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- Net Element, Inc. shares registered an initial increase of over 300 percent after the announcement of a new blockchain unit
- The project will be executed in partnership with Bunker Capital
- Net Element’s move follows several similar announcements and the growth of the cryptocurrency market to over $600 billion in December 2017
Net Element, Inc. (NASDAQ: NETE) saw an increase in shares of over 300 percent on December 19, 2017, after the company announced the launch of a new blockchain-based business unit. Eventually, the initial increase slowed down, but company shares were still up around 254 percent at the time of Market Insider’s report the next day (http://nnw.fm/Pof7m).
Net Element is a technology-driven enterprise aimed at developing specialized mobile payment solutions and transaction services. Some of the company’s key developments include restaurant point of sale solutions, retail and mobile point of sale solutions, analytical tools, sales partner solutions, online payment tools and mobile transaction technologies.
The blockchain-focused business unit will become a decentralized ecosystem that will establish the framework for the provision of new Net Element value-added services. Blockchain technology will be relied on to establish the direct connection between a buyer and a merchant. Thus, the efficiency and simplicity of transactions in the system will increase.
Additionally, Net Element has announced that the new unit will invest in new projects aimed at decentralizing payment processes. These projects will preferably combine real world applications and blockchain cryptocurrencies to address a growing market need.
In November 2017, the global cryptocurrency market surpassed the $300 billion mark (http://nnw.fm/0MV3i). The new development was the result of a massive surge in the price of bitcoin, as well as ethereum. As of December, the market capitalization for cryptocurrencies reached $600 billion, a remarkable surge from $17 billion in January 2017 (http://nnw.fm/MBY7w). The rapid upward shift is demonstrative of the growing interest in blockchain adoption and cryptocurrency payments.
Experts predict that major cryptocurrencies are here to stay (http://nnw.fm/eDv8p). Some also suggest that brand new cryptocurrencies will enter the big game in 2018 and beyond. While it’s impossible to determine how many blockchain protocols will survive and thrive, the market still has room available for new players.
Net Element CEO Oleg Firer said that we’re currently at the dawn of an evolution that focuses on innovative digital payment methods. The creation of the company’s new blockchain unit will increase transparency and compliance assurance. The unit will also enable the provision of value-added services to over 20 million ecommerce clients that are already relying on Net Element services.
The deployment of Net Element’s blockchain technology unit will occur in partnership with Bunker Capital – a company that describes itself as a cryptocurrency pioneer. The company’s range of services includes preparation and promotion of ICOs, as well as strategic investment banking and consulting in the field of cryptocurrency adoption. Bunker Capital CEO Remy Jacobson said in a news release that the company is looking forward to its joint project with Net Element for the purpose of developing innovative blockchain solutions in the payment industry.
Net Element’s announcement isn’t the first one in the field of blockchain technology adoption. A Chinese company called Future Fintech Group (NASDAQ: FTFT) previously announced that it will be making a switch from selling juices to cryptocurrency financial technology development. Company shares saw an almost immediate increase of 221 percent.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.NetElement.com
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Internet ad sales house DoubleClick has won the contract to sell advertising for Freeserve, the Dixons Group-backed venture now vying with AOL to be Britain’s biggest Internet service provider.
DoubleClick will begin rolling out ad sales for Freeserve over the next few weeks.
The sales house aims to establish the site as one of the UK’s top single online advertising properties, which will be sold by a dedicated team directed by DoubleClick UK’s managing director Andy Mitchell.
Mark Danby, general manager of Freeserve, predicts that paid-for ISPs will face increasing pressure from the launch of other free services in 1999.
According to Mitchell, Freeserve offers advertisers the opportunity to get in touch with a different type of Internet user: “Forty-two per cent of Freeserve users are new to the Internet, 50 per cent are earning 19,000 or less – meaning that Freeserve doesn’t just offer access to high-earning households,” says Mitchell.
“Freeserve is expanding the market and the demographic user base. Its user base is a truer reflection of the consumer market,” he adds. “That’s great for attracting consumer brands, and I believe there will be pressure on sites to offer a broader demographic, so that companies such as Unilever and Procter & Gamble can get into this market.”
Both Danby and Mitchell accept that the strength of Freeserve’s appeal in the online advertising market depends on whether it can maintain traffic on Freeserve. Improving the content of the site is a priority: “We are expecting to have 20 channels by early next year, including travel, money, motoring, and education content,” says Danby.
“We hope to encourage people not to change their Freeserve default homepage. But as there are not really that many other UK-focused portal sites, we should be successful.”

domain: news


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Rumors are circulating that Chinese travel service provider Ctrip is in negotiations to buy China Auto Rental (CAR) to expand its car rental business.
On February 18, Chinese travel service provider Ttrip.com renewed its special cancellation policy for all the travel products on the platform.
According to Tencent News, Ctrip plans to return to Hong Kong for a secondary listing and has recently approached a number of Chinese and foreign investment banks.
On November 6, Ctrip Group, a Chinese online travel service provider announced a strategic partnership with American travel website TripAdvisor, expanding their global cooperation.
Chinese travel service provider Ctrip announced yesterday that it will be launching an overseas ride-hailing service on its app to help Chinese tourists on their travels outside of China.


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Tokyo Stock Exchange
News about Tokyo Stock Exchange, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.
ARTICLES ABOUT THE TOKYO STOCK EXCHANGE
Japan’s largest manufacturer of nonalcoholic drinks priced its offering at the lower end of the indicated range, but the deal still ranks as the biggest I.P.O. in Asia this year.
June 24, 2013, Monday
The interest rate charged by lenders has been going down for most of the time since the early 1980s, but there are signs that will not last.
June 11, 2013, Tuesday
The company is said to be looking to raise $4.8 billion by listing Suntory Beverage and Food, in what is expected to be Asia’s biggest initial public offering this year.
May 29, 2013, Wednesday
A BANKRUPTCY PLAN The Eastman Kodak Company announced on Thursday that it would sell its legacy film units and focus on commercial printing services as part of its plan to emerge from bankruptcy protection. The company added that it was still in...
August 24, 2012, Friday
The Tokyo exchange said it had received tenders totaling 80 percent of the Osaka exchange, above the 67 percent it had sought.
August 23, 2012, Thursday
A Japanese investigation into insider trading has extended onto the trading floors of some of Wall Street's largest companies, including Goldman Sachs.
August 2, 2012, Thursday
Olympus will not be kicked off the Tokyo Stock Exchange, but it must pay a fine for covering up massive losses with false accounting, exchange officials said.
January 21, 2012, Saturday
Olympus avoided delisting by the Tokyo Stock Exchange by posting the more than $1 billion in losses at the center of a decades-long cover-up.
December 15, 2011, Thursday
Shares of Nexon, the Japanese online game maker, slid 2.3 percent in their debut on Wednesday. The first-day performance of the company, which went public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, may be a troubling harbinger for Zynga, which is set to begin...
December 14, 2011, Wednesday
The company has cleared the first hurdle to avoiding expulsion from the Tokyo Stock Exchange, but a final decision may still be months away.


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Marabu donates disinfectant made in-house to regional hospitals
Print Solutions: Positive About Print
As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, hospitals and other organisations urgently require disinfectant and personal protective equipment (PPE).
Marabu, headquartered in Tamm, Germany, has therefore converted selected production assets to the manufacture of disinfectant – using equipment normally dedicated to digital printing inks. With the outstanding commitment of its employees, the company has formulated a hand and surface sanitiser that meets WHO standards. The enterprise is giving some of the products to its own staff, but donating the vast majority free of charge to the RKH hospital in the nearby city of Ludwigsburg.
York Boeder, CEO of Marabu, said: ‘With this donation, we want to help those people who are working selflessly and beyond their limits to provide outstanding care to our fellow citizens.’
In addition to producing its own disinfectant, Marabu’s international subsidiaries have provided over 2000 protective masks, including highly sought after FFP2 masks. These will also be donated to the hospital. Furthermore, the company will provide a wide range of its Creative Colours – including markers and paints for arts and crafts – to the day care centre and playroom at the children’s wing at the RKH in Ludwigsburg. These materials can be used to colour the protective masks and decorate them with bright and uplifting designs. This can help make the masks less intimidating for young patients – plus, a colourful mask can put a smile on the faces of doctors and nurses, too.
Alexander Tsongas, director of communication at RKH, is delighted with the donation and local support. ‘Faced with the current, very difficult market for disinfectant and protective equipment, we are very grateful for any help. It is wonderful that companies in the region are doing their part in the fight against Covid-19.’
Assuming the availability of the raw materials, much more will be manufactured at the main production site in Tamm in the coming weeks.


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Forever games, a relatively new genre and business model that aims to monopolize players' attention over an extended period of time, present unique challenges for game developers. Diablo IV, an action RPG that debuted in June, has already begun its second “season” of new content. This constant demand for new content requires developers to work nonstop to keep up with player expectations.
Rod Fergusson, producer of Diablo IV and veteran game developer, explains how studios manage these brutal schedules. The industry has shifted from releasing a game and moving on to working on patches or expansions. Now, studios need to have dedicated teams for creating new content, bug fixes, and expansions. This leapfrogging approach ensures a steady stream of updates to keep players engaged.
The advantage of forever games is their predictability and stability. Studios can continue working on a game for years after its initial launch. However, it also means that developers may be working on the same game for several years, which can be mentally taxing.
Gaming habits have also evolved. Players now expect longer investments in games, treating them as hobbies and lifestyles. This shift in player behavior comes with a sense of entitlement, and developers have to manage player expectations better. Constant feedback from players through social media platforms can be overwhelming and difficult to navigate.
Forever games also face the challenge of balancing the needs of long-term players with those of newcomers. Catering to everyone's preferences simultaneously is nearly impossible. Developers must make strategic decisions to prioritize certain player groups while hoping to attract new players to replace any disenchanted long-term players.
The key to success for forever games lies in having a long-term vision for the health of the game, adapting to player feedback, and maintaining open communication with the community. By managing expectations and providing transparent updates, developers can mitigate potential backlash and ensure the longevity of their games.
– Gamescom demonstration and interview with Rod Fergusson, producer of Diablo IV


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Yesterday EA announced a new premium service, coming exclusively to Xbox One. Dubbed “EA Access”, it will allow users to browse and play a growing selection of the publisher’s “biggest games”, all for the low cost sum of £3.99 a month.
When the announcement went live, my immediate reaction was sorely apathetical. Over the years EA has built a reputation for itself when it comes to putting the rinse on a gamer’s finances, from ridiculous in-app purchases in its mobile division to championing the now-defunct “online pass” system. Given its track record, to me, Access sounded like yet another scheme to get players to part with their cash. However, upon further inspection, Access could actually be one of the smartest and most gamer-friendly things EA has ever come up with.
So, how does it actually work? Well, for £3.99 a month (or £19.99 a year) users can browse The Vault, a library of EA games for Xbox One that can be downloaded and played straight away. Though comparable to PlayStation Plus and Games with Gold, it sounds as if The Vault will continue to grow as opposed to cycling new games in and out every month or so.
Currently EA Access is in beta and already offers users five games including Battlefield 4, Madden NFL 25, Peggle 2, and FIFA 14. As the publisher fairly points out, these games would cost you over £70 combined, whether brought in-store or via download. Meanwhile a year’s access to these titles would cost less than a third of that. Even if you were to buy physical copies and trade them in later, you still can’t beat that price.
The biggest problem with EA Access, though common similar services, is that the service won’t include new releases. So, if you’re stoked for Dragon Age III or Battlefield: Hardline, you’re still going to have to pay full price at retail or make use of the service’s 10% discount across all EA digital content.
Arguably, users could simply wait for months on end until these games eventually appear in The Vault, but then that begs the question: who is really benefiting the most from Access? Well, it certainly isn’t EA’s most loyal and devoted fans, especially for those who pick up the publisher’s titles on day one. For them The Vault holds no value, the best case scenario being a slew of digital discounts on already-overpriced games as well as limited-time trials to new releases.
No, who EA really seem to be going for are the casual sector, riding on the success of similar services such as PlayStation Plus and even Netflix. These are typically the sort of gamers who aren’t too fussed about staying on top of new releases and will happily slap down $30 a year just to root around The Vault. As long as EA continues to update this library of free games periodically, for them, Access will continue to provide excellent value.
For the publisher it’s a win-win situation. Within a year of launching, games like FIFA, NFL, and even Battlefield rapidly lose value as they are quickly usurped by the next annual instalment. Therefore, making these game free for Access subscribers isn’t going to put a dent in the publisher’s profits. There’s also a good chance that, for example, after playing Battlefield 4 via Access, a member could then be tempted into buying a new copy of Hardline when that comes out. Whether brought in-store or through Xbox Live, it’s still a sale for EA, regardless. The only other disadvantage to EA Access is what the service means for Xbox’s Games with Gold. The likely result is that titles featured in The Vault won’t cross over with Microsoft’s own monthly offerings.
There’s also the question of the effect it will have on EA’s participation in PlayStation Plus, which currently plays host to Dead Space 3 and has previously seen the likes of Battlefield 3. A Sony representative saying this morning that EA Access is not on PlayStation because, in the face of PS+, they “don’t think asking our fans to pay an additional $5 a month for this EA-specific program represents good value to the PlayStation gamer.” It’s a rather strong statement, and one that could sour a working relationship, but it also takes the ability to make an informed choice out of consumers’ hands.
Overall, Access isn’t an entirely surprising move from EA though one that will be interesting to watch as the service is rolled out in the United States and Europe in the coming months. Though some will be eager to see it fall flat on its face, there will no doubt be others who genuinely benefit from what it has to offer. Will you signing up Access when it comes out? What do you think of Sony’s stance and would you like to see it on PlayStation 4? Be sure to let us know what you think the comments below.


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Some BC First Nations leaders say they have become frustrated with the lacklustre enforcement of provincial rules for cannabis businesses operating on First Nations land.
Leaders with Williams Lake First Nation (WLFN), which operates four cannabis stores as well as a micro cultivation facility in BC’s interior region, say they are concerned with the un-level playing field created by the province’s policy of not enforcing provincial cannabis regulations for businesses operating on First Nations land.
“WLFN is extremely concerned about the ongoing proliferation of unregulated cannabis businesses on First Nations lands,” says Kirk Dressler, the Director of Legal and Corporate Services with the WFLN and the CEO of both Nations’ Unity Cannabis and Sugar Cane Cannabis.
Although many assume that businesses that operate on First Nations land are Indigenous-owned and benefit the communities, Dressler argues the truth is much less rosy.
“Many (if not most) of these businesses are owned and operated by non-Indigenous individuals who are exploiting the protection afforded by an assertion of sovereignty with respect to First Nation Reserve Lands. Most of these unregulated businesses have no standards in place for testing, no systems for keeping records, and no monitoring of any kind to ensure that products aren’t being sold to youth and children. And disturbingly, there is often a link to organized crime.”
Although WLFN did not participate in a recent lawsuit from 14 different BC cannabis retailers, they say they sympathize with the intent of the suit and share the same frustrations expressed by those businesses who argue the province has failed to uphold their own rules and regulations. They have also recently sent a letter to the BC government outlining their concerns with the lack of enforcement.
“WLFN is not surprised that retailers in the Okanagan have taken the drastic step of commencing legal action against the Province of British Columbia,” continued Dressler in an email to StratCann. “Like the plaintiffs in that case, WLFN has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal cannabis retail infrastructure in the Okanagan, and has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars more as a result of the way the Province is operationalizing its legal framework.”
Dressler argues that if the government is going to seek to help First Nations in the cannabis space, they should be better assisting those operating within the legal framework rather than turning a blind eye to those operating outside of it.
“To be clear on our line of thinking—the province has previously (and repeatedly) maintained that provincial laws are laws of general application and that the CCLA and CDA apply on reserve. So we’re left to assume that the lack of enforcement has more to do with reconciliation, respect for Indigenous communities and a desire to see the advancement of Indigenous business than it does with jurisdiction.
“But if reconciliation and the advancement of Indigenous business is the goal, aren’t Unity Cannabis and Sugar Cane Cannabis (as genuine 100% indigenous-owned enterprises) companies that should be shown the greatest deference by the Province?”
While the provincial government is largely ignoring many of these unlicensed operators as long as they operate on First Nations land, he says legal businesses face an enormous amount of oversight and legal scrutiny.
“All the energy and effort with respect to compliance and enforcement has been directed at licensed operators, while the Province has chosen to do nothing with respect to those who are operating in the grey market (particularly on First Nation Lands). This isn’t a matter of a “policy decision”—there is a law in place, and it seems relatively clear. The Province has simply made operational decisions not to take enforcement action.”
BC’s Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth has also acknowledged this approach. While the province, he explained in 2020, takes the position that BC’s Cannabis Act is a “law of general application” that applies to all of British Columbia, including First Nations’ land, Farnworth says there is a concern that this interpretation could be “tested” by actions such as enforcement.
“With cannabis, like a number of other issues when it comes to First Nations, our view, the province’s view, is that yes, they are laws of general application,” said the Minister. “Just as with some other issues, First Nations have said, ‘No. These are areas of our jurisdiction,’ and that’s both at the provincial level and at the federal level.”
“On numerous occasions, these are often tested in court, sometimes with a decision that, yes, they do come under First Nations jurisdiction, and that has far-reaching effects.”
Christina Clarke, the Corporate Executive Officer for the Songhees Development Corporation, which operates a provincially-licensed cannabis retail store on Songhees land, says the issue is complex and often misunderstood by the general public and by those in Canada’s Indigenous community.
Although Clarke says she doesn’t oppose the different approaches taken by some First Nations in BC in regard to cannabis production and sale, she says that the province’s lack of enforcement of their own laws has created an unlevel playing field for First Nations like Songhees that have opted to work within the legal framework.
“Because of the respect First Nations have for the autonomy of other First Nations—they have the right to take a stand in that way and they have the right to put that forward as their position—but it can damage the business of those of us working in this industry on the regulated side. So we will benefit if those are shut down or made to bring their products into regulatory compliance. It will put us all on an even playing field.”
And while Clarke says she sympathizes with the “sovereignty” argument, she highlights that there is no court precedent for that when it comes to cannabis. Such approaches, she argues, could actually damage overall sovereignty arguments—something she says she’s heard from legal counsel for other First Nations.
“You can’t argue that you were selling cannabis before and so we can do it now. You can’t claim that. And if you try to stretch that, you kind of damage the things where you legitimately can claim that.”


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3600 POSTS4 COMMENTS
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Carnival Imagination has become the third Carnival cruise ship to be beached in Turkey and will now be scrapped.
Major update from Disney Cruise Line as an extension is announced on suspended cruises and the delay of its new cruise ship.
Royal Caribbean owned cruise brands have announced the suspension of all sailings for the Australia and New Zealand region until 2021.
The Carnival Imagination has completed her long journey across the Atlantic to Turkey where she will be beached and scrapped.
Carnival Cruise Line has released 16 new construction photos from inside the new Mardi Gras cruise ship at the shipyard.
PortMiami continues to support the cruise industry which is in crisis due to the global health pandemic and the suspension of operations.
Odyssey of the Seas which is a new cruise ship under construction for Royal Caribbean has her huge name painted across the hull.


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In response to a new state law significantly limiting cities in how they regulate sidewalk vendors, the Walnut Creek City Council on Monday will discuss proposed new regulations.
The proposed new regulations would require permits for “all stationary and roaming vendors selling food or merchandise from a non-motorized cart, stand or other conveyance, or from one’s person, on a public sidewalk or public pedestrian path” within the city of Walnut Creek.
To this point, Walnut Creek municipal code has prohibited commercial sales on streets and sidewalks except for permitted special events, newspaper racks and certain restaurant outdoor dining facilities. City code also regulates “itinerant merchants” selling goods or services from a structure, street, vehicle or other places on a temporary basis; this may include sidewalk vendors.
But as of Jan. 1, Senate Bill 946 amended California law to limit cities’ ability to regulate sidewalk vendors. The bill decriminalized sidewalk vending activities and afforded additional protections to vendors against local regulations.
Monday’s special Walnut Creek City Council meeting begins at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 1666 N. Main St.


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The media continually creates buzz around the latest diets, especially when it comes to weight loss. Currently under the spot light at the moment is the Paleo Diet, where one eats more like our ancient ancestors by cutting out processed foods, starch (including grains) and sugar. Then eats a much more natural diet with good sources of fat, protein and veg with some fruit.
I’ve been eating like this for years and if people want to call it a Paleo Diet then that’s fine by me. The problem is, when people begin to label a way of eating like Paleo Diet or Caveman Diet, it can be easy to assume it’s a fad and can be ignored or dismissed immediately.
When eating a paleo style diet, you’ve already cut out the gluten so your diet is gluten free. Along with this, the foods you are now eating do not stimulate blood sugars levels so you produce lower blood sugar. In my mind, over consumption of sugar is one of the main contributors to speed up the ageing process and chronic diseases.
A recent article in the SMH said this:
A study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that after only 10 days on a paleo diet, subjects had physiological and metabolic benefits that included reduced blood pressure, lower levels of total cholesterol and lower blood sugars after ingestion of glucose. If continued it would reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
In another three-month study, the paleo diet improved glycaemic control and cardiovascular risk factors in subjects with type 2 diabetes, compared with a conventional diabetes diet. The diet also has anti-inflammatory benefits thanks to high levels of mono-unsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids.
If you are wanting to embrace a more Paleo Diet based lifestyle, do your homework first so you fully understand the concepts thoroughly. Combine this with an exercise routine and you are onto a winning strategy in my view. You don’t have to train like an Olympian… Just start!
Look at the CrossFit community. They promote a Paleo Diet along with they exercise regime, and the results of some of these people is amazing. Check out Frank Sabia Jr. & his blog article- My Primal Transformation: Discovering the art of fit. Simply awesome!!
I can highly recommend you start with the books below too:
You can read the full SMH article here.


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Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, has said Berlin will be the site of its first European processing plant as the carmaker’s extension prepares.
Mr Musk said the firm would likewise fabricate a building and configuration focus in the German capital.
Tesla recently said it intended to begin creation in Europe in 2021.
The moves come as the firm, which has additionally put intensely in a Chinese production line, faces increasing challenge in the electric vehicle industry.
Mr Musk made the declaration at an honors function in Germany on Tuesday.
“Everyone knows that German engineering is outstanding and that’s part of the reason we are locating our Gigafactory Europe in Germany,” they said.
Mr Musk said the office would be situated close to the new Berlin air terminal and later gave more subtleties on what the processing plant would deliver on Twitter.
The attention on Germany comes in the midst of rising hunger for electric vehicles in Europe.
Over the coming years, the greatest electric vehicle creation plants will be in Germany, France, Spain and Italy, industry examination appeared.
Approximately 16 enormous scale lithium-particle battery cell plants are affirmed or because of start activities in Europe by 2023.
Tesla’s European arrangement comes as the carmaker additionally pushes forward with a $2bn (£1.6bn) production line in Shanghai.
The firm is hoping to increase creation in China, the world’s greatest vehicle advertise, where deals have been harmed by levies activated by the US-China exchange war.
The Shanghai office will deliver Model 3 and Model Y autos. The automaker purportedly flaunted its new China-made vehicles to neighborhood media this week.
All things considered, Tesla has battled with long periods of misfortunes, fuelling financial specialist questions and throwing a shadow over its offers lately.
The firm still can’t seem to turn a yearly benefit, despite the fact that it recorded positive outcomes in the last two fourth of 2018.
A year ago, Tesla found a way to slice cost, eliminating a huge number of positions and getting control over other spending.
Amber Wilson is working in England as a medical doctor. She has deep knowledge about medication, health, how to live well and genetics. She writes articles about that medication field as a part-time service which is required to needy people. In recent months, most of her writing has been in collaboration with Medic Insider.
Disclaimer: The views, suggestions, and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Empire Gazette USA journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.


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Shareholders also gained in high-royalty firms
Given that shareholders always want more, it is not surprising that Institutional Investor Advisory Services (IIAS) has put out a catchily-titled note—Royalty flows in Suzuki’s blood—arguing that Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan is charging its Indian subsidiary Maruti Suzuki India Limited too much royalty. Over the past 15 years, IIAS says, royalty paid per car has grown 6.6 times while average sales realisation per car has risen only 1.6 times. In the last 5 years, IIAS says, Maruti’s profit before tax was Rs 16,770 crore while its royalty payment was Rs 11,870 crore—in FY15 alone, royalty expenses added up to a whopping 36% of Maruti’s profit before tax and royalty. Combine this with the fact that Maruti alone accounts for 40% of Suzuki’s profits, and it does seem like a royal rip-off.
One of the reasons for this given by Maruti’s management is that, with the royalties negotiated in yen, the rupee depreciation has added to the burden. Between FY09 and FY15, for instance, Maruti’s royalty-to-sales have risen from 3.3% to around 5.9%, or an increase of 1.7 times—the fact that the rupee depreciated by 1.2 times during this period is therefore a big factor in the increase in royalties. Which is why, Maruti has now negotiated a new agreement whereby, for new models produced after FY18, royalties will be paid in rupees—that, in a sense, is a tacit acknowledgment of the fact that IIAS has a point. While it is likely Suzuki will hike the royalty rates to take into account the exchange rate risk, the real issue is whether Suzuki, or other MNCs for that matter, is over-charging on royalty. IIAS argues that while Suzuki’s consolidated R&D spending is around 4% of sales—this includes motorcycles—it is charging Maruti royalty at around 6% of sales.
This is where the arguments being made are a bit one-sided. For one, given that motorcycles have lower R&D, it is very possible Suzuki’s passenger car R&D is around 5-6% of sales, a number not too different from the royalty Maruti is paying—indeed, that is also the R&D spending for most auto majors globally. There should, in any case, be no doubt that Maruti would not be the market leader had it not been for the technology Suzuki is supplying it—that is why, Maruti’s PAT margin has risen from 6% in FY09 to 7.6% in FY15, and that is after all royalty payments. Indeed, if Suzuki was ripping off Maruti to the extent being suggested, it is a bit odd that institutional shareholders, both foreign as well as domestic ones, have hiked their stake in Maruti from 23.9% in March 2010 to 30.1% in September 2015, or that Maruti’s share price has more than trebled in this period. Indeed, as our lead story argues today, while royalty payments by top MNC-subsidiary stocks have gone up by 15% (ABB) per annum to 34% (HUL) in the last six years, the stocks have appreciated by anywhere between 20% (ABB) per year to 44% (Glaxo). Which is why, in most cases, these firms are trading much higher earnings multiples than their local counterparts—though not strictly comparable since they are in different segments of the automobile market, Maruti’s trailing PE multiple is 35 as compared to 23 and 9 for M&M and Tata Motors, respectively.
Despite the hue and cry over royalty payments by Indian subsidiaries of multinational companies, these companies have rewarded shareholders handsomely with not just large capital appreciation but also generous dividends. While stocks such as Hindustan Unilever (HUL) and Maruti Suzuki have outperformed the markets by a wide margin in the last couple of years, the stocks have sustained the performance even over longer periods. In the six years to March 2015, for instance, the quantum of royalty they paid increased by 15% to 34%. But top MNC subsidiary stocks have appreciated by anywhere between 20% and 46% compounded.
The pace of outflows on account of royalty slowed last year — aggregate royalty-linked expenses of the top 15 India-listed subsidiaries of MNCs increased by 11.3% to RS 4,754 crore compared with a growth of 12.8% reported in the previous year. While for most companies the cost paid to the parent firms for sharing technology, know-how, processes and brand or trade names went up anywhere between 7% and 20% in 2014-15, HUL reported the highest growth of 38% in such expenses to RS 751 crore or 2.3% of net sales.
Maruti Suzuki, for instance, raised royalty payments to its parent during the quarter ended June 2010, and its stock value fell partly also because the company failed to meet earnings estimates. However, since then the stock has not just hit multiple new highs, it has more than trebled in value. And institutional investors have upped their take in the carmaker by about 6% from 23.9% to 30.1% between March 2010 and September 2015. The stock continues to trade at a steeper valuation premium to listed competitors like Mahindra and Mahindra and Tata Motors, commanding trailing PE multiple of 35 times as against 23 and 9 for M&M and Tata Motors, respectively.
Since FY09, Maruti’s royalty-to-sales have risen from 3.3% to around 5.9%, or an increase of 1.7 times — but during this period, its top line has nearly doubled. Much of the hike, Maruti’s management has clarified, is due to the sharp fluctuation in the value of yen, the currency in which the royalties are denominated.
During the same period, the yen moved from 46 paise to 56 paise, or a change of 1.2 times. Which is why, in September last year, Maruti announced it would pay royalty in rupees from FY18 onwards for all new models made at the Gujarat plant.
In 2013, ahead of the new Companies Act coming into effect, MNC subsidiaries announced hikes in their royalties, irking proxy advisory firms who claimed it was unfair to minority shareholders since it might impact dividend payouts. HUL, for instance, said it would, over five years between February 2013 and March 2018, raise royalty payments to its parent, the Anglo-Dutch Unilever Group, from 1.4% to 3.15%. The Street promptly dumped the stock, which lost more than 7% of its value in a single session. However, any shareholder who sold the stock believing the higher royalty outflows would hurt dividends would have lost a small fortune. Soon thereafter in April, Unilever announced a buyback to up its stake in HUL to 75%, infusing $5.4 billion, sending the stock soaring 25% in a single session. Against a 34% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) in royalty payments for the six years since FY09, the HUL stock has gained a compounded 24%.
Royalty and technical fees rose fairly sharply in FY10-11 after the government removed the cap of 5% of domestic sales and 8% on exports in April 2010 with retrospective effect from December 2009. Now, taxes on such payments are set to fall from FY16. So far royalty and technical know-how fees have attracted an income tax of 25% but that will now come down to 10%. However, there are some MNC subsidiaries that may not be materially impacted since the countries that their parent entities are located in have double taxation avoidance agreements with India.
As SP Singh, senior director, Deloitte India, says, the government is generally wary of substantial outflows that can take place through royalty and technical fees even though it wants the finest manufacturing capabilities to come to India. The tax authorities remain watchful MNC subsidiaries don’t resort to royalty payments as a way to avoid dividend distribution tax, given there is a differential in the rates.
For instance, the Union Budget has fixed basic tax rates for royalty at 10% and that for dividend distribution at 17.7%. After the grossing up, effective DDT rate turns out to be more than 20% whereas the highest royalty tax rate for a domestic company with more than Rs 10 crore of revenue will be around 11.5%.
Singh believes it is difficult to assess to what extent the technology or processes covered under the royalty agreement contribute to growth of the Indian business qualitatively or quantitatively. “There are no set guidelines for royalty, which is what leads to disputes,” he said.
Analysts argue that since it hard to fully gauge how much the technology and processes for which royalty is paid boost revenues and profits, the performance of the MNC subsidiary must be assessed relative to the peer group. They point out, for example, that competitors Dabur and Emami have returned 32% and 57% compounded between FY06-FY15.
It’s surprising these analysts don’t seem to consider the fact that these firms are way smaller than HUL with revenues that are one-fourth and one-tenth of HUL and come with attendant risks, such as being relatively illiquid. Emami, for instance, is a relatively illiquid stock with daily average volumes of 22,414 shares compared with 1.31 lakh shares for HUL in the last one year. Also, while the dividend outgo of Dabur and Emami rose by 15% and 29% compounded, respectively, in the last six fiscals, HUL’s dividend payout ratio — dividend distributed to net profit — of more than 80% is way higher than that of 50% and 35% for Dabur and Emami, respectively.


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IBM to buy Netezza for $1.7B
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- Rodney H. Brown
Netezza Corp., a Marlborough maker of data warehouse appliances for complex analytics, has agreed to be bought by IBM Corp. in a cash deal worth approximately $1.7 billion. According to IBM, this will give the New York-based giant an “easy to use” appliance for its growing analytics business.
IBM will pay $27 per share for the common stock of Netezza (NYSE: NZ). The sale is subject to Netezza shareholder approval, the usual regulatory clearances and other customary closing conditions.
According to Jim Baum, CEO of Netezza, in a video announcement, IBM (NYSE: IBM) has been a partner of Netezza’s for quite a while, “most recently basing our entire product platform on IBM hardware technology.”
IBM, for its part, has spent more than $12 billion on analytics-related acquisitions of 23 companies in the past few years, according to company spokesperson Karen Lilla.
Netezza and its 500 employees will become a part of IBM’s Information Management software portfolio following the close of the sale, which is expected to occur in the fourth quarter of the year. “But that doesn’t mean it will be all mashed together with other operations,” said Arvind Krishna, general manager of IBM Information Management.
In August, Baum spoke with Mass High Tech about his career leading up to the top position at Netezza. Last year, the company changed its technology and focused on a strategy that Netezza hoped would allow the company to expand its reach by working more closely with partners.
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|By PR Newswire||
|January 22, 2013 06:01 AM EST||
AMSTERDAM, Jan. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The world's best-kept travel secret is about to be revealed to U.S. consumers. Booking.com (http://www.booking.com), the largest brand in the global online accommodation sector, is set to bring an end to the "click-and-hope-for-the-best" era of online travel planning.
Planet Earth's #1 accommodation site, is undertaking a major brand launch in the U.S. to introduce American travelers to a delightful booking experience that has already been tried, tested and trusted by millions of accommodation bookers around the world. Today, Booking.com's first-ever U.S. brand campaign, Booking.yeah, launches online, in movie theaters and on TV networks across the country to bring Booking.com to an American travel sector that is ripe for innovation and ready for an online solution that prioritizes the customer experience. Booking.yeah aims to build awareness of the company's commitment to the "delight of right".
"Travel and accommodation planning can be a gamble," says Paul Hennessy, Booking.com's Chief Marketing Officer. "We want U.S. travelers to experience that moment of pure delight when they open the door of the accommodation they have booked, see that they have got everything exactly right, and know that this is going to be an amazing trip."
"We are the place on the Internet where travelers can find a home-away-from-home that meets their budget and surpasses their expectations, whether they are booking for an overnight business trip or the vacation of a lifetime." And that's the focus of the Booking.yeah campaign.
Already, on average more than one million guests a night—that's last night, tonight and every night—are staying in hotels and other accommodations booked on Booking.com's platform. The company is the most significant subsidiary of parent company Priceline (NASDAQ: PCLN), both in terms of its size as well as its scope, making Booking.com the largest brand in the global online travel industry. Last month, J.D. Power & Associates ranked Booking.com the top travel website for customer satisfaction.
"The American online travel market is highly commoditized," says Todd Dunlap, Booking.com's Managing Director for North America, who is spearheading the company's brand launch onto the U.S. market. "Booking.com is here to provide a refreshingly new and delightful experience for those who care about where they stay. Lowest prices are guaranteed, of course, but ours is also a simple website with an amazing array of property choices. Our real and unedited guest reviews and superior customer service make an amazing solution for American travelers. Once American consumers notice the ease and joy of Booking.com, they will realize it's something unlike anything they've ever experienced before."
Booking.com offers the best prices at all of its 265,000+ listed properties, covering over 46,000 destinations in 178 countries, plus:
- Over 17.5 million genuine reviews submitted by guests who booked their stay with Booking.com
- Pay after you stay for almost all accommodations
- Maximum flexibility for customers, meaning most accommodations can be canceled free of charge up to 24 hours before arrival
- Easy access from your desktop, tablet or mobile
- A Booking.com customer service team available 24/7, 365 days per year in your language
- Over 5,000 people in over 50 countries around the world dedicated to having guests experience the delight of getting it right.
- 25 different property types—from hotels, apartments and villas to hostels, farm stays, bungalows and boats.
The Booking.Yeah advertising campaign was created by Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam.
Click here to view and link to the 'Booking.yeah' 60 second film.
Click here to download campaign images from the 'Booking.yeah' film in high resolution.
Booking.com is the world's leading online hotel and accommodation reservations company, and guarantees the best prices for any type of property – from small independents to five-star luxury. Guests can access the Booking.com website anytime, anywhere from their desktop, mobile phone or tablet device, and they never pay booking fees – ever. The Booking.com website is available in 41 languages, offers over 265,000 hotels and accommodations in 178 countries, features over 17.5 million real reviews from real guests, and attracts over 30 million unique online visitors per month from both leisure and business markets around the globe. With over 16 years of experience and a team of over 5,000 dedicated employees in more than 90 offices worldwide, Booking.com operates its own in-house customer service team available 24/7 to assist guests in their native language and ensure an exceptional customer experience.
Established in 1996, Booking.com B.V. owns and operates Booking.com™, and is part of the Priceline Group (NASDAQ: PCLN). Follow us on Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, like us on Facebook, or learn more at http://www.booking.com.
SYS-CON Events announced today that robomq.io will exhibit at SYS-CON's @ThingsExpo, which will take place on June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. robomq.io is an interoperable and composable platform that connects any device to any application. It helps systems integrators and the solution providers build new and innovative products and service for industries requiring monitoring or intelligence from devices and sensors.
Mar. 30, 2015 06:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,513
Wearable technology was dominant at this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) , and MWC was no exception to this trend. New versions of favorites, such as the Samsung Gear (three new products were released: the Gear 2, the Gear 2 Neo and the Gear Fit), shared the limelight with new wearables like Pebble Time Steel (the new premium version of the company’s previously released smartwatch) and the LG Watch Urbane. The most dramatic difference at MWC was an emphasis on presenting wearables as fashion accessories and moving away from the original clunky technology associated with t...
Mar. 30, 2015 05:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,461
The list of ‘new paradigm’ technologies that now surrounds us appears to be at an all time high. From cloud computing and Big Data analytics to Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and the Internet of Things (IoT), today we have to deal with what the industry likes to call ‘paradigm shifts’ at every level of IT. This is disruption; of course, we understand that – change is almost always disruptive.
Mar. 30, 2015 04:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,155
SYS-CON Events announced today that Solgenia will exhibit at SYS-CON's 16th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY, and the 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Solgenia is the global market leader in Cloud Collaboration and Cloud Infrastructure software solutions. Designed to “Bridge the Gap” between Personal and Professional Social, Mobile and Cloud user experiences, our solutions help large and medium-sized organizations dr...
Mar. 30, 2015 03:00 PM EDT Reads: 2,913
The world's leading Cloud event, Cloud Expo has launched Microservices Journal on the SYS-CON.com portal, featuring over 19,000 original articles, news stories, features, and blog entries. DevOps Journal is focused on this critical enterprise IT topic in the world of cloud computing. Microservices Journal offers top articles, news stories, and blog posts from the world's well-known experts and guarantees better exposure for its authors than any other publication. Follow new article posts on Twitter at @MicroservicesE
Mar. 30, 2015 12:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,500
SYS-CON Events announced today the IoT Bootcamp – Jumpstart Your IoT Strategy, being held June 9–10, 2015, in conjunction with 16th Cloud Expo and Internet of @ThingsExpo at the Javits Center in New York City. This is your chance to jumpstart your IoT strategy. Combined with real-world scenarios and use cases, the IoT Bootcamp is not just based on presentations but includes hands-on demos and walkthroughs. We will introduce you to a variety of Do-It-Yourself IoT platforms including Arduino, Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone, Spark and Intel Edison. You will also get an overview of cloud technologies s...
Mar. 30, 2015 11:00 AM EDT Reads: 2,150
SYS-CON Events announced today that SafeLogic has been named “Bag Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 16th International Cloud Expo® New York, which will take place June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. SafeLogic provides security products for applications in mobile and server/appliance environments. SafeLogic’s flagship product CryptoComply is a FIPS 140-2 validated cryptographic engine designed to secure data on servers, workstations, appliances, mobile devices, and in the Cloud.
Mar. 30, 2015 11:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,507
After making a doctor’s appointment via your mobile device, you receive a calendar invite. The day of your appointment, you get a reminder with the doctor’s location and contact information. As you enter the doctor’s exam room, the medical team is equipped with the latest tablet containing your medical history – he or she makes real time updates to your medical file. At the end of your visit, you receive an electronic prescription to your preferred pharmacy and can schedule your next appointment.
Mar. 30, 2015 10:00 AM EDT Reads: 888
Containers and microservices have become topics of intense interest throughout the cloud developer and enterprise IT communities. Accordingly, attendees at the upcoming 16th Cloud Expo at the Javits Center in New York June 9-11 will find fresh new content in a new track called PaaS | Containers & Microservices Containers are not being considered for the first time by the cloud community, but a current era of re-consideration has pushed them to the top of the cloud agenda. With the launch of Docker's initial release in March of 2013, interest was revved up several notches. Then late last...
Mar. 30, 2015 09:15 AM EDT Reads: 2,257
The WebRTC Summit 2014 New York, to be held June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York, NY, announces that its Call for Papers is open. Topics include all aspects of improving IT delivery by eliminating waste through automated business models leveraging cloud technologies. WebRTC Summit is co-located with 16th International Cloud Expo, @ThingsExpo, Big Data Expo, and DevOps Summit.
Mar. 30, 2015 09:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,640
SOA Software has changed its name to Akana. With roots in Web Services and SOA Governance, Akana has established itself as a leader in API Management and is expanding into cloud integration as an alternative to the traditional heavyweight enterprise service bus (ESB). The company recently announced that it achieved more than 90% year-over-year growth. As Akana, the company now addresses the evolution and diversification of SOA, unifying security, management, and DevOps across SOA, APIs, microservices, and more.
Mar. 30, 2015 08:30 AM EDT Reads: 2,077
GENBAND has announced that SageNet is leveraging the Nuvia platform to deliver Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) to its large base of retail and enterprise customers. Nuvia’s cloud-based solution provides SageNet’s customers with a full suite of business communications and collaboration tools. Two large national SageNet retail customers have recently signed up to deploy the Nuvia platform and the company will continue to sell the service to new and existing customers. Nuvia’s capabilities include HD voice, video, multimedia messaging, mobility, conferencing, Web collaboration, deskt...
Mar. 30, 2015 01:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,493
SYS-CON Media announced today that @WebRTCSummit Blog, the largest WebRTC resource in the world, has been launched. @WebRTCSummit Blog offers top articles, news stories, and blog posts from the world's well-known experts and guarantees better exposure for its authors than any other publication. @WebRTCSummit Blog can be bookmarked ▸ Here @WebRTCSummit conference site can be bookmarked ▸ Here
Mar. 29, 2015 10:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,839
SYS-CON Events announced today that Cisco, the worldwide leader in IT that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate, has been named “Gold Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 16th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Cisco makes amazing things happen by connecting the unconnected. Cisco has shaped the future of the Internet by becoming the worldwide leader in transforming how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Cisco and our partners are building the platform for the Internet of Everything by connecting the...
Mar. 29, 2015 07:00 PM EDT Reads: 5,268
Temasys has announced senior management additions to its team. Joining are David Holloway as Vice President of Commercial and Nadine Yap as Vice President of Product. Over the past 12 months Temasys has doubled in size as it adds new customers and expands the development of its Skylink platform. Skylink leads the charge to move WebRTC, traditionally seen as a desktop, browser based technology, to become a ubiquitous web communications technology on web and mobile, as well as Internet of Things compatible devices.
Mar. 29, 2015 06:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,872
Docker is an excellent platform for organizations interested in running microservices. It offers portability and consistency between development and production environments, quick provisioning times, and a simple way to isolate services. In his session at DevOps Summit at 16th Cloud Expo, Shannon Williams, co-founder of Rancher Labs, will walk through these and other benefits of using Docker to run microservices, and provide an overview of RancherOS, a minimalist distribution of Linux designed expressly to run Docker. He will also discuss Rancher, an orchestration and service discovery platf...
Mar. 29, 2015 04:15 PM EDT Reads: 2,454
SYS-CON Events announced today that Vitria Technology, Inc. will exhibit at SYS-CON’s @ThingsExpo, which will take place on June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Vitria will showcase the company’s new IoT Analytics Platform through live demonstrations at booth #330. Vitria’s IoT Analytics Platform, fully integrated and powered by an operational intelligence engine, enables customers to rapidly build and operationalize advanced analytics to deliver timely business outcomes for use cases across the industrial, enterprise, and consumer segments.
Mar. 29, 2015 03:30 PM EDT Reads: 2,201
SYS-CON Events announced today that Liaison Technologies, a leading provider of data management and integration cloud services and solutions, has been named "Silver Sponsor" of SYS-CON's 16th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York, NY. Liaison Technologies is a recognized market leader in providing cloud-enabled data integration and data management solutions to break down complex information barriers, enabling enterprises to make smarter decisions, faster.
Mar. 29, 2015 03:00 PM EDT Reads: 3,495
@ThingsExpo has been named the Top 5 Most Influential M2M Brand by Onalytica in the ‘Machine to Machine: Top 100 Influencers and Brands.' Onalytica analyzed the online debate on M2M by looking at over 85,000 tweets to provide the most influential individuals and brands that drive the discussion. According to Onalytica the "analysis showed a very engaged community with a lot of interactive tweets. The M2M discussion seems to be more fragmented and driven by some of the major brands present in the M2M space. This really allows some room for influential individuals to create more high value inter...
Mar. 29, 2015 01:45 PM EDT Reads: 4,688
SYS-CON Events announced today that Akana, formerly SOA Software, has been named “Bronze Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 16th International Cloud Expo® New York, which will take place June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Akana’s comprehensive suite of API Management, API Security, Integrated SOA Governance, and Cloud Integration solutions helps businesses accelerate digital transformation by securely extending their reach across multiple channels – mobile, cloud and Internet of Things. Akana enables enterprises to share data as APIs, connect and integrate applications, drive part...
Mar. 28, 2015 04:15 PM EDT Reads: 1,573


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Red Hat expert Frank Basinski says partners can benefit from an industry-centric approach and better cater for their end-users, helping them through their Digital Transformation process.
Increased vertical focus has been happening for a while at the channel’s cutting edge. Channel organisations are restructuring to create vertically focused customer-facing sales and solutions organisations.
However, is it as black and white as this? What are the main obstacles partners are facing in creating the crossover between industry and technology?
Thanks to the rise in third-platform technology and a dramatically shifting customer landscape, partners are focusing more and more on their vertical offerings and expertise.
Research commissioned by Red Hat last year underlines this, with over half of the resellers, VARs, SIs, MSPs, CSPs, ISVs and consultants surveyed in the UK, French and German channels having extended their product and service portfolio towards specific vertical industries in the past 12 months.
The key driver for partners, is that customers are increasingly looking for guidance and solutions from the channel to help facilitate their Digital Transformation and to achieve a holistic, cross-sector business approach.
These new demands are spelling out a clear message for partners and it is this: like those who sat on the sidelines with Digital Transformation, those not investing in vertical specialisms will soon find themselves missing out on valuable business opportunities, plus risk exposing their lack of cross-sector services to existing clients.
Vendors similarly will prioritise collaboration with vertically driven partners in order to increase profitability and expand their own portfolio; with partner programmes and certifications weighted heavily towards nurturing this level of industry depth.
So what can they do to not only weather this, but increase business prosperity and opportunity?
Know the industry lingo
The challenges associated with creating vertical specialisms very much depend on the starting point of the partner. System Integrators are already ahead of the playing field, whilst others are at varying points in the journey.
That being said most partners have figured out that if they specialise in vertical (or horizontal) solutions they will have a significant advantage and avoid a business model only set up to compete on price.
A vertical approach allows partners to be more relevant and form stronger relationships with their customers. Peaking the language of the customer shows a deeper understanding tailored to the market their end customers are operating in.
Partners immediately step up from being an infrastructure provider to becoming a trusted advisor – a key differentiator at a time when competition is only intensifying.
Primarily, we are seeing this trend play out across our partners’ sales infrastructure. This allows partners to build a valuable proposition and unique IP, differentiating themselves from the competition. However, it is important for partners to concentrate on providing a solution focused approach rather than a product one.
Leverage third platform technologies
In its report, IDC also predicts that harmonious to the adoption of vertical specialisms in the channel will be the increased investment in third platform technology, with new ecosystems and alliances emerging around cloud, social, mobile and Big Data.
Take advantage of repeatable solutions
To invest in their industry expertise, while carving out a USP against their competitors, repeatable solutions are just one potential strategy partners can look at.
Repeatable solutions mean identifying an industry specific issue, building out a solution to tackle this and recognising that this solution can offer the same value proposition for other customers in that space and can be replicated quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively. At Red Hat, we have seen some of our partners utilise this strategy to great effect.
The fact is that vertical specialisation is happening naturally and Digital Transformation will only intensify this. At Red Hat, we continue to encourage all of our partners to invest in building up their industry expertise or to take a close look at what might already exist within their organisation’s and bundle this up into a vertical offering.
Ultimately, following a vertical specific approach, supported with tailored expertise and solutions, will ensure that partners fully understand the challenges end-users come up against on a regular basis, which can be the key to unlocking new business opportunities and keeping existing clients satisfied.Click below to share this article


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TAMPA, Fla. (FOX 13) - Burger King is hoping to give Starbucks a run for its money.
The fast food chain announced its new subscription program. Customers can sign up for the “BK Café Coffee Subscription” through the Burger King app, and redeem one small brewed coffee every day for just $5 a month.
Doing the math, that would give you a cup of coffee for just about 17 cents per day, per cup. Users will only be allowed one cup per visit, and no refills. Also, the chain’s iced coffee and other specialty coffee drinks are not included in the subscription. Usually, a cup of BK Café coffee is worth $1 outside of the deal.
To sign up, customers must download the BK app on their phone and select the “offers” tab, where the ability to redeem a daily cup of coffee is located.


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McFarlane Toys has cut the ribbon on a brand new, online shop. Called McFarlane Toys Store, the shop is starting up with a Bat-shaped bang.
If you’re a McFarlane Toys fan, then you’ve had a pretty good stretch over the last year and a half. The company has opened up successful new lines in Mortal Kombat, DC Comics, Warhammer and a whole mess of others. Add to that that they’ve brought back a way more articulated style than they’ve done in years, and McFarlane is kicking butt.
And now they’re poised to do a little more of that, thanks to McFarlane Toys Store. A new online, direct to consumer initiative from the company, the fresh shopping experience seeks to deliver the latest McFarlane Toys right to waiting hands.
It’s also starting off with a bang, thanks to a chunky exclusive. That comes in the form of a Batman: Last Knight on Earth collection, loaded up with five figures that includes the massive Bane.
The pack is priced in at $124.99 USD, and is set to ship out in October. You can check it out in the shop, here.
There are a few bonuses too. If you spend $200 or more, you’ll be receiving both 5% off the total of your purchase, and a signed exclusive Spawn comic. Not looking to drop that much? Spend $50 or more and you’ll get the same deal, just without the signature on the comic. Not too shabby, and a great way to cut the ribbon on the new storefront.


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As more and more consumers are growing conscious, brands are now taking a step in the right direction to make the industry more sustainable. The retailers should pay attention to the manufacturing process despite many brands like H&M, not owning the manufacturing units themselves. The preparation of textiles and dyeing process impacts the global climate by 97%. According to Rachel Arthur, the chief innovation officer at innovation agency TheCurrent, these companies have enough scale to lobby the governments to implement better regulations.
H&M solely works with a staggering number of suppliers. The company is a leading player in the ‘Fast Fashion’ industry, with more than three billion pieces selling across its 4,800 stores worldwide. H&M has become the second-largest apparel company within two decades. But the company, after facing a loss of $4.3 billion worth of unsold clothing in 2018, has started paying more attention to its production process.
Artificial Intelligence, #D design, sampling, and prototyping can help the apparel companies to cut waste. The technologies are not difficult to implement with the right approach and skill set if they are taken up on priority.
The H&M Group has now reached the top 4 on the Fashion Revolution 2018 Transparency Index with all their efforts and commitments towards sustainability. The brand introduced its first Conscious Collection in Spring 2011, manufactured with recycled polyester and organic cotton. They also undertook a garment collection initiative in 2013 and have experimented with packaging-free delivery in India, combined deliveries or using electric vans for deliveries over the years. But the Swedish retailer is not willing to change the production volume and low prices that affect the turnaround time for clothing.
The most recent project backed by Stefan Persson (owners of H&M) is a hydrothermal recycling system, that can be used to separate fiber blends. The Green Machine, as it is called takes up very little space and could be used by the industry as soon as it reaches industrial capacity. The success of the project will also up H&M’s use of recycled material from 0.018%.
Tags : H&M, Artificial Intelligence, sampling, Rachel Arthur,


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>> Govt likely to cap retail price of swine flu drug
Industry News :
Govt likely to
cap retail price of swine flu drug THE government may cap the
retail price of anti-viral drug oseltamivir used for the treatment
of swine flu if market competition does not force the price down,
a senior official in the ministry of chemicals and fertilizers
The pharma industry, however, defended the pricing — ranging
from Rs 450 to Rs 800 for a five-day course — as reasonable
considering the shortage of the raw material.
“If prices do not behave for themselves than we will have to
intervene,” the government official said on condition of
India reported 150 fresh cases of swine flu on Tuesday.
Chemists said there is a near-monopoly scene in the market
despite the launch of the drug by Natco Pharma, Hetero Drugs and
Strides Arcolab. The only product available with most of the
licensed chemists is Hetero’s brand Fluvir, said Pradeep Singh of
New Delhi Medicos (a licensed chemist for selling oseltamivir) and
member of All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists.
Currently, a strip of 10 tablets of Hetero’s Fluvir cost Rs
449 while Cipla’s Virenza is priced at around Rs 800 for a pack of
20 rotacaps (powdered medication stored in a capsule) along with
an inhaler. Natco Pharma has launched its brand Natflu at a price
of Rs 480 for a bottle of 10 capsules.
A Natco official said the retail price includes excise
component along with margins for distribution and stockists. “The
price of the raw material also keeps fluctuating, and at times,
there is little raw material available,” he said.
While the open market prices remain high, the government
procurement price of oseltamivir has come down substantially from
Rs 343 to Rs 260 for 10 tablets since the outbreak of the disease
The lack of acceptance of second line drugs is also partly
responsible for low visibility of the drug. According to Mr Singh
of New Delhi Medicos, a second line drug Zanamivir, sold under
Cipla’s brand Virenza, is available but the demand is only for the
first line drugs.
The government is also exploring the possibility of involving
the public sector to manufacture the formulation as well as the
bulk drug required for the medicine.
Meanwhile, the country’s top drug regulator Drug Controller
General of India (DCGI) has asked four multinational drug makers —
Baxter, Novartis, Sanofi Aventis and Glaxosmithkline (GSK) — to
submit detailed dossiers for safety and efficacy review of their
vaccines for swine flu.
“The companies will soon start their bridge tests of the
vaccine on around 300 people in India under the supervision of
Indian Council of Medical Research,” DCGI Dr Surinder Singh said.
The DCGI will approve protocol for the study after reviewing the
According to health ministry estimates, so far 65,803 people
have been tested for swine flu in various government and private
laboratories across the country. Out of this, 12,334 people have
been found positive. India has reported 399 deaths due to swine
flu till Wednesday evening.
Government to take the steps if market competition does not force
the price down
Pharma industry defended the pricing as reasonable considering the
shortage of the raw material
Chemists say there is near-monopoly scene in the market
Govt also exploring the possibility of involving the public sector
to manufacture the formulation as well as the bulk drug required
for the medicine


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It happens I have read the book” Ghost In The Wires: My Adventures as the World’s Most Wanted Hacker”
By Kevin Mitnick, one of the biggest hacker in the world.
Kevin Mitnick explains in his book how he was entering institutions fouling the security guards at the doors to let him in under false IT technician name with a false entry card.
Once inside he will steal workers passwords from their office desk or hacking into their computers by installing hacking software on them.
Cyber crime is not all done via Internet.
I order for a hacker to access your computer he needs information that he only can get from visiting your premises and install hardware and software on your computers or CCTV’s.
This is done by the hacker disguised themselves as a IT technician and/or tricking your staff to give him some information or access to a specific computer or program, once he in a computer he is in the network.
It is much easier this way then trying to brake passwords and encryption.
(You will not believe how easy it is done, unless you read his book).
You can have the best firewall and the best antivirus programs in the world but if your security guard by the door is sloppy and let anyone who show him a pass card to enter into the building and mess with your computers or CCTV’s your company is doomed.
And here is how much Cyber Crime can cost your company:
“Cyber crime costs UK organisations an average of £2.1m a year each, according to the 2012 Cost of Cyber Crime study by the Ponemon Institute.
The cost of attacks on UK organisations range between £400,000 and £7.7m, the study revealed.
The report showed cyber attacks had become common, The group of UK organisations polled experienced 41 successful attacks a week or 1.1 each every week.
While all UK industries fall victim to cyber crime, organisations in the defence sector, utilities and energy, and financial services experience higher costs than organisations in hospitality, retail or education.
The most costly UK cyber crimes are those caused by malicious insiders, denial of service attacks and malicious code, the study found.
Although 2012 was the first time the study was conducted in the UK, Germany, Australia and Japan, it has been conducted for the past three years in the US.
According to US study, cyber attacks have more than doubled over a three-year period, while the financial impact has increased by nearly 40%.
The study also revealed a 42% increase in the number of cyber attacks, with US organisations experiencing an average of 102 successful attacks a week, compared with 72 attacks a week in 2011 and 50 in 2010.
The 2012 study revealed the average annual cost of cyber crime incurred by US organisations is the highest of the countries studied, at $8.9m or £5.5m, which represents a 6% increase over the average for 2011, and a 38% increase over 2010.
Difference in cost of cyber attacks
According to Ponemon, the cost of cyber attacks varies across the countries studied because of differences in the types and frequencies of attacks experienced.
For example, the study found US companies more likely to experience the most expensive types of cyber attacks, which are malicious insiders, malicious code and web-based incidents.
Similarly, UK and Australian organisations were most likely to experience denial of service attacks; German companies were least likely to experience malicious code and denial of services; and Japanese companies were least likely to experience malicious insiders and web-based attacks.
Another key finding that may explain cost differences between countries concerns the theft of information assets. For example, US and German companies report this as the most significant consequence of a cyber attack, while the UK and Australia attach more importance to business disruption.
The study also found a difference in the cost of internal activities. For example, the cost of detecting a cyber attack is the most expensive for German companies, while the cost of recovery from a cyber incident appears to be more expensive for companies in the UK and Australia. Japanese companies cited higher costs to investigate and manage the incident than other countries.
“The purpose of this benchmark research is to quantify the economic impact of cyber attacks and observe cost trends over time,” said Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute.
“We believe a better understanding of the cost of cyber crime will assist organisations in determining the appropriate amount of investment and resources needed to prevent or mitigate the devastating consequences of an attack,” Ponemon said.
According to HP, which sponsored the study, there is clear evidence to show that the deployment of advanced security intelligence solutions helps to substantially reduce the cost, frequency and impact of attacks.
At the core of the company’s security product strategy is the HP Security Intelligence platform, which uses threat research and correlation of security events and vulnerabilities to deliver security intelligence across IT operations, applications and infrastructure.


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?- London-wide Delivery
We save plants from British garden centres and nurseries hit by COVID-19 and deliver them direct to your door.
Like many others, we were shocked and saddened to read the news stories at the end of March describing the impact COVID-19 will have on garden centres and plant nurseries unable to stay open.
Specifically, we were horrified to hear about the millions of plants that will go to waste, alongside the devastating impact this will have on the businesses and livelihoods of the thousands of people connected to the industry.
It inspired us to think about how we could help to solve this problem: PlantSavers was born.


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New York rapper Cardi B is 100 percent here for The Big Day. The Big Apple native has co-signed Chance The Rapper‘s newly released solo effort.
Cardi went to Instagram Monday to give the Chicago rap artist a huge salute.
Chance’s new studio release landed at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart.
The Big Day, Chance’s highest charting and third Top 10 album, debuted with 108,000 units. About 80,000 of those were in streams, which made Chance’s album the most-streamed album of the week. Notably, The Big Day did not reach streaming services until around 1:00 p.m. Eastern on Friday, July 26. (Most albums hit DSPs at midnight Eastern on Fridays.) Chance did, however, make his album available to pre-order on his website beginning on June 28. (Pitchfork)
The Big Day fell behind fellow rapper NF‘s new The Search album on the sales chart.
NF’s The Search ended up garnering 130,000 album equivalent units, enough to get him to the top spot ahead of Chance, which garnered 108,000 album equivalent units. Both artists utilised album/merchandise bundles and concert ticket/album bundles, a common practise when looking to boost a record’s chart position. (The FADER)
The hip-hop superstar is currently gearing up for a nationwide tour in support of the LP.


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Realme has been growing rather rapidly ever since the company started not that long ago. The large number of sales that the company has gathered up is thanks not only to new markets but also to a large variety of products. As a matter of fact, the brand happens to be the fastest growing smartphone brand and this is the case without it even having access to the largest consumer market in the United States. However, as far as this is concerned then, Realme has plans to change this in the year 2022.
Indeed in an interview, an executive belonging to the brand has gone on to confirm that the company will be making its way into the US market this year. Unfortunately enough though, the executive did not exactly provide a timeline as far as when the exact events will end up taking place.
However, the executive did indeed confirm some things. He claimed that while Realme will indeed be arriving in the US market, the brand will not introduce smartphones once it does arrive.
Instead then, the Chinese tech giant is actually planning to release IT and AIoT products. And so, it can be expected that the brand will end up launching products such as streaming devices, robot vacuums, truly wireless earphones, smartwatches and power banks amongst other stuff.
It makes sense though that Realme does not want to sell smartphones down in the US market due to the fact that it’s a tough market to get into. Indeed most of the sales that happen in the country are via the aid of carriers and they have much more than the manufacturers themselves. Also, since Realme is a Chinese company, things aren’t made any better anyways due to the ever going diplomatic issues between the United States and China.


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September 10, 2013:
A half-century on, Porsche readies itself to launch a special 50th anniversary edition at this month's Frankfurt Motor Show. We look back at fifty years of rear-engine excellence.
June 14, 2013:
Every once in a while, we at Autos.ca like to take a step back and pay tribute to the people that first sparked our love of cars and driving, and for so many of us, it was our fathers. This year, I asked Tom Sedens a... Read Article


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Samsung is gearing up to launch the Galaxy M10 and M20 phones in India on January 28 as part of the newly minted Galaxy M series. These phones will fall in the affordable segment to take on the likes of Xiaomi and Realme and India Today Tech has just learnt the prices of both the devices. According to our sources, the Galaxy M10 will be priced at Rs 8,990 while the Galaxy M20 will cost Rs 12,990 in India.
This falls in line with past reports that the Galaxy M10 will fall under Rs 10,000. Our source did not reveal the storage and memory configuration of the Galaxy M10 and M20 phones. What past rumours have suggested is that the Galaxy M20 will come with 3GB of RAM with either 32GB or 64GB of internal storage. There may be more than one variant for each of these devices, and the prices confirmed to us by our sources are likely of the base models.
Samsung has already confirmed that the Galaxy M phones will launch as Amazon exclusive devices. The e-commerce platform has also revealed a few key design details as well.
Based on what we know so far, the Galaxy M10 and M20 will come with a waterdrop Infinity-V displays. These are the first Samsung phones to employ this new display, allowing the M series to offer something unique in the affordable segment. Both the Galaxy M phones are also said to come with dual rear cameras. However, it seems only the Galaxy M20 will offer a fingerprint sensor, while the Galaxy M10 will rely on face unlock as the only biometric option.
Past benchmark listing has told us that the Galaxy M20 will sport a 6.3-inch FHD+ (1080x2340) LCD display with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio and 409 ppi. This is also rumoured to be the first Samsung phone to house a large 5,000mAh battery. The handset is said to measure 156.4 x 74.5 x 8.8 mm and weighs 183 grams.
The dual cameras on the Galaxy M20 may include a 13MP primary sensor with f/1.9 aperture and a 5MP depth sensor. The Galaxy M20 will reportedly get an Exynos 7885 chipset paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB or 64GB of internal storage. Both the Galaxy M10 and M20 will most likely ship with Android Oreo rather than Android Pie with One UI.


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African states to introduce transit cargo monitoring
Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda plan to introduce a joint real-time transit cargo monitoring scheme along the northern corridor between Mombasa and Kigali in June 2016. The move should help curb dumping and theft of goods, according to local press reports.
The electronic cargo tracking system (ECTS) comprises satellites, a monitoring centre and special electronic seals fitted on cargo containers and trucks, which give the precise location of goods in real time.
The system also triggers an alarm whenever there is diversion from the designated route, an unusually long stopover or when someone attempts to open a container. (ben)


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6 min read
The opinions expressed by the entrepreneur's contributors are their own.
Tim Draper is a trend spotter best known for being the founder of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, where he led the investment in Skype. He is also known as a thought leader for his book The Startup Hero and Draper University, his college. After all, he even starred in his own television show, Meet The Drapers.
Today he is a so-called "Bitcoin Bull" because he keeps his assets in Bitcoin instead of banks. As a result, he is paying close attention to fintech solutions in Silicon Valley and is currently researching an emerging market that many are calling the "DeFi Bubble". “But fintech solutions are more than just a trend; they are becoming an integral part of any business.
"People are switching to Bitcoin as a safe haven like gold," Draper recently told me. "And people are switching to bitcoin because it's the future of trading. I think if you go out four or five years you will try and buy a Starbucks coffee with a fiat currency tied to a government, and they'll laugh at you. You'll be the old person pulling small change out of your purse. "
Related: Meet the Scrappy Young Entrepreneurs from ABC Family Upcoming & # 39; Startup U & # 39; show
And it's not just consumers who focus on using these solutions. Together, consumers and businesses are embracing digital currencies and moving the circulation at a rapid pace. In May 2020, more than $ 10 billion per Coindesk post was reached. This is especially true when assessing the increased presence of companies like Visa and Mastercard in space.
According to a recent blog post by the company, Visa noted that it is continuing its work with licensed and regulated digital currency platforms like Coinbase and Fold to bridge the gap between digital currencies and their existing global network of 61 million merchants.
Elsewhere, Visa and its competitors have hired policymakers and global organizations to help shape the dialogue and understanding of digital currencies, including Visa working with the World Economic Forum and working on a number of central bank policy recommendations that explore the concept of central bank digital Currency (CBDC).
From crypto to contactless
Long before the financial and health impact of COVID-19 accelerated the move to these fintech solutions, retailers were increasingly offering cashless payment options to improve the overall customer experience. What started as a fun trend that blended cutting-edge technology with brevity and efficiency at the point of sale has now become a global phenomenon as companies of all sizes continue to use fin-tech solutions to step up with the digital-first culture hold .
As evidence of this surge in digital commerce, a new survey shows that 78 percent of consumers have adopted new spending habits, forcing small businesses (SMBs) to embrace burgeoning fintech solutions like tap-to-pay and contactless card options, to survive .
But not only SMEs are adapting to these trends. Large retailers and restaurants must be willing to change their approach to keep up with fintech solutions that meet current consumer demands. Take Dunkin ', a retailer that has been a leader in enabling tap-to-pay technology in its US locations. According to another recently published Visa blog post, the percentage of in-store Dunkin Visa transactions made with a tap of a card or mobile wallet grew more than 120 percent from June 2019 to June 2020.
However, when you dig deeper into the importance of leveraging fintech solutions, it's not just security and touchless options that are essential. Bitcoin and cryptocurrency could be the next answer. Stablecoin accounts are a particularly good option for contactless trading. They allow people to store their assets in USD while managers earn income from conventional checking accounts thanks to DeFi savings rates. And now stablecoins users can spend their money freely thanks to the many debit cards being introduced by companies like Coinbase, Fold and Swipe.
"While DeFi offers high returns on stable coins such as Kava's USDX, it is currently limited to a tech-savvy user base," Brian Kerr, CEO and co-founder of Kava Labs, the fundamental protocol for modern financial applications, recently told me in the future DeFi will look very different as more financial institutions like Coinbase and Binance introduce debit card products, making USDX easy to spend in retail stores and making the lucrative DeFi returns more accessible to the average person. "
That interest is fueled even further when you consider that retail demand for Bitcoin is expected to double by 2024. In fact, new data from ZUBR shows that retail investor bitcoin accumulation continues to grow despite economic declines, largely due to record growth in the number of bitcoin whales and a new all-time high in the number of wallet addresses that contain less than one bitcoin . What is more? Bitcoin recently posted the third best Q2 performance ever, showing continued growth in investor participation amid changing consumer demands and growing awareness.
"I think all of these financial resources will have to be powered by bitcoin at some point, and retailers should know they're coming," advises Draper. "If you're a retailer now and you don't accept Bitcoin, reconsider it, as that saves you 2.5 to 4 percent compared to every time someone steals a credit card."
And as a retailer, very thin margins mean every penny counts. "Why not use Bitcoin?" repeated Draper. "It's smooth, free, transparent, and keeps reliable records of transactions."
Related: 50 Things You Need To Be Successful In The Ever Changing World Of Modern Finance
The small business and retail landscape is undoubtedly at a crossroads, but optimism persists. Opportunities arise with change, and in the case of SMBs and retailers adapting to new fintech solutions, the opportunities are endless.


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There will be no estate version of the all-new Chrysler 300C according to new Chrysler-Lancia CEO Saad Chehab. The 300C wagon was popular in UK and Europe but Chehab stated that “sales in the US for estates are too slow to justify the development costs.”
However, Chehab did confirm that “there will be an all-wheel drive Chrysler 300C joining the line-up in the UK, complete with an eight-speed automatic gearbox.” Accordinging to Chehab, the four-wheel drive system is an improved version of a system already in use in Chrysler/Jeep.
The new Chrysler 300C competes in the large executive saloon market and is the halo model for the new Chrysler-Lancia union. It is due to go on sale in spring 2012 with a five-speed automatic gearbox, rear wheel drive and the option of either 187bhp or 236bhp 3.0-litre V6 diesel motors. A ZF eight-speed auto will replace the five-speed ‘box later in 2012 on rear-wheel drive, and will bring with it the all-wheel drive model.
When asked whether there would be a V8 model to follow on from the 300C SRT8, Chehab stated that “anything is possible,” but senior sources suggested that a high-powered version of the V6 petrol motor going on sale in mainland Europe but not in the UK would be more likely.


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Casino’s Weak Profit Raises Risks for Rallye’s Debt Outlook – Bloomberg2020-01-17
Casino’s Weak Profit Raises Risks for Rallye’s Debt Outlook
2020-01-17 08:55:11.612 GMT
By Albertina Torsoli and Katie Linsell
(Bloomberg) — Rallye SA’s prospects to exit creditor
protection suffered a blow after bondholders rejected its plan
and French grocer Casino-Guichard Perrachon SA reported weaker-
The supermarket operator said earnings of its French retail
business rose 5% last year, half the rate it had forecast.
Strikes and protests in its home market weighed on sales. Casino
shares plunged as much as 13%, the steepest drop in more than a
Separately, in a non-binding vote held in Paris, Rallye
failed to win support in four out of five euro bond classes, the
company said on Thursday, confirming an earlier report by
Rallye and other Casino holding companies were placed under
creditor protection in May to save the group from collapse.
Casino’s weakening performance threatens its ability to restart
paying dividends, which have been Rallye’s lifeline, according
to Fabienne Caron, an analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux.
Under a proposal negotiated with bank lenders and issued
last month, Rallye would stagger repayments of 1.6 billion euros
of unsecured debt over 10 years, while about 1.2 billion euros
of bank loans secured against Casino shares would be redeemed by
2024. Investors have signaled they don’t want to have to wait so
“The short-term risk would be to re-create a vicious
circle” in which Casino’s falling share price would restrict
Rallye’s refinancing potential, wrote Arnaud Joly, an analyst at
Rallye has pledged Casino shares to bank lenders as a
guarantee for some of its debt. If the stock falls too much,
bondholders might not have enough to cover for their holdings.
Casino’s bonds declined by the most in about three months
with the company’s 444 million euros of bonds due Feb. 2025
falling 3 cents on the euro to 85, according to data compiled by
“Casino is not investable in its current shape,” Kepler’s
Caron wrote in a note to investors.
A Paris court is set to rule on Rallye’s plan by the end of
“Even if most bondholders object, it’s still up to the court to
decide,” said Anthony Giret, an analyst at Spread Research in
Lyon, France. “The alternative is liquidation, and bondholders
would be even worse off in that situation.”
Casino’s fourth-quarter French retail sales fell 1.2% on an
organic basis, worse than analysts had anticipated.The weak
results raise the risk that Casino might have missed its targets
of generation 500 million euros of free cash flow in France in
2019 and a 200 million-euro improvement in working capital,
wrote Nicolas Champ, an analyst at Barclays.
Sales would have been worse if the company had kept
consolidating results of Leader Price, a discount chain Casino
is trying to sell, analysts said.
The grocer said it’s trying to fight off the slump by
winning new customers with extended store hours. Casino has been
using self-checkout machines to leave stores open nights and
Sunday afternoons, when French regulations prohibit employees
from working. The chain said it hopes to roll out that
workaround to at least half its supermarkets and hypermarkets by
the end of the quarter.


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Apple season has arrived in Wisconsin, and Sauk County residents and visitors have their pick of dozens of varieties. Local growers reported an average season after last year’s abundance.
“I can’t say it’s like a bumper crop,” said Cindy Stuebs, of Held’s Orchard in La Valle.
Her uncle started the family business about 20 years ago, and today Stuebs runs it with her husband, Rainer.
“Anything’s got to be better than what it was with the drought because we had zero,” she said.
The orchard has about 200 trees and grows McIntosh, Spartan, Red and Golden Delicious, Cortland, Wolf River, Honeygold and other varieties.
Stuebs said this year’s crop has been just right for demand.
“When we’re low in the shed where we sell them out of, we go and we pick some more straight from the trees,” she said.
The orchard, located at S5398A Highway 58 about 3 miles from Highway 33, is open seven days a week and also sells birdhouses, dried gourds, pumpkins and squash.
Stuebs said the public is welcome to come and shop, and people often like to feed an apple or two to the friendly neighbor cattle.
“People think that is the best thing ever to have a cow take an apple,” she said with a laugh.
Alma Gasser of Tower Rock Farmstead Bakery was selling her old-fashioned McIntosh apples Wednesday at the Baraboo Farmers Market.
She sells the apples, grown on the family’s dairy farm, along with her flours, grains and baked goods.
The apple tree on which they are grown is 40 feet tall and yields nearly 2,000 pounds of apples in a season, she said.
“It’s been doing that year after year,” Gasser said of the 70-year-old tree.
There are also four other trees on the farm — two Cortland and two McIntosh, she said. The Cortlands will be picked and ready at the market in a week or so.
“Our Empire tree for some reason took a vacation,” Gasser said. “It didn’t have any blossoms at all this year.” Last year the tree was so loaded that some of its limbs broke.
Gasser sells her edible wares at the farmers’ market on Wednesdays, but the public is welcome to visit the farm, located at S9010 Denzer Road in Prairie du Sac, on Friday afternoons from 2 to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Baraboo’s big apple operation has been busy. Betty Thiessen, owner of Ski-Hi Fruit Farm, said the apples were a couple weeks late this year because of the long winter.
“The apples look nice this year,” she said. “It’s an average crop.”
Not many of the orchard’s 50 varieties are ready yet, but a favorite, Honeycrisp, will be available for sale this weekend. Ginger Gold and Paula Red apples are already done for the season, Thiessen said.
Varieties currently available are McIntosh, Cortland, Jonamac and Wolf River.
The retail store, located at E11219A Ski-Hi Road off of Highway 12 in Baraboo, also sells caramel apples, pies, turnovers, apple cider doughnuts, cider, squash and gourds. The shop is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week.
The orchard opened around Labor Day, and the retail store has even been busy during the week, Thiessen said.
“Fall color is starting to come on, so that brings the people out,” she said.
The orchard, started by Thiessen’s grandfather in 1907, is usually open for about three months during apple season.
Foreman George Merrill said the weather has been just right to give the apples nice color and flavor.
Workers planted about 625 new trees in the spring, including more Honeycrisps, Galas and a variety new to the orchard called Sweet Sixteen. It will be several years before they begin to bear fruit for sale, Thiessen said.