foreign currencies were a headwind to revenue of approximately four percentage points during the quarter or about $41 million versus the prior year, primarily due to the U.S. dollar strengthening against the euro, and to a lesser extent, against the Brazilian real, and the British pound. I'll speak to the currency-adjusted growth rates, unless otherwise noted, as it provide a more meaningful comparison.
Total revenue increased 8% in constant currency during the quarter. Factoring in our previously disclosed divestitures, revenue growth would have been about a point higher versus the prior year. DN delivered revenue gains of 14% in Americas banking, 6% for retail and 4% for Eurasia banking. With respect to our business lines, product revenue increased 25% in constant currency, fueled by growth in banking and retail.
The decline in service revenue of 1% is largely attributable to the divestiture of our cash-in-transit business and very modest reductions in banking. Software revenue was down 3% versus the prior period where virtually all of the decline is stemming from the divestiture of a European project management services business. On Slide 9. We're showing the financial highlights for all three segments.
Starting with the Eurasia banking, revenue increased 4% in constant currency to $430 million during the second quarter due primarily to strong product growth from customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Services revenue was down slightly due to higher -- or due to lower contract revenue, and a divestiture in Europe. Software revenue was down slightly due to -- primarily to the previously mentioned divestiture. Non-GAAP operating profit increased from $18 million last year to $39 million in the current quarter as we delivered higher gross margins for services, products and software, and reduced our operating expense.
Virtually all of these improvements can be attributed to our DN now initiatives, which were partially offset by modest headwinds from inflation of $3 million and foreign currency of $2 million when compared with the prior year. For Americas banking segment, revenue increased 14% in constant currency to $420 million, led by strong product growth from Windows 10 upgrades, continued demand for cash recyclers and the resolution of supply chain issues, which impacted second-quarter 2018 results. Service revenue in the quarter declined modestly year on year due primarily to a slightly lower contract base. Operating profit increased from a loss of $3 million one year ago to $33 million in the quarter due to the following factors: product revenue growth coupled with significant product margin expansion resulting from favorable mix of cash recyclers and lower freight costs versus the prior year, gross service margin expansion from our services modernization plan, and favorable comparison resulting from a one-time expense of approximately $6 million in the year ago period, the lower operating expenses resulting from our DN now initiatives.
Our retail segment generated revenue growth of 6% in constant currency to $300 million in the second quarter with solid contributions from products, and modest contributions from services and software. We are growing retail revenue in both EMEA and Asia. Operating profit increased from $6 million to $16 million, due to a combination of product revenue growth, as well as, higher services and software margins. Currency and inflation provided modest offset to operating profit versus the prior year.
We provide -- on Slide 10, we provide a year-over-year comparison of our profit metrics. non-GAAP gross profit increased $54 million year over year due primarily to the DN now productivity gains and cost reductions, but also as a result of higher service and delivery costs recorded in the second quarter of 2018, which did not recur. Foreign currency headwinds were approximately $8 million versus the prior year. Non-GAAP gross margin increased approximately 390 basis points to 24.4%, which is our best performance since the third quarter of 2017.
Product gross margin exceeded 20% for the second consecutive quarter and reflects a mix benefit, as well as, the value of our highly automated and robotic plant in Paderborn. Just as a side note that our plant in Paderborn is a critical asset to our operating model, and they've done a great job and continue to do a great job. As mentioned during the segment level comments, DN now initiatives were the primary driver of lower operating expenses. A $14 million reduction versus the prior year includes about $3 million of increased expense from a legacy Wincor stock option plan.
On the bottom half of the slide, we illustrate the terrific progress we've made to increase profitability. Operating profit increased $69 million during the quarter to $74 million, and operating margin increased 590 basis points to 6.4%. Adjusted EBITDA increased by $66 million to $107 million while the adjusted EBITDA margin expanded by 560 basis points to 9.3%. These results reflect good execution of our DN now initiatives, product revenue growth, as well as, higher service and delivery costs incurred in the prior-year period, which did not recur.
Moving to Slide 11. We summarized our actions in progress on harvesting net working capital. With respect to receivables, we are centralizing our governance and improving our processes with regular account reviews in past due accounts. These actions are producing favorable results.
Our collections increased 7% during the second quarter when compared to the prior-year period. And I have to say that the big piece of this is the coordination we're getting between our segment groups and our financial groups, and they've done a great job for the company over the last six to nine months -- I would have to say nine months. The team has revamped our inventory management program by establishing clear accountability and targets for finished goods and raw materials, and spare parts. Inventory was a source of cash in the second quarter, another area where the combination of manufacturing, services, and the segments have done a fabulous job of managing our inventory investment.
On the payables front, we've implemented new processes and centralized both our capital committee and our indirect spend decision making. A $60 million reduction in cash disbursements during the second quarter of 2019 is a key indicator of our progress. It impacts the level of our accounts payable, but certainly helps on the cash flow front. The main takeaway is that our meaningful changes are building a sustainable net working capital process, and are delivering results more quickly than we envisioned.
Net working capital as a percentage of revenue declined from 22.8% in the year ago period to 17.7% in the second quarter of 2019. This is our best performance since the combination of the companies. Slide 12 describes our improvements in free cash flow. For the second quarter, free cash used was $16 million, a decrease of $109 million versus the prior-year period.
The most meaningful contributions to free cash flow are strong growth in adjusted EBITDA, and continued harvesting of net working capital. Lower integration payments in the quarter were essentially offset by higher restructuring payments. Interest expense was about $20 million more than the prior-year period. On an unlevered basis, the company produced positive cash flow of $34 million in the second quarter.
On a year-to-date basis, free cash use decreased by $200 million in the first half of 2019, and unlevered cash flow improved by approximately $246 million versus the prior year. On a trailing 12-month basis, we delivered positive free cash flow of $37 million, which is a first-time accomplishment since Diebold and Nixdorf combined. As we stated in the past, the leadership team is proactively managing our liquidity and capital structure. For the last slide of Slide 13, you'll see key liquidity metrics as of the end of December and as of the end of June.
Year to date, the decline in cash is primarily the result of $97 million of restricted cash paid to the Diebold Nixdorf AG minority shareholders, $88 million of free cash use and reduced borrowings on the revolver. Our net debt is approximately $1.9 billion, which translates to a leverage ratio of approximately 5 times net debt-to-trailing 12-month adjusted EBITDA. We have reduced this ratio by 0.5 turn over the past six months even as a nonrecurring to payment DN AG shareholders added about 0.3 times to this ratio. By executing our DN now initiatives, the company is on a much stronger footing.
At the same time, we've held a number of constructive conversations with our lenders about our business, DN now and our outlook. With the added benefit of favorable capital market condition, this is an opportunistic time to begin the process of amending and extending our revolving credit facility in our Term Loan A, which mature in December of 2020. Last week, we launched private-side discussions with our banks, and we are very satisfied with the commitments we have received to date. We want to publicly thank our banks for their continued support.
Today, we have scheduled a call with qualified public lenders for noon Eastern Time. Interested parties should contact our agent, JP Morgan, to request an invitation to join. On Slide 14, we updated our outlook for 2019, and the key drivers. We now expect to generate revenue of $4.5 billion, which is the high end of our prior range and reflects a modest year-on-year decline due to currency headwinds, moderate declines in Eurasia banking, as well as, modest growth in Americas banking and retail.
Our updated range for adjusted EBITDA is $400 million to $420 million, which is at the high end of our prior range and includes approximately $175 million of DN now savings. Partially offsetting those savings are about $60 million of inflation and normalized compensation net of expected benefits from divestitures, as well as, approximately $25 million of benefits, which occurred in 2018. Our free cash flow outlook for 2019 has improved from breakeven to a modest positive and includes the following expectations: net working capital cash flow of about $100 million, net interest expense of approximately $190 million excluding any impact from our refinancing, restructuring payments of approximately $120 million, approximately $70 million of capital expenditures, $60 million of cash taxes and $40 million of other cash uses. While we do not provide quarterly guidance, I would like to comment on the seasonal trends in our business.
Specifically, we anticipate third-quarter revenue will decrease modestly on a sequential basis and adjusted EBITDA could be slightly more than our second-quarter results. During the fourth quarter, we expect both revenue and adjusted EBITDA will reach the high watermark for 2019. Additionally, our free cash flow cadence is expected to follow normal seasonal trends and that the company will generate significant free cash flow in the fourth quarter. And now I'll hand the call back to the operator, and we can begin our Q&A period.
[Operator instructions] And our first question will come from Matt Summerville with D.A. Davidson.
Matt Summerville -- D.A. Davidson -- Analyst
Morning, a couple of questions. First, I was a little surprised to the positive side of things to see your Eurasia banking business reaccelerated here in Q2, as well as, seeing decent order intake. Do you feel that this is a sustainable inflection? And can you dig a little deeper in terms of what you're seeing in the business? What's driving the turn to the upside there?
Yeah. Good morning, Matt and thanks for the question. You know, I think there are two drivers unfolding. As I mentioned in my prepared remarks, as it relates to Asia Pacific, it really was quite a headwind for us over the last few quarters as we adopted a more disciplined approach to pricing.
And As that calendarizes and washes through, we're seeing less headwind and less impact from that in Asia. The more positive side for us is the sequence of events unfolding in EMEA, specifically Western Europe, Middle East and Africa. We're continuing to see broad and decent demand starting to emerge from those markets, specifically around Win 10 operators. If you think back to some of the comments I've made in prior quarters, Matt, we had signaled that we anticipated Europe to lag the Americas, and we're now starting to see that growth emerge in markets like Germany, in markets like the Middle East and Africa, and I think that -- those look like they're starting to take hold in a nice way.
So overall, we're feeling fairly confident around our medium-term outlook around demand from those markets, in particular.
And then as a follow-up, you mentioned in your prepared remarks on the services side that you're launching a sort of a different pricing strategy. Can you talk about what sort of customer feedback you've received on that strategy? And ultimately, is this -- should we view this essentially as you being able to go out with pricing power, and in fact, get better pricing?
Yeah. So Matt, these are actually several initiatives that we launched a few months back and we're waiting to see what sort of feedback we're going to get from the market. And we were looking at what we consider value-based pricing tied broadly to the age of the machines and the amount of service calls that we incur by age of machine. We've seen very good market receptivity to that approach, specifically in the Americas.
In Europe, it's been a little bit more mixed depending on the different markets in which we operate, but we do see it as a net positive for us as we drive toward higher services margins. And I think that what we're trying to do, and I think we've been sharing this quite openly with the street, we've been looking to expand our services margins. And in light of the momentum that we've seen over the past four quarters hitting a high watermark of 26% gross margins in Q2, we are feeling confident that we're going to increase our longer-term outlook to 28% to 29% in part due to the pricing initiatives, as well as, other productivity initiatives that we have in flight.
Thank you. I'll get back in queue.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Josh Beck with KeyBanc.
Josh Beck -- KeyBanc Capital Markets -- Analyst
Thank you for taking the question and I know that you talked about the order growth, and it looks like it accelerated nicely from Q1. Any other color you can share on things like book-to-bill or backlog, and maybe how that impacts your visibility as we think about the 2021 framework you've provided on 2% to 4% growth over that period?
Good morning, Josh. The first thing I'd say is that this is not an industry that has long-term visibility into order activities, so I wouldn't be in a position to give you a perspective on 2021 at this stage. So my comments are going to be more near-term focused. As relates to backlog, I'd say our backlog tapered off modestly in the quarter, but not anything that would give us any cause for concern whatsoever.
I think it's just more of a seasonal pattern that we've been working through. And as we take a look at the large markets where we see very large dollar volume orders, our pipeline is looking very, very healthy as we look at activities through the back half of the year, and into the early part of 2020. Book-to-bill ratio is pretty consistent and broadly stable, so I don't think there's anything incremental I'd add on that comment.
OK. Thank you and, you know, following up on the last highlight that you made around services gross margin, and more confidentially you're kind of raising, and quantifying that in the 28% to 29% range. Did also fall through to operating margin, and EBITDA margin long term? Or are there other offsets when we think about the, you know, longer-term margin model?
No, no. Josh, when we model that out, that comes right down to EBITDA directly out of gross margin. There's nothing offsetting that.
OK. And then just last question, if I could. Just on, you know, this data of Windows 10, obviously that's been, I think, a positive cycle, and a nice tailwind this year. Do you feel like it's -- it has legs to it? Or maybe if you could just describe the tenor of discussions that you're having with banks in Americas or in Europe around that cycle?
Yeah. Josh, I'm going to remind listeners of the broader answer I generally give on this. When we're having constant conversations with banks, the conversation seldom, if ever, is purely around Win 10 only. There are a number of demand factors driving the demand for ATMs.
So what we are seeing is a very noticeable shift in banks shifting from relying on historical cash-dispensing machines toward higher IP, more expensive cash recycling machines. And the reason in terms of that particular demand is they're looking to shift more complex small business transactions from a teller to the ATM, and additionally looking to use that to reduce their cash-in-transit costs. So that really is independent from Win 10 activity, but certainly as relevant to dialogue as Win 10 itself. The other key driver we're seeing is demand from banks for higher feature function capability, especially as they look to integrate their mobile channels with their ATM channel, looking for things like cardless withdrawal transactions.
So I'd be very careful around drawing too many conclusions around Win 10 alone. I think it's much more broader demand drivers than just Win 10. Taking a step back from everything I've just said here. That's really why we've said in our prepared remarks that as we look out over the medium term, we're feeling fairly positive about the banking outlook given that we're seeing ongoing strength in the Americas from the regional banks, in particular, as well as, in Latin America.
And in Europe, we're seeing strengthening demand in a number of markets in Western Europe, and the Middle East and Africa.
Thanks for the context, Gerrard. We really appreciate it.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Justin Bergner with G. Research.
Justin Bergner -- G. Research -- Analyst
Good morning, Gerrard. Good morning, Jeff.
Good morning, Justin.
Nice performance this quarter.
Just to start, I guess I wanted to just look at the adjusted EBITDA bridge. It seems like the DN now savings were up by $15 million. The nonrecurring benefits, which, if you could sort of explain a little more, that would be helpful, were up by $5 million and the overall midpoint was up by $20 million. So I guess it was up by -- sorry, it was up by $10 million on a steadily higher revenue base.
So I was just curious what were some of the offsets to those tailwinds that might have allowed perhaps a higher adjustment to your adjusted EBITDA guide?
Yes. So you're asking specifically what -- what is the offset that's coming through in the migration of 2018 EBITDA to 2019. And there are some offsets in there. And what we have is when you roll that forward , there's going to be a small piece of FX, and some level of inflation that's going to offset in every quarter we have.
And it's not substantial, but it is in there. The other thing that's going on in the second quarter is we have a Wincor stock option plan that gets adjusted. It's a cash plan, so it gets adjusted every quarter. And as the stock price moves positively, we get hit on the EBITDA line because that cost goes up.
Now I hope those guys make a ton of money this year between all of us, right? Because when they make a ton of money, then that means we've done extremely well for our shareholders. So it's a little bit of a barometer of how we're doing to shareholders. That's one of the pieces of the offset. But generally speaking, the only things that offset us are inflation, a little bit of FX, and any of these compensation-related programs we have and that may be tied to the stock.
OK. That's just helpful. And then just the nonrecurring benefits, help me understand what they are, and do they just benefit '19?
When we were talking about the nonrecurring benefit, that was just things that came through in '18, right, that we have an anniversary going on in the first half of this year. Some adjustments in insurance accruals, the opposite effect of what we just talked about with the stock option plan, those things occurred last year, and didn't recur this year.
We don't have any -- yeah, those are 2018 items that did -- benefits that didn't recur in 2019.
So the $25 million versus the $20 million is just sort of an updated look-back for those nonrecurring benefits at 2018?
Yeah, yeah, for the nonrecurring benefits of the prior year. What we do is we do -- when we model, we model on a bridge modeling basis. We pick up items from the prior year that don't recur this year, whether positive or negative. They happen to be positive from '18, negative for '19 when we rolled it forward.
So we're overcoming those items to get to the $107 million of EBITDA.
OK. That's helpful. Thinking more about the general business drivers, I guess the Americas orders were flat year-on-year in the second quarter, and I was just wondering if that meant that some of the Win 10 product momentum we saw in the quarter might taper a bit? Or it's hard to know what type of order absolute number you were lapping based on the detail you've provided. So any sort of color there would be helpful.
Yeah. So Justin, I don't anticipate a tapering off of demand in the Americas. You will see for any given quarter some timing issues that unfold. For some of the larger banks in the United States, in particular, some of their refresh activity is certainly nearing the end of its maturity cycle.
That being said, we still think there's a long way to go for a number of very large institutions in Latin America, and we continue to see strong activity from the regional banks. So I don't -- from where we are sitting today, we don't see it tapering off. I think it's more just an in-quarter event that we're seeing. The pipeline is looking very, very healthy at the moment.
OK. Great. And then on the service margins, that's very promising that you're able to extend or improve the gross margin outlook for service modernization of 28% to 29% from 27%. I guess you discussed price on a previous question.
Maybe if you could just discuss what's tracking better than you anticipate on the productivity front to allow you to increase that margin, that would be helpful.
Yeah, certainly. So as I said in my prepared remarks that we are automating incident response, and really the team is doing a great job of deploying common KPIs and common processes in each market. And the deployment of these globally common processes is giving us a lot of central visibility to practices that may not be as effective as they could be in local markets. And really that awareness in shining a spotlight on the regional differences is really bringing tremendous cohesion into the different local teams, and causing us to more effectively deploy best practices around measurements like the number of times a technician touches a machine each day, the number of times we roll the truck successfully the first time.
Those are some of the key operating metrics that we focus on driving consistency across all of our global markets, and that's where we've seen the biggest -- some of the biggest lifts since the program began.
OK. Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Paul Coster with JP Morgan.
Paul Chung -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
Hi, this is Paul Chung on for Coster. Thank you for taking my question. So just going a follow-up on the services business and margin. So you had some contracts that were lost in India in 4Q kind of based on pricing and you did mention that you're exiting kind of these lower-margin contracts, and your margins are improving as a result.
So just thinking about the trade-off here. Will you continue to kind of walk away from some of these lower-margin renewals to try and drive that margin higher? Or you know are you willing to take some hits on margin to kind of drive the top line given that it's your higher margin segment kind of relative to products? And then as we move through the year, any kind of big renewals we should be aware about in the coming quarters?
So Paul, you know, what I'd say is a lot of our activity around exiting lower-margin accounts was more pronounced in 2018 than it is now. I think we're seeing the tail end of those effects. And as we look out over the next few quarters, I don't expect that to be a material driver one way or the other. There might be a few small pieces, but I don't think it's material.
I think we're at a point right now where we feel we've got a very strong competitive mix. And to your point, if there is a specific market that we consider very strategic, and there's a particular opportunity that we think relevant, we will evaluate that on a case-by-case basis. But we're not feeling any pressure to have to be price makers in this market. We believe we've got one of the world's better services value propositions.
In terms of the second part of your question around large contract renewals to the back end of this year, we have very little concentration exposure in our services business. We've got a large number of contracts that cycle through over a period of time. We do see a higher number of contracts that renew in the November, December time frame, but nothing that we would call out as a material risk from where we sit today.
OK. Thanks for that and then how's been the, you know, pricing in services? Can you just kind of expand on the competitive environment there?
Yes. So as I believe I already talked about, when we look to the new contracts we're factoring in a broad conversation with our customers around their quality service expectations, and we're also introducing different pricing constructs. And from my perspective, those conversations have been very constructive. We're not seeing a tremendous amount of pricing pressure in our services business.
It actually would appear to be broadly stable at a global level. There might be pockets in some markets where we see a more local provider being more aggressive. But at the moment, I don't see pricing as a key consideration for our services business.
OK. Thanks and then on asset sales, are there any kind of additional kind of noncore areas you think you can monetize in the near term? Or are we mostly done there?
Yeah. You know, I think what I'd say is I'd just reiterate what I said on prior quarters. There are several processes under way, that they are in various stages of maturity, Paul. So once they are complete, we obviously will update our shareholders around those.
As I said in my prepared remarks, we expect them to mature and go over the goal line through 2019, and perhaps straggling into early 2020. But we're still of the view that we're tracking toward delivering net proceeds of around about $150 million from those noncore assets. So the bulk of the uptick from those is still in front of us, not behind us.
OK. And then my last question is on free cash. 2Q was, you know, very nice and then I did see your inventory days come down materially. So if you could kind of expand on the drivers of that improvement there and if we should kind of expect any inventory build ahead seasonally strong 4Q.
And then just thinking about this seasonality, I know you mentioned that 4Q would be your kind of strongest as it has been in the past, but is it going to be kind of a similar pronounced step up from 3Q to 4Q?
Sure. The -- from an inventory perspective, and I believe we've said this on prior quarters, but it's worth saying because the teams have done such a great job in managing inventory. So we've divided inventory up into its component parts. The manufacturing group is responsible for raw material and WIP.
The services group is responsible for spare parts. And then we divide finished goods between the segments. And let's start with finished goods, and work backwards. We only allow finished goods to be manufactured in transit for delivery or installation applicable to a specific customer order, we hold strongly to that.
The segments understand that, and are managing that. So when you see finished goods inventory for us, know that that is inventory en route to be delivered to a customer for a future sale. So it's really about timing of order to fulfillment, and the segments are doing a great job of managing that. On the spare parts perspective, it's spare parts for our services organization for use and repair, and maintenance of equipment.
They've done a great job of managing that on a regional basis, only having the required -- based on algorithmic logic, they only have in the required spare parts in any specific location. And as we roll out our new equipment, we'll be even more precise with that. So both ends of that, we don't expect to see, unless we get tremendous sales revenue backlog coming, we don't expect to see significant change. And then on the manufacturing side, the manufacturing group has done a tremendous job of managing their inventory.
And as always, I'll invite anybody who has a trip to Germany to plan, and come and see our plant. Our plant is tremendous. They do a great job. It's extremely efficient.
It's one of the reasons we can releverage the model the way we are because we have that plant in Germany. So -- and they've done -- and just back to your question, they've done a tremendous job of managing inventory. So I would say that our inventory performance is teamwide between these three groups, and they've done a great job.
Thank you. Our final question comes from Rob Jost with Invesco.
Rob Jost -- Invesco Ltd. -- Analyst
Just two for me. On Slide 6 where you go over the service renewal rates, I guess I just wanted to kind of tease out, you get this target rate of greater than 95%, which is kind of below historical the last four quarters. Is this just a bit of conservatism here? Or is this signifying something that we should expect to be seeing down the road?
Rob, it's nothing but conservatism, right?
We don't expect our renewal rates to drop to that level. We're simply making sure that our investors take away -- I mean the real message here is that we have a very, very sticky services business with exceptionally high renewal rates, and that's really the only message here. There's no signaling implied in that number.
OK. Great. And then in your DN now, the new -- the product that you're launching, a couple of you know -- with the reference base you have, I'm not seeing some of the larger banks. So maybe if you could comment on that.
And then, secondarily, with this AllConnect engine, is this going to be another revenue stream? Or this kind of layered into the services' more of a benefit on the back end?
As to the latter part of your question, it's embedded in services. It will just simply enhance our ability to add greater visibility to our customers and drive greater productivity in our services business. So I don't see it as incremental revenue stream. As it relates to your first question around DN now, I mean there are several large brands that are piloting it.
Santander and BBVA are obviously very, very large scale European banks operating both in Europe and Latin America, the same holds true for BNP Paribas out of Europe. What we can say is that for some of the large U.S. banks, they are also certifying the new machines in their labs. So I don't think you should read anything into not seeing a top three bank from the U.S.
on this list. I wouldn't read anything into that.
All right. Thanks.
Thank you, everybody, for joining today's call. If you have follow-up questions, please give investor relations a call. Appreciate your time.
[Operator signoff]
More DBD analysis
All earnings call transcripts
Diebold Nixdorf, Incorporated
NYSE:DBD
Why Diebold Nixdorf Shares Are Jumping Today
Why Shares of Diebold Nixdorf Jumped 13.8% Today
Why Diebold Nixdorf Stock Just Dropped 18%
Diebold Nixdorf (DBD) Q2 2019 Earnings Call Transcript @themotleyfool #stocks $DBD Next Article


Darren and I traveled up to Brecksville for Tommy and Holly's engagement session this past weekend. Sessions in October are some of my favorite. This sweet couple was a pleasure to hang out with! They are seriously the cutest. My favorite part of their session was when they took me to the tree where they carved their initials years ago AND where Tommy proposed! How adorable is that?! I love traveling to my couple's hometown to take their photos where it all began. I can't wait to head back here next July for their wedding day! Enjoy some sneak peeks below!


text:
est un manga shōnen-ai de Sugiura Shiho. Il a été prépublié entre 2003 et 2012 dans le magazine Ichiraci et a été compilé en un total de vingt-sept tomes par l'éditeur Tosuisha. La version française est publiée par Kazé sous le label Asuka.

Synopsis
Rakan Sawa fait tout ce qu'il peut pour être un lycéen ordinaire. C'est sans compter sur son don de faire pousser les plantes rien qu'en les touchant ! Alors qu'il rentre chez lui après les cours pour s'occuper de sa « jungle », il retrouve un homme allongé dans ses fleurs ! Qui est-il ? Et comment est-il apparu dans son jardin ?

Signification
Un Sanome est une personne qui peut faire pousser les plantes rien qu'en les effleurant.

Un Ayame est une créature qui a un pouvoir de destruction très grand. Il se nourrit d'humain.

Un Number Child est un enfant qui a un nombre dans son nom, signifiant que sa famille l'a déclaré inutile.

L'Empire Amato est le nom de l'autre monde. Cela signifie "Le Royaume Du Paradis".

Personnages principaux
Sawa Rakan : (17 ans) jeune lycéen japonais. En réalité, c'est un Sanome, un être capable de faire pousser n'importe quelle plante rien qu'en la touchant. Il fuit sans cesse la réalité, et il se met souvent en colère pour les autres et il est très naïf.

Senrô Chigusa : (25 à 30 ans) membre de la famille des pécheurs. C'est un monstre-plante à apparence humaine. Il ne peut pas mourir du moment qu'il reste à proximité d'un Sanome. Il aime Rakan. Les gens le considèrent comme un pervers.

Le Prince : (17 ans) le prince de l'autre monde. C'est en réalité un Ayame. Il est appelé « Marionnette » par Chigusa, il est, semble-t-il, arrivé du désert en se présentant comme étant un enfant de Dieu qui serait capable de remettre un peu de beauté dans le monde.

Shigeka Narushige : (21 ans) il considère Rakan comme son petit frère, et Rakan l'aime comme une grande sœur. Il a une apparence très féminine. Il est né dans une famille où il n'y a que des filles qui naissent, et est donc considéré comme un enfant maudit.

Koh : serpent parlant de Narushige. Il peut se transformer en épée et son poison est mortel.

Kingen Kinrei : (24 ans) Serviteur du Prince. Il est presque la seule personne à qui le prince parle (par télépathie).

Tôno Tôji : (19 ans) Number Child. Il a été envoyé par le Prince et Kinrei pour tuer Chigusa, mais il se retourne contre eux lorsqu'il se rend compte qu'ils l'ont envoyé se faire tuer.

Références

Série manga
Manga fantastique
Manga des années 2000
Shōjo manga
Manga publié par Kazé
Homosexualité dans le manga

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


They began by gathering endowment funds to benefit charities in six counties including: Barber, Comanche, Kingman, Kiowa, Pratt and Stafford. In 1998, Rice County joined the organization.
The first major endowment contribution came from Jud and Bobbe Stanion. The donation consisted of appreciated real estate in Junction City, Kansas which was sold in July of 1995. Embracing the multi-county concept, the Stanions designated that some of the proceeds be used as seed money to establish county endowment funds in each of the six counties. The county funds clearly illustrated the power of collaboration and have grown to be important grant sources in these counties.
A second major early contribution came from Claudine Riney and was also in the form of real estate. It consisted of land in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Mrs. Riney directed the gift to the SCCF undesignated fund so that the annual disbursements could be used for what is now the SCCF grant cycle. This fund became the Community Impact Fund and it is an important part of SCCF's gifting each year.
Founders '95, a group of citizens and businesses, agreed to commit resources over a three-year period to establish the Founders Endowment Fund that helps support foundation administrative expenses. Partnering with the Kansas Health Foundation resulted in matching grants for administrative and leadership endowments as well as technology grants. Over the last seventeen years, generous donors have established endowment funds which have grown the community foundation's assets to more than 11 million dollars and provided beneficial grants for communities in the SCCF service area. SCCF offers a free estate planning consultant to assist individuals in planning their charitable gifts.
In 1996, SCCF awarded their first grants and disbursed $1,150 to six organizations. From this humble start, the community foundation grants more than $1,500,000 annually, including donor advised funds, and $35,000 annually in scholarships. Charitable organizations seeking grants complete application forms during the SCCF/YMAD grant cycle. These applications are evaluated by the SCCF grants committee, which is comprised of two representatives from each county, and the YMAD youth leadership committee. This ensures that new and evolving community needs are assessed in the grant making process.
For the first six years, Pratt Regional Medical Center and Pratt Community College donated administrative personnel to oversee the daily operations of SCCF. Hundreds of volunteer hours from SCCF board members also enabled the foundation to be effective. By late 1999, the board realized that the administrative duties were becoming too much for the part-time, donated co-directors and volunteers. A small group again agreed to commit funds making it possible to hire Denise Unruh as a full-time director in October 2000. The hiring of a full-time executive director along with the opening of the SCCF office at 105 West Second Street in Pratt, paved the way for rapid advances by the foundation. After Unruh's resignation in July 2010, Angela Runnion began serving as executive director. To better serve our donors, the SCCF office was moved to 114 West Fifth Street in March 2011.
In 2003, a grant from the Ewing Marion Kaufman Foundation was received to develop a youth philanthropy program. Maggie Southard was hired to help develop the "Youth Making A Difference" program to grow lifelong philanthropists. Members of the YMAD council represent the seven SCCF counties. These teens learn about philanthropy, leadership and community needs culminating in giving away thousands of dollars in grants each year.


I'm sure no one in the UK will disagree with me when I say that it is bloody freezing at the moment. So when Bristol-based vintage emporium Loot emailed me asking whether I'd like to pop into the store and pick out a few pieces to style, I knew I'd have to go for something cosy. This fluffy cardigan was an instant win. Layered over a sparkly knit and a thick denim shirt it kept me suitably snug whilst my bro and I wandered around the city yesterday. Those of you who follow my Insta (amymacee) will know that the day came to a tasty end courtesy of Wahaca, who treated us to dinner to celebrate the introduction of their new January taco specials. If any of you are heading to a Wahaca soon, I'd definitely recommend the salmon sashimi tostadas, the sweet potato taquitos and the steak and cheese tacos. Sooo yum!
For those of you not lucky enough to live close enough to pop into Loot's funky physical store in the heart of Bristol, you can still get your hands on their branded and own-label gems via ASOS Marketplace and their website. To make things even more affordable, enter FASHIONJUNKIE15 at the checkout for 15% off your order. You are welcome!


We are looking for a talented and experienced Client Relationship Director who will be responsible for a mixed portfolio of clients including ABL, maintaining an appropriate risk management strategy for each relationship to protect Nucleus Commercial Finance security, whilst establishing and maintaining effective client relationships to extend client life.
Proactive risk management of clients under control to include regular monitoring of collateral performance and appropriate analysis of individual business trading and liquidity, to minimize business losses.
Ensure that client facilities are operated within Nucleus Commercial Finance agreed policies and procedures, including compliance with facility / financial covenant requirements.
Building and maintaining effective relationships with clients and key personnel within the businesses to ensure a high level of client satisfaction and retention.
Establish and maintain effective relationships with internal operational and risk colleagues to support own risk management activities and delivery of first-class client service.
Undertake client visits on an appropriate cycle to support risk management and client retention activities.
Conduct monthly Portfolio review meetings with Risk & Client Services Director.
Manage a small team of Client Relationship Managers, providing appropriate, training and mentoring to support their individual personal development.
Ensure that line reports comply with Nucleus agreed policies and procedures, that a proactive risk-based approach to client management is embedded within the team and best in class service quality is delivered.
Proactively cross sell other Nucleus products and services, engaging New Business colleagues as necessary.
Maximize other income opportunities from client portfolio.
Provide a New Business underwriting resource for the business at the SME level.
Work closely with the Risk & Client Services Director to support delivery of business objectives in terms of client attrition, write-offs and new business.
Strong communication, interpersonal and negotiating skills.
At least 10 years senior client management experience within the industry, with some line management responsibility.
Be self-motivated, confident with a strong work ethic.
Adaptable to change in an Independent funding environment.


text:
iPOP NYC: Gothams, "Rabbit Hole," "Black Swan" and Bardem!
iPOP NYC: Gothams, "Rabbit Hole," "Black Swan" and Bardem!
Nigel M. Smith
Dec 3, 2010 8:26 am
It's official. The awards race is off! This past week got off to a rousing start with Monday night's Gotham Awards, followed by Tuesday's unveiling of the 2011 Spirit Awards nominees, and David Fincher's "The Social Network" sweeping the National Board of Review Awards on Thursday. It should come as no surprise then that this week saw a flurry of talent descend upon Manhattan.
The team behind Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan" pulled double duty, making an appearance at the Gothams and at Tuesday's glamorous New York premiere of their psycho sexual thriller at the legendary Ziegfield Theater in Midtown. The following evening saw Kirsten Dunst, Kristen Wiig and Lily Rabe show up in support of their work in Andre Jarecki's "All Good Things" for the film's New York bow. And Thursday, John Cameron's Mitchell's "Rabbit Hole" screened at The Paris Theater, with star/producer Nicole Kidman on hand.
But it was a special screening of Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu's Cannes-winner "Biutiful" that attracted the glitziest lineup of guests. Star Javier Bardem made an appearance alongside his very pregnant wife Penelope Cruz, and a roster of A-list talent including Al Pacino, Claire Danes, Alicia Keys, Gabourey Sidibe, Holly Hunter and Greta Gerwig all came to catch Inarritu's latest.
See below for all of this week's pictures:
This Article is related to: Festivals and tagged Features, Rabbit Hole

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Written by Mike C. Fletcher on Oct. 17, 2004 in Snaking.
Last update on Oct. 17, 2004 .
While testing some memory-leak bug-fixes for PyOpenGL I discovered a memory leak in OpenGLContext. With a lot of tracking I found out that the leak was from Dispatcher.
Now, you may not care about that (I'm speaking to Bryan and Tim here), but Dispatcher is also used in Cinemon (which you will recall is currently suffering a slow leak). Haven't tested it yet, but it's possible this leak is the one I've been trying to track down since... what was it, Wednesday (ooh, look, I've got a blog, I can look it up, yes, Wednesday)?
There were other leaks that I found, but the audit didn't find anything in Cinemon itself, so hopefully this will plug the last hole.
Anyway, for those who want to play with it, the new PyDispatcher release is available.


Business cards are a rather common issue to possess for any entrepreneur and if you are a template designer for business cards then you must have the ideal idea to make it. Eventually your free small business card is prepared to Download. Deciding on the proper small company card is very critical to make the very best initial impression amongst your prospective customers. Business cards are a part of your expert branding and are handy self-advertising tools you are able to utilize to make real connections. So it is important to understand what things to include in your organization card so as to prepare powerful connections with potential leads and customers. If it is a livelihood business card and not a business business card, folks will pay a visit to the site to find examples of your prior work and record of former clients, before calling you right.


text:
Clock Towers of New York; You Are My North Star...
Growing up in New York City, clock tower buildings have been my navigational tools, my true north for as long as I can remember.
I was born and raised on 17th Street between Irving Place and Park Avenue South back in the day when it was not a good neighborhood.
Once upon a time, S. Klein on the Square and Mays department stores lined Union Square Park pre-Starbucks, Whole Foods, Coffee Shop, and all the other current trendy, crazy rent paying businesses. If you dared enter the park, it was at your own risk. The legendary, or perhaps notorious, Max's Kansas City was around the corner, and home to Andy Warhol and the hip, creative artists and musicians, movers-and-shakers, trendsetters of the day.
The W Hotel on 17th Street was a Chemical Bank. The New York Film Academy building across the street (which has since moved) was a union meeting hall. The Michelin Guide described our neighborhood as 'non-descript,' a far cry from what it no doubt is called today.
The city was covered in graffiti, and was grungy, edgy, with more of a black-and-white color palette than its current technicolor. It had personality, the creative energy was palpable, and it wasn't so safe.
Living on the fringe of Gramercy Park, it was our small town, minus the white picket fences. While the city was a tad funky, as kids, we were pretty much free to trek around where we wanted without adult supervision.
After the Empire State building, and then the World Trade Center in the early 70s, clock tower buildings were some of the tallest in the city at that time, thus becoming an easy point-of-reference.
For me, it all started with Con Edison's clock tower, just three blocks south of our house. From north to south, east to west, the clock was visible so I could always find my home, and see how late past curfew I was.
And then the inevitable happened to change the tale of this fateful neighborhood. Zechendorf Towers were born. A 29-story, 4-tower building complex became erect in 1987, casting a dark shadow over Union Square Park, and blocking my shining star. From certain angles, you could catch a glimpse of the clock, but it seemed from that point on, the clock wasn't kept up with as much love and care, and the time, more often than not, was wrong.
Gentrification, you blocked my shining star...
After years of automatically turning to look up at the clock, to this day, decades later, the habit is still deeply ingrained and I look for it whenever I'm in that neighborhood.
The Met Life building, now some fancy hotel on Madison Square Park, also with a clock tower, was useful growing up, but often confused me as it was similar in height, look, and in roughly the same neighborhood as Con Ed. But it remains beautiful and continues to remind me to look up when passing by.
I ended my love affair with Manhattan and it was traumatic break up with the city 16 years ago. I crossed the river, something I never did growing up, and moved to Brooklyn. As fate would have it, my new digs were a few blocks from the clock tower building on Flatbush Avenue near Atlantic.
Brooklyn welcomed and comforted me with my new north star. A new borough, yet a familiar tool for orientation. Look up, see the time, and know where I am: a ritual since childhood.
As I've never been a watch wearer, and pre-cell phones and devices that keep us perpetually hooked on time, the clock tower served me well for all of these years.
But damn if this gentrification isn't messing with me again.
What I happily left behind in Manhattan has crossed the river and at warp speed. Just as with growing on 17th Street, when I first moved to Brooklyn, this hood was funky, buildings were no more than four stories high, bodegas, Hong Kong Pharmacy, local video stores were the norm, and the sky view was visible everywhere. It felt like a move to a small town in the country. No Starbucks, Duane Reade, American Apparel, or Target, in sight.
And then came the Barclays Center, a stadium, two blocks from my apartment, which was incredibly painful to watch go up, but as a neighbor said, "We ain't ever going to see it come down, so we better make friends with it."
Once again, my version of a small town was evaporating before my eyes. The essence, the heart and soul of Brooklyn is crying, "I'm melting." After 45 years, a local bodega shut its doors. After a few decades, the local video store shut its doors. And on and on and on this story goes. Commercial rents are over $300 per square foot, 3-bedroom apartments are $7,000/month, packed with multiple roommates, and a local pizza place pays $11,000 just in rent. Seriously? That's a lot of slices to sell!
From my home office window, I now see five cranes where new high-rise construction is underway.
Time waits for no one and eventually disappears. Gentrification is a good reminder to live now and be fully present and appreciative of this moment because everything is always changing.
Virginia Wolfe says we all need a room with a view. 'Tis true, but I also need clock tower views. I wonder what will force my next move first, gentrification or the presidential elections. Canada must have some good clock tower buildings!
So where do you look to find your way home?
Tagged: clock towers in New York, Susan Jacobs, BlueZan Consulting, gentrification, gentrification New York, New York transformation, Brooklyn gentrifcation, Barclays Center, One Hanson Place, Union Square Park, Zechendorf Towers
Newer PostWhy I Almost Spent $3,000 Because of a Hot Guy...
Older PostAre You Middle-Aged and Resisting Technology?
How Far Will You Take Your Protest?
How to Create a 'Wow' Brand Story - 6 Tips
What I Learned in Ghana About Negotiating
Do You Approach Your Business As A Spiritual Practice?
How Valuable Are Connections You Don't Actually Know?
Pot Brownies in the Gym? Would Your Brand Stand for That?
How to Humanize Your Brand with An 'Outsider'
Receive periodic insights, inspiration & perspective about branding, marketing, business, travels & life.
Thank you! You're information has been received. Check your inbox for confirmation.
Susan Jacobs, Strategist | Global Event Producer | Writer
© 2019 BlueZan Consulting


text:
package org.ehcache.impl.internal.store.offheap;

import org.ehcache.core.spi.store.Store;
import org.ehcache.impl.internal.store.BinaryValueHolder;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.ByteBuffer;

/**
 * BinaryOffHeapValueHolder
 */
final class BinaryOffHeapValueHolder<V> extends OffHeapValueHolder<V> implements BinaryValueHolder {

  private final ByteBuffer binaryValue;
  private final V value;

  BinaryOffHeapValueHolder(long id, V value, ByteBuffer binaryValue, long creationTime, long expireTime, long lastAccessTime) {
    super(id, creationTime, expireTime);
    this.value = value;
    setLastAccessTime(lastAccessTime, TIME_UNIT);
    this.binaryValue = binaryValue;
  }

  @Override
  public ByteBuffer getBinaryValue() throws IllegalStateException {
    return binaryValue.duplicate();
  }

  @Override
  public boolean isBinaryValueAvailable() {
    return true;
  }

  @Override
  void updateMetadata(Store.ValueHolder<V> valueFlushed) {
    throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
  }

  @Override
  void writeBack() {
    throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
  }

  @Override
  void forceDeserialization() {
    throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
  }

  @Override
  void detach() {
    throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
  }

  @Override
  public V get() {
    return value;
  }

  private void writeObject(java.io.ObjectOutputStream out) {
    throw new UnsupportedOperationException("This subclass of AbstractValueHolder is NOT serializable");
  }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Bedfordshire ist eine Grafschaft in England. Bedfordshire grenzt an die Grafschaften Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire (mit Milton Keynes) und Hertfordshire.

Luton war bis 1997 Teil der Grafschaft, dann wurde es zum eigenständigen Stadtkreis (Unitary Authority). Am 1. April 2009 wurde im Zuge einer Verwaltungsreform der bis damals in Bedford ansässige Grafschaftsrat von Bedfordshire aufgelöst. Seitdem existiert Bedfordshire lediglich noch als zeremonielle Grafschaft mit den administrativ selbständigen Unitary Authoritys Luton, Central Bedfordshire und Bedford. Die ehemaligen Districts Mid Bedfordshire und South Bedfordshire wurden zur neuen UA Central Bedfordshire vereinigt und Bedford von einem District zu einer UA erhoben.

Orte

 Aldworth, Ampthill, Aspley Guise
 Barton-le-Clay, Bedford, Biggleswade
 Carlton, Cranfield
 Dunstable
 Felmersham, Flitwick
 Great Barford
 Harrold
 Kempston
 Leighton Buzzard
 Northill
 Old Warden
 Sandy, Sharnbrook, Shefford, Silsoe, Stewartby, Studham
 Thurleigh

 Wixams, Woburn

Sehenswürdigkeiten
 Chicksands
 Dunstable Downs
 Elstow Moot Hall
 Houghton House, Herrenhaus nahe Ampthill
 Leighton Buzzard Light Railway
 Luton Hoo
 Shuttleworth Collection
 Stevington Windmill
 Stewartby Lake
 Warden Abbey
 Whipsnade Wildlife Park
 Willington Dovecote and Stables, Teil des National Trust
 Woburn Abbey
 Woburn Wildlife Park
 Wrest Park, Herrenhaus in Silsoe

Einzelnachweise

Englische Grafschaft
Geographie (East of England)


I see you smiling and rolling your eyes, but yes, I am perfectly serious. Heights terrify me.
Earlier this fall, my family and I drove up a mountain to see the beautiful view. It was a perfectly clear day, shining sun, and a fantastic 75 degrees. As we drove the whole way up to the mountain and finally parked at the top, everyone eagerly bounced out of the car.
There were a bunch of rocks to climb up on top of, as well as a set of cement stairs leading up to a gigantic rock platform people were standing on that overlooked the valley below.
"Let's go!" my sister exclaimed.
I knew that gigantic rock that people were standing on was a drop off.
My anxiety just couldn't handle that. It took everything my sister had just to simply convince me to slowly climb the cement stairs towards the platform.
That was close enough, please and thank you. I had no desire to go any further. I sat down at the beginning of the platform and refused to inch my way any further. Partly because I was afraid of tripping. And partly because I started to hyperventilate. But that's beside the point.
I'm sure you get the picture. I just can't do heights. My fear prevents me from enjoying anything fifteen feet above solid ground.
But do you know what else my fear prevents me from?
Doing what God has called me to do.
Because sometimes I fear a whole lot more than a gigantic rock platform hanging on the side of a mountain.
Sometimes my fear of rejection keeps me from sharing an article or devotional I've written with others. Sometimes my fear of failure keeps me from writing the article or devotional altogether. Sometimes my fear of pain prevents me from giving my dreams to God and experiencing His best for me. Sometimes my fear of people keeps me saying yes to everything someone asks me, until I have nothing left to give and I'm left empty.
Sometimes my fear keeps me from what God has called me to do.
You too? Good, I'm not alone.
Dear heart, fear can paralyze us, like it did to me that day on the platform. It kept me from taking one more step forward. It kept me from standing up.
And you know what? I missed out on the majestic view that everyone else saw from standing up on the platform and looking out across the valley.
You too will miss out on the beautiful adventure God has for you if you don't find the courage to stand up on your platform of fear and face it.
But how do you face your fear when it's so strong you can almost taste it? How do you walk forward in courage when you're trembling in your boots (Or sandals. Sandals are always better)?
Admit your fear out loud. Sometimes fear holds on so tightly because it's kept hidden.
Do you remember when you were little and you used to think that there were monsters hiding under your bed? Your fear only got worse in the dark when the trees creaked outside your window in the wind. The only way to silence your fear was to jump out of bed and flip that light switch on as fast as you could. Then in the light you could clearly see that the only thing hiding under your bed were probably some dirty laundry that got stuffed there by accident.
Turn the light switch on your fear. Admit out loud exactly what it is you're afraid of.
Are you deathly afraid of heights like me (girl, I feel you)? Say it out loud. Are you terrified of rejection? Speak it aloud. "I'm afraid of being rejected, because I think rejection will reinforce my fear that I am not good enough." Stare at yourself in the mirror and yell it if you have to.
Good, now you've admitted it. You are leaps and bounds closer to conquering it.
2. Tell someone about your fear. Do you remember what else you would do when you feared the monsters under your bed? After frantically turning on that light switch, what was the next thing you did? Go running to your mom or dad, of course.
With tears quivering on your eyelids, you would confess to them your fear of the monsters. Smiling that reassuring smile parents give, they would hug you tight, walk back to the room with you, and show you that there were clearly no monsters under your bed. With their gentle reassurance, you knew it was finally safe to go back to sleep.
They'll probably look at you and smile as they reassure you that your fear isn't as bad as you were convinced.
3. Give your fear to God. I think a lot of times, this is the step we miss most. We admit our fear to ourselves, we tell our friends about our fear, but then we try to conquer our fear all on our own. We try to do it alone and that road merely leads us back to square one, with no courage and feeling more discouraged than we did before.
We don't have to fear, because He is with us. When we try to do it all on our own, the fear takes over again, because we quickly realize that we can't do this thing alone. Then we feel discouraged and end up being afraid to try again, because we fear failure.
Give every last bit of your fear to God. Give it all to Him. Tell Him what you're afraid of and tell Him why you're afraid of it. Then leave it in His hands and let Him work on it.
You let Him handle the fear, and you just be faithful to do what He's asking.
4. Do that thing that makes you afraid. This, friend, is the step we can so often forget. Because this may be the hardest step of all.
 After we admit our fear, tell someone else, and give it to God, we can convince ourselves that we need to wait until we feel courageous to take the next step.
Courage is not a feeling. Courage is acting in spite of what you're feeling.
I don't know what you're afraid of, but that's not the point. I want you to do whatever it is that is frightening you. Do it afraid.
Do you want to submit a guest article online but you're afraid of rejection? Submit the article this week. Do you want to talk to your friends about Jesus but you're afraid they'll laugh? Tell them about how He changed your life this week.
Maybe I'll climb up on some rocks this week and admire the beautiful view below.
Thanks for sharing this Bella!!! Some great Truths!!
I just read this post in the best timing (God's perfect timing)! Thank you, dear Bella! <3 This post was SO encouraging!
I love you too, Livy!


text:
package org.python.core;

public class PyCell extends PyObject { // ?? pending repr?

  public PyObject ob_ref;

}


text:
The New Yorker: "Some Days I Feel Like I'm Melting": How Single Mothers in New York City Are Coping with Quarantine
Equity, Women on the Front Lines
Now, as a result of the covid-19 pandemic, the restaurant and day care are closed. Playdates are out. Basic tasks that are always more complicated when alone with a toddler—shopping for groceries, dropping off laundry—are suddenly nerve-racking. It can take a week or more to nab a grocery-delivery slot in New York, so Cherson is always running out of food; some friends recently gave her toilet paper. She is using her husband's life insurance to cover her rent and expenses, but she will blow through that soon. Worst of all, she feels isolated, unmoored. "Being a single parent is really lonely, even when you're not social-distancing," Cherson said. "The whole support system I had put in place to keep me going has now completely fallen apart."
Almost a quarter of all children in the United States live with a single parent, a higher share than anywhere else in the world. In New York, the American city that has been hardest hit by the pandemic, more than four hundred and twenty-five thousand children live with single parents, most of them single mothers. The covid-19 crisis and its economic fallout are hurting all parents, but there is good reason to believe that the burdens are falling disproportionately on single mothers, many of whom were already struggling. (Census Bureau data from 2018 show that, among black and Latinx single mothers in the city, the child poverty rate was forty-six per cent and fifty-six per cent, respectively.)


text:
From the Archive | Day 3 |Nike MAG Dual Signed by Michael J. Fox
July 22, 8:30 AM EST – July 29, 1:00 PM EST
S otheby's is pleased to present – as the third lot in From the Archive Week – an online auction celebrating the 35th Anniversary of Back to the Future (1985), of Nike MAGs (2011 edition) dual signed by Michael J. Fox. Please note, the lot is offered without reserve.
A Closer Look at the Nike MAG
Upon its release on July 3 1985, Back to the Future became an instant classic, and is still to this day revered as one of the most iconic films in American culture. The film directed by Robert Zemeckis features Michael J. Fox as the iconic Marty McFly who time travels from 1985 to 1955 where he meets his future parents, using a modified DeLorean created by his friend and scientist "Doc" Brown.
A Look Back at the 'Back to the Future' Trilogy
'Back to the Future' Opens in Theaters
'Back to the Future Part II' Opens in Theaters
'Back to the Future Part III' Opens in Theaters
Alamy Stock Photo
DXEKR8 Back to the Future. Image shot 1985. Exact date unknown.
On 3 July, 1985, Back to the Future opened in theaters. Written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, the science fiction flick starred a young Michael J. Fox as teenager Marty McFly, following the character as he zooms back to the year 1955 in a DeLorean time machine (with the help of an eccentric scientist, Emmett "Doc" Brown). Back to the Future was the highest-grossing film of 1985, netting $381 million worldwide – and quickly became a cult classic.
(left) Movie poster for Back to the Future (Credit: Photo 12 / Alamy Stock Photo)
DTGR5R Movie poster of Back to the Future Part II - 1989 American science fiction comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis. Image shot 2013. Exact date unknown.
In the 1989 sequel, Back to the Future Part II, Marty time travels to the year 2015, and famously turns on his Nike MAGs featuring 'power laces', that self-tie. That moment, and later scenes in the movie, became iconic in the history of footwear inspiring multiple releases by Nike, including the Nike MAG (2011), Nike MAG (2016) and the Nike Adapt Mag (2019), among others.
(left) Eddie Gerald / Alamy Stock Photo
Released 25 May, 1990, the third and final installment of the Back to the Future trilogy is set in the year 1885, in the wild west.
(left) The DeLorean DMC-12 used for the third Back to the Future film. The vehicle was on display at the Museum of Monterey in August 2011 (Credit: Nehrams2020)
Back to the Future Part 2 | Hover Board Chase (1989)
The Luxury Edit 2022
The Enigma Black Diamond | A Rare Cosmic Wonder
The Dual Nature of Christ: Sandro Botticelli's Defining Masterpiece Man of Sorrows
Auctions and Exhibitions
The William K. du Pont Collection: A Holy Grail of Americana
In 2011, Nike released a promotional video to go alongside the release of 1500 pairs of the 2011 Nike MAG to benefit the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.
This pair however, autographed by Michael J. Fox himself, is exceptionally rare.
Nike MAG 2011
Sotheby's is pleased to offer this remarkable pair, at no reserve, and honor the incredible legacy of the Back to the Future franchise, and of course, Nike.
Stay informed with Sotheby's top stories, videos, events & news.
Receive the best from Sotheby's delivered to your inbox.
Title Ms Miss Mrs Mr Dr Sir Lady Title
By subscribing you are agreeing to Sotheby's Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe from Sotheby's emails at any time by clicking the "Manage your Subscriptions" link in any of your emails.
Sell with Sotheby's
Curious to know if your item is suitable for one of our upcoming sales?
Provide information and share images to request an online estimate now.
arrow Created with Sketch. Back To Top


As of tomorrow, Saturday the 2nd of August, 2014, F-troop will be on a different repeater. We're moving to VK6RLM, 146.750 MHz. The input frequency is still a 600 kHz negative offset, so you can transmit into 146.150 MHz and we'll here you.
The Echolink and IRLP settings will stay the same, so we're also on *VK3JED* Echolink conference and IRLP node 9558. We'll also now be on AllstarLink, so check it out!


HE Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim al-Thani, French ambassador Franck Gellet, Msheireb Properties board member (developer and owner of the hotel) engineer Saad Ebrahim al-Muhannadi, Msheireb Properties acting CEO Ali al-Kuwari, Accor Middle East & Africa CEO Mark Willis, and Alwadi Hotel Doha general manager Dominic Arel were present at the opening.
"We are honored to see Msheireb Downtown Doha become home to the first ever MGallery hotel in Qatar. This partnership and collaboration reflects the trust of prestigious, international hospitality brands in our development's world-class infrastructure and services," al-Kuwari said.
Alwadi Hotel Doha has 213 rooms and suites.The hotel has three world-class restaurants, two bars and a lobby tea lounge and terrace to offer a memorable experience to guests.
"We are excited to debut the MGallery brand in Qatar. Each boutique hotel in the MGallery collection tells a unique story and perfectly blends modern design with local history and heritage," Willis said.
Alwadi Hotel Doha features MSpa, which encompasses five treatment rooms, a steam room and sauna as well as a relaxation area for rejuvenation and comfort. Alongside, MFit, the hotel's fitness centre, is furnished with the latest Technogym equipment and infused with natural light.
The hotel's ballroom, offering natural daylight, accommodates up to 415 guests. Five meeting rooms provide smaller meeting spaces suitable for small work groups and closed door meetings.


text:
Other pensions info
Pensions and divorce - the options
Pension rights can be one of the most valuable assets a divorcing couple has
The treatment of pension rights can be one of the most complex aspects of a divorce or dissolution settlement
Most private pension rights are treated as marital assets, but most State Pensions are not. In Scotland, only pension rights built up during the marriage are treated as marital assets
There are three options for dealing with pension rights as part of a divorce – sharing, earmarking or offsetting
Pension sharing splits pension rights between the parties, giving them pensions in their own name and providing a clean break
Earmarking requires some of one party's pension income payments, lump sum or death benefits to be paid to the other party when they come into payment
Under offsetting, each party keeps their own pension benefits, with other marital assets being traded off against their cash value to balance the divorce settlement
Jump to the following sections of this guide:
Pensions and divorce – the options
Valuing pension rights on divorce
Pension sharing
Pension earmarking
Pension offsetting
Pension rights can be one of the most valuable assets that a divorcing couple has and their treatment can be one of the most complex aspects of a divorce or dissolution settlement.
Traditionally, the value of any pension rights was simply included as a marital asset and offset against the value of other assets (such as the family home) to agree a settlement.
Offsetting is still popular, but there are now two more options for dealing with pension rights as part of a divorce settlement:
Pension sharing (introduced by the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999) – where pension rights are physically divided and some of one party's rights are awarded to the other as their own independent pension benefits
Pension earmarking (introduced by the Pensions Act 1995) - which requires some of one party's retirement and/or lump sum death benefits to be paid to the other when the holder retires or dies.
A combination of methods can be used, but the same pension rights cannot be both shared and earmarked.
It's up to the parties and their lawyers (and, if necessary, the Court) to decide on the best method for taking pension rights into account in the divorce or dissolution settlement. None of the options are mandatory. Each case is assessed individually.
There are various factors that need to be taken into consideration and each party will need professional advice on what option is best for them. For example:
the parties need to be aware of what the scheme's policy is on pensions and divorce and what this means for them
both parties may need independent advice on making up any shortfall between the benefits they expected and what they will now receive
the former spouse or civil partner of the member may need pension transfer advice
Pensions as marital assets – exclusions
Most pension rights can normally be taken into account as marital assets in a divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership, including entitlements to the earnings related element of the old State Pension (SERPS or S2P) and any protected payment under the New State Pension.
There are, however, some pension rights that are excluded - for example:
Basic State Pension
State Graduated Pension
New State Pension (except for any protected payment element) or
any survivor's pension being paid following the death of a former spouse or civil partner
In England & Wales, all pension rights belonging to either party (other than those specifically excluded, as summarised above) will normally be treated as marital assets.
But in Scotland, only those pension rights built up during the period of the marriage or civil partnership will normally be regarded as marital assets.
Pensions as marital assets – Pension Protection Fund (PPF)
Pension rights in the PPF can be shared, earmarked or offset as part of a divorce settlement. Like any other DB scheme, the PPF will provide a cash equivalent transfer value to base any settlement on.
However, where PPF rights are shared on divorce, the ex-spouse's only option is to become a shadow member of the PPF – they can't transfer their rights to a new pension scheme.
The shadow member's benefits:
will be revalued from the date the sharing order takes effect until pension age by CPI up to 2.5% annually
once in payment, any part of the credit from post 5 April 1997 service would increase by CPI up to 2.5% annually and
the pension age will normally mirror the original member's NRD in the scheme. A shadow member may be eligible for early retirement from age 55.
The law sets out how pension rights should be valued for the purposes of divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership.
Pre-retirement rights, or income drawdown funds, under registered pension schemes will normally be valued based on their cash equivalent transfer value
Annuities or scheme pensions in payment should be valued by the provider, trustees or an actuary in line with the cash equivalent transfer value requirements
Rights under the earnings related element of the State Pension scheme, and any protected payment under the New State Pension, will be given a capital value by the DWP
In Scotland, the transfer value is pro-rated to reflect that it's only the assets attributable to the period of the marriage or civil partnership which are taken into account on divorce or dissolution. In England and Wales, all of the assets have to be considered, not just those acquired during the marriage or civil partnership.
Pension sharing was introduced by the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999, to give a 'clean break' option for dealing with pension rights on divorce or dissolution of marriage.
It's available where the petition for divorce or dissolution was served after 30 November 2000. But, it's not available for cohabitees or for couples who are seeking a legal separation rather than a divorce or dissolution.
Under pension sharing, pension rights are divided at the time of the divorce or dissolution. When a pension sharing order is made, part of the member's pension rights are awarded to the former spouse or civil partner of the member as a pension credit. This provides the former spouse or civil partner with pension benefits in their own right, independent of the member's benefits. A corresponding pension debit is recorded against the member's benefits.
If the member has more than one pension scheme, it's not necessary for benefits under all the schemes to be shared. A sharing order can be made against just one, or some, of the schemes to provide for the former spouse or civil partner.
If a sharing order is made against a scheme that contains both contracted out and excess rights, the former spouse or civil partner must be given a proportionate share of each type of benefit. For example, if a sharing order specifies a 70% benefit share, the pension credit must be made up of 70% of the contracted-out element and 70% of the excess element.
If the divorce occurs in Scotland, a share of pension funds can be achieved either through a pension sharing order or a 'qualifying agreement'. This latter method is a written agreement between the parties which:
has a schedule of information on the parties and the pension
shows that the scheme has been informed in advance and
is registered in the Books of Council and Session
Pension sharing – advantages and disadvantages
Pension sharing has a number of perceived advantages and disadvantages.
The main perceived advantages of pension sharing on divorce are:
It provides a clean break between the parties
Each party has independent pension benefits in their own right, under their control
The member whose pension benefits are subject to a sharing order will be able to keep more of the non-pension assets
Neither party's rights are affected by the other's subsequent death or remarriage
The main perceived disadvantages of pension sharing on divorce are:
The loss of death benefits for the former spouse or civil partner of the member
The member may not be able to replace the lost pension fund
The member can, in some circumstances, lose primary or individual protection as a result of pension sharing
In return for the pension share, the former spouse or civil partner of the member will receive less of the couple's non-pension assets. This could leave them with financial difficulties if they're below pension age and, therefore, unable to access the pension credit rights
A pension earmarking order (or pension attachment order) made as part of a divorce settlement requires part of the member's retirement benefits, and/or lump sum death benefits, to be paid to their former spouse or civil partner when the member retires or dies. In Scotland, only lump sums can be earmarked; it's not possible to earmark pensions.
It's available in relation to any divorce or dissolution petitions served in England & Wales from 1 July 1996 (or 19 August 1996 in Scotland) where the earmarked payments start after 5 April 1997
Any new orders will earmark a percentage of the member's benefit for the former spouse or civil partner, but orders made before December 2000 could earmark a fixed monetary amount
Although benefits under most kinds of pension scheme can be earmarked, no State Pensions can be made subject to an earmarking order
Dependants' pensions cannot be earmarked
The earmarked benefits continue to belong to the member. This means that:
the member can normally control when any pension payments start
any pension payments (including the earmarked portion) will be taxed at the member's income tax rate
pension payments to the former spouse or civil partner will stop on the member's death
the full pension will revert to the member on the death of the former spouse or civil partner
pension payments to the former spouse or civil partner will stop if they remarry
Pension earmarking - transfers
A member can transfer their pension benefits after they become subject to an earmarking order, but the trustees of the transferring scheme must tell the trustees of the receiving scheme that an earmarking order is in place and it will then apply to the new scheme.
In practice, some pension schemes will refuse to accept transfers involving earmarked benefits.
If earmarked pension rights are transferred, the former spouse or civil partner of the member must be told and given contact details for the new scheme.
Pension earmarking – advantages and disadvantages
The main perceived advantages of pension earmarking on divorce are:
No money changes hands at the point of divorce or dissolution
From the member's perspective, the earmarked benefits will revert to them if their former spouse or civil partner dies or remarries
From the former spouse or civil partner's perspective, lump sum death benefits can be earmarked to protect them in the event of the member's premature death
The main perceived disadvantages of pension earmarking on divorce are:
There's no clean break between the parties
The member keeps control of the investment mix and over the timing of the former spouse or civil partner's pension
The tax earmarked pension is subject to tax at the member's marginal rate. This could work either way of course, but often this can result in more tax than if the benefits had been taxed at the former spouse or civil partner's rate
The former spouse or civil partner loses their earmarked pension if they remarry or the member dies. They may be able to maintain some or all of their entitlement to any earmarked lump sum, subject to the terms of the order allowing it
The basic principle of pension offsetting as part of a divorce settlement is very simple:
The couple's pension benefits are given cash values. These are normally based around the cash equivalent transfer value, but might also take account of lost death benefits
These values are then taken into account in the marital balance sheet when each party's assets and liabilities are weighed up
Each party keeps their own pension benefits, with other marital assets (such as the family home) being traded off against them to balance the divorce or dissolution settlement
The result is that the party with the smaller pension will be allocated more of the couple's non-pension assets to balance the extra pension benefits belonging to the other
As pensions are subject to income tax when they become payable, the cash value placed on the pension will generally be reduced to take account of the tax. For example, if the member is a higher rate taxpayer, the cash value of the pension rights based on the transfer value may be reduced by say 30% (that is, 40% of the 75% pension left after the tax free cash).
Of course, offsetting is only viable if the couple have enough non-pension assets to offset against the value of the pension rights.
Pension offsetting – advantages and disadvantages
Pension offsetting is perhaps the most straightforward method of dealing with pension rights on divorce. However, in practice, there can be difficulties in using this method.
The main perceived advantages of pension offsetting on divorce are:
It's simple and cheap to implement
The main perceived disadvantages of pension offsetting on divorce are:
The member has to give up tangible assets, such as their home or car, in order to keep their pension. This could leave them with real financial difficulties
Similarly, the former spouse or civil partner of the member could, for example, be given the house but have no income to run it
The value of one party's pension rights might heavily outweigh the value of the other marital assets, making offsetting impractical
Any links to websites, other than those belonging to the abrdn group, are provided for general information purposes only. We accept no responsibility for the content of these websites, nor do we guarantee their availability.
Any reference to legislation and tax is based on abrdn's understanding of United Kingdom law and HM Revenue & Customs practice at the date of production. These may be subject to change in the future. Tax rates and reliefs may be altered. The value of tax reliefs to the investor depends on their financial circumstances. No guarantees are given regarding the effectiveness of any arrangements entered into on the basis of these comments.
abrdn plc is registered in Scotland (SC286832) at 1 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2LL
Standard Life Savings Limited is registered in Scotland (SC180203) at 1 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2LL.
© 2023 abrdn plc. All rights reserved.
Pension sharing on divorce
Pension sharing and the LTA
Print this entry »