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Intel has stated that its CPUs faced 16 reported vulnerabilities in 2021, meaning it has fewer newly-discovered flaws than AMD's processors, which faced 31 flaws. However, Intel admittedly led in the number of flaws on graphics, and the total number of flaws. Interestingly, nearly half of Intel's new GPU vulnerabilities stem from an AMD graphics component Intel used in its own chips.
The numbers come from Intel's new 2021 product security report, which provides statistics not only about the number of vulnerabilities, but also how Common Vulnerabilities and Exposure (CVE) reports are categorized and provides information about Intel's bug bounty program.
Intel claims that its CPUs faced 16 security flaws in 2021, with six caught by researchers in its bug bounty program and the other ten found within the company. (The chart originally showed only ten CPU vulnerabilities, which didn't match the text in the document, but Intel corrected it after we notified the company of the discrepancy.) On graphics, Intel found 15 bugs internally, while 36 were found via the bounty initiative.
It's tough to match these exactly, because in most cases, Intel's GPUs come embedded in its CPUs. With the exception of Intel Xe DG1, Intel is largely still in integrated graphics, which are embedded in the processor.
But before AMD can be crowned the victor in GPU security, Intel notes that the CVE INTEL-SA-00481 for Intel Core Processors with Radeon RX Vega M graphics features 23 vulnerabilities for AMD's components. Those appear to be for Intel's Kaby Lake-G processors, which paired 8th Gen Intel Core processors with AMD's Radeon graphics and showed up in laptops like the Dell XPS 15 2-in-1 as well as the "Hades Canyon" NUC. So while those fall on Intel's side because they were on Intel's chip, the vulnerabilities were on AMD's part of the tech.
For information on AMD's data, Intel went exclusive to external research, ranging from May to December of 2021. It claims that it found no CVEs attributed to AMD's internal research in 2021.
AMD did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. However, we'll update this story if we hear anything.
Notably, graphics processing units had the highest number of CVEs for Intel in 2021. Ethernet and software vulnerabilities tied for second plate at 34 vulnerabilities apiece.
Intel says that its own security research found 50% of vulnerabilities, while the bug bounty program caught another 43%. The other 7% comes from open source projects or organizations that can't partake in the bounty project.
Yesterday, Intel announced its latest security initiative, Project Circuit Breaker, which extends on the bounty program by inviting researchers to hacking events and providing access to new and yet-to-be-released firmware, chipsets, GPUs, and more.
The full report includes much more information, including which researchers received the highest bounty payouts (most are anonymous or pseudonymous), and provides more breakdowns on which vulnerabilities were found within Intel as opposed to externally.
Notably, Intel provided a breakdown outlining the severity of the newly-discovered vulnerabilities that impact its products but didn't share the same type of breakdown for AMD's products. Additionally, the list of vulnerabilities only includes those discovered for both companies in 2021, and doesn't include the full accounting over the last several years.
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Not sure they wanna go this route..Reply
AMD has more? sure
Intel has fewer? fine.
Now...who has more impactful bugs and which CPU maker fixes cripple performance?
also its not a shock about gpu related ones given amd's weakness is their gpu department.
Probably more Gelsinger fantasies...;)Reply
Indeed. Even if the numbers are totally accurate, it probably wasn't a great move to release this data. I don't see who Intel sees as the target audience for this information.hotaru251 said:Not sure they wanna go this route..
It was going to come out anyway.spongiemaster said:Indeed. Even if the numbers are totally accurate, it probably wasn't a great move to release this data. I don't see who Intel sees as the target audience for this information.
Fanboys on either side will spin it to their clicky advantage.
"AMD has moar!"
"Intels are worse!"
There's no doubt Intel CPUs likely have fewer vulnerabilities than AMD, not in the least because for the better part of this millennium Intel products had a massive market share advantage over AMD and were therefore subject to much more scrutiny by all interested parties.Reply
AMD probably has a number of severe bugs waiting to be discovered, and Intel probably has a few more as well, but in the grand scheme of things the number of CPU vulnerabilities is likely low on the priority list of anyone when it comes to building a machine, be it a home user desktop or multi-million dollar supercomputer, the same way it's low to non existent on people's priority list as to which web browser has fewer bugs or GPU vendor has more bugs in their driver packages.
I dont think this is an issue at all. Because Windows + software + network security issues is like 10000x higher. Then vast majority of these exploits require you to sit infront of the computer with admin rights...Reply
The biggest issues have been and always will be windows + software + network..
Lastly, the biggest threat is human... How many security breaches, virus infection etc are simply due to human action?
Intel is really going back to their old school playbook. pointing out their superiority in bugs over their competitors is one of intels oldest marketing strategiesReply
That a bit of a troll press release on Intel's part. I'm pretty sure all AMD fanboys will bring out their pitchforks on reddit about this statement.Reply
Rest assured, that's pretty much what good ol' Pat is counting on, and i'm quite certain he won't be dissapointed. A buzz is a buzz. Maybe Intel is trying too hard to convince us they're the cool kid around the block again. Amusingly enough i don't think that's really necessary at this point, gen12 core CPUs are right on the money. As for the GPU space, only time will tell if their discreet gpu's end up in the traditional prebuilt school pc segment or they'll actually produce a formindable gaming gpu for the first time after decades of misfires and aborts
I hope that Intel starting up the aggressive marketing machine is a sign that they know the supply chain issues are about to be fixed and consumers will be eager to buy at the normal price levels.Reply
Maybe they should produce a report that takes into account the severity of the bug. E.g. multiply the number of bugs of each sev level (1-10) by the sev level and add them all together.Reply
Oh, and make it a line graph going back, say, 4 years ? So we can see trends over time.


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An investigation has been launched after a Russian cybercrime group claims to have hacked Sony
Sony is currently under investigation after a group known as Ransomed.vc published a statement claiming to have hacked all of Sony's systems. The Russian group has allegedly compromised around 6,000 files, all of which are reportedly in Japanese.
In response to the claims, Sony has released a statement to IGN, stating that they are currently investigating the situation and have no further comment at this time. It remains unclear whether the claims are true or false.
Previous hacks on Sony
If the claims turn out to be true, this would not be the first time Sony has suffered a major hack. In 2011, the company experienced a significant breach that exposed the personal data of approximately 77 million PlayStation Network users. As a result, the PSN had to be taken offline for nearly a month while Sony resolved the issue.
Did you miss our previous article…

domain: news


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UK freight forwarder association BIFA is urging calm as reports circulate that supply chain challenges could put the brakes of festive celebrations in the country .
The association’s director general Robert Keen urged people to maintain a sense of perspective to avoid headlines becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.
He explained that shippers and forwarders had acted early and had already shipped many products.
“If we see normal purchasing patterns, we should also see that most of what consumers are seeking will be available to purchase,” said Keen.
“After all, we need to remember that more [containers] were shipped successfully in August 2021 than in August 2019 before the pandemic. There is plenty of cargo being moved around.”
Keen admitted that there are operational challenges but forwarders are “moving hell and high water to address them and doing their part to ensure that the forthcoming holiday season will go ahead as well as possible”.
The director general also hoped the current challenges would demonstrate to the general public the significance and magnitude of modern supply chains.
“It should also put the precarious balancing act of supply chain management into perspective and hopefully lead to a deeper appreciation from the consumer for end products, and the essential role of the freight industry in delivering them,” Keen said.
Keen’s statement comes after backlogs began to build up at the UK’s port of Felixstowe leading to reports that some products could be in short supply during the Christmas shopping season.
The post UK freight forwarders say no need to cancel Christmas appeared first on Air Cargo News.


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Irvine, California—Roland DGA has announced the North American availability of its new EU-1000MF, a robust, high-volume UV flatbed printer that combines outstanding image quality with productivity, versatility and reliability.FULL STORY
News: Digital Decorating
Mutoh MS41 Eco Solvent Inks Backed by 3M Performance Guarantee
Mutoh America, Inc., Phoenix, recently announced that its MS41 Eco Solvent inks are now backed by the 3M Performance Guarantee.
The 3M Performance Guarantee allows customers printing with Mutoh’s eco solvent XpertJets 1641SR and 1682SR while using 3M products to print with confidence in knowing that their graphics will look and last to their fullest potential, according to the company.
“The MS41 inks and 3M’s wide media lineup are an outstanding combination for amazing graphics!” says Chris Padilla, Eco Solvent product manager of Mutoh America. “We are pleased to be able to offer our customers peace of mind when using 3M products in our printers.” — D.S.
More Digital Decorating News
Los Alamitos, California—Epson today announced two new SureColor® F-Series dye-sublimation printers engineered to achieve both industrial reliability and round-the-clock productivity.FULL STORY
Bridgewater, New Jersey—Brother International Corporation will be entering the signage market with the all-new WF1-L640 64-inch latex wide-format printer.FULL STORY


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CIRP has released a new report today with its estimates for how well each iPhone model sold during Apple’s Q3 (calendar Q2). In addition to the iPhone XR being far and away the most popular iPhone in the US ahead of the upcoming iPhone 11 launch, the firm has data on how well Apple’s Services are doing with iPhone owners.
Headlining the report are the results on iPhone sales in the US for the June quarter. The iPhone XR has easily become the most popular model representing 48% Apple’s smartphone sales for the period in CIRP’s data. That percentage is higher than what the iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X sales combined tallied up to in the same period last year.
“iPhone XR has become the dominant iPhone model,” said Josh Lowitz, CIRP Partner and Co-Founder. “Its 48% share of sales in the quarter is the highest we’ve seen for an individual model since the iPhone 6 in 2015, which shared top billing with the 6 Plus, but only had two outdated legacy models offered as alternatives. Apple set out to create a competitive model, with current features like a large screen on a midsize handset, at a price that falls near the leading Android phones.
CIRP co-founder and partner Mike Levin noted the variance in performance based on how long Apple has been operating its various Services.
“Success in services has varied, depending on the competition and how much of a head-start Apple has,” said Mike Levin, CIRP Partner and Co-Founder. “For example, for a long time Apple had one of the only apps for podcasts, so its podcast app has the highest penetration for iPhone buyers. In contrast, Apple TV competes against Netflix and other streaming video services, and has lower penetration. Even though Apple has offered extended warranties for many years, mobile carriers and retailers like Best Buy offer their own and third-party warranties, so AppleCare has a much lower penetration., After Apple discontinued iTunes, Apple Music is its unififed music service, yet its 35% share still puts it behind Spotify and Pandora.”
We’ll learn more about how Apple performed during the June quarter with its Q3 earnings call scheduled for July 30.
Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:


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By Anant Chandak
BENGALURU (Reuters) - Growth in India's dominant services industry accelerated in September as already robust demand strengthened, according to a survey that also showed businesses were the most optimistic in over nine years.
That bodes well for Asia's third-largest economy, which is expected to be the fastest-growing major economy this fiscal year, defying a global slowdown trend.
S&P Global's India services purchasing managers' index rose to 61.0 last month from 60.1 in August, confounding expectations in a Reuters poll for a dip to 59.5.
The reading was above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction for a 26th consecutive month.
"The latest PMI results brought more positive news for India's service economy, with September seeing business activity and new work intakes rising to one of the greatest extents in over 13 years," noted Pollyanna De Lima, economics associate director at S&P Global.
"Besides demand strength domestically, firms noted higher international sales to Asia, Europe and North America."
While the new business sub-index - a key gauge of demand - rose slightly to 61.2 last month, export growth eased to the slowest pace since June but remained in expansionary territory for an eighth consecutive month.
That improved business sentiment about the coming 12 months to its highest since June 2014. Job creation also stayed solid, with firms continuing to hire for a 16th straight month.
In an indication that a recent rebound in inflation could be transitory, input prices rose at the slowest pace since March and the prices charged index eased to a six-month low as companies refrained from raising fees too sharply to try and gain new customers.
"News on prices was also encouraging. Services charges rose at a softer rate as cost pressures receded to one of the lowest in two-and-a-half years," added De Lima.
"Although the latter indicates that near-term output price inflation may cool, worries about potential fluctuations in food prices due to El Nino means the RBI is highly unlikely to cut rates until early next year."
The Reserve Bank of India will keep its interest rate on hold at 6.50% until at least April before making a quarter-point cut in the second quarter, a recent Reuters poll found, around the time when global peers are also expected to start easing monetary policies.
With manufacturing activity expanding at the slowest pace in five months but services industry growth robust, the overall S&P Global India Composite PMI Output Index rose slightly to 61.0 in September from 60.9.
(Reporting by Anant Chandak; Editing by Kim Coghill)


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For months now, the tech world has been aflutter with rumors of a brand-new, completely redesigned 16-inch MacBook Professional. However with every passing day it appears much less and fewer seemingly it’ll present its face in 2019. As the ultimate days of October are upon us, the window for Apple to launch a brand new product in time for the vacation buying season has closed.
However there’s extra reasoning to imagine it’s been delayed than simply hypothesis. The dearth of a 2019 launch is now backed up by a report from the pre-eminent Apple analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo.
Riley Younger/Digital Developments
The report, seen by MacRumors, states that Apple is engaged on a MacBook gadget with a scissor swap keyboard to exchange the troubled butterfly mechanism. In accordance with Kuo, this MacBook will launch in both the second or third quarter of 2020, probably giving it slot throughout the WWDC keynote. If that fails to materialize, it might as an alternative launch by way of a press launch in July 2020.
Kuo by no means explicitly claims that this gadget is the 16-inch MacBook — and it could be a special gadget. Nevertheless, there’s at the very least a clue within the report that we’ll have to attend till 2020 for the 16-inch MacBook Professional.
That clue lies with the touted scissor swap keyboard. We already know that the 16-inch MacBook Professional has been rumored to be coming with this all-new keyboard design, which is able to supposedly return the MacBook to the pre-2016 days of prolonged key journey and extra dependable swap designs. Apple has spent a lot of the previous few years making an attempt to salvage the butterfly mechanism, with various levels of success, and its final try was earlier in 2019.
Which means it’s solely been a couple of months since Apple was nonetheless attempting to save lots of the butterfly keyboard. It’s unlikely the corporate would have made these efforts if it already knew it was going to launch a very completely different swap design the identical yr. That alone urged redesigned MacBook Professional can be unlikely.
That concept is additional backed up by an earlier report from Kuo that got here out in mid-October 2019. Right here, the prediction mogul mentioned he anticipated the 16-inch gadget wouldn’t make an look till the primary quarter of 2020. That probably traces it up for a March particular occasion, which Apple has held throughout 4 of the previous 5 years. It’s an unorthodox time for Apple to launch a MacBook Professional, however a tool as radical as this one will seemingly get a flashy on-stage demo from Apple.
A 2020 launch would additionally permit Apple to implement a few of Intel’s upcoming Comet Lake H processors, which would offer an additional enhance of energy. If Apple had launched the 16-inch MacBook Professional this yr, it could characteristic the very same internals because the 15-inch MacBook Professional. That’s no enjoyable.
This story of delays and setbacks stands in stark distinction to the all-new Mac Professional, which seems set to make its debut any day now. Simply immediately it obtained FCC approval, suggesting an imminent launch.


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BANGKOK — Thailand will celebrate World Cannabis Day with a large convention in Bangkok, as the kingdom further relaxes laws regarding the use of hemp in food and cosmetics products.
Some 50 booths will be set up for cannabis business owners to present their products and strategies. A networking event is scheduled on the first day, while a seminar with 14 industry experts will take place on the second day.
The second day of the event is on April 20, or 4-20, a number that has survived since the 1970s as a slang term for cannabis or using cannabis. The date also marks a global counterculture celebration of cannabis. This year, Bangkok will partake.
Large Thai companies intend to enter the budding market. Beverage giant Ichitan Group has applied for a license to produce hemp-related products, according to chairman Tan…


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Coca Cola has expressed an interest in using Sri Lanka as a regional production hub, the Government Information Department revealed.
It said the Asia Pacific chiefs of Coca Cola Company had made their interest known during a meeting with Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake in Colombo on Saturday (14).
President of the Coca Cola Company Asia Pacific Group John Murphy and it’s Executive Vice President Irial Finan told Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake during the meeting, that Sri Lanka could be developed as a production hub to re-export their products to India.
India has the highest demand for Coca Cola products in the South Asian region.
The two Coca Cola executives pointed out that Sri Lanka could benefit from the arrangement by earning huge amounts of foreign exchange, even while generating jobs for the youth.
The use of Sri Lanka’s natural water resources and tea related products to manufacture Coca Cola brands and re-export the final products was also discussed during the meeting on Saturday, the Government Information Department reported.
John Murphy and Irial Finan had expressed concern however, about the stability about the rate of taxation on foreign investment, but said they were happy the government is maintaining cordial relations with foreign investors in the country.


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Three-fifths of SMEs in danger of security breach, shows study
- 28th January 2016
- Innovation & Technology
More than half of SMEs are in danger of a security breach, according to new research.
A study by Digital ID found that businesses do not have enough security measures in place, with 23 per cent having very little visitor security and 36 per cent having no visitor security at all.
The study showed that the majority of businesses only have locks or security lights installed. Just 41 per cent of businesses have opted for more effective security measures, such as gates providing restricted access and ID cards.
One in five SMEs were the victim of a security breach last year, but businesses are still failing to recognise the effects that security breaches can have on their business.
Digital ID Digital Marketing Manager Adam Bennett stated that small businesses should “at the very least” have cyber security in place.
He added that it is not only equipment that is stolen, but also important data such as payment information and intellectual property. This can cost the business money and also have an impact on its reputation.
Health and safety
Digital ID has now advised businesses on “diligent cybersecurity” to provide protection against viruses, hackers, bots, and rogue employees by restricting access to important data such as client information and payment details.
The company also advised SMEs to focus on specified areas of business premises and restrict access to these areas using methods such as ID cards, swiping systems, gates, and barriers.
Staff ID and visitor ID cards are also a useful security measure, as they enable businesses to keep track of how many people have entered the building, which is useful not only for security reasons but also for health and safety.
A study from data analytics firm Consumer Intelligence has highlighted the impact of technology failures in banking, with more than…


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On the heels of a matchup between Getty Images and Yahoo-owned Flickr, Ask.com on Thursday announced that it has signed a multi-year agreement with photo Web site Photobucket.
The Ask.com search box will now be featured throughout Photobucket.com, allowing Photobucket users to do searches within the Web site. Display ads and sponsored listings will also be syndicated on Photobucket.
Photobucket, which was acquired by News Corp. in May 2007, has approximately 44 million monthly unique users worldwide, according to the company.
"Photobucket has one of the largest online audiences, and now Ask.com provides these consumers with the answers to the questions they ask every day," Andrew Moers, senior vice president and general manager for Ask.com's Partner Network, said in a statement.
"Photobucket users view, store and share billions of images each month and Ask.com will serve as a great resource in helping those users find specific content quickly and efficiently," said Alex Welch, president of Photobucket.
Earlier this week, Flickr announced that Getty Images will be trolling the online photo site in order to find shots worthy of a commercial licensing deal. In the next few months, Getty will extend invites to Flickr members, who will then have the opportunity to participate in a collection created by the photo house. Getty will become the exclusive commercial rights manager of the photos.
In May, an unknown security issue on Photobucket prompted the photo Web site to request that all its users change their passwords.


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The voracious appetite for compute and storage capacity among hyperscalers and cloud builders once again drove the server market to new heights as 2015 came to a close, and unless some wobbling from Hewlett Packard Enteprise and Cisco Systems is a leading indicator of a slowdown – and we do not think it is – then this year will probably also be a record setter.
To a certain extent, it is a tale of four server markets, and the hyperscalers and cloud builders are increasingly setting the pace even as enterprise customers still account for the bulk of sales of both volume X86 machinery and other gear like RISC/Unix and mainframe systems that are still the popular foundations of ERP systems and the databases that back them. And then, of course, there are high performance computing clusters that run the world’s simulation and modeling applications. There is some blurring between these lines, of course, which is one of the things that The Next Platform chronicles.
The two big market researchers that do the quarterly box counting in the server business, IDC and Gartner, track the business is slightly different ways, with IDC looking at sales at the factory level coming out of manufacturers and Gartner measuring the flow after machines go through the channel and as they are moved into corporate datacenters. Both provide an insight into different market dynamics, presenting a fuller picture of what is going on.
According to IDC, the world consumed 2.6 million servers in the fourth quarter of 2015, an increase of 3.8 percent compared to the final quarter of 2014; those machines drove $15.31 billion in revenues, a 5.2 percent bump over that year. For the full 2015 year, server revenues rose 8 percent to $55.1 billion and shipments were up 4.9 percent to 9.7 million machines.
As you can see from the chart above, the revenue levels set in the fourth quarter of last year matched the previous high at the end of 2010, when server revenues came roaring back in the wake of a two-year drought during the Great Recession. It took 30 percent more server units to drive that same revenue level, however. Both server revenues and shipments rise and fall depending on the quarter, but the general trend is for shipments, which are overwhelmingly comprised of X86 machinery, to rise more or less linearly. After the post-recession bump in 2010, server revenues had been trending downwards as the RISC/Unix and Itanium markets declined, but the uptake of richer configurations of X86 iron in recent years is helping reverse the revenue decline if the 2014 and 2015 numbers are any indication. We shall see what 2016 holds.
Thanks to Moore’s Law in general and the need by hyperscalers and cloud builders to beat – not just meet – Moore’s Law improvements in their minimalist system designs and cost-cutting, the industry is making it up in volume. We suspect, however, that profits are down across all classes and types of servers, and that is just the way it is here on Earth.
Not only did the hyperscalers and cloud builders account for a big share of sales and an even larger portion of the growth in the market, but companies in China spent like crazy on servers. Revenues for servers in China were up 15.6 percent to $2.3 billion, according to IDC. The top four OEM server makers – Inspur, Huawei Technologies, Lenovo, and Sugon saw a combined growth rate of 19.5 percent. Despite all of the economic uncertainty in the Middle Kingdom, companies and government agencies are clearly investing in platforms. Across all of Asia/Pacific and Japan, server revenues rose 14.7 percent, which was a lot more ebullient than in the United States, which only saw 7.9 percent growth; Europe, the Middle East, and Africa had even more muted revenue growth at 5 percent, a tiny bit slower than the market overall.
It will take a very long time for any of these vendors to catch up to the big tier one players like Hewlett-Packard Enterprise and Dell, but Lenovo and Inspur are unabashedly setting their sights on the number three position and they have a good chance of knocking IBM off its position over the long haul unless the Power Systems platforms take off as the OpenPower Foundation partners hope. (And so long as ARM processors remain a minor part of the market as they are now.)
The server market has changed dramatically since the Great Recession, and in fact, we contend that it was that very recession that changed the dynamics of this business. The drive to higher efficiency and lower cost has all but driven non-X86 servers from the market except in use cases where high I/O bandwidth or shared memory capacity warrant something other than a two-socket machine. Looking ahead ten more years and perhaps after one more recession, it is hard to imagine these machines, we truly love for their power, ease of programming, and elegance, surviving except in the most extenuating of circumstances. By then, maybe ARM servers will come in to keep it interesting.
In the meantime, IBM saw its revenues of Power Systems and System z mainframes rise to $2.56 billion, the first quarter where the hangover from the sale of the System x X86 server business to Lenovo did not affect its results. IBM is now generating less than half of the revenues it did coming out of the Great Recession in 2010, when it had three server lines, and it is fairly safe to bet that IBM will never be the number one maker of servers again. It may, however, still be the most profitable maker of servers, and that is something that Big Blue has always focused on.
There are some interesting lines to watch in that vendor chart above. First, look at the rose of the Original Design Manufacturers (ODMs) who help design and make machines for the hyperscalers and cloud builders who have long since stopped buying off-the-shelf gear from the tier one suppliers. The other interesting numbers to watch are for Dell, which has increased its sales by a factor of 2.5X since the recession began, and Cisco Systems, which launched its Unified Computing System blade servers into the gaping maw of that recession and started the converged infrastructure revolution.
Hewlett-Packard has been struggling to maintain through all of its system transitions, and to its credit it has done a pretty good job as its AlphaServer, Tandem, and Itanium server businesses collapsed. In the fourth quarter of last year, Gartner said in its report that HPE’s big problem was that shipments of Windows-based servers declined and its Unix server business was also off, as expected.
Lenovo will find its footing and turn around that System x business, much as it did with IBM’s PC business a decade ago and its trendline is beginning to show that.
Perhaps the most encouraging thing in the IDC data is the growth of other vendors in the market, who were flat-lining a bit ahead of and during the recession. In this other category are niche players like Cray, which is anything but a niche in its high performance computing market and which is getting more and more traction selling clustered systems into the enterprise.
The big trend – and one that we have not seen any data on but that we suspect is well under way – is small and some medium businesses abandoning their dataclosets and baby datacenters to move their applications to the cloud, either literally or by shifting to software services running on clouds. It came as no shock to us at all when Jason Waxman, general manager of the Cloud Platforms Group at Intel, said this week that by 2025, Intel expects that 70 percent to 80 percent of all servers shipped will be deployed in large scale data centers. Waxman qualified that further by saying a large scale datacenter was one with thousands of systems and engaged in infrastructure, platform, or software services, including the big cloud providers as well as smaller players and service providers and telcos that compete against them. If we are indeed going to have a recession in 2017 or 2018, as some economists expect, this will accelerate this and other transitions, and it will be interesting in that this will also be about the time that several new processing and storage technologies will be coming to market.
But looking far out into the future, infrastructure will probably be something that only experts do. Just like with electricity generation and distribution, which was something every company did for itself for many years until it was consolidated. A market and governments won’t tolerate massive consolidation, but they will accept two or three big players and a few smaller niche players. Given the investments necessary to become a global scale cloud provider, it is hard to imagine that Google, Amazon, and Microsoft won’t be the dominant players in 2025. Unless, of course, Facebook decides to sell infrastructure. That would be fun indeed.
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Nigel Rouch to lead XPO Logistics' digital strategy in Europe
XPO Logistics has promoted Nigel Rouch to the position of SVP technology – Europe, responsible ...
Norbert Dentressangle CEO Herve Montjotin talks to Bloomberg (video) about the French company’s plans to take on the US market. Explaining that Norbert hopes to “go global” Mr Montjotin said that the US market, which it will enter following the acquisition of Jacobsen, is a logical step in the strategic plan of the company. He also vowed to become a market leading name in the US, especially in ecommerce. While Mr Montjotin admitted he knew little about intermodal operations, he said Jacobsen would help Norbert achieve its goals there. An interesting short video.
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Sinotrans – the post-CMA CGM + Bolloré boost is gone
Comment on this article


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Possibly coming this fall
[Update: The game’s official Twitter account may have just confirmed the leak with a poop emoji.]
Modern Warfare, the game that really kicked off Call of Duty‘s wild popularity nine years ago, looks to be getting a curtain call. According to a reservation card at Target for the soon-to-be-announced Infinite Warfare, a remastering of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is also in development.
The leak comes via a photo that was posted to the newly-formed Infinite Warfare subreddit. The image indicates that there’s a legacy edition of Infinite Warfare and that it’ll include the remaster of Modern Warfare. Nothing notes whether the remaster will launch alongside this year’s Call of Duty or if it’ll be released at a later date.
Of course, none of this is official. This could be a hoax, but if it is, at least it’s a hoax that makes a good deal of sense. Given industry trends and Activision trends, we’re probably due for this remaster. Activision will likely let us know sooner rather than later.


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Cherokee County sheriff's deputies are looking for the person who robbed Speedy's Convenience Store at the intersection of State Highway 62 and Welling Road around 11pm Wednesday.
The man entered the store in dark clothing and a ski mask, and pointed a gun at the clerk, forcing him to empty the register. The suspect then forced the store clerk into a walk-in cooler and the suspect ran away.
The suspect was wearing a dark gray hooded sweatshirt or jacket, dark colored pants, black gloves and dark colored athletic shoes with a gray or silver strip on the lower portion of the back side of the shoes. The handgun carried by the suspect appears to be a revolver that is silver or nickel plated in color. The face mask worn by the suspect covered his entire face and only his eyes were visible.
Anybody with information on this armed robbery is asked to contact the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office at (918) 456-2583.


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Bandai Namco recently announced the first-ever Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 DLC. New characters and quests are waiting for the gamers this holiday season.
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 will receive new contents and free updates on December 20. Many items will be made available to all on the specified date. However, there are also special items that will be sold to gamers.
Everyone can access the free updates which include new skill for Son Goku including four new attacks. There are also six new costumes that players can take advantage of. Bandai Namco has prepared a new event in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 for all. Gamers must get ready to defeat Frieza and defend the hub city from the villain.
Gamers with season pass have access to the first-ever Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 DLC which is packed with exciting contents. Most players are still exploring and familiarising the details of the games but more contents are already coming.
The new characters are part of the highly anticipated features of the game. Cabbe and Frost will be the newest addition to the long list of characters in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2. Those who have Season Pass can play the characters in December while those who do not have it can purchase them, as announced by the publisher of the title on its official website.
The two new characters will be available in their final forms. The Super Saiyan ability of Cabbe will be available in the DLC pack. Additional features of the downloadable contents include two new costumes and five Super Souls. Gamers can enjoy the three new parallel quests and the five new attacks that can be used during battle.
The Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 DLC pack will be available to PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC gamers. Stay tuned for more updates!


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TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese retail sales grew at the strongest pace in 5-1/2 years in September as consumers rushed to buy big-ticket items to beat a rise in the country’s sales tax, raising concerns spending could pull back sharply in the coming months.
FILE PHOTO: A man walks in front of an electronics store in Tokyo, Japan, January 10, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai
The increase in national sales tax to 10% from 8% on Oct. 1 is seen as crucial for fixing the industrial world’s heaviest public debt at more than twice the size of Japan’s economy.
But some analysts worry the twice-delayed tax hike could tip the world’s third-largest economy into recession, underscoring the challenge for the central bank to sustain growth and accelerate inflation towards its 2% inflation target.
Wednesday’s data is among key indicators to be scrutinized by the Bank of Japan, which holds its two-day policy review that ends on Thursday when it issues its quarterly projections of economy and prices.
The BOJ may hold off on loosening policy at its review as stable markets, a truce in U.S.-China trade talks and robust domestic demand give it room to save its limited ammunition.
Retail sales in September jumped 9.1% from a year earlier, boosted by a 16.9% increase in car sales, and household durables such as refrigerators, computers and TV, and cosmetics, food and clothing, trade ministry data showed on Wednesday.
The surge in spending ahead of the sales tax hike bodes ill for fourth-quarter private consumption, some analysts say, although it may help push up economic growth in the last quarter.
“The data released today suggests that private consumption may have risen by 1.5% quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter,” Marcel Thieliant, senior Japan economist at Capital Economics, said.
“The risks to our forecast of a 1.7% quarter-on-quarter drop in consumption in the fourth quarter are probably tilted to the downside.”
The retail sales reading handily beat a 6.9% gain expected by economists in a Reuters poll, posting the fastest annual growth since March 2014 when retail sales jumped 11% one month before the previous tax hike.
Seasonally-adjusted retail sales grew 7.1% month-on-month in September, the data showed.
The trade ministry raised its assessment of retail sales to describe it as increasing.
But it added that it must stay vigilant to consumer sentiment after the tax hike and monitor any effects a recent slew of natural disasters may have on the economy.
The previous tax hike to 8% from 5% triggered a deep slump in private consumption and the broader economy as a big pull-back in demand followed the last-minute buying by consumers ahead of the hike.
Policymakers maintain that such a big swing in demand has not occurred this time round, given the smaller extent of the tax hike and various government measures to ease the burden of higher costs, such as shopping vouchers and other incentives.
Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Jacqueline Wong


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Mundra Port, India’s busiest container harbour, saw a noticeable fall in container movement last month.
According to exclusive data obtained by Container News, the volume of containers handled at the Adani Group’s flagship port in September declined nearly 6% month on month to 522,483 TEUs, from 554,184 TEUs in August.
Of this, the Adani-controlled terminals contributed 444,986 TEUs, compared with 457,334 TEUs during August. The Mundra complex also includes a DP World-managed concession, known as Mundra International Container Terminal (MICT).
However, the private port saw more transshipment loads last month, helping it end with a somewhat milder throughput decline. According to available data, the Adani terminals saw a combined transshipment volume of 135,683 TEUs in September, up from 116,813 TEUs in August.
Mundra is not the only Indian port taking a hit on the volume levels. According to the CN analysis, total container traffic out of major/government Indian ports last month slipped to 892,000 TEUs from 977,000 TEUs in August, representing a 9% decrease.
Nhava Sheva/JNPT ended September with 481,000 TEUs, down from 498,000 TEUs, Chennai Port in southern India saw 122,000 TEUs last month, shrinking from 137,000 TEUs, while at Cochin Port, which houses the country’s only dedicated transshipment terminal, volumes edged down to 53,000 TEUs from 58,000 TEUs in August.
Additionally, Visakhapatnam Port handled just 37,000 TEUs last month, as against 48,000 TEUs in the prior month, data shows, with other smaller ports in India also reporting volume declines in September, on a month-on-month basis.
That deceleration reflects a slowing of India’s export/import trade due to global economic headwinds.
“The headwinds in global trade are equally reflected in the WTO [World Trade Organisation] forecast for 2023, released recently, which has projected it to grow at 1% only,” the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) said in a statement.
The federations added that “India, being a domestic demand-driven economy, will not be much impacted by these developments though we will not be insulated either.”
FIEO, however, noted that exporters are working proactively to mitigate the impact of global demand challenges.
The association explained, “While the Russia-Ukraine war is a setback to our exports in the short run, we are looking to increase our exports to Russia once the Rupee payment mechanism gets operationalised. As per our study, we can add about US$5 billion in exports to Russia. With Europe maintaining sanctions on Russia, we expect the trade to divert from Russia to India.”


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January 9, 2006
Heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States, is part of a group of interrelated conditions including obesity, high blood pressure, unhealthy cholesterol levels, poor nutrition, genetic predisposition and sedentary lifestyle. Heart disease and stroke, components of cardiovascular disease (CVD), account for about 40 percent of deaths in the United Statesapproximately one death every 34 seconds. The cost of cardiovascular disease is upwards of $400 billion dollars, including health care costs and lost productivity. But if heart disease is controllable and preventable, why is it so prevalent?
Recent consumer studies conducted by the Natural Marketing Institute (NMI) have shown 31% of the U.S. population indicates they are currently managing heart disease, high cholesterol and/or or high blood pressure (this group is referred to as Heart Managers throughout this article). While about a third are currently managing some form of heart-related condition, over half (53%) of the general population are very concerned about preventing cardiovascular issues. So, what exactly are consumers doing to treat this disease and are they taking the proper steps to prevent it?
Food & diet: General population
The good news is that many of the factors that contribute to the development of CVD can be controlled through diet. Grocery store shelves are well stocked with fortified, functional and other healthoriented foods; and foods with less sugar, salt, fat and additives.These foods can be considered pro-cardiovascular. This trend is indicative of a growing number of consumers realizing the connection between diet and health, and seeking a healthier lifestyle through the foods they buy for themselves and their family.
In fact, about three out of five American consumers indicate they would use foods and beverages to prevent obesity, high cholesterol, heart disease and diabetes. Slightly fewer, about half, would use foods to treat these same conditions. Since 2000, consumers use of functional foods, those that treat/manage a specific condition, has risen 34% and fortified food use has risen 14%. In addition, a majority of consumers are purchasing food with less fat (76%), less sugar (71%), less sodium (64%) and fewer carbohydrates (60%) to fend off the food-related culprits that contribute to obesity, high cholesterol and constricted arteriesall precursors to heart disease.Therefore, todays consumers find themselves in a balancing act regarding nutrition. While many are trying to avoid foods that contribute to disease conditions, consumers are also taking care to add nutrient-rich foods for more optimal health. Sixty-nine percent of consumers have avoided foods this year to eat healthier and 70% have added foods, both behaviors exhibiting a six percent increase since 2002.
But challenges still exist and appear to have become more prevalent among the population recently. Half are not willing to give up taste for health (52%), up 8% since 2004. More consumers are also admitting they know they should eat healthier but dont.
Food & diet: Heart managers
While the rest of the population reveals some understandable struggles, Heart Managers appear to be more active in their search for health. More Heart Managers than Non-Managers sustain a healthy lifestyle by maintaining a balanced diet and consuming functional foods and beverages.They are also more likely to be trying to maintain this healthy lifestyle in order to both prevent and treat health issues, to get proper nutrition and to manage stress.
However, while Heart Managers are making a strong effort to:
try to eat heart healthy foods (72%),
change their diet to lower cholesterol (67%),
limit the amount of trans-fats in their diet (55%),
and seek out foods that are high in fiber (49%),
...almost nine out of 10 still admit it is a challenge to eat right.
Some of their challenges may be due to a lack of understanding about heart healthy foods and ingredients. While Heart Managers are more likely than Non-Managers to check for heart-related components on food and beverage labels, at least half dont check labels for cholesterol, fat, sodium, fiber or trans fats. Although theyve shown increases in their consumption of soy foods over the past year, Heart Managers usage of soy foods and beverages remains rather low, with only one out of five having ever used soy foods or beverages. About two-thirds do not even know what the benefits of soy are, with over two-thirds of Heart Managers not associating the benefits of garlic, omega-3s, fish oil, whole grains, fiber and soy with heart health. This highlights obvious opportunities for stronger educational platforms across many products and ingredients.
Supplementation: General population
Some factors such as obesity, poor nutrition, a sedentary lifestyle, smoking, excessive drinking and stress can deplete the nutrients needed to help stave off heart-related conditions. When diet isnt enough, or consumers lack the knowledge of which nutrient-rich foods to consume, supplementation may provide a solution.
A third of all consumers (34%) are using vitamins/minerals/herbal supplements (VMHS) to prevent a medical condition, and slightly fewer (31%) are using supplements to treat a medical condition. The top conditions that VMHS are being used to prevent are osteoporosis (17%), arthritis (15%), heart disease (15%) and high cholesterol (12%). Men, compared to women, and supplement users over 50 years old are more likely to be taking VMHS to prevent heart disease and hypertension. Based on the number of consumers who are trying to prevent a medical condition with supplements, fish oil and vitamin E are the supplements used the most to prevent heart disease and high cholesterol. Multi-vitamins/minerals and antioxidants are also used by almost a third of supplement users as a preventive measure against heart-related conditions.
Most likely due to the seriousness of heart-related conditions, fewer consumers use supplements to actually treat cardio-related issues. Less than one out of 10 are using supplements for the treatment of heart disease or high cholesterol and less than one out of 20 are using supplements to treat hypertension.
Supplementation: Heart managers
Approximately three-quarters of Heart Managers feel vitamins and minerals are a vital part of staying healthy. Its understandable, then, that Heart Managers are 40% more likely to take supplements to prevent a health issue, and 39% more likely to take them to treat a health issue.
This increased usage may also be related to nutrient depletion fears. Heart Managers are 13% more concerned (than the general population) about nutrients being depleted from their body when they are taking prescription medicines. Since Heart Managers are more likely to be taking some type of pharmaceutical treatment, it is not surprising they are more likely to feel deficient in nutrients known to be beneficial to the heart, such as soy protein, soy isoflavones, omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, vitamin E, potassium and magnesium.
Conversely, while almost half of Heart Managers would use supplements to both treat and prevent specific heart related conditions, a third of Heart Managers readily admit to not knowing enough about VMHS to know what they should be taking. Perhaps it is understandable then that a majority have discussed supplement use with their doctors, which is 37% higher than the general population. An opportunity exists, however, with three-quarters of Heart Managers stating they would like their doctor to provide information and guidance on what supplements they should use.
In summary, heart-related conditions, including heart disease, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are among the fastest growing health conditions among men and women.
While Heart Managers are making a greater effort to take control of their health, their behaviors fall short in many areas. The opportunities for increased heart-healthy food choices and heart-specific labeling are apparent, while the need for continued education and physician guidance on heart nutrition is clearly evident.
Steve French is managing partner at The Natural Marketing Institute (NMI), a leading consultancy and research firm specializing in health and wellness. With 25 years of experience across many disciplines, French has pioneered a range of consumer databases, is a frequent speaker at many industry events, and is a published author and contributor to many U.S. and international media sources.
The data sources in this article are from NMIs Health & Wellness Trends Database (HWTD), an annual research study of 2,000+ U.S. general population consumers with seven years of trends, and NMIs Dietary Supplement Consumer Insight Database (DSCID). Both studies are nationally projectable and have a margin of error of +/-2%.
About the Author(s)
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Entrepreneurial John Kidd is back in business after opening his own town centre flower shop in the the George Shopping Centre.
Mr Kidd had previously run a flower stall from outside his home in Harrowby Road until a complaint led to South Kesteven District Council taking enforcement action against him.
The Journal reported on Mr Kidd’s efforts to keep his business afloat and last week he opened a new shop - Buster’s Blooms.
Mr Kidd said: “A lot of regulars have already turned up and it has all been positive. They have all wished me luck and I would like to thank those people who supported me in Harrowby Road for their loyalty.”
Mr Kidd, a former construction worker who has helped build countless homes throughout Grantham, has signed an initial six-month lease but is planning for the long term.
He said: “I can’t afford to let this fail. This is my livelihood for the foreeable future but I do think the business will take off.”
Hilary Pearce, manager of the George Shopping Centre, said she is only too happy to support businessmen like Mr Kidd.
She said: “We have got to get Grantham High Street thriving again - and we count ourselves as the High Street - because times are tough.
“So, hopefully, we can help by doing our bit and supporting Mr Kidd in his new venture.
Mr Kidd is equally positive about the support he has had.
She said: “Hilary has really pulled out all of the stops and done us proud.”


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Office Depot will acquire systems integration giant CompuCom for approximately $1 billion, the company announced Tuesday, in a move the office supply retailer called the beginning of its wide-scale shift into the business and technology services.
Charlotte, N.C.-based CompuCom, a solution provider that works with six of the top 10 Fortune 500 firms, gives Office Depot instant scale in the IT industry and an opportunity to tap into a $25 billion enterprise-level tech services and products market, according to Office Depot CEO Gerry Smith.
“Technology is the office supply of the future,” Smith said in a statement. “Today marks a significant milestone as we move to provide a unique business services platform for our current and future customers."
CompuCom had seen its revenue sharply decline since 2014 when it ranked as highly as No. 23 on the CRN Solution Provider 500. The company had four different CEOs during that stretch one of which was is in the IT Hall of Fame. Moody's Investor Services, meanwhile, has downgraded CompuCom's credit rating twice in the past two years. However, the company's workforce is undeniable: CompuCom maintains a team of 6,000 technicians nationwide, according to the release, and employs about 11,500 people.
"That's a big deal," said Martin Wolf, president of martinwolf M&A Advisors of Walnut Creek, Calif., one of the top channel investment advisory deal makers It's a consolidation of service and businesses. "CompuCom's business has changed over time. But they have a big robust services business, and that's interesting. Any transaction has risks. They're clearly identified. And if they execute well, they'll be fine."
Office Depot is not the first mammoth retailer to take the plunge and acquire an IT services provider. Staples bought managed service provider Thrive Networks in 2007 and electronics giant Best Buy purchased mindSHIFT in 2011. Both of those big retailers sold their respective MSPs in 2014. But more recently, Best Buy has added more in-home advisors, tech support and services personnel to help consumers solve their tech problems at home. Similarly, furniture retailer IKEA bought freelance service provider Task Rabbit so it could provide a variety of services outside of its stores.
The added revenue stream from CompuCom will help Office Depot, which merged with competitor Office Max in 2013 but was blocked by regulators from merging with competitor Staples in 2016. Office Depot said on Tuesday it is expecting to report an overall sales decline of between 7 and 8 percent for its third-quarter 2017 financial results in November.
Thomas H. Lee Partners, the private equity firm that owned CompuCom before Wednesday's sale, will hold an 8 percent equity position in Office Depot.


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Southeastern Grocers (SEG) is adding in-store prices to its delivery package — and tacking on curbside service as well.
Starting in October, customers will be able to access SEG’s proprietary new offering via app or website to take advantage of the same deals and promotions available to customers in Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets and have their groceries delivered by DoorDash in two hours or less. Curbside pickup is scheduled to roll out in early 2023. SEG’s Fresco y Más chains is slated to offer the delivery and curbside pickup options in early 2023.
“After extensive research and listening to customer feedback, we recognized there was a need for delivery and curbside pickup options that reflected the same great prices and deals shopping in our stores provide,” according to Andrew Nadin, chief customer and digital officer at Jacksonville, Fla.-based Southeastern Grocers. “We believe shopping online should be an extension of shopping your local stores, and our new offering is just that. It’s a ‘Winn’ for customers looking to save, while still enjoying the convenience of shopping from their homes or offices.”
DoorDash Drive, the delivery company’s white-label fulfillment platform, will complete orders from SEG’s new service. DoorDash first teamed up with SEG in December 2021. With the move, the retailer launched DoorDash same-day grocery delivery in as soon as 45 minutes across its retail banners.
“We are excited to expand our partnership with Southeastern Grocers to power their online fulfillment that will give consumers even more opportunities to enjoy the convenience of on-demand grocery, whether at home or on the go,” stated Shanna Prevé, vice president of business development at San Francisco-based DoorDash. “We have been working closely with SEG to grow their digital offerings and are excited to continue building our partnership to offer even more convenient and affordable options for their customers.”
Overall, Southeastern Grocers operates 423 supermarkets under the Winn-Dixie, Harveys, and Fresco y Más banners in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia and Mississippi.


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After receiving a stock delisting notice Tuesday, THQ has confirmed “up to 240 selling, general and administrative personnel worldwide,” will be laid off according to an SEC filing. “The majority of the restructuring plan is expected to be implemented by March 31, 2012, with the remainder completed by September 30, 2012.”
Along with other company directors taking a cut, THQ CEO Brian Farrell will have his base salary reduced to $359, 250 from $718,500, roughly fifty percent for one year.
THQ announced a “updated business strategy” in January to move its focus from kids’ license video games, the changes made were said not to affect its five internal studios including Relic Entertainment, Volition, and Vigil Games.
This comes after a rumor started by IGDA Mobile head Kevin Dent regarding THQ’s 2014 release calendar and the cancellation of the Warhammer 40,000 MMO Dark Millennium.


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Recent executive moves reflect key trends in entertainment licensing such as franchise development and global expansion.
Tony Lisanti, editor-in-chief, License! Global
Former Iconix executive Leigh Anne Brodsky, who served as managing director for Peanuts Worldwide for almost three years, is
and its Global Enterprises unit to help drive growth of global licensing, partnerships and live entertainment and take it to the next level. Just last week
after 21 years to head up global partnerships as executive vice president for Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group. And just two/three months ago former Disney executive
as president and
, after the short tenure of Leslie Ferraro, who resigned after moving into that position last November from Disney’s parks and resorts division.
But these recent examples of more than a dozen
, reflects several key trends along with the fundamental goal of growing the business of brand licensing. These executive changes, along with
and the continued influence of foreign investment in Hollywood particularly by Chinese corporations, underscore the enormous pressure to drive ancillary revenue, leverage new forms of content, explore new social media opportunities and build long standing global franchises. Consider the following factors:
Integration. It’s more important than ever for executives to better integrate all divisions at a studio, maximize all types of brand extensions and start to walk the walk versus talk the talk.
Partnerships. While traditional partnerships are still important, the opportunities for incremental growth along with the ability to reach new audiences, needs to come from an out-of-the-box mindset that fosters new business relationships with innovative and trendsetting companies, celebrity/personality tie-ins, et al.
Franchise Development. The need to build a bona fide longstanding franchise property is critical for studios as is the push to develop more content in multiple variations that connect with consumers far more frequently throughout the year.
Global Expansion. For the Hollywood studios, perhaps the most important country is China, where box office records continue to be set and the demand for licensed products continues to rise.
Licensing. With total retail sales of licensed products worldwide of more than
, and led by Disney at $52.5 billion, the importance of brand extensions is as strong as ever as is the demand among consumers to be a part of pop culture.
These factors are among the list of challenges and opportunities that face all these newly appointed executives from the seasoned veterans to the new names with a corner office.
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Anxiety surrounds the pending conclusion of the federal government’s “Cash for Clunkers” scrappage program as industry observers ponder its impact on near-term consumer demand and dealers impatiently wait for reimbursement.
The program, which awarded car buyers up to $4,500 if they traded in an eligible used vehicle on a new-vehicle purchase, ends Aug. 24 at 8 p.m. after generating more than 457,000 sales. But payouts have been slow, forcing dealers to front the money to close transactions.
An estimated $1.1 billion of the $3 billion earmarked for payouts has yet to trickle down from Washington, but program sponsor – the Department of Transportation – insists the money will be paid if transactions are registered before the deadline and applications for reimbursement are properly completed.
Dealers will be able to resubmit rejected applications after the deadline. The DOT says it is adding staff to cope with backlog.
Bolstered by Cash for Clunkers, officially called the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), July’s seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales hit 11.2 million in the U.S., the highest peak since September.
August results are expected to mirror July’s, but fears of a rapid sales deflation have prompted dealers to extend the program through private financing.
“The government jump-started our industry, and now the industry has jump-started the economy,” says Brian Benstock, general manager and vice president of Paragon Automotive, a New York-based retailer group. “We need to do our job keeping it going.”
More than 90% of consumers who sought rebates under CARS were ineligible and this “left a lot of consumers unsatisfied,” Paragon says in a statement.
Dealers are concerned about fallout from the program’s slow reimbursement. Thousands say they have yet to see any money from the government. Several report being owed between $2 and $3 million.
Dealer consultant Carl Woodward surveyed 153 of his clients and found they had submitted 6,887 deals, of which only 838 – or 12% – have been approved. Only 330 of those deals have been reimbursed.
More than two-thirds of the dealers have not been paid for any deals.
To help their dealers, General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC have begun providing cash advances to their dealers to cover the reimbursement delays.
Late last week, Honda Financial and Toyota Financial began allowing their dealers extra time to pay back floor-plan loans on vehicles sold under Cash for Clunkers.
The program’s impact on sales has been a welcome relief, a “lifeline to the automobile industry,” DOT Secretary Ray LaHood says in a statement. “At the same time, we’ve been able to take old, polluting cars off the road and help consumers purchase fuel efficient vehicles.”


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We love digital - Call
03332 207 677 and say hello - Mon - Fri, 9am - 5pm
Call 03332 207 677
Unlike 08 numbers, 03 numbers cost the same to call as geographic landline numbers (starting 01 and 02), even from a mobile phone. They are also normally included in your inclusive call minutes. Please note we may record some calls.
According to a recent survey commissioned by Internet Advertising Bureau UK, the amount of money invested in online advertising has risen to £1.33 billion for the first six months of this year compared to £917.2 million for the same period in 2006.
The survey goes on to suggest that UK online advertising spend could reach £2.75 billion by the end of 2007.
Such has been the growth in UK Internet advertising that it now accounts for almost 15% of all UK advertising. Again, this is a figure that most expect will continue to rise in the coming years as more businesses and individuals move over to the Internet.
57.1% of the total spent to date has been invested in paid search, or Pay per Click (PPC). With £762.3 million spent, this is a 44% increase compared to 2006.
We continue to go from strength to strength here at Koozai, and we are very proud to announce that our London branch has expanded into even bigger and better offices.
Google Tag Manager (GTM) is a powerful tool and when properly understood and implemented, can be an SEO’s best friend.
However, before you can actually begin a migration to GTM, you need to take some key steps to ensure everything goes to plan.


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Dublin, Ireland-based heavy industrial manufacturer Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR ) is laying the groundwork for spinning off its Indiana-based, Ireland-registered Allegion subsidiary.
On Tuesday, Ingersoll named Quanex Building Products (NYSE: NX ) CEO David D. Petratis as the new chairman, president, and CEO of its soon-to-spin-off Allegion subsidiary. Petratis has served as chairman, president, and CEO of Houston-based Quanex since July 2008.
In announcing Petratis' appointment, Ingersoll-Rand CEO Michael W. Lamach called him "an accomplished leader in the manufacturing and marketing of code-compliant, high-value products that are specified by architects and engineers, and used by commercial and residential builders." Lamach also expressed hope that his "vision and leadership [will] help realize Allegion's full potential."
Based in Carmel, Ind., global security products and solutions company Allegion aims to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange, using the ticker symbol ALLE. Post-spinoff, the company will boast $2 billion in annual sales of such products as steel doors and locks. This transaction is expected to take place by year's end.


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Lenovo Data Center Group (DCG) has announced the launch of the ThinkSystem SR645 and SR665 two-socket servers featuring enhanced performance and I/O connectivity for higher performance workloads.
Lenovo DCG appoints Ingram Micro as Saudi Arabia VADLenovo DCG (Data Center Group) has announced the appointment of Ingram Micro, as its value-added distributor (VAD) in the Kingdom … 0 2933
How Lenovo DCG is transforming productivity in times of remote working
Dr. Chris Cooper, Director, Data Center Group (DCG), Lenovo META, shares insights into the IT-giant’s business continuity strategy in times …
How Lenovo DCG is enabling smart cities initiatives
Deputy Editor Giorgia Guantario talked with Richard Wilcox, Regional Director – Middle East at Lenovo DCG, to discuss the organisation’s …
Why joined technologies are key to manage data explosion
Kevin Pickford, hyperconverged sales specialist, Lenovo Data Centre Group (DCG) UAE, looks into the data explosion in the Middle East and shares insights into how enterprises can cope.
Lenovo on driving business intelligent transformation
Dr. Chris Cooper, General Manager, Lenovo DCG, Lenovo META discusses the IT-giant’s plans for the future and driving the world’s …
Lenovo demos security solutions for global smart cities
Lenovo Data Center Group (DCG) is showcasing some of the company’s high-performance computing capabilities, as well as an extensive product offering designed for the ‘Intelligence Revolution’ era at Intersec 2019.


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Manitou Group, a worldwide reference in handling, aerial work platforms, and earthmoving, is launching a new website dedicated to its iconic Manitou brand. The goals of its new public website, www.manitou.com, are to increase the visibility of the Manitou brand internationally, offer a browsing experience tailored to each type of visitor, and highlight the dynamic and innovative aspects of the brand.
Manitou Group, a worldwide reference in material handling, access platforms and earthmoving machinery, announces the launch of several new machines in the Brazilian and Latin American Market. The company has the objective to gain competitiveness in those markets through an expanded product offering.
2020 Quarter 3 Activity
Haulotte Group recorded revenues of €102.4 million in the third quarter of 2020, down -23% compared with the same period last year, in a global market still heavily impacted by the Covid-19 health crisis.
At the end of September 2020, sales was €325.1 million compared with €477.9 million last year, down-32% between the two periods.
Bruno Le Maire and two other ministers - Franck Riester in charge of Foreign Trade and Alain Griset, Delegate to the Minister of the Economy - chose to visit the Klubb factory as an example of a sucessful exporting company. They officially launched the recovery plan for exportations in France during a round-table in the factory.
Manitex International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MNTX), a leading international provider of cranes and specialized industrial equipment, today announced that Joseph Doolan has been named Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Manitex International, Inc., effective October 20, 2020. Mr. Doolan, a CPA, since 1986, comes to Manitex with approximately 25 years of experience in senior financial executive roles at public industrial and financial services companies, following nine years at KPMG in its financial services practice.


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Leading the winners board in the UK this morning were Rentokil
, who announced growing sales across the business in addition to better-than expected cost savings and a strong start to 2013. The stock is testing the 100p level for the first time since Spring 2011 – up 10% on the day.
Experiencing contrasting fortunes are shareholders of Bwin.Party
who saw their stock fall aggressively on big volume at the open as the company revised their outlook for 2013. Revenues have been adversely impacted by “user experience issues” – particularly concerning given the strength of online competition in the gaming space.
In Sweden popular fashion retailer H&M
saw their stock offered marginally lower as traders responded to lower than expected like-for-like sales for the month of February. The market reaction looks kind relative to the sell-off in Spanish firm Inditex
yesterday despite their impressive numbers.
Banking stocks have come into focus this morning after both JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs came to loggerheads with the Fed over their capital strength last night
– both were warned to revise their adequacy plans by the end of Q3 this year. Adding to the pressure on JPM stock was the almost laughable approach taken by former executives at the ‘London Whale’ hearing, with everyone claiming to have been looking the other way – presumably counting their multi-million dollar salaries – whilst Bruno Iksil punted away $6bn of company funds
. Unsurprisingly, the bank find themselves at the bottom of the Dow performers list this morning…
In a more positive banking story, Bank of America
launched a welcome $5bn share buy-back that sees them top the Dow leader board in early trade.
While acknowledging the fall of Sterling
has helped UK exports since the onset of the financial crisis, Mervyn King today stressed that policy makers are not actively talking down the pound. £/$
has fallen nearly 5% since Feb 1st, and many analysts have highlighted the potential inflationary pressures that a weak currency brings for a country where the average basket of goods relies so heavily on imports. Cable was up as much as 0.3% in response.
The big question for the US Dollar
remains if and when the Fed will begin phasing out its asset purchase program. CPI figures today came in roughly in line with forecasts, indicating there is still room for the Fed to push on with monetary stimulus to try and ensure the recent US recovery remains firmly on track. This has weighed on the greenback for much of the day, with E/$
up over 0.4% by mid-afternoon, aided by Euro
strength following progress made by political heads over a rescue package for Cyprus.
looks set to post another welcome gain this week, which will make it back to back green candles for the yellow metal for the first time since January. Demand as a classic inflationary hedge seems to be picking up and Bullion refiners claim that physical demand remains strong at these levels, notably from the far-east. A report released last weekend shows that Banks have made substantial headway in reducing short positions in recent weeks, overall short exposure has dropped from 140k tonnes down to 89k tonnes since last summer.
Other notable movers were Cotton
. Cotton surged to an 11 month high on reports that China will increase imports. Estimates from the US department of Agriculture have been bumped 1.4% from the prior month. It was a supply side story for Robusta Coffee
markets, as Vietnam, the world’s largest grower of the bean, may be forced to cut exports as this years’ harvest is hampered by drought. Production is tipped to dive as much as 30%, which would be the lowest since 2006.
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Disclaimer: CMC Markets is an execution-only service provider. The material (whether or not it states any opinions) is for general information purposes only, and does not take into account your personal circumstances or objectives. Nothing in this material is (or should be considered to be) financial, investment or other advice on which reliance should be placed. No opinion given in the material constitutes a recommendation by CMC Markets or the author that any particular investment, security, transaction or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person. The material has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research. Although we are not specifically prevented from dealing before providing this material, we do not seek to take advantage of the material prior to its dissemination.


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- Maserati will release the convertible version of its MC20 supercar later this month the Italian car company revealed
- The name is MC20 Cielo which the latter part means 'sky' in Italian is a nod to it being a spyder model which obviously has a retractable roof
- The MC20 Cielo uses a carbon fibre tub and power comes from a 463kW 3,0-litre V6 engine with patented technology derived from Formula 1
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Italian sportscar company Maserati will unveil its latest model, a one-of-a-kind spyder, to the world on 25 May, they've also revealed the name: MC20 Cielo.
According to Maserati, MC stands for Maserati Corse (‘Racing’); 20 refers to 2020, the year that began the brand’s new era; Cielo (‘sky’) highlights the fact that it is a model devoted to driving pleasure.
The new spyder is a 100% made in Italy model: developed at the Maserati Innovation Lab in Modena and produced at the historic plant on Viale Ciro Menotti, as is the coupé, MotorAuthority reports.
The MC20 Cielo uses a carbon fibre tub and power comes from a 463kW 3,0-litre V6 engine with patented technology derived from Formula 1.
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The new Maserati Grecale SUV features a high performance version with an electric model due in 2023
Developed at the Maserati Innovation Lab in Modena, the new SUV is produced at the Cassino plant, Briefly News reports.
The range of engines available, includes internal combustion, hybrid and, by 2023 the Grecale will also be the first full-electric SUV in Maserati history. Three versions will be rolled out at launch: GT, powered by a four-cylinder mild-hybrid engine capable of delivering 223kW; Modena, with a four-cylinder 246kW mild-hybrid engine; and the powerful Trofeo, equipped with a high-performance 3,0-litre 395kW petrol V6 based on the Nettuno engine fitted to the MC20.
To complete the range, the Grecale Folgore, the 100% electric version with 400V technology.
Source: Briefly News


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Business Day Spotlight
PODCAST | Is the wine industry scraping the bottom of the barrel?
The sale of alcohol is banned during the Covid-19 lockdown, but wineries can still export their products
In this edition of Business Day Spotlight we take a closer look at the economic effect of the national lockdown and Covid-19 on the local wine industry.
Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Francois Bezuidenhout, a long-standing Cape Wine Master, winemaker, and spirits and wine marketing analyst to discuss the issues.
Join the discussion:
As part of the national lockdown, the government has taken a strong stance against the sale of alcohol, championed by police minister Bheki Cele. The ban has left many South Africans frustrated at not being able to buy their favourite tipple and resulted in looting of some liquor stores across the country.
But what has the situation meant for players in the wine industry, such as farmers, wineries and sales agents?
Having survived the knock of the recent drought, it’s a given that many producers have seen the ripple effects in their harvests, Bezuidenhout says. “Now, while production continues (SA farmers are considered an essential service and therefore exempt from the 21-day lockdown), trade is at a standstill, not giving further relief to the post-drought recovery.”
Bezuidenhout says the biggest worry at the moment is generating revenues. The industry understands that local sales are not feasible during this time and have opted to look for opportunities elsewhere. Some wineries are now focused on producing alcohol used in the production of sanitising products, which are in high demand because of Covid-19.
Additionally, winemakers are looking to international markets to sell their products. The SA wine industry has received permission to export its products, following intensive lobbying of the government by an an industry exporters task-team.
On Tuesday, the minister of transport gazetted new directives under the lockdown regulations to expressly permit the export of wine and other fresh produce.
Bezuidenhout says export markets are particularly attractive at the moment for local winemakers as weakness in the rand, which has breached R19/$, means producers are able to receive more money in rand for their products.
The discussion also explores the possible effects of Covid-19 on the whole wine value chain, while looking at parallels with other types of business, advice on how to stay calm during this period, and the possible recovery that may come when consumers are allowed to make purchases freely again.
For more episodes, click here.
Engage on Twitter at #BDSpotlight
• Business Day Spotlight is a MultimediaLIVE production.


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The study observed that Indian consumers have adopted new technologies and thus fundamentally modified the structure of demand.
A year after demonetisation, the season for indulgence and spending is back with a bang.
The joint study by Assocham and Resurgent pointed out that the textile sector in India accounts for 10 per cent of the country's manufacturing production.
The study said about 60 per cent of this storage capacity is spread across the states of UP, West Bengal, Gujarat and Punjab.
At present the Indian wedding industry is about Rs 1 trillion and is growing at 25 to 30 per cent annually.
Corporate India is going rather lukewarm in Diwali gifts this year, slashing the budget by at least 35-40% under this head, says an Assocham survey.
As per the ASSOCHAM latest survey reveals that overall consumer confidence has decreased from last year.
The use of smartphone has also helped its e-commerce industry to grow, said D S Rawat, Secretary General ASSOCHAM.
ASSOCHAM interacted with wholesalers, retailers, traders in cities of Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chennai, Dehradun, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow and Mumbai to estimate the demand for Chinese products across India.
The study was done by ASSOCHAM-Ashvin Parekh Advisory Services. The Mumbai-headquartered body is a global management consulting firm with footprint in India and the UK.
Implementation of goods and services tax (GST) will bring innumerable benefits for domestic manufacturers of electronic components as cost of manufacturing will be significantly brought down, noted a recent Assocham-NEC joint study.
This is the first time FSSAI has formed regulations for this category of food, which is an expanding industry in an increasingly health-conscious India.
Indian electronics market is expected to reach $400 billion by 2020 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) rate of 41% during 2017-2020, according to a joint study by ASSOCHAM and NEC.
Rising per capita incomes, growth in quick service restaurants are other key reasons for growing demand and consumption of meat in India, it said.
Apex industry body ASSOCHAM has urged the Union Government to reduce customs duty on chilled and frozen sea food from present level of 30% to 10% to bring down food inflation and satiate high demand for sea food in India
The biggest challenge faced by the Digital India programme is the slow/delayed infrastructure development.
According to the joint study, Bangalore saw the highest preference for online shopping in 2016, followed by Mumbai and Delhi.


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Thursday, June 5, 2014
Cool Clubs Partners with New York Golf Center
"We are excited to be working with a true partner in Cool Clubs," says Joshua Chervokas, Chief Operating Officer of N.Y. Golf Center. "Our company philosophies really meld well in that we are both always striving to be the best. And to this end, we have each achieved great individual success. Cool Clubs CEO Mark Timms and I are always exploring ways to improve, so I'm not just excited about the capabilities we have added now but also about the future innovations we can develop together. This partnership is great for us and for the industry as a whole, and it will be the driving force in custom fitting as we look to the future of the game."
The N.Y. Golf Center Shop was launched in summer 2008, offering discriminating players golf's most comprehensive fitting options coupled with tour caliber build, repair and customization services. To provide players an opportunity to test the latest high-end and TOUR-only products, N.Y. Golf Center features Cool Clubs proprietary fitting carts, software and frequency machines. That's just one of the many reasons it's recognized as a Golf Digest Top 100 Fitting Center and an industry leader in custom fitting.
"Our center powered by Cool Clubs fitting studios features the most comprehensive fitting and build services available," says Chervokas. "From the new player looking to get a value priced starter set or the most-demanding player seeking the best clubs money can buy, we can fill all golfers' needs to ensure their best golfing experience."
Likewise, Cool Clubs executives are elated by this new partnership. "We believe this venture with N.Y. Golf Center is an amazing opportunity for both companies," says Vito Berlingeri, Cool Clubs Marketing Director. "It's a marriage of two leaders that ultimately will provide the greatest-possible benefit to golfers.


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For a thousand bucks, a Web surfer today can book a round trip flight from New York to London in three weeks using Priceline.com – or, for the same $1,000, one could buy slightly more than a single share of Priceline.com (PCLN) stock.
How’s that for a rich bit of irony? Priceline.com, a company built on offering the lowest price for travel to distant places, is on the verge of becoming the first Standard & Poor’s 500 Index member (GSPC) to crack above a four-digit price.
Following better-than-expected earnings last Thursday, Priceline shares surged 5% higher on Friday, touching a high of $992, before settling back a bit into the $960s. That’s close enough for at least ten Wall Street analysts to place a price target of more than $1,000 on the stock, with the highest among them stretching to $1,200.
As Lauren Lyster and I discus in the attached video, there are at least three factors that have brought Priceline to this landmark level.
First is the company’s strong fundamental momentum. Led by the company’s Booking.com global hotel-reservations site in particular, Priceline earnings are on pace to rise 27% this year. Analysts project additional growth of 23% in 2014 to nearly $50 a share.
This kind of brisk profit growth has placed Priceline in a narrow elite class of coveted large-capitalization growth stocks that fetch premium valuations – but nothing like the sort of towering – or even infinite – price-to-earnings multiples that routinely were bestowed on dot-com stocks in the tech bubble of the late 1990s.
A second, and quite simple, explanation for the stock’s high nominal price is the fact that the company executed a one-for-six reverse stock split in 2003, after the shares had collapsed into the single digits in the early-2000s bear market. Adjusted for that reverse split, Priceline briefly hit a high of $974 in 1999, so the stock has made a long, dramatic round trip, making it one of the very few hot stocks of the original Internet bubble to have grown into its 1999 share price.
A final element of Priceline’s flirtation with $1,000 is the current trend for companies not to split their stock. As the Wall Street Journal’s MoneyBeat blog noted, only nine S&P 500 companies have split their shares this year, even as most trade near their historic highs. This fashion for high share prices can be seen in Google Inc. (GOOG) priced in the high $800s, MasterCard Inc. (MA) in the $630s and of course Apple Inc. (AAPL) in the $400s after having reached $700 last year.
Stock splits have always been mostly a cosmetic adjustment, the equivalent of slicing a pizza into 16 slices instead of eight. Studies have shown that they often represented a vague gesture of confidence by corporate management, while generating mostly pointless excitement among retail investors.
Yet there used to be a practical, mechanical reason to split a stock. In years gone by, small investors would get a lower trading commission if they bought a “round lot” of 100 shares, and a lower nominal stock price put such trades within more investors’ reach. These days, flat-rate online trading has removed even this consideration.
Beyond that, a high stock price has clearly become a matter of prestige among big companies, which has dragged the average price of a stock in the S&P 500 up to a record high above $70. That’s far above the $52 average at the 2007 stock-market peak, and is far above the $30-$50 average that prevailed for decades.
One small implication of this pattern: The widely cited issue of low trading volume, when measured in total shares exchanged, is not as much of an anomaly as many make it out to be. Dollar volume, thanks to all those pricey stocks, has actually been running close to its pre-financial-crisis average.
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IDF 2019 | World Dairy Summit
The prestigious event of the dairy industry took place from 23-26 September in Istanbul, Turkey. Our company participated with its Managing Director, Exports Manager and Export Executive who presented and explained the benefits that ProGnosis Biotech food safety methods provide to the dairy sector. Our innovative solutions received a positive response from the participants who showed a high interest in our products for the quantification of Aflatoxin M1 in milk and for the detection of Milk Adulteration.
We would like to thank all the people who visited our booth in the event, and we look forward to seeing them again in next year’s IDF world dairy summit in South Africa.


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The show is broadcast on more than 190 countries with models from 20 countries and I got chosen to represent my region.
Last year, the show was held in Shanghai as the US brand sought to push into China's growing lingerie market.
This year's pre-taped fashion function featured live performances by a bevy of your favorite musicians, including Shawn Mendes, The Chainsmokers, Halsey, Kelsea Ballerini, Rita Ora, Bebe Rexha and The Struts. Here's the lowdown of all the looks that went down the runway. For another round on the catwalk, she donned a tiny plaid kilt skirt with a mismatched plaid train and bra as she smiled.
Mayowa Nicholas, Nigeria's most famous model, has made her runway debut for Victoria's Secret. Harlow, a newcomer to the show, walked in sparkly silver with pink feather adornment.
"I'm going to get a burger now" is how she concluded the clapback.
At Donald Trump’s request, Jeff Sessions resigns as attorney general
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has resigned as the country's chief law enforcement officer at President Donald Trump's request. Some Democrats also considered Sessions too eager to do Trump's bidding and overly receptive to his grievances.
Lima's retirement marks the end of an era for Victoria's Secret - the model has been walking for the label since the year 2000, and has become synonymous with its glamorous, aspirational image.
The 28-year-old singer was joined in the front row by Bella's mom Yolanda. The crowd present rose to its feet and cheered for the supermodel at her last but grand VS show. "I think other girls see us and they maybe wish they had a sister, but me and Bella always are taking new sisters on a daily basis".
"It's interesting because I've been pretty open with my experience with Hashimoto's Disease, my thyroid problem", she stated.
Sharing photos from her dressing room on her Instagram page, Mayowa said, "What a day!"


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Faster, sharper — and pricier.
Apple is expected to wow tech geeks today with a new iPad that boasts a more powerful processor, a higher-resolution screen and, possibly, the capability to run on super-fast 4G LTE data networks.
A beefed-up quad-core processor chip and a high-definition “retina display” inside the iPad — whose brand is the No. 1 tablet in the world — will fuel dazzlingly crisp images and video. With a screen resolution said to be 2,048 by 1,536 pixels, the next iPad, some Apple watchers predict, will be called the “iPad HD” instead of the “iPad3.”
Apple, as usual, is not commenting on any aspect of a new iPad.
A 4G data network, however, could be a tough sell.
In addition to straining the capacity of Verizon and AT&T, high-speed data will come with a monthly bill too high for most consumers.
“The network providers have yet to say what prices will be, but I’m sure they’ll go up significantly,” says Patrick Socci, dean of Hofstra University’s Zarb Business School.
That, in turn, will limit the number of users that opt for the 4G service, Socci says. Indeed, the most popular iPad by far has been its entry-level version, which is limited to accessing Wi-Fi networks.
Accordingly, some analysts fret that the iPad, whose cheapest model sells for $499, will remain vulnerable to the torrid growth of Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet, which retails for $199.
Investors will be closely watching CEO Tim Cook, who will host his second major product launch for Apple since he took the reins last year. In October, Cook unveiled the iPhone 4S, disappointing Apple fans and investors who had been expecting a flashier iPhone 5.
There have also been rumors that Apple will unveil a smaller, so-called “Mini iPad” today to compete with Amazon’s Kindle.


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Lately-unloved fashion brand Ted Baker (TED) is being looked over by Sycamore Partners regarding a possible buyout of the UK company. The US private equity firm confirmed on Friday (18 March 2022) that it is in the ‘early stages’ of a possible cash offer for the London-headquartered clothing retailer.
Shares in Ted Baker jumped more than 20% to 119.5p after the confirmation, having rallied 10% during the previous days’ trading session as rumours first began circulating around the City. Yet the share price remains far below the near-£30 levels at which they traded back in 2015.
RETAIL BUYOUT SPECIALIST
Sycamore has built a reputation as a retail buyout specialist, having previously owned upmarket footwear brand Kurt Geiger. The private equity firm is also is thought to be targeting US department store chain Kohl’s in a joint bid with Canadian department store operator Hudson’s Bay.
Responding to Sycamore’s announcement, Ted Baker confirmed it has not received any approach from Sycamore and insisted it ‘continues to make good progress with its transformation’ and is emerging from Covid as ‘a stronger and more financially sustainable business.’
Ted Baker also expressed confidence in its prospects as an independent business and said it would evaluate any offer ‘against the strong shareholder value creation that it believes can be delivered as a standalone company.’
In February, Ted Baker said sales in the final quarter to 29 January 2022 were up 35% year-on-year despite headwinds from Omicron and confirmed it is on track to meet its full year 2023 targets of £30 million free cash flow and an EBITDA margin of 7%-to-10%.
Marc Dench, formerly of fellow clothing retailer Joules (JOUL:AIM), joined as the company’s new finance director earlier this month.
WHAT THE EXPERTS ARE SAYING
Shore Capital highlighted Ted Baker’s positioning as a ‘British lifestyle brand with a very accessible price point in the luxury goods space’, which it believes the retailer ‘a highly competitive stance.’
Addressing the takeover interest, the broker sees ‘the potential for read-across to other UK lifestyle brands, Superdry (SDRY) and Joules,’ whose shares were up 2.7% to 169.4p and 3.9% to 54p respectively in early dealings.
Shore Capital said it would not be surprised if private equity firms targeted these brands, now in what the broker calls ‘deep value territory.’
‘It looks like someone might bring an end to Ted Baker’s horrific time as a listed company, said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
‘Sycamore appears to have spotted an opportunity to step in and buy the company while its valuation remains low and to help with the recovery efforts.
‘Ted Baker’s latest trading update shows an acceleration in sales growth, improved margins, a small year-end net cash position and encouraging comments from the management. That’s encouraging but the market has yet to be won over by the numbers, so Sycamore must be putting a lot of faith in the company’s turnaround potential.
‘There are major headwinds over the coming months for retailers given the inflationary pressures on family finances. Therefore, acquiring Ted Baker now could come with additional challenges beyond those which have already shaken the business for years.’
DISCLAIMER: Financial services company AJ Bell referenced in this article owns Shares. The author (James Crux) and Steven Frazer, who edited this story, own shares in AJ Bell.