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Forbes India’s top 10 most-read stories are a mixed bag. From how homegrown dating apps are finding love in India, to Girish Mathrubootham's billion-dollar dream for Freshworks, check out the full list:
1) How Larsen & Toubro Infotech came into its own | By Harichandan Arakali
After 15 years at Infosys, where he built two billion-dollar units, Sanjay Jalona quit to lead Larsen & Toubro Infotech in August 2015. “I was not looking for a job,” Jalona says. He was attracted, however, by the chance to leave a legacy and transform an operation that had started out as the IT unit of the better-known engineering group into a world-class tech services provider in its own right. A year later, Jalona led the company to its Mumbai IPO.
As cloud computing becomes more mainstream, LTI is also building strong alliances with not only the ‘hyper-scalers’ like Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft and IBM, but also with the next generation of cloud tech providers like Snowflake. Jalona is taking on larger rivals like Infosys and TCS. Read the full story here
2) Covid-19 Unsung Heroes: Postal workers, delivery executives who worked tirelessly amid lockdowns | By Divya Shekhar
This story was part of the New Year 2021 package called 'Living in Hope'. It put the spotlight on unsung heroes who saved lives and livelihoods in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, ranging from doctors and women self-help groups to teachers and municipal workers. This particular story spoke about the contribution of postal workers, and food, ecommerce and other delivery executives. Through the stories of Pradeep Sahu, a postman with India Post for the past 25 years, and Tripti Santosh Swami, who runs deliveries for social enterprise Hey Deedee, it narrated how postal workers and delivery executives tirelessly worked through the Covid-19 lockdowns to deliver food, medicines and other essentials to people's doorsteps so we can stay safely at home. Read the full story here
3) Balaji Wafers: Building a Rs 2,000 crore-plus brand with stubbornness | By Rajiv Singh
This story encapsulates the journey of Rajkot-based Balaji Wafers which is the undisputed leader in four states—Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh—and present across 11. It is now gunning for a pan-India push. Building a Rs 2,000 crore plus brand wasn’t a cakewalk and the founders had to tide through a lot of obstacles. During initial days, the Virani brothers of Balaji spotted their first villains in a few retailers who either defaulted on payments or cheated them by claiming that the packs sold were soiled. Undeterred, they decided to widen their appeal. Loading bags of wafers on their cycles, and later on bikes, the brothers started moving from one hinterland outpost to the other. The quality and taste were garnering enough appreciation for Balaji to become the talk of the town over the next few years. Read the full story here
Read other stories of our Regional Goliath special here
4) How two IITians shunned the herd mentality to sell cattle online | By Rajiv Singh
In a world where most children don’t want to do what their parents did, two IITians and college roommates Neetu Yadav and Kirti Jangra ditched cushy jobs and overseas opportunities to sell cattle online. Their family which has been in the dairy farming business were not impressed. But Yadav and Jangra are rewriting the rules with Animall which has sold over five lakh cattle, grossing Rs 2,500 crore. Investors are impressed too. Read the full story here
5) Citibank: Why one of the world's largest and most iconic banks is wrapping up its retail business in India | By Manu Balachandran & Salil Panchal
Citibank, one of the oldest foreign banks operating in India, announced an exit from consumer banking business in India and 12 other global markets in April 2021. This was part of their global strategy and though impactful, it was not surprising. Their new CEO Jane Fraser wants to direct the bank’s investments and resources to businesses in four key locations—Singapore, Hong Kong, the UAE and London—where it expected huge scale and growth potential. This was a prudent move for the banking giant, which like other global banks, was staring at uncertain business cycles due to the pandemic.
The exit is also reflective of the intense competition which giants such as Standard Chartered and HSBC face in India, while taking on banking heavyweights such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank or even Bajaj Finance in the retail banking space. Axis Bank is emerging as a frontrunner to bid for the business, which includes credit cards, retail banking, home loans and wealth management. This would boost Axis Bank’s position further in the retail banking space. Read the full story here
6) HCQ to Ivermectin: Why India has got it wrong in Covid-19 treatment | By Divya Shekhar
This article was written at a time when the union health ministry's treatment protocol for Covid-19 continued to include drugs like hydroxychloroquine [HCQ], Ivermectin and Tocilizumab despite evidence that didn’t inspire confidence about their effectiveness. The article, quoting clinicians and experts, also detailed how India's drug regulator was approving medicines without following due scientific processes. About a week after this story was published, the health ministry dropped HCQ, ivermectin and other problematic drugs from its revised Covid-19 treatment schedule that was released in the first week of June. Read the full story here
7) Meet Anita Kishore: The firm hand behind Byju's global acquisitions | By Rajiv Singh
When people talk about Byju's, one either visualises the teacher or the founder Byju Raveendran (keen advert followers may also imagine Shah Rukh Khan). You may not have heard of Anita Kishore, the mechanical engineer turned maths teacher turned acquisition queen. She’s the Iron Lady behind Byju’s spate of global acquisitions. Read the full story here
8) How homegrown dating apps are finding love in India | By Aishwarya Shetty
The pandemic-related lockdowns gave a boost to the dating industry, as people began to transition to an increasingly online life. Before the late 2010s, there were no significant players in India’s online dating industry. But now, it is worth over Rs 2,394 crore ($323 million), and the country is the third-largest revenue generator, after the US and China. It seems that despite the prevalence of arranged marriages, Indian youngsters are willing to break traditional norms. Read the full story here
9) Tearing through India's sex paradox: Rising infertility, less condoms, more babies | By Rajiv Singh
In this story, Rajiv Singh analyses how the country is grappling with rising infertility rates and stagnant growth in condom usage. Over seven decades after Independence, India finds itself paradoxically sexed up, and also vexed. Infertility rates among young men and women are rising; millions of childless couples are clamouring for kids; a bunch of states, including the most populous Uttar Pradesh, plan to curb population growth despite experts citing a dip in total fertility rates; and men still remain obstinate in their reluctance to use condoms. The conservative attitudes towards sex coupled with a reluctance and awkwardness in pursuing sexual wellness has only complicated the problem. So is there really a way out? Find out by reading the story here
10) Girish Mathrubootham's billion-dollar dream for Freshworks | By Harichandan Arakali
Two or three specific traits have come to define Girish Mathrubootham. First, his ability to soak up knowledge and experience. Second, his ability to surround himself with very high-quality professionals and task the right person with the right job at the right time. And third, his ability to see the bigger picture.
That led him to not rest on his laurels when Freshworks, the SaaS company he co-founded, hit $100 million revenue. He moved to the US and took the company to three times that revenue and then to a Nasdaq IPO. At the time of this story, though, he wasn’t yet committing to a listing in public. He was, however, surely dreaming of a $1 billion revenue company.
Today, investors, as well as people like Tyler Sloat, Freshworks’s CFO, believe the company can clearly go on to become a multi-billion dollar revenue enterprise, with customers around the world. Read the full story here


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"Halo is an adventurous brewery that takes the traditional recipes of rare styles of beer and then experiments with the ingredients. With a taproom and bottle shop that welcome inquisitive visitors, the brewery needed an approachable brand that matched its unconventional sensibilities," says Toronto-based Underline Studio, on describing their recent work for the company.
Modern, energetic and a bit rebellious, Underline's identity for the brewery uses geometric patterns in unexpected colours, which are then rolled across its logo, labels, packaging and promotional materials. It's just one of many recent standout projects by Underline, which was founded 10 years ago by Claire Dawson and Fidel Peña. Discover more at underlinestudio.com.

domain: news


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- Lifestyle – Looking for an Online Marketing Manager or Translator English-French-German-Chinese-Indian-Spanish-Russian?
- Lifestyle – Look at the Aurora Borealis on Google Maps – Street View
- Lifestyle – Alibaba and Zalando are quoted on the Stock Exchange. The two stars of E-Commerce.
- Lifestyle – 1.2 billion subscribers in Facebook: 26 million have Italians
- Lifestyle – Expedia penalized by Google for a campaign of “negative SEO”?
- Lifestyle – Skype: + 36% of calls in 2013. Total: 214 billion minutes of phone calls
- Lifestyle – Alibaba has a higher capitalization to: eBay, Twitter and LinkedIn combined!
- Lifestyle – Istat: Italy 60% of households connected to the Internet
- Lifestyle – Google has the world monopoly of online searches. Germany asks the algorithm
- Lifestyle – WhatsApp against Skype: getting ready for voice calls
The e-commerce in Europe, the Scoreboard 2013, published by the Commission, is growing, with a share of average consumers U.E. which rose from 20% in 2004 to 45% in 2012.
In 2012 they bought online:
74% of Swedes
73% of Danish and English
While for Italy the percentage drops to 17%.
Bulgaria 9%, 5%, and Romania.


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Newcastle-based stag and hen giant, Last Night of Freedom, has opened the doors of its plush quayside offices to the public via the innovative Google Business View.
The feature enables the public to take internal tours of business premises with 360 degree panoramic scenes, and Last Night of Freedom is the first company in the stag and hen market, as well as one of the first in the entire North East, to have developed the pioneering tour for their company.
Set up in 1999 by Matt Mavir, LNOF has continued to expand and has seen significant growth in the last year. Its staff numbers have doubled since 2013 and LNOF now has over 50 employees, and it was this increase that drove their move from Northumberland to the Newcastle quayside.
“It’s not just the bustling location that drew us here,” said MD, Matt. “We’ve converted a huge industrial building and the vast space we’ve created has meant that we’ve finally got all areas of the company under one roof. Our warehouse is now on-site and we’ve built a personalised T-shirt printing workshop and photography and film studios. We’ve come a long way since 1999, but this is just the beginning for LNOF.”
Each year LNOF sends away over 3,000 stag and hen groups all over the world and sells over 30,000 costumes and accessories, and the company is looking at an annual turnover of £6.5m for 2015.
“We’re proud of our North East offices,” says Matt, “but this is about more than just showing off the premises. This is an inherently fun industry to be in; LNOF HQ is bustling with activity and packed with passionate people. We’re not just another faceless company, we’re a personable organisation and we want our customers to feel like they’re a part of every aspect of the experience of booking a stag and hen weekend with Last Night of Freedom.”
You can view the Google Business tour of Last Night of Freedom at www.lastnightoffreedom.co.uk/about-us/office-tour/


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MUMBAI: Faasos Food Services, a technology-focused quick-service restaurant chain backed by Sequoia Capital, is raising $20 million (RS 120 crore) in a fresh round of funding led by Lightbox Ventures. This is the highest fund-raising by a homegrown QSR chain and a shot in the arm for local startup eateries that have lately seen investor interest wane. Fundraising comprises a $16 million equity investment by Lightbox and Sequoia, and a $4 million debt.
Pune-based Faasos, which hawks wraps and biryanis from 90 outlets across six cities, will use the funds to add 10 cities over the next 12 months. It expects to cross Rs 100 crore in revenue by March 2016. “We expect to break even by March 2018 on revenues of Rs 450 crore,” Jaydeep Barman, founder and CEO of Faasos, told ET.
Much of this growth, said Barman, will come on the back of extensive investments the company has made in technology and data analytics in the past couple of years. "Anything habit-forming is more susceptible to technological disruption," said Barman, a former McKinsey and Co executive who founded Faasos in 2004 with Indian Institute of Management-Lucknow batchmate Kallol Banerjee.
Investors are betting on Faasos’ ability to leverage technology, both on the backend and frontend, to emerge as a leader in the domestic QSR market.
“Just as Flipkart was able to become the largest retailer in India over the last 5-6 years, we think Faasos can do this in food business," said Prashant Mehta, partner at Lightbox Ventures.
At the core of this technology is Faasos’ mobile app that was launched in March last year. The company claims 65% of its orders now come through the Internet and it processes 50,000 orders a month through its mobile app.
Faaosos is part of a growing tribe of homegrown QSR chains trying to replicate the McDonald or Domino’s Pizza models with Indian fast food.
In a meeting held about a month ago between executives from both companies, people familiar with the matter said Amazon had also asked Future Group for a generous compensation in return for withdrawing its objections to the Reliance deal. The six-hour meeting was attended by Future Group's founder Kishore Biyani and other officials, while Amazon India's legal head Rakesh Bakshi and other executives represented the US giant.


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In May 2020, Palsgaard surveyed consumers on the impact of COVID-19, focusing on differences between geographical markets and generations. In addition to the effects of the pandemic, we explored the attitudes of food and beverage consumers to ethical and environmental issues, discovering surprising shifts in attitudes to factors such as price and sustainability.
Fax: +45 7682 7683
Emulsifier specialist Palsgaard helps the global food industry make the most of the ability to mix oil and water.
Thanks to the company’s specialised emulsifiers (and emulsifier/stabiliser systems), bakery, confectionery, condiments, dairy, ice cream, margarine and meat producers can improve the quality and extend the shelf-life of their products. Just as importantly, they can produce better-for-you products with improved taste, mouthfeel and texture while using less resources.
Since its founder Einar Viggo Schou invented the modern plant-based food emulsifier in 1917, Palsgaard has offered the industry know-how and innovation. From its six application centres around the world Palsgaard’ s experienced food technologists help manufacturers optimise existing recipes and develop delicious products with better nutritional profiles.
Palsgaard helps manufacturers meet consumer and regulatory demands for greater responsibility, helping them grow and protect their brands. It is currently the world’s only commercial source of fully sustainable, emulsifiers based on RSPO SG-certified palm oil and produced by CO2-neutral factories in Denmark, the Netherlands, Mexico, Brazil, China and Malaysia. The company’s products are non-GMO and meet halal and kosher requirements.
In addition to its food emulsifiers, Palsgaard supplies the polymers industry with a series of plant-based, food-grade polymer additives, which are particularly suited for preventing fogging and dust on plastic packaging.
NUTRITION & HEALTH NEWS
Immunity-boosting postbiotic supports faster recovery of mild COVID-19 symptoms in clinical trial
18 May 2023 --- Researchers found that a Lactococcus lactis strain of plasma could result in an early recovery of smell and taste dysfunction in COVID-19 patients and a reduction of the viral load. The postbiotic... Read More
FOOD INGREDIENTS NEWS
Plant-based specialists present natural colors for browning, multifunctional texturizers and seafood analogs
02 May 2023 --- Having matured considerably over the last decade, the plant-based sector is continuously refined and reimagined through new ingredient discoveries. Among the latest solutions rolled out this year are... Read More
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EU audit reveals food security was maintained during COVID-19 but flags market distortions
21 Apr 2023 --- The EU helped ensure food could arrive to families across the bloc during the COVID-19 pandemic, a report by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) finds. However, the emergency allocation of funding, which amounted... Read More
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Rabobank analysis forecasts “eggflation” to remain high in 2023
11 Apr 2023 --- 11 Apr 2023 --- Research flags that egg prices have reached record levels in several markets and have shaken the global supply chain for many months. While prices may be showing signs of decreasing, Rabobank... Read More
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World Obesity Day: A quarter of the population on track to be obese by 2035
03 Mar 2023 --- Ahead of World Obesity Day, the World Obesity Federation predicts that by 2035, 51% of the world’s population will be overweight or obese if current patterns are unchanged. In its recently published Atlas... Read More
Sri Lankan organic ingredient supplier talks meeting market demands for traceability
06 Mar 2023 --- Nuwan Delage, founder of Sri Lankan ingredients producer Verger, presented at BioFach sustainably sourced and traced organic herbs and spices from his home country. In tune with one of the big trends of BioFach, Delage talks up the importance and increasing market demand for traceability, as well as growing consumer and producer demand for organic and sustainability certifications. Watch the full interview to find out more.
The Protein Community and Food Valley spotlights plant-based diets and locally produced products
29 Nov 2022 --- Leo Koning, community manager at The Protein Community & Food Valley, tells us how they support “game-changing” and innovative start-ups to grow in the plant-based field by connecting them with larger companies. He also notes that locally produced products are trending while the COVID-19 pandemic has been a key driver of the plant-based trend.
GNT teams up with semioticians to inspire personalized natural coloring solutions
03 Dec 2021 --- GNT has enlisted the skills of professional semioticians to delve into the many ways that color in food imparts messages on a conscious and subconscious level. The Exberry Coloring Foods supplier has released its “The Power of Color” market research, which formulators can use to tailor new personalized coloring solutions for the F&B arena.
SVZ observes “record high” price increases for red fruits, antioxidant-rich produce in demand amid pandemic
18 Oct 2021 --- Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, fruit and vegetable supplier SVZ observed record-high price increases – particularly on the red fruits category – in light of crop shortages. Demand has notably picked up on produce high in antioxidants, which are often marketed with an immunity positioning, particularly in Asian markets where consumers are most attentive to this claim.
Taste drives interest in sweet baked food during stressful moments
01 Sep 2021 --- Comax Flavors recently released primary research on consumers’ behavior, usage, and attitudes toward sweet baked goods. Among the findings, Comax found that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the desire for sweet baked goods. Catherine Armstrong, vice president of corporate communications, discusses the company’s findings and highlights how changes made during the pandemic could be here to stay.
The Editor Presents: Blurring beverages
16 Mar 2023 --- Join The World of Food Ingredients’ editor Missy Green in a quick roundup of themes from the beverage edition. Adult beverages are in the spotlight, with steep growth in hard seltzers and flavored alcoholic beverages. Premium, ready-to-drink cocktails are leading the trend and are forecast to see high growth in the coming years. We also explore mood-modulating functional drinks and COVID-19’s lasting impact on the beverages category.
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05 May 2022 --- Join The World of Food Ingredients’ editor Missy Green for a quick presentation of the key themes in this savory meals-focused edition. Highlights include COVID-19’s impact on the prepared foods landscape, with restaurant-style and easy-to-assemble offerings taking hold. Meanwhile, the keto diet is inspiring more grain-free innovation and social influencers are creating a buzz around collagen.
15 Feb 2022 --- Dairy remains one of the world’s most valuable food sectors with a healthy and nutritious image, and the potential for ongoing added value. It is also highly diverse, with its popularity varying widely in different parts of the world and consumers increasingly looking for authentic comfort and indulgence in this traditional category. Innova's Global Insights Director, Lu Ann Williams, shares how major developments such as competition from plant-based alternatives and the COVID-19 crisis are driving innovation in the dairy sector.
20 Jan 2022 --- Today’s consumers expect a lot from the food and beverage products they choose. To successfully respond to changing consumer needs and wants, the industry needs to decode latest consumer trends. This applies especially when COVID-19 acts as an accelerator of change.Regine Lueghausen, Global Flavor Marketing Head at Symrise, and Leif Jago, Junior Marketer Global Flavor Marketing at Symrise, reveal in this webinar the latest consumer trends in food and beverages decoded by trendscopeTM 2022+.
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20 Jul 2021 --- The ongoing trend toward proactively managing health and well-being has been brought into sharper focus by COVID-19. As consumers embrace healthier ways of living, the opportunities for the food and beverage market to support improved nutrition are growing. Lu Ann Williams, Innova Market Insights’ global insights director, presents the developments and opportunities in the realm of functional nutrition.
READ THIS NEXT: New Ipsos survey reveals mealtime preferences of flexitarians


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By John Chalmers
June 6 (Reuters) - The day after Wal-Mart Stores Inc
published Simco Group's name on its list of banned Bangladesh
suppliers, the garment maker learned it had lost an order from
U.S. retailer J.C. Penney Co Inc for 500,000 pairs of
Khurrum Siddique, Simco's head of operations, thinks this is
no coincidence. He said his factories, named along with dozens
of others on Wal-Mart's "red" list of unauthorized suppliers
first published on May 14, have become pariahs for Western
brands that are trying to play it safe in Bangladesh after a
litany of deadly workplace accidents.
The reputational blow dealt to these businesses exposes a
dilemma for multinationals since the April 24 collapse of a
building outside Dhaka that killed 1,130 people, most of them
low-paid seamstresses. Is it better to sever ties with long-time
suppliers that may pose a safety risk, or stay and try to lift
"What Wal-Mart is doing at the moment is nothing but saving
its own skin. As a responsible business partner they should stay
with us and help improve working conditions for the safety and
security of workers," said Reaz Bin Mahmood, a vice president of
the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association
(BGMEA). "For so long they made huge profits. Now the time has
come to join friendly hands with us."
Simco's four factories appeared on Wal-Mart's list even
though they had never failed a safety audit in 22 years of
supplying the world's biggest retailer.
Wal-Mart said Simco was banned for unauthorized
sub-contracting of an order to a factory called Tazreen Fashions
where 112 workers died in a fire last year.
Simco said it had subcontracted to Tuba Garments Ltd, which
was an authorized Wal-Mart supplier at the time, but Tuba then
shifted the order from its mother factory to Tazreen. Tuba's
managing director, Delowar Hossain, confirmed in a letter he
gave Siddique to show Wal-Mart that his company had diverted the
work to Tazreen without Simco's knowledge.
Simco says it is being unfairly punished for that lapse.
"This is ... like the parable of the boy who was throwing
stones at a frog not realizing what was a game for him was death
for the frog," said Siddique, adding that Simco was considering
taking legal action against Wal-Mart for "besmirching" the
company's good name.
Wal-Mart, which stepped up factory inspections in response
to the series of deadly accidents, said it was not seeking to
influence the business decisions of any other companies. But
several retailers and brands, including Spain's Inditex SA
, owner of the apparel chain Zara, told Reuters they had
followed up with their own checks of named factories.
Not all buyers have barred factories on the "red" list.
Reuters found last month that an unapproved factory where
Wal-Mart and Inditex inspectors had spotted cracks in the wall
was still making Wrangler shirts for the world's largest apparel
maker, U.S.-based VF Corp.
VF Corp told Reuters its philosophy was to stay and try to
improve working conditions.
"We believe this provides the necessary balance between
providing needed jobs and safeguarding employees," VF said in an
emailed statement to Reuters.
A poor South Asian country, Bangladesh relies on garments
for 80 percent of its exports. Thanks to cheap labor and a
capacity to handle high-volume orders, its industry has enjoyed
a long boom and the country is now second to China in the global
ranking of apparel exporters.
Wal-Mart takes more than 10 percent of Bangladesh's garment
exports currently worth $19 billion a year, according to
officials at the BGMEA industry association, a share that gives
it both clout and influence.
Its Bangladesh operations have become a bigger issue for
shareholders since the deadly building collapse in April, even
though it did not use any of the suppliers based in the complex.
Wal-Mart hosts its annual meeting in its home state of Arkansas
on Friday, and a group of employees and activists raised $8,700
to bring two former factory workers from Bangladesh to help call
attention to labor practices.
Wal-Mart has been the most aggressive in spotlighting
substandard suppliers. In addition to the "red" list published
on its ethical sourcing website, it issued a press release
calling on the Bangladesh government to suspend some factories
where it found safety problems. But it has somewhat softened its
stance after some factory owners raised objections.
It changed the wording on its website to specify that
unauthorized subcontracting was grounds for inclusion on the
list. When asked whether this was in response to Simco's
concerns, Wal-Mart said only that it had updated the language to
add "greater clarity" on the types of violations represented on
the list. ()


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As awareness about ethical products and services grows, it’s becoming harder for companies to hide practices that don’t fit with consumer expectations. Domini Stuart reports
Doing business at a distance will always present practical challenges. Every international trader has to negotiate issues around currency, transport, representation and distribution. Increasingly, exporters and importers also have to negotiate an ethical minefield.
"As an exporter, you might encounter difficulties with shipping, paperwork and getting shipments through the wharf area and customs," says Michael Segon, senior lecturer at RMIT University in Melbourne and adviser in ethics and integrity services to KPMG Australia. "Some people find that money can move the process along, and they’ll often say ‘it’s not bribery, we’re just facilitating a process’."
In some countries, the whole issue of ‘facilitation payments’ is more complex than others. "In China, for instance, there is the culture of guanxi—the development of relationships based on the exchange of gifts," Segon continues. "Some people interpret this as bribery. Sometimes it really is bribery under the guise of guanxi. Your best defence is always to be fully informed, and what staggers me is that so many business people seem to be unaware of what’s known as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which makes it illegal for Australian business people to pay bribes to foreign government officials."
In 1999, Australia became a party to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions. Since then, it has been a criminal offence carrying a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and/or a fine for any Australian citizen, resident or company found guilty of bribing a foreign public official either in Australia or while in foreign countries.
"This is where the Australian Wheat Board (AWB) case is very interesting," says Segon. "Clearly the question is did AWB officials make facilitation payments to Iraqi government officials? If the answer is yes they may have contravened this law."
The so-called AWB affair shows the impact a significant breach of ethics can have on a company’s reputation and, in this case, the damage may not stop there.
Transparency International interviews the international business community and then ranks countries according to how ethical they are perceived to be. Australia has always prided itself on being in the top five or six, but now there is talk of a slide. "AWB is a good example of what can happen when a company focuses on achieving the outcome rather than the process, and of why business ethics is so important," says Segon. "The problem is that people tend to be reactive, waiting until there’s a crisis like fraud or misuse of property before they do anything. But ethics needs to be tackled as a business strategy. You need to create, monitor, and update systems just as you do for advertising or HR."
The issue of live animal exports raises the contentious ethical issue of relativism. "Do other cultures have different standards, not only in the way they interact as a society but also in the way they treat animals?" asks Segon. "There are certainly cultural differences. Animals are slaughtered differently around the world, and we in Australia find some of these practices uncomfortable and disturbing. We have a different approach, but do we say there should be a minimum standard of treatment for animals and attempt to impose that, or do we say who are we to judge?"
Relativism can also be an issue for Australian business owners who choose to outsource manufacturing processes or services to less wealthy countries than our own.
Sportswear is a typical example. Most of us remember the Nike ‘sweatshop’ scandal, and Oxfam Australia reports that workers producing for other sportswear companies including FILA, adidas, Puma, New Balance and Asics commonly face low wages, long hours, verbal abuse, dangerous working conditions, denial of trade union rights and high levels of sexual harassment—80 percent of sportswear workers are women.
"People take manufacturing offshore because they want the lowest possible cost of production," says Segon. "But ask yourself whether you would want your son or daughter to work in that factory. If the answer is ‘no’ but you are comfortable with someone else’s son or daughter doing the job, aren’t you being a hypocrite? This is the fundamental problem with relativism. If you say something is not OK here but it’s OK there because they have a different culture, how can the same action be ethical and unethical at the same time?"
The vision of Gloria Jean’s Coffees is not only to be the largest and most profitable coffee company in the world but also the most loved and respected. Recently they embraced an opportunity to protect the welfare of coffee farmers, wildlife, and the environment by partnering with The Rainforest Alliance, an international non-profit conservation organisation.
The Rainforest Alliance works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land use practices, business practices and consumer behaviour. The companies, cooperatives and landowners who participate in their programs meet rigorous standards of behaviour that helps to conserve biodiversity and provide sustainable livelihoods.
Gloria Jean’s now imports Rainforest Alliance Certified Single Origin Nicaraguan whole bean coffee sourced from the mountainous Jinotega region of far north Nicaragua. By the end of 2006, the company had roasted some 2,340 bags, which is equivalent to 183 tonnes of coffee, and this is available from all 400-plus coffee houses around Australia. All of Gloria Jean’s flavoured coffees have also received Rainforest Alliance certification.
"The partnership allows our coffee house guests to continue to purchase high quality coffee while now also demonstrating their support for a product that has been grown according to meticulous environmental and social standards," says executive chairman, Nabi Saleh. "We’ve chosen to partner with the Rainforest Alliance because we believe it serves the greatest good for the most people, both on an individual and community-wide level."
Gloria Jean’s are committed to ensuring that franchise partners around the world are aligned with their vision. "We currently have coffee houses in 23 countries," says Ian Martin, group chief executive. "For every country we enter, our potential franchise partners must first come to Australia for a six-week induction program. This program spends considerable time focused on our vision, values and culture. If they’re not comfortable with those, we can tell very quickly that they’re not right for our company and we don’t proceed with them."
Dr Simon Longstaff, executive director of St James Ethics Centre, says that supply chain integrity is the best way to guarantee the reliability of the goods and services we outsource. "We place a certain amount of trust in an organisation we are purchasing from and we want to know who we are dealing with," he says. "It would be intolerable if we were dealing with a company that didn’t care about the source or quality of the inputs. The advancement in communications technology means, however remote you happen to be from those who supply to you, there is nowhere to hide if the company you source from has issues that are not in line with your own core values."
While businesses tend to see ethics as a sacrifice, studies in the US, Europe and Australia show companies that cultivate an ethical culture
can actually benefit financially. They are more likely to have strong customer relationships and lower staff turnover, and are also less likely to engage in risky behaviour. All of these can impact favourably on the bottom line. Nevertheless, when a business is smaller or starting out, the owner may find there’s a powerful temptation to compromise.
Sharon McGlinchey’s MV Skincare products have the highest organic content of any luxury range in Australia. She exports to the UK and New Zealand, and her business is ethical to its core. But, for her, integrity has its price.
"I have supported the organic philosophy for many years," she says. "It’s long been obvious to me that increasing levels of toxicity are a threat both to individuals and the planet. Every time we buy an organic product we are supporting the farmers and producers who have said ‘no’ to chemicals."
The problem is that, as yet, organic ingredients aren’t as readily available or as affordable as their chemical counterparts. "Most skincare creams—even those in the luxury range—have a base of mineral oil, which costs around $2.50 a kilo," she says. "I use organic sweet almond oil or organic rosehip oil instead, which cost anything from $65 to $165 a kilo, but I can’t charge any more for the finished product."
McGlinchey also faces higher costs for her packaging. Glass is breakable and heavy, and she found that the only kinds of plastic containers that don’t leach chemicals into her products are bulky and unattractive. Her aluminium packaging is light and strong, and scores 9.5 out of 10 on the UK’s Soil Association scale of environmental friendliness, but also costs around five times more than the plastic used by most of her competitors.
"I believe that what I lose in profit I gain from customer loyalty and word-of-mouth advertising," McGlinchey says. "People are definitely more aware of ethical issues these days and increasingly seek out products and services of the highest quality that they can trust to support their own values."
The essence of being ethical around the world
• A proactive ethical strategy is also a strategy for reducing risk.
• A sound ethical culture helps sustain business relationships with customers and employees.
• Creating, monitoring, and updating systems costs money, but this is as much an investment as an advertising campaign or your HR strategy.
• It is vital to read and understand the relevant legislation—ignorance is no excuse for unethical or illegal behaviour.


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The North East Freight Partnership wants to hear operator views on the impact Brexit will have on the logistics sector in the North East. It has put a call out to industry to take part in the following short survey: “Brexit has the potential to present challenges and opportunities for the freight and logistics sector in the North East. Customs clearance requirements may become more pronounced and the markets the region’s businesses serve may change, representing a challenge to the supply […]
Senior management at road transport operators in the UK do not believe that Brexit will damage their growth prospects in the short or medium-term, with a majority anticipating significantly or slightly better growth in 2018 and 2019.
The government is playing chicken with the future of the British economy and the haulage industry, the FTA has warned.


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Apple has attempted to allay fears that the company’s upcoming photo-scanning feature, designed to detect images of child abuse among photos uploaded to Apple’s iCloud, threatens user privacy.
Last week Apple announced a new function for products including iPhones and iPads, that will see users’ iCloud photos scanned to find matches with known images of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
When such images are detected by the automated system, they will be reviewed by a human moderator. The user who owned the photo could then be reported to authorities for CSAM possession.
Matthew Green, a professor at Johns Hopkins University who has worked on cryptographic technologies, tweeted that the news that Apple could directly scan customer’s devices was “disturbing”.
He wrote: “So when you tell the general public that you’re going to start rifling through their personal photos *on their own device* they don’t like it. It is, to be blunt and US-centric, unamerican.”
Tim Sweeney, CEO and founder of Epic Games, tweeted: “Inescapably, this is government spyware installed by Apple based on a presumption of guilt. Though Apple wrote the code, its function is to scan personal data and report it to government.”
Apple released a document attempting to quell concerns that the function could be abused by governments seeking access to users’ personal information.
The company said: “We have faced demands to build and deploy government-mandated changes that degrade the privacy of users before, and have steadfastly refused those demands. We will continue to refuse them in the future. Let us be clear, this technology is limited to detecting CSAM stored in iCloud and we will not accede to any government’s request to expand it.”
That promise will be harder to keep in some countries beyond the US, which seemed to be the focus of Apple’s communications. Apple was criticised by tech observers for opening a data center in China earlier this year, hosting iCloud capacity for Chinese customers at the facility in the country’s Guizhou province.
For that move Apple was compelled to partner with a Chinese company, Guizhou Cloud, to operate Apple’s Chinese iCloud service. China’s authoritarian ruling Chinese Communist Party, which regularly jails and ‘disappears’ critics and activists, has tight government compliance rules for Chinese tech firms.
In the document Apple fell short of saying that its CSAM detection system could not be used to detect images of things other than CSAM, but instead said that the “process is designed to prevent that from happening.”
“There is no automated reporting to law enforcement, and Apple conducts human review before making a report to NCMEC. In the unlikely event of the system flagging images that do not match known CSAM images, the account would not be disabled and no report would be filed to NCMEC,” Apple added.
Apple claims there is a “less than one in one trillion per year” chance that the scanning system would incorrectly flag an account for CSAM images.


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Internet giant Yahoo has added another mobile developer to its ranks, the online polling company GoPollGo. The polling service, just short of its third birthday, has announced its acquisition by Yahoo but did not disclose any financial terms of the deal.
GoPollGo announced that it is shutting down all polls and services in the site it has previously operated in. The company, which cites its user base in the millions, will no longer support embeddable widgets and mobile apps. No word has been given on when or if the services will resume.
Yahoo’s acquisition of GoPollGo is likely attributed to talent as the young company has developed a mobile version of its technology. The Internet giant has been known to acquire promising companies in recent months to expand its ranks of mobile developers. Yahoo plans to shift the whole of its product line to accommodate its growing mobile users base.
The company has so far acquired Astrid and Milewise. It has also met with company owners and executives of the online video giant Hulu for a possible acquisition deal. Hulu’s owners have been looking to sell the video service for some time and Yahoo is considering its platform to strengthen its video content in its products.
Yahoo also plans to develop its product line in mobile space due to the rising number of mobile users, thanks in part to the growing market of smart phones and tablets.
Gene Ryan Briones Gene Ryan Briones (Google+) is a technology journalist with a wide experience in writing about the latest trends in the technology industry, ranging from mobile technology, gadgets and robots, as well as computer hardware and software.
Robert Griffin III Has Dislocated Left Ankle
Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III suffered a dislocated left ankle injury during his team's 41-10 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. A return this season has not been ruled out.
The “geek mind” is concerned with more than just the latest iPhone rumors, or which company will win the gaming console wars. I4U is concerned with more than just the latest photo shoot or other celebrity gossip.
The “geek mind” is concerned with life, in all its different forms and facets. The geek mind wants to know about societal and financial issues, both abroad and at home. If a Fortune 500 decides to raise their minimum wage, or any high priority news, the geek mind wants to know. The geek mind wants to know the top teams in the National Football League, or who’s likely to win the NBA Finals this coming year. The geek mind wants to know who the hottest new models are, or whether the newest blockbuster movie is worth seeing. The geek mind wants to know. The geek mind wants—needs—knowledge.


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How the NRL was rescued from the brink of financial ruin
Paul White declares the Broncos will survive the COVID-19 pandemic
From getting face masks out of China to helping tourists get home
Gold Coast Titans won’t give up in the face of financial ruin
Former detective and son have suffered a setback in their defence
Call for an allegiance to be brokered with a second Brisbane team
Mark Maric, top chef, dies of a heart attack
X-rated business hopes to seduce buyers with price reduction
Pets & Animals
After a rough start, ‘puppy farm’ dogs find shelter … and love
Brisbane Bombers target Craig Bellamy as boss for NRL admission
A disgruntled former Coffee Club franchisee is seeking over $1m.
Burnett’s best accommodation places that could be yours today.
A hemp business has decided not to attend a major expo. Here's why.
Hair salon mogul Oscar Cullinan invests in hemp operation
'This is extraordinarily risky'
Readers react to Weis factory closure as Unilever shift production
Mackay’s economy growth expected to boost demand for sex.
SEQ’s $2B airport boom tapping into world demand for tourism
MP says small business owners and retirees up and down coast are still battling
He moved to the country in 1996 to start a business but he is about to lose his ...


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Just like how people end up living in the bitter, frostbitten cold, other people end up living in hot, arid regions. In the cold you need heat — something easily remedied with proper clothing and heating equipment — but in the heat, you need water, which is something you can’t quite create out of man-made components. However, researchers have created a new special coating that, when applied to cotton, can suck water right out of the air.
Dutch researchers from the Eindhoven University of Technology have created a non-stick coating that heals itself when scratched. As far as I can tell, as long as the new coating isn’t completely penetrated, it should continue to heal itself almost indefinitely.
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Microsoft Office for iPad announced
Office for iPad finally available
Microsoft has been expected to release Office for iPad for a while, but today Thursday 27th March, Satya Nadella has confirmed the speculation and has announced that Office for iPad will be live on the Apple App Store at 11am Pacific time
During Microsoft’s press briefing today, Nadella discussed the intersection of cloud and mobile from San Francisco.
To use Office for iPad, you will need to have an active subscription to Office 365 (£65 for a 1 year license for 5 users).


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Video game conditioning sways real-life choices
Lessons learned in video games like World of Warcraft, Guitar Hero or Mario Kart, can easily influence real life choices, says a new study.india Updated: Jan 29, 2009 13:15 IST
Lessons learned in video games like World of Warcraft, Guitar Hero or Mario Kart, can easily influence real life choices, says a new study.
Paul Fletcher, a neuroscientist at Cambridge University, UK, who led the study, said that as video games become more immersive and realistic, all involved ought to realise the potential. "I don't think this is evidence that video games are bad. We just need to be aware that associations formed within the game transfer to the real world – for good or bad," New Scientist quoted Fletcher, a former gamer, as saying.
Earlier it has been shown that video games and virtual reality can sway our emotions, help treat post-traumatic stress disorder, and even trigger the same biological pathways as food and cocaine. But Fletcher noted that till date, no one has shown that video games can train the kind of conditioned responses that underlie much of our behaviour.
Thus, he, along with colleagues recruited 22 volunteer subjects and found that volunteers who played a simple cycling game learned to favour one team's jersey and avoid another's.
And days later, most subjects subconsciously avoided the same jersey in a real-world test. "Our research suggests whatever you've learned in the computer game does have an effect on how you behave toward the stimulus in the real world," said Fletcher. He added: "The goal of games manufacturers is to immerse their customers as deeply as possible within the game. Of course, that can be for good or bad."
They also found that while violent games could have players more likely to lash out at specific people, associations learned in video games could be educational. The study has been published in Journal of Neuroscience.
First Published: Jan 29, 2009 13:12 IST


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Samsung Galaxy S7 enters world of wireless charging
Samsung announced that Galaxy S7 will be embedded with wireless charging technology
Barcelona, Spain – February 22, 2016 – Given the world’s latest and greatest mobile technology has been unveiled at MWC in Barcelona for almost three decades, it should come as no surprise that Powermat played a prominent role in this year’s event when Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer, announced that its new Galaxy S7 devices will be embedded with wireless charging technology.
Both the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge will allow users to stay better connected than ever before by seamlessly accessing any of the growing number of Powermat Charging Spots in public venues across the world. Both devices are powered by the latest Android Marshmallow OS, allow for expandable memory and are water-resistant, repelling spills, splashes and even dunks so you can save the rice for cooking. Real-time updates are delivered with a single swipe, and since the picture on the screen wraps around the Dual-Edge design, you’ll see even more. The Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge are also the first smartphones with dual-pixel technology, ensuring a fast auto focus for less blur. In addition to the S7 and S7 Edge, last year Samsung equipped both the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy Note 5 Edge with wireless charging, as well as the Galaxy S6.
Prioritized wireless charging
Forever a pioneer in the world of smartphones, Samsung has prioritized putting wireless charging technology in its latest devices because of the ever-increasing consumer demand. In the past year alone, Starbucks has continued its national roll-out of Powermat Charging Spots, and wireless charging technology has been introduced to universities on both coasts and added to even more General Motors vehicles Corian countertops.
Powermat is once again thrilled to have our technology embedded in one of the hottest, must-have devices on the market today. Thanks to Samsung’s innovation and forward thinking, there is no doubt that we will accomplish our goal of delivering wireless power to more of the places people need it most. If you’re tired of running out of a juice and would rather live in a wireless world where it’s easy to power up your phone on the go, we encourage you to pick up a Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge or any of the other great Samsung devices mentioned above. You can also download the Powermat app to find out where your nearest Powermat Charging Spot is located.


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NRF: Holiday forecast upgraded to 3.8% rise
WASHINGTON, D.C. –The National Retail Federation said Thursday that it has upwardly revised its holiday forecast, now expecting holiday sales to rise 3.8% this year to a record $469.1 billion.
NRF’s initial forecast, announced on October 6, called for anticipated sales growth of 2.8%. While a 3.8% sales increase is considerably above the 10-year average sales increase of 2.6%, it is still lower than the 5.2% increase the retail industry saw last year, said NRF.
“After strong sales reports in October and November, along with a successful Black Friday weekend, retailers are cautiously optimistic that this season will turn out better than initially expected, bringing added stability to our recovering economy at a time when America needs it most,” NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay said. “However, a number of factors, including the debt crisis in Europe and continued political wrangling in Washington, could impact consumer spending this holiday season and into 2012.”
Green Monday online spending up 19% to $1.13 billion
RESTON, Va. –Data released Wednesday by comScore showed that holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 42 days of the 2011 holiday season is up 15% year-over-year. Through “Green Monday,” Dec. 12, $26.8 billion has been spent online.
The most recent week (week ending Dec. 11) reached a record $6.1 billion in spending, in line with the season-to-date’s 15% growth rate, according to the report.
Green Monday, December 12 – the second Monday in December when online spending has historically tended to peak – reached $1.13 billion in spending, a 19% increase over last year and ranking it as the third heaviest spending day of the season after Cyber Monday ($1.25 billion) and Monday, December 5 ($1.17 billion).
“Green Monday kicks off what should be the heaviest week of the year for online shopping, where we could see several billion dollar spending days, punctuated by Free Shipping Day on Friday, December 16,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.
Digital Content & Subscriptions led the top growing online retail categories for season-to-date, with a growth rate more than double that of the online sector as a whole, according to comScore. Jewelry & Watches was the second fastest growing category this season, followed by Consumer Electronics and Video Games and Computer Software.


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By Alisa Priddle, Detroit Free Press –
DETROIT — Ford announced it will spend $600 million to expand in Chongqing, China, just weeks before the Beijing auto show, where Chrysler will announce the brand’s return to the Chinese market.
Ford’s investment, with joint-venture partner Changan Ford Mazda Automobile, will expand capacity in Chongqing by 350,000 vehicles to 950,000 annually and bring Ford’s total investment in China to $4.1 billion.
Ford and Chrysler are playing catch-up in the world’s biggest auto market, where General Motors and Volkswagen are the largest foreign automakers working with Chinese partners.
GM and its 11 joint-venture partners in China on Thursday announced record March sales of 257,944 vehicles and first-quarter sales of 745,152, also a record for GM.
Chrysler, by contrast, sold only 10,477 vehicles — all Jeeps — in the first quarter, but that was a 23 percent increase from a year ago, said spokesman Ariel Gavilan. And 2011 sales were up 81 percent from the year before in China, Chrysler’s largest market outside North America.
In Beijing on April 23, Chrysler will show a Jeep Wrangler concept with a dragon on the hood and a Chrysler 300C concept sedan to mark the Chrysler brand’s return to China after not competing for a couple of years.
Chrysler plans to start selling the 300 in China this summer, followed by the Chrysler Grand Voyager minivan later in the year. Both will be exported from Chrysler factories in Ontario.
Ford sold almost 520,000 vehicles in 2011 in China, barely one-fifth of GM’s 2.5 million sales.
Chongqing is Ford’s largest manufacturing hub outside southeast Michigan. Ford also has assembly plants in Nanjing.
Construction will start immediately on a new assembly line, body and paint shop to augment the two assembly plants and engine plant already there. Another engine and transmission plant is under construction.
The new line should be ready in late 2014.
Ford plans to introduce 15 vehicles and 20 engines and transmissions in China by 2015 with technologies to reduce fuel consumption and emissions by 20 percent in a country where poor air quality is a crisis.
“This expansion is an investment in Ford’s long-term future, globally and will help us to achieve our goal of increasing worldwide sales by nearly 50 percent by mid-decade to about 8 million vehicles per year,” said Joe Hinrichs, president of Ford Asia Pacific and Africa, in a statement.
“Ford continues to lay the foundation for long-term growth in the world’s largest automotive market,” Hinrichs said.
At the Beijing auto show, Ford will show the new Focus that began production in Chongqing in February as well as three utility vehicles — the EcoSport, Kuga (sold as the Escape in the U.S.) and the new Explorer. Ford already sells the Edge in China.
“With a current growth rate of about 5 percent, the Chinese auto industry remains the biggest growth market in the world,” said Dave Schoch, head of Ford China.
About 18 million vehicles were sold in China last year, and while growth has slowed in the first few months of 2012, the long-term outlook for car sales remains strong.


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Nigerian stocks remain attractive and should remain so for the remainder of the year.
Equities had a wild ride in 2021, with eight months of positive returns and four months of bearish season. The market ended with a 6.7 percent gain following an extraordinary last-minute rally that helped boost the value of listed stocks by N1.23 trillion.
Interestingly, domestic institutional and retail investors drove the market’s liquidity and record rally, highlighting Nigerian investors’ potential to stabilize and grow the market.
Despite imminent threats to the 2022 equity market rally, Nigerian stocks remain attractive and should remain resilient this year.
The critical question now is which stocks investors should buy in 2022. Many analysts’ BUY lists for 2022 include Dangote Cement, MTN Nigeria, Lafarge Africa, GTCO, Nestle Nigeria, Zenith Bank, BUA Cement, BUA Foods, UBA, Fidelity Bank, Access Bank, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, and Flour Mills of Nigeria.
Many of these stocks are currently undervalued in the Nigerian market, presenting attractive BUY opportunities for investors seeking both capital appreciation and long-term returns.
“Our top picks, Dangote Cement, MTN Nigeria, GTCO, Nestle, and Zenith Bank, are resilient bellwethers that have a track record of sustaining earnings growth through political cycles,” according to Isaac Olorungbon, CEO, Deep Trust and Investments Limited.
He remains optimistic about the Nigerian stock market in 2022, “as our cautious optimism reinforces our outlook for another positive year for Nigerian equity investors.”
Unilever Nigeria, Okomu Oil Palm, Presco, Vitafoam, Berger Paints, Ardova, Seplat, and Total Energies Marketing Nigeria are also among the companies. Dangote Sugar Refinery, Guinness Nigeria, Conoil, FCMB Group, May & Baker, Fidson Healthcare, and Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals are also on the analysts’ BUY list.
While rising market optimism may dampen funds flow to equities in 2022, a positive earnings outlook for the majority of largely capitalised value stocks should reinforce investment opportunities in these stocks.
Dangote Cement is Africa’s largest cement producer, operating in ten African countries and producing 48.6 million tons of cement per year. As of January 10, 2022, the company’s share price was N260 per share; year-to-date (YtD) change was (+1.2 percent), while the stock increased by +4.9 percent in 2021.
Meristem analysts expect Dangote Cement to trade at N287.81; Vetiva analysts expect the stock to trade at N280; and United Capital analysts expect the stock to trade at N270.3. The stock has upside potential and should be considered a BUY based on these analysts’ 2022 target prices for the cement maker.
A BUY rating is assigned to a stock that is considered to be significantly undervalued but has strong fundamentals, and where a potential return of greater than or equal to 15% is expected between the current price and the analyst’s target price (TP).
Prior to the release of its fiscal year (FY) 2021 results, the company’s unaudited interim financial statements for the nine months ended September 30, 2021, revealed revenue increased to N1.022 trillion from N761.44 billion in fiscal year 2021. Pre-tax profit was N405.487 billion for the nine-month period, up from N271.960 billion in 9M’2020.
Profitability increased to N16.23 per share in 9M’21 from N12.2 in 9M’20. The Company and its subsidiaries’ primary business is the operation of plants for the preparation, manufacture, and distribution of cement and related products. Sector (Industrial Goods), Sub-Sector (Building Materials), and Market Classification (Premium Board) (17,040,507,405 units).
Additionally, Sanwo-Olu, MTN Nigeria, Osimhen, and Ndidi are among the Nigeria Pitch Awards nominees.
MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN) is in the business of developing and operating cellular network systems based on the Global System for Mobiles (GSM) standard, as well as providing related services.
Between December 1 and December 14, 2021, Nigeria’s largest telco held a public offering of its shares, allowing retail investors to purchase up to 575 million shares at a price of N169 per share—a discount to the company’s share price on the secondary market.
As of January 10, 2022, its share price of N185.5 per share represented a 5.8 percent YtD negative return. In 2021, the stock increased by 16 percent. In November 2021, the Nigerian Central Bank granted it preliminary approval to operate a payment service bank (PSB).
“By 2022, we believe that MTNN’s 4G coverage will remain expansive, as the company works to meet the ever-increasing data needs of Nigeria’s population. Thus, data revenue is expected to reach N647 billion, an increase of 25% year on year (y/y).
“With the NCC lifting the suspension on new SIM card registrations and the company indicating that it is aggressively ramping up new registration centers to support the FG’s NIN enrolment program, we anticipate some growth in MTNN’s subscriber base going forward.” As a result, we anticipate that this will provide some support for voice revenue through 2022. However, we must keep in mind that voice services face intense competition, given the growing preference for cheaper internet-based alternatives.
“With the company on the verge of obtaining a PSB license, product offerings are ripe for expansion, and we may begin to see a material impact on MTN’s top-line performance,” according to Victoria Ejugwu, an oil and gas, telecom analyst at Lagos-based Vetiva.
“As we look ahead to 2022, we are guided by our December 30 Nigerian telecom sector report ‘Delivering a Digital Future,’ in which we recommend a BUY for MTNN with a target price of N266.17/share and a SELL for Airtel Africa with a target price of N793.84/share,” Coronation Research analysts wrote in a January 4 note.
MTNN’s unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 revealed that revenue increased to N1.206 trillion from N975.764 billion in 9M’2020, a 23.62 percent increase.
Profit before tax (PBT) increased to N321.352 billion in 9M’21, up 51.87 percent from N211.594 billion in 9M’2020; while basic/diluted earnings per share increased to N10.82, up 52.74 percent from N7.09 in 9M’2020.
Sector (Information and Communications Technology); Subsector (Telecommunications Services); Market Classification (Premium Board); and Number of Shares Outstanding (20,354,513,050 units).
Seplat Energy is a leading independent energy company in Nigeria that is publicly traded on the Nigerian Exchange Limited and the London Stock Exchange. The company believes that the greatest opportunity ahead of it is to supply the appropriate mix of energy to Nigeria’s young and rapidly growing population and to accelerate the country’s transition to cleaner, more affordable, universal energy. Seplat ended 2021 with a share price of N650, an increase of 61.6 percent over the previous year.
As of January 10, the stock price of N665 represents a 2.3 percent year-to-date gain. It increased revenue to N182.7 billion in the nine months ended September 30, 2021, up from N135.6 billion in 9M’2020.
In 9M’21, gross profit increased to N58.1 billion from N31.7 billion in 9M’20. Profit before tax increased to N38.6 billion in 9M’2020 from a loss before tax of N45.5 billion in 9M’2020. For Seplat, the ANOH project is on track to begin production in H1′ 2022.
“A significant step forward will be when the ANOH project comes online in 2022, supplying additional transition gas to an energy-scarce market that is heavily reliant on expensive, high-carbon electricity generated by small-scale diesel and PMS generators,” said Roger Brown, CEO of Seplat Energy.
United Capital maintains a BUY rating on Seplat with a target price of N770.4. Meristem’s target price is N754.42, which comes with a BUY recommendation. Vetiva also maintained a BUY rating on the stock, setting a target price of N796.57 for 2022.
“Recently, Seplat announced that it was in talks with ExxonMobil about acquiring some shallow water assets. Given that the acquisition’s terms have not been disclosed to the public, we have not factored in the potential impact on Seplat’s valuation.
“However, if the deal goes through, we anticipate an increase in crude output and cost synergies as a result of the combined entity’s administrative operations being integrated,” said Luke Ofojebe, Vetiva’s head of research.
Sector (Oil and Gas); Subsector (Exploration and Production); Market Classification (Premium Board); and Outstanding Shares (588,444,561 units).
Nigerian Flour Mills
Flour Mills of Nigeria, one of the country’s largest food and agro-allied groups, remains committed to executing its long-term strategy with the objective of sustaining growth and profitability.
Flour Mills of Nigeria and Honeywell Group Limited recently agreed to merge their operations through affiliates and Honeywell Flour Mills (HFMP), a portfolio company of HGL, for a total enterprise value of N80 billion, which will result in Honeywell Group selling a 71.69 percent stake in HFMP to FMN.
The proposed transaction will combine two complementary businesses and establish a more resilient national champion in Nigeria’s food industry, ensuring long-term job creation and preservation.
The combination of FMN and HFMP will create a food business that is better positioned to benefit Nigeria’s growing population, advance national food security objectives, and capitalize on opportunities created by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Flour Mills was one of the year’s best performers (+183.3 percent) in 2021. Flour Mills of Nigeria’s share price closed at N29 per share in the trading week ended January 7, 2022, a gain of 2.3 percent year to date.
Half-year (H1) revenue for the Group was N522.8 billion in 2021/2022, up from N355.1 billion in H1 2020/21, a 47 percent year-on-year (YoY) increase. The group’s performance was consistent across all key business segments, with the agro-allied and support segments in particular demonstrating impressive growth of up to 35%. Profit before tax (PBT) for the review H1 period was N15.5 billion, up from N14.6 billion in H1 2020/21 (6 percent – YoY growth).
This performance was bolstered by continued strength in the food segment and continued improvement in the agro-allied and support segments. PAT was N10.5 billion, up from N9.9 billion in H1 2020/21 (6 percent – year on year growth). The Group’s strong operational performance was fueled by strong organic growth, which was aided by product innovation, as well as continued momentum in retail sales.
On January 10, the stock had fallen by 0.9 percent this year. According to United Capital research analysts, Flour Mills is a BUY at their target price of N46.6. Meristem is also requesting investors to purchase Flour Mills at their target price of N40.63.
Meristem research analysts recommended investors “BUY” Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc shares in a January 10 stock recommendation. Additionally, Vetiva’s price target for Flour Mills is N44.34,” said Chinma Ukadike, the firm’s consumer goods analyst.
“We note that the company’s volume growth strategy across its Food and Agro-allied segments has been quite successful thus far. As a result, we continue to be optimistic about the impact of newer product roll-outs expected in the coming quarters,” the analysts said.
Consumer Goods Sector; Food Products Subsector; Main Board Market Classification; Shares Outstanding (4,100,379,605 units).


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Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Saturday reported a 13% year-on-year growth in wholesales during 2021, as it dispatched 13.97 lakh units to dealers during the period.
The country’s largest carmaker had dispatched 12.14 lakh units in 2020.
In an interaction with PTI , MSI Senior Executive Director (Marketing and Sales) Shashank Srivastava said the company is optimistic about business in 2022 with pending orders alone stretching to over 2.3 lakh units.
“But then we are also affected by supply-side issues. With the supplies improving month-on-month and continued response from consumers, we are optimistic about the next year,” he noted.
However, there are still question marks regarding the state of the economy and the semiconductor shortage issue, Mr. Srivastava stated.
“What if the shortage continues and then there is Omicron as well. So, there are various uncertainties. But, if there is no calamity kind of thing then there is a case of optimism for next year as well,” he noted.
Elaborating on the overall passenger vehicle segment, Mr. Srivastava said the market has crossed the 30 lakh mark in the January-December period of 2021.
“It is only the third time that the 30 lakh mark has been breached inthe country in the January-December period,” he stated.
In December 2021, the company reported a 4% fall in total wholesales at 1,53,149 units.
MSI had dispatched 1,60,226 units in December 2020.
The company’s domestic sales slipped 13% to 1,30,869 units last month as against 1,50,288 units in December 2020, it added.
“The shortage of electronic components had a minor impact on the production of vehicles during the month. The shortage primarily affected the production of vehicles sold in the domestic market,” the company stated.
The company took all possible measures to minimise the impact, it added.
Sales of mini cars, comprising Alto and S-Presso, fell 35% to 16,320 units as compared to 24,927 in the same month last year.
Similarly, sales of the compact segment, including models such as Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and Dzire, slumped 11% to 69,345 units as against 77,641 cars in December 2020.
Sales of mid-sized sedan Ciaz declined to 1,204 units as compared with 1,270 units in December 2020.
Utility vehicle sales, including Vitara Brezza, S-Cross and Ertiga, rose 5% to 26,982 units as compared to 25,701 vehicles in the year-ago month, MSI said.
Exports, however, saw a two-fold jump to 22,280 units as against 9,938 units in the corresponding month last year, the company said.


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Live and on-demand VR and video.
Samsung has partnered with the Seven Network to deliver 100 hours of live and on-demand virtual reality (VR) and 360 video from the Olympic Games.
For the first time ever, VR and 360-degree video will be available to selected Samsung Galaxy smartphones compatible with Samsung Gear VR via the ‘7Rio VR 2016 app. Selected daily highlights on demand will also be available via facebook.com/7olympics.
The ‘7Rio VR 2016 app will offer up to 100 hours of VR and 360 degree programming to include the opening and closing ceremonies, men’s basketball, gymnastics, track and field, beach volleyball, diving, boxing and fencing as well as highlight packages of those sports.
Samsung Australia corporate vice president and CMO, Phillip Newtown commented, “We are thrilled to work with Channel Seven on this first-of-its-kind endeavour, connecting fans right to the action in Rio, powered by 360-degree storytelling, virtual reality and our Galaxy phones.”
Seven West Media event director, Olympic Games and chief revenue officer, Kurt Burnette said, “This year’s Olympic Games will be accessible to every Australian and promise to be the largest aggregated audience ever seen across platforms and screens. The Games content delivered and curated by Seven will be seen, heard, shared and discussed in many new ways with Seven as the driver.”
“We are delighted to be working with Samsung to add another new dimension of content immersion to our coverage of the Olympic Games. Our move into virtual reality with Samsung was purposely created to bring Australians closer to the Games than ever before,” he added.


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To his fellow Chinese, Li Ka-shing is simply Chiu Yan, or Superman. It is quite a title to live up to. And Li, Asia’s richest and most powerful businessman, is about to find out if he deserves it.
The stakes are so high that, should he pass the test – and he usually does – not only will he reap yet more personal rewards but he will also herald a new boom in Europe’s technology industry. Save for the occasional lapse, Li, the 73-year-old chairman of ports-to-telecommunications conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, has never looked back since he cut his teeth selling plastic flowers on the streets of Hong Kong in the 1950s.
Like other legendary business people, stories abound of Li. According to one, he always sets his watch eight minutes early. Some say this is because the Cantonese word for ‘eight’ sounds like ‘prosperity’. Others, however, insist it simply means that he likes getting there first. If so, it is a philosophy that translates well into the race to launch third-generation (3G) wireless services. For Li is about to become the first to properly test Europe’s appetite for 3G.
Hutchison 3G, the big-hitting joint venture of Hutchison Whampoa, NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s biggest wireless carrier, and KPN Mobile, the Netherlands’ number-one mobile phone company, is trialling 3G services in the UK and Italy ahead of a pan-European launch in 2003. It is expected to be the first venture to offer commercial 3G services outside Japan. In the coming months, Hutchison Whampoa-backed operators will also launch services in Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Israel and Sweden. Hutchison has also been linked with MobilCom, Germany’s embattled 3G licence-holder, and a 3G licence owned by Sonera in Finland.
To say that large sections of the high-tech industry in Europe and the US are closely watching events at Hutchison would be an under-statement. Of all the causes of the IT industry recession, the huge sums spent on 3G licences in early 2000, and the resulting collapse in telecoms company share prices, is perhaps the most important. Many executives blame the pre-crash 3G hype for the present crisis in the industry. Now 3G has the chance to finally atone for its ‘sins’.
For its part, Hutchison played a remarkable and mysterious role in Europe’s first, trend-setting 3G auction – the UK’s eight-week, £22.5 billion (EU35.6bn) extravaganza. The licence it controls was first acquired by TIW, a Canadian telecoms company that bid £4.4 billion (EU7bn) for the biggest of the five permits, despite having a market capitalisation of only C$3.5 billion (EU2.3bn) at the time. Little attention was paid to TIW in the run-up to the auction. It was not even considered a serious candidate, and was expected to lose out to companies with deeper pockets, such as Virgin and Global Crossing.
However, and in a Li masterstroke, Hutchison Whampoa took a 5% share of TIW shortly before the auction began. Although TIW executives were making the bids, few people were in any doubt about who was calling the shots. TIW was able to bid higher and higher because Li had supported a loan facility to the Canadian operator from Chase Manhattan and HSBC on the eve of the auction. Hutchison bought the TIW bidding vehicle after the auction ended.
The rules of the auction disqualified mystery players. One well-placed source at another of the bidders says that he scrutinised those rules the moment he learnt that Hutchison Whampoa was investing in TIW. The two companies “sailed extremely close to the wind”, he says, but the alliance kept within the UK government rules – just. It will never be known whether TIW’s rivals would have changed their pre-auction strategies had they realised what they were about to come up against. Li, the consummate wheeler-dealer, had done it again.
First follower advantage?
Still, Hutchison may be remembered not as Li’s crowning glory but as a high-profile flop. Being the first to launch 3G in Europe is a dangerous strategy. DoCoMo has been here before, launching the world’s first 3G service in Japan in 2001. Its service has been plagued with difficulties, slowing subscriber growth and damaging 3G’s reputation.
Even some of Hutchison’s suppliers admit that technical problems, such as difficulties in maintaining a connection when passing between a 2G and 3G network, are unlikely to be solved before mid-2003. But blending 2G and 3G networks is more than just an irritating technical problem. Hutchison, as a pure-play 3G operator, needs its competitors to carry its voice and data calls when subscribers travel out of range of the 3G network. (Hutchison’s networks in Italy and the UK cover less than 50% of the countries’ respective populations at present.) That means Hutchison must share precious call revenue with its rivals while it builds out its networks.
The carrier’s distribution channel has also drawn criticism. One of its key routes to market in the UK will be the recently acquired Superdrug pharmaceutical retailer. Mobile phones will share floor space with vitamins and medicines. But Deutsche Bank believes that the acquisition is a mistake because many of the outlets are not in prime locations and the chain is unlikely to draw in the high-spending business and consumer customers that Hutchison needs.
These concerns help to explain the murmurings of discontent among Hutchison’s backers in recent months. First, debt-laden KPN took a EU1.2 billion charge against its 15% stake in the venture and said it was putting the shares up for sale. No buyer has yet been found. Then DoCoMo rocked confidence in Hutchison further by writing down the value of its investment from Y190 billion to Y39 billion (EU1.6bn-EU320m).
What is more, not everything that Li has touched in the telecoms industry has turned to gold. Rabbit, his ill-fated foray into the cordless phone market, folded in 1994. And even his hugely successful follow-up, Orange, did not always have things its own way. The UK-based company’s international expansion suffered a series of setbacks early on.
But Li is famous for taking a long view and he remains undaunted by the early hiccups. In 2001, Hutchison Whampoa’s telecoms business contributed only 3% of its net profit, while the other core business – ports – contributed 27%. But bosses expect that to change. “Ports are a great business but we see big value creation in Hutchison 3G, which will overtake ports in the medium term,” said Frank Sixt, group finance director, earlier in 2002.
Hutchison, in fact, expects to have well over two million subscribers in Italy and the UK by the end of 2003. The company even doubled its original order of a million handsets from suppliers Motorola and NEC recently.
But such hubris should not be taken lightly. Hutchison 3G’s main backer, Hutchison Whampoa, is believed to have cash assets of more than EU20 billion. A strong balance sheet means that Hutchison will be able to aggressively buy market share if it wishes. As a new network operator it has no legacy systems, which would have to be upgraded and integrated at great cost before launching new services. Being a pure-play 3G operator means it can squeeze up to seven times as much voice traffic into its network as 2G operators, giving it the option of undercutting its rivals’ call tariffs. And it has acquired some of the most sought-after content in the embryonic wireless Internet market, including exclusive video clip rights to soccer matches.
The company also has the venerable Li Ka-shing name going for it. Can he make 3G in Europe a success? And, in so doing, reinvigorate the region’s IT and telecoms industries? It is a tall order. But if anyone can, he can. He is not called Chiu Yan for nothing.


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Failure to provide personal protective clothing for Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) employees and a call to reinstate 60 Hilton Trinidad employees were two of the major grouses raised by Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) secretary general John Julien.
Julien, CWU president Joseph Remy, officers from the southern and eastern branches and about 100 TSTT and Hilton Trinidad workers staged a protest on Friday outside the Ministry of Labour, on Duke Street, Port of Spain.
The CWU executive also delivered a letter to acting Prime Minister/Minister of Labour Errol McLeod which voiced their concerns.
In a telephone interview, Julien said, “We protested the failure of the Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) agency to deal decisively with the health and safety issues at TSTT, in particular personal protective clothing. It was promised to us by April 1. There was a recommendation from the OSH committee for a particular type of protective clothing to be worn by the outside technicians, personnel and power systems personnel.
“The company has blatantly refused to accede to the request of the OSH committee and ignored our collective agreement. Workers in south have refused to work based on the fact they don’t have protective clothing since May 2013. Similar action has been taken by workers in Port of Spain, Macoya and Arima.”
“Fire retardant” equipment and special clothing that will offer protection in the event of electrical burns from high tension wires were requested.
On the issue of Hilton Trinidad employees, Julien added: “We reported the termination of close to 60 workers as a trade dispute to McLeod and that was delivered today. We are giving McLeod seven days to acknowledge receipt of our correspondence and 14 days in which the minister, personally, or through his representative, to convene a meeting between the parties to have the matter resolved. Failure on the part of the ministry to do so will result in the matter being sent to the Industrial Court.”
The workers were terminated on Carnival Tuesday (March 4).
Julien said Hilton Trinidad general manager Leroy Browne should be held ultimately responsible for the termination of citizens of Trinidad and Tobago by a foreign organisation and foreign management. When contacted, Browne said he was in a meeting and had sent out a release on the matter on March 14.
A TSTT release said: “The safety and well-being of staff is of paramount importance to TSTT and the company takes all reasonable and practical steps to provide a safe work environment for employees. In accordance with the existing collective agreements between TSTT and the CWU, the company has begun distributing personal protective clothing to the relevant staff. The CWU protest action today for the supply of personal protective clothing also relates to a recommendation for providing new types of protective clothing for certain staff based on a review of the work they do.
“The OSH Agency has taken the reasonable steps to engage TSTT management and the CWU executive and to review several reports from the company, including the TSTT OSH committee recommendations for new types of personal protective clothing for certain staff.
“TSTT continues to fully cooperate with the OSH Agency to bring this matter to a conclusion. The CWU is aware of this process so their protest action today was premature and misleading to the public,” the release added.


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International securities regulators are to establish a 'Fintech Network' to share information and knowledge on emerging technologies and risks to the financial system.
At its annual meeting in Budapest this week, the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (Iosco) earmarked the challenges of fintech and digitilsation as one of four top areas of focus for the coming year.
The UK cryptocurrency community is calling on the Government and the Financial Conduct Authority to toughen up rules governing the trading of virtual currencies and to issue licenses to firms which demonstrate compliance.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have today signed an arrangement that commits the regulators to collaborating and supporting innovative firms through each other’s financial technology (FinTech) initiatives – LabCFTC and FCA Innovate.
The European Commission has issued new requirements that ensure independence of payment card schemes and processing entities, to enhance competition in the card payment market. Retailers will be able to choose the most suitable processor for their card transactions, to the benefit of consumers.
The Berlin Group, a European coalition of banks and payment processors, has published version 1.0 of its framework designed to give Third Party Providers (TTPs) API access to bank accounts in compliance with new regulations on freeing up customer data under PSD2.
The Bank of England has been looking into how distributed ledgers can be configured to enable privacy amongst participants whilst keeping data shared across a network and enabling regulators to view all transactions.
US financial services lobby group Sifma has used its latest cyberattack simulation exercise as an opportunity to call for a roll back of "redundant" rules in order to free up resources for fighting cyber crooks.
A former Equifax executive has been charged by US authorities with insider trading, accused of selling off all of his stock in the credit rating agency last summer before it revealed it had suffered a massive data breach.
Distributed ledger technology, or DLT, is the advancement that underpins an array of new financial products, including cryptocurrencies and digital payment services.
Many have identified DLT as the next great driver of economic efficiency. Some have even compared it to productivity-driving innovations such as the steam engine and personal computer.


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Brian Riedl affirmed before You.S. Senate Panel for the Financial, Houses, and Metropolitan Circumstances Subcommittee into Monetary Coverage inside a listening titled “Child care or other Plan Devices to battle Bottlenecks and you may Rising prices.”
Good day, Chairwoman Warren, Ranking Representative Kennedy, and you may Members of the fresh new Subcommittee. Thank you for appealing me to participate in today’s hearing.
Again, a healthy part of that it purchasing is warranted of the pandemic and savings
Rising prices is now creating tall monetary serious pain to have Western parents and you can http://getbadcreditloan.com/payday-loans-nh businesses. On inflation price increasing to 8.5 per cent – the highest rates when you look at the 41 ages – actual earnings possess fallen dos.eight percent. Moody’s Analytics and you will Penn-Wharton guess one to inflation is actually costing the common domestic $3 hundred 30 days. An effective Harris poll reveals that 84 % away from Us citizens is actually cutting back toward key instructions. Plus the problem is deepening each month.
Rising prices might have been motivated because of the multiple circumstances, however, financial and you may monetary plan will be the head grounds. Since the beginning of your own pandemic, the fresh Federal Set-aside enjoys pumped $cuatro.8 trillion towards savings, over doubling their equilibrium sheet. A few of it was needed to keep the discount afloat, nevertheless was too-much, since the Provided had been to buy financial-supported bonds just like the has just as history week.
The new Fed’s methods been employed by together with overly competitive fiscal rules bringing more $2 trillion in the new benefits – normally $16,one hundred thousand each domestic. But policies eg $eleven,eight hundred during the save checks to have a normal class of four, a kid borrowing extension all the way to $1,600 for every single man, good $600 weekly enhancement out-of unemployment pros, and you will a carried on student loan payment stop have been tend to excess and poorly focused.
New Federal Set aside cards one user purchasing (annualized) possess soared by the $2 trillion given that pandemic began and you may $step one trillion due to the fact history june. Not surprising that also have organizations are weighed down. Group also provide $dos.7 trillion inside the coupons surpassing what might was in fact asked versus brand new pandemic, the cost savings has not put trillions a great deal more when you look at the goods and you can properties for them to purchase. So when family members spend people discounts, consumer paying will rise even higher – and drive alot more rising prices.
It has additionally deferred education loan costs well past the purpose justified from the unemployment price
A major offender are last year’s $1.9 trillion American Help save Bundle. At that time, the new Congressional Budget Work environment estimated your standard economy perform operate $420 million below ability within the 2021, after which slowly romantic you to definitely efficiency gap from the 2025. Although some stimulus try rationalized, lawmakers take to an effective $step one.9 trillion bazooka during the good $420 million production pit. Hence was just days pursuing the stimuli laws put within the $900 mil. Economists on the kept and you may proper, such as for example Lawrence Summer seasons, warned that it too much stimuli manage bring inflation. These were right.
But really almost every other actions have also worse rising cost of living. New Biden Administration provides hiked tariffs with the Canadian wooden, and you may additional tariffs for the most other building information. It renewed Chairman Trump’s tariffs towards solar panels, lengthened the tariffs to the Chinese imports, and you can enforced tariff quotas with the material. It enforced Get The united states specifications enhancing the cost of system, that’s attempting to grow Davis-Bacon formula that enhance the cost of regulators deals. The latest Light Residence is shielding the fresh Jones Work you to introduces shipment will cost you, and you will allowing a high ethanol blend in gas that can increase dining pricing.
All these principles would be defended as finding other important plan requirements. However, cumulatively, they notably worsen an inflation state that is already sinking not as much as the extra weight regarding fiscal coverage, economic rules, also provide strings interruptions, plus the combat in Ukraine. The fresh Peterson Institute to own Around the world Economics works out one to actually a 2-commission area losing tariffs you will definitely all the way down rising cost of living step 1.step three per cent and you can save your self $800 per household.
Most recent economic factors demonstrate that rising cost of living will not more than likely recede because of the itself and may also speed regarding near-identity. There is no easy path to lowering rising prices, although first rule is always to do no spoil. That implies resisting need a whole lot more competitive federal paying too due to the fact making certain that people normally perform efficiently in the place of pricey tariffs and over-control. Because if rising prices continues and you will genuine earnings still fall, it does in the near future rates jobs and create financial a mess one to compromise all good things you prefer bodies to-do.


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TPK Holding Co Ltd (宸鴻) yesterday said it had signed an agreement with Japan’s Nissha Printing Co Ltd to form a strategic partnership in an effort to accelerate its entry into the mid-range touch-panel market.
TPK’s announcement came as it is facing mounting pressure from industry changes as demand shifts to medium-range and low-cost smartphones and tablets from high-end models, and competition intensifies.
TPK counts Apple Inc as its top touch panel client.
Nissha Printing will invest US$6.25 million for a 25 percent stake in TPK’s touch-panel subsidiary, TPK Film Solutions Ltd, which is developing next-generation silver nanowire technology to make low-cost touch screens for smartphones and tablets.
TPK will hold a 65 percent stake in TPK Film after injects NT$4 million (US$135,400) in new capital into the subsidiary, while Sunnyvale, California-based Cambrios Technologies Corp will own 10 percent.
“TPK has been focusing on developing high-end glass touch panels, this partnership with Nissha Printing will help us broaden our product portfolio and tap into middle-range film touch panel area,” chief financial executive Freddie Liu (劉詩亮) told a teleconference.
“The new 5-inch, or 6-inch silver nanowire touch screens will be very [cost] competitive,” Liu sad.
The new nano silverwire technology will help clients lower their costs by 10 percent to 20 percent if they switch to the new touch screens from existing ITO glass touch panels, TPK said.
Liu said the new touch panels will help it secure more orders from China without scarifying gross margin. Gross margin for silver nanowire touch panels will approach to TPK’s corporate average figure.
Last year, TPK’s gross margin stood at 17.05 percent.
TPK chief executive David Sun (孫大明) said in August that the company was facing a new challenge resulting from the proliferation of low-cost mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.
The company, aiming to recoup lost market share of handset touch screens, has been concentrating on developing low-cost one-glass-solution touch panels for notebook computers, but demand for touch-enabled laptops fell short of expectation.
TPK Film will ramp up production of silver nanowire touch panels in the second quarter next year, with a monthly capacity of 2 million units of 6-inch silver nanowire touch panels.
With the speed cryptocurrency is emerging as the millennial generation’s alternative asset of choice in India, it is hard to imagine that just two years ago a couple of blockchain pioneers were briefly in police custody. Sathvik Vishwanath and Harish BV, cofounders of a then five-year-old start-up, were arrested in late 2018. No, they had not pulled off a shady initial coin offering. Their “crime” was that they put up a kiosk in a mall in Bangalore where customers could swap bitcoin, ether or ripple for cash or vice versa. That was the whole point of unocoin, their crypto token exchange.
A Chinese factory owned by South Korean semiconductor giant SK Hynix Inc yesterday halted operations after a plant worker was found to have an asymptomatic infection of COVID-19, Xinhua news agency reported. The South Korean worker based at the plant in Chongqing since February had departed on Thursday for South Korea, Xinhua reported. He was tested at Incheon Airport in Seoul and confirmed positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, it reported. All factory staff as well as staff and recent guests at the hotel where the worker lived have been isolated and given nucleic acid tests, the agency said. “We’re cooperating with the local government
FIVE NEW FABS: An acquisition of Siltronic would boost GlobalWafers’ market share from 17 to 30 percent, easily surpassing Japanese rival Sumco’s 25 percent GlobalWafers Inc (環球晶圓) yesterday said it is in final talks to acquire Germany-based Siltronic AG in a 3.75 billion euro (US$4.5 billion) deal, which might help it compete with its closest rival Sumco Corp of Japan. The acquisition would be the fifth for GlobalWafers since 2008, as it has grown to become the world’s No. 3 supplier of silicon wafers through such deals. GlobalWafers, which has a 17 percent market share, would see its market position greatly elevated to 30 percent when combined with Siltronic’s 13 percent, according to a presentation Siltronic gave to its investors at a quarterly conference in August. Sumco
A year of crisis for the lira has kept people in Turkey buying gold at a record pace. Now the appetite for more bullion risks becoming a drag on the currency just as a rally struggles to regain momentum. In the two weeks after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cleared out the leadership ranks blamed for failing to stabilize the lira and draining reserves, Turkish retail investors and firms added US$2.2 billion to their gold holdings, taking them to US$36.4 billion, or almost triple the total last year, Turkish central bank data showed. People are not relenting in their zeal to own


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La Redoute launches offensive in UK for summer 2015
Formerly a subsidiary of Kering, the French mail order company is launching an aggressive media campaign in the UK for summer 2015. The announcement heralds its relaunch in a market with strong retail potential. For the effort, La Redoute has selected three new agencies to boost its "Frenchness".
The Cheetham Bell agency will be responsible for advertising campaigns, iCrossing will lead the offensive on social networks, while Beattie Communications will be responsible for the national press. The trio was chosen from a group of 14 British candidates.
"Collectively they all showed us a really exciting future for our brand that will bring French style confidence into the wardrobes of Britain," said Heidi Kenyon-Smith, head of marketing at La Redoute to the British press. "There will be a strong focus on inter-agency working with all three agencies, plus our existing media agency Carat Leeds, charged with boosting brand awareness and customer advocacy across their specialist comms channels."
In 2013, La Redoute generated a turnover of 935 million euros, 25% was made internationally. With 7 million individual visitors per month, its sales site is among the top 10 most visited according to the French federation of e-commerce. A long-time player in mail order sales, the e-retailer is now present in 26 countries, including the UK.
The preparation for its UK offensive comes after a troubled period for La Redoute, which the luxury giant Kering sold in June 2014.
It was acquired by Nathalie Balla, previously the company’s CEO, and Eric Courteille, the former secretary general of Redcats, the parent company of La Redoute and former subsidiary of Kering. The current team aims to return the company to profitability by 2017.
€1 = $1.14/£0.74
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