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Head of EMEA at Tamr, Suki Dhuphar, speaks to FinTech Magazine about the challenges faced in the financial industry when it comes to detecting fraud, and how the process can be improved by leveraging AI-powered data products.
What challenges does the financial industry face in detecting fraud?
A pressing challenge that the financial services industry faces is how to detect cybercrime. Identifying fraudulent activities has grown in complexity, and on top of this, the methods for spotting and combatting them are outdated.
The traditional strategy of employing more manpower to detect fraud simply isn’t enough, and this can leave financial service providers vulnerable to attack.
This only creates more challenges, including eroding trust in providers to financial losses for all parties involved... apart from the cybercriminals.
How can AI-powered data products transform fraud detection in financial services?
To combat increasingly sophisticated fraud, financial service providers must work smarter. The key lies in harnessing AI-powered data products.
These data products represent the pinnacle of data quality, offering comprehensive, clean, curated, and continuously updated datasets.
AI algorithms excel at cleaning and organising data to uncover uncommon patterns, enhancing fraud detection. AI-driven data products are a game-changer for fraud detection in financial services.
Trained on meticulously curated data, they excel at identifying subtle anomalies and swiftly flagging potentially fraudulent activities that traditional master rule-based systems might miss. Using human intelligence to verify the results of the AI significantly bolsters the effectiveness of AI’s performance.
What makes them particularly great for the financial services industry is that they can be tailored to an organisation’s key entities from customers to suppliers, and more.
Good data products have data enrichment built in, which addresses data quality challenges from both internal and external data sources.
As such, they have the power to provide oversight of the complex web of information within the business, making it easier to spot trends in unusual behaviour across all areas of the company and reducing the possibility of fraud on a vast number of levels.
So how can this work in practice?
Imagine a theoretical scenario where a financial services provider compiles information on possible fraudsters from multiple departments.
Yet, owing to concerns about its overall trustworthiness, there's a prevailing scepticism among business leaders regarding the value of the insights derived from this data. Here's where data products come in.
They integrate the data from different departments to accurately and reliably detect patterns, such as irregularities that may indicate coordinated fraudulent activity across seemingly unrelated accounts, and then consolidate, clean, and categorise this data into a centralised repository.
This data cleaning process streamlines the task of fraud detection by promptly and effectively uncovering patterns, not only bolstering confidence in the data's reliability but also generating more precise and actionable insights.
What role does human intelligence play in AI-powered data products?
Human supervision is integral to AI technology’s success. Human feedback refines the machine learning models to enhance the quality of the data that the AI is trained on to create trustworthiness in the output.
Human feedback allows ML models to evolve, increasing the accuracy of the results that the AI produces and minimising any faulty outcomes, such as biases in what the AI produces.
Leveraging AI to assist in combatting cybercrime frees humans to focus on more strategic activities, while AI takes on the more tedious, manual data cleaning tasks that are involved in data management.
In other words, humans can be redirected towards developing and enhancing innovations around fraud-detection strategies.
What is the call to action for industry leaders regarding AI-powered data products and fraud detection?
The use of AI-driven data products within financial services is a critical step towards better fraud detection. As the financial services landscape continues to evolve, data mastering will remain an effective tool to safeguard against the continuously changing forms of fraud.
By embracing this transformational approach to data management, financial service providers can enter an era of heightened vigilance, transparency, and trust, ensuring a resilient and thriving future financial ecosystem for all.
Second, make sure that human intelligence is at the heart of AI transformation. Not only is this key to the successful transformation of fraud detection within financial services but also has great opportunities for the overall efficiency of an organisation.
Please also take a look at our upcoming virtual event, FinTech LIVE London, coming on 8-9 November 2023.
BizClik is a global provider of B2B digital media platforms that provides executive communities for CEOs, CFOs, CMOs, Sustainability Leaders, Procurement & Supply Chain Leaders, Technology & AI Leaders, Cyber Leaders, FinTech & InsurTech Leaders as well as covering industries such as Manufacturing, Mining, Energy, EV, Construction, Healthcare, and Food & Drink.
BizClik – based in London, Dubai, and New York – offers services such as Content Creation, Advertising & Sponsorship Solutions, Webinars & Events.


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Matalan has attributed its full price sales drive for boosting its annual earnings by more than third, despite a dip in revenues.
The Merseyside-based retailer recorded an EBITDA of £77 million for the 52 weeks ending February 25, a 37 per cent year-on-year increase.
It also raked in £9.2 million in profits before income tax and exceptional items compared to the previous year’s losses of £12.7 million.
While total revenues slid by two per cent to £1.04 billion, there was a 7.5 per cent uptick in full-priced sales.
Chief executive Jason Hargreaves hailed the year as a “huge progress” after Matalan, known for being a value retailer, re-established itself as a full-priced retailer.
READ MORE: Matalan founder in £84m tax battle
The retailer said its improvement in the full-priced sales offering was driven by stronger clothing ranges, increased levels of coordination, and a better in-store customer experience.
“The product offer has continued to improve, as has our execution and brand reach, supporting the strong growth in full-priced sales,” Hargreaves said.
“Last year’s operational challenges are behind us and we now have a supply chain capable of effectively supporting the business going forward.
“Significantly more customers are now shopping multiple channels, and our online business is achieving strong and sustainable growth. We believe there is also material further growth potential ahead.
“We expect the market to remain very challenging, but are clear as to how we will focus our efforts on the key areas that will drive sustainable performance improvement. With the continued hard work and commitment of our colleagues, we are confident that the business will further deliver on the solid foundations we have laid this year.”

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Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) reported an adjusted second-quarter net loss of $0.86 per share and $9.47 billion in sales before markets opened today. In the same period a year ago, the retailer reported a loss of $1.27 per share on revenue of $10.33 billion. Second-quarter results compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for a net loss of $0.86 per share and $9.63 billion in revenue.
The company's president and CEO said:
[W]e have improved our profit position, as we reduced expenses and expanded margin rate through more effective promotional design. We have also successfully lowered inventory, reduced debt from year end, and enhanced our liquidity. In addition, the Sears Hometown transaction remains on track to close in the third quarter.
Same-store sales at U.S. locations fell 3.7%, driven by slowdowns in consumer electronics sales, lawn and garden sales, lower apparel clearance sales and a decline in pharmacy sales. The company's operating loss shrunk by $88 million year-over-year due to a reduction in overhead and a rise in gross margins that was partially offset by a decline in sales.
Sears did not offer any outlook information, but the consensus estimates for the current quarter call for a per-share loss of $2.30 on revenue of $8.78 billion, and for the full-fiscal year ending in January 2013 a net loss of $2.63 per share on revenue of $39.35 billion.
The spin-off the company's Hometown stores, the closing of U.S. Sears and Kmart stores and the partial spin-off of Sears Canada, combined with continued weak results and estimates naturally lead to the conclusion that Sears as we know it will soon disappear. This is almost certainly one of those cases where the parts are more valuable separately than they are together.
Shares of Sears are up 2.5% in premarket trading this morning, at $58.01. The current 52-week range is $28.89 to $85.90. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of $21.50 before today's results were announced. Perhaps the lack of interest in refreshing the target price says more than anything else could about the future of Sears.
Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Earnings, Pre-Market Activity, Retail Tagged: SHLD


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John Oliver Takes on the 'Dangerously Misleading' Dr. Oz and Nutritional Supplement Industry
Nutritional supplements, some of which have been found to cause death, go largely unregulated thanks to lobbyists and lawmakers who make sure the FDA has little to no power. What’s worse is many consumers unwittingly fall into panderers’ traps and consume supplements recommended on TV as magic panaceas. However, after watching another of the “Last Week Tonight” host’s characteristic rants (and a laugh-out-loud funny segment starring George R.R. Martin, Steve Buscemi and the Black and Gold Marching Elite) you may think twice about listening to Dr. Oz’s magic prescriptions for losing weight.
—Posted by Natasha Hakimi Zapata


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London/New York | Bitcoin took another large stride toward mainstream acceptance on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) after billionaire Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company, Tesla, said it had bought $US1.5 billion ($1.9 billion) of the cryptocurrency and would soon accept it as a form of payment for cars, sending the cryptocurrency shooting higher.
The announcements, buried deep in Tesla’s 2020 annual report, drove a roughly 20 per cent surge in the world’s most widely held cryptocurrency, to over $US47,000. At current prices, 0.8 of a bitcoin would be enough to buy an entry-level Tesla Model 3.
Investors anticipated other companies would soon join a list of firms that invest in or hold bitcoin, including BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, and payments companies Square and PayPal.
Mr Musk has upended Wall Street over the last year and briefly became the world’s richest person as shares of Tesla surged nearly 500 per cent to become the fifth most-valuable US company, leaving other companies and investors eager to follow in his wake.
“If any lesser mortals had made the decision to put part of their balance sheet in Bitcoin, I don’t think it would have been taken seriously,” said Thomas Hayes, managing member at Great Hill Capital in New York. “But when the richest man in the world does it, everyone has to take a second look.”
The news sparked heavy trading in cryptocurrencies and caused exchanges like Coinbase, Gemini, Binance to experience technical issues, according to Coindesk.
It also generated discussion on Reddit. While discussions of cryptocurrencies are banned on the WallStreetBets community that fuelled the GameStop Corp trading frenzy, users in other subreddits posted “to the moon”, expecting more companies to follow suit after Tesla.
A well-known supporter of cryptocurrencies, Mr Musk has weighed in regularly on the past month’s frenzy in retail investment, also driving up prices of the meme-based digital currency dogecoin and shares of US video game chain GameStop.
Experts said they would not be surprised by a closer look from regulators given Musk’s bumpy past with watchdogs.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission sparred with Mr Musk and Tesla several times over his use of Twitter to discuss the company, ultimately resulting in his exit as company chairman and a pair of $US20 million fines for Mr Musk and Mr Tesla.
“We’re talking about a billionaire with one of the most valuable companies in the history of the world who has seemingly gotten away with poking the SEC before,” said Tyler Gellasch, head of the Washington-based Healthy Markets Association and former SEC official. Still, Mr Gellasch said that “examination doesn’t mean this is likely to be an enforcement case”.
Tesla said in a filing the decision to move nearly 8 per cent of its reserves into bitcoin was part of its broad investment policy as a company aimed at diversifying and maximising its returns on cash, including holding gold. The report said it ended 2020 with $US19.38 billion in cash and cash equivalents.
“We expect to begin accepting bitcoin as a form of payment for our products in the near future, subject to applicable laws and initially on a limited basis, which we may or may not liquidate upon receipt,” the company said.
Tesla said it had invested an aggregate $US1.5 billion in bitcoin under the changed policy and could “acquire and hold digital assets from time to time or long-term”.
Gold jumped more than 1 per cent on Monday, while ethereum, another cryptocurrency, surged to a record high.
Central banks remain sceptical of digital currencies, but analysts say the more real world uses appear for bitcoin, the more attractive it will prove as a long-term store of value.
Bitcoin has rallied as far as $US47,565 after Tesla’s disclosure. The cryptocurrency is up 1135 per cent since March 2020, thanks in part to interest from institutional investors.
”The argument for bitcoin is evolving. It used to be negative [reasons to buy], but suddenly there are positive reasons, and that’s why you see bitcoin at [new highs],” Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser of Allianz, told CNBC.
Tesla is the latest company to add bitcoin to its corporate treasury, following similar moves by Square, the payments company led by Twitter chief Jack Dorsey and US software company MicroStrategy
Apple may be the next big company to enter the cryptocurrency market, both by allowing bitcoin to be exchanged on its Apple Wallet service and investing some of its own reserves in units of the cryptocurrency, said Mitch Steves, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets.
“If this becomes a trend in corporate treasuries the downside of staying on the sidelines will only become costlier over time,” said Maya Zehavi, a blockchain consultant.
Tesla’s move to put some of its corporate reserves in bitcoin may be a signal that it expects the cryptocurrency to emerge as another store of long-term value alongside the dollar and gold, said Graham Tanaka, president and chief investment officer of Tanaka Capital Management in New York.
“Companies are very careful when it comes down to their reserves,” he said. “This doesn’t appear to be a flash in the pan. It appears to be something that may be a fundamental change.”
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Check out our Bentley Arnage Final Series photo gallery
with HQ pics.
Last update in Arnage Final Series gallery: 2008-09-29
Rhys Millen and Bentley are going to chase the production SUV record up the Pikes Peak hillclimb in a vehicle by Bentley Motorsport.
As it became known, the automobile concern Bentley plans production and serial production of its first electric car in early 2019.
The company Bentley told what cars will be presented on September 12 at the Frankfurt exhibition.
Continental, the famous tyre and technology company, will present a wireless charging set-up this September in Frankfurt.
We select only big size bentley arnage final series photos
for our photogallery.


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Shoppers moan that Walkers crisp shortage is ‘worse than petrol crisis’
Shoppers have complained that the lack of Walkers crisps at supermarkets is "worse than the petrol shortage crisis".
Walkers blame an IT system upgrade as the cause of the issues, which have led to a lack of availability of some of its most popular products.
It is understood that Pepsico, which owns Walkers, asked stores to remove promotions last month in a bid to avoid shortages, but shoppers have noticed the still noticed the scarcity on the shelves, The Sun reports.
Crisp lovers across the nation have taken to Twitter to voice their concern at the lack of crisps, with some even going so far as to compare the inconvenience to that of the petrol crisis seen in September.
One tweeted: "Please do not tell me there is going to be a crisp shortage, this would affect me far more than petrol!"
Another said: "Never mind petrol… Never mind Christmas turkeys… Never mind pigs in blankets… Tesco has a crisp shortage!"
A third asked the question: "I certainly don’t want popcorn with a sandwich, is this a national crisp shortage then?"
Another social media user tweeted: "There’s an actual Crisp Shortage! Limited to four packs per customer, the question I have to ask myself is…who on earth buys more than four packs at a time anyway, who are these people."
Empty shelves have been seen at numerous supermarkets in recent weeks, with a lack of lorry drivers the main cause of shortages and delivery delays much like the cause of the petrol shortages previously.
Louise Windsor dubbed royals' 'new secret weapon' as Queen's favourite turns 18
In the meantime, retailers are also going on a Christmas hiring spree to make sure there are enough staff to keep shelves stocked over the festive period.
According to The Sun, six packs of Walkers crisps were marked as unavailable on the Tesco website at the end of last month, including popular flavours Salt & Vinegar, Ready Salted and Cheese & Onion.
On the Ocado website, six-packs of Prawn Cocktail, Smoky Bacon and Flamin’ Hot crisps were among those out of stock.
Astroworld security guard falls unconscious with 'injected drugs' during tragedy
At Morrisons, Walkers French Fries, Wotsits, and Salt & Shake were among the items unavailable to shoppers at the time, while at Asda, Ready Salted multi-packs were unavailable.
A Walkers spokesperson previously said: “We are experiencing disruption to the supply of some of our Walkers snacks products, as a result of a recent IT system upgrade.
"We’re very sorry for the inconvenience and would like to reassure everyone that we are working round the clock to increase supply as soon as possible.”
To stay up to date with all the latest news, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.
Walkers has now assured customers that the problems have been fixed, but it could be a while before the crisps make their way back to shelves as production has now run behind in schedule.
The crisp company has also assured that production is being ramped up of their most most popular crisp flavours including Cheese & Onion and Salt & Vinegar.
Source: Read Full Article


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The company’s Hello Kitty will help lead the partnership as the Global Ambassador for Inclusivity.’ A co-branded product line, developed by Sanrio and Team USA, will include apparel, sleepwear, accessories, toys, collectibles, gift and novelty items. There are few things in athletics more exciting than NCAA March Madness, and we can’t wait to bring our exciting portfolio of vehicles and innovative technology to the hardwood this basketball season. 7-Eleven stores know Wholesale Jerseys Cheap that consumers in March want to celebrate March Madness. The Kings began play during the 1967 season as part of an NHL expansion that also included the California Seals , Minnesota North Stars , Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Maria Sharapova 10. To find all players born within a certain month and year, for example all players born in December of 1985, choose the month Wholesale MLB Jerseys and year with the drop down boxes and then choose the ’Month and Year Search’ option. cheap basketball jerseys According to Bill Miller, president and CEO for American wholesale jerseys cheap Gaming Wholesale Jerseys NFL Assn.,AGA’s research unveils new insights into this critical and growing segment of the gaming market, confirming what we’ve known for a long time: Consumers want the ability to wager in safe, regulated markets. • The Big3 and CBS Sports have extended their alliance for the league’s upcoming fourth season, with CBS Sports featuring 24 games Cheap Jerseys Online over the ten event days of the season, with all selected games airing live on CBS . According to Rena De Sisto, Bank of America global arts and culture executive, These cultural institutions help local economies thrive. Antonio Brown The Top 10 Most Tweeted About Female Athletes in 2019 per Twitter Sports 1.
Ronda Rousey 9. Cincinnati Bengals 2. Cleveland Browns 11. The vessel was presented at a Cheap Hull City Jerseys ceremony at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, where it will be exhibited for the next three Cheap Orlando Magic Jerseys months before being put on permanent display at a museum in Ancient Olympia, birthplace and venue of the ancient Games. Naomi Osaka 4. The Big3 playoffs will air live on Aug. Naomi Osaka 4. Kawhi Leonard 6. Arizona Cardinals 9. Back to Home Page.
Ronda Rousey 9. And as entertaining as watching NHL Hockey Jerseys the frat boys who inhabited Delta Tau Chi in . If you would like to search for all players born on a certain day, for example all players born on December 25th in any year, choose the month and day with the drop down boxes and then choose the ’Month and Day Search’ option. The company’s Hello Kitty will help lead the partnership as the Global Ambassador for Inclusivity.’ A co-branded product line, developed by Sanrio and Team USA, will include apparel, sleepwear, accessories, toys, collectibles, gift and novelty items. Pittsburgh Steelers 19. 7-Eleven Wholesale Jerseys Cheap stores know that consumers in March want Wholesale MLB Jerseys to celebrate Wholesale NHL Jerseys March Madness. Maria Sharapova 10. But for us in digital, having all of those young fans loving the sport just takes all of the things we are doing to the next level. Since then, he’s also been paired with Ryan Howard, Tony Parker and others. In addition to Super Bowl related spend, where Houston will most benefit is from long-term national and global perception of the city as a good place to do business. ESPN+ returns as the exclusive Wholesale Jerseys NFL home of MLS out-of-market games. Bud Light is proud to continue its designation as the official beer sponsor of the NFL and NHL Hockey Jerseys the official beer of the fan, Alex Lambrecht, vp-Bud Light, said in a statement. Gay hasn’t had much communication with the franchise.
5 • Super Bowl LVIII Mercedes-Benz Superdome New Wholesale NHL Jerseys Orleans Feb. Cheap Jerseys Online Becky Lynch 7. 29 • Global lifestyle brand Sanrio, Inc., has signed a deal to become an official partner with Team USA for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. She will play in the Wimbledon Grand Slam in London beginning June 23.
What am I hoping for this season? Suddenly, Johnson’s No. Also, I am salivating at seeing Missouri’s guards and Florida’s guards potentially clashing in the round of 32.


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The Brawny man is losing face but gaining considerable stature in a major makeover of the iconic brand breaking on national TV Monday.
The icon has a rich history, but his place in culture may be bigger than his place on the paper towel shelf after years of getting pushed around by Bounty and others. So now the brand, backed by Cutwater, San Francisco, is making him larger than life in a humorous new campaign with the tagline "Stay Giant!"
The campaign returns the Brawny Man to the dimensions he had in the brand's original launch advertising in the 1970s. In those days, he appeared on TV as a faceless giant lending a hand and rolls of paper towels to women in distress.
On packages, he always had a face, appearing as a mustachioed lumberjack type in a red flannel shirt through the 1970s and '80s. That look, ultimately, prompted jokes about the Brawny Man looking like a '70s porn star. His last makeover, in 2003, resulted in a kinder, gentler, clean-shaven and more ethnically ambiguous brunette, still clad in plaid. As part of that iteration, from Cincinnati design firm Deskey (the same firm behind Procter & Gamble Co.'s iconic Tide logo), the Brawny Man had his own online reality series in which he taught the finer arts of manliness. That drew attention from Politico for an uncanny resemblance to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
The new Brawny Man design from Turner Duckworth, San Francisco, is nearly faceless on package, though he sports some 21st century-style stubble along with the plaid shirt and giant pecs.
"We went back to the core of what Brawny stands for to develop a unique voice," said Gary Gastel, senior brand director for Brawny, part of Koch Industries' Georgia-Pacific. "Consumers told us this is an iconic American brand that stands for strength and resilience at an emotional level, which are attributes our consumers also use to describe themselves."
In keeping with the "Stay Giant!" tagline, Brawny is also breaking with recent industry norms by adding more sheets to every roll, Mr. Gastel said. "So it's really a full overhaul."
While initial ads are funny, the tagline also leaves room for more poignant ads down the road, he said. Connecting with consumers on an emotional level "is a place we feel Brawny can truly own in the category."
The Brawny man has a very big role indeed, as Mr. Gastel sees it. He's "the voice inside our head that helps us to stay giant when we face adversity." In testing, he said that concept proved very effective with consumers and "created a bit of a mystique."
The ads from Cutwater, the first for the brand from the agency headed by former TBWA/Chiat Day Creative Director Chuck McBride and former JWT global accounts chief Christian Hughes, inject some humor into a category that generally doesn't have a lot.
Mr. Hughes noted that the agency found people would sometimes dress up as the Brawny Man at Halloween "but not really understand what he stood for." Perhaps more concerning, Mr. McBride said research suggested more people may be dressing up as the Brawny Man at Halloween than expressed intent to actually buy the brand.
Brawny is the primary factor behind G-P losing 0.9 points of market share to 16.1% for the 52 weeks ended Sept. 6 in the $5 billion paper towel category, according to IRI. Overall, G-P's sales in the paper towel category fell 4% during the same period.
"Now he's coming back," Mr. Hughes said, "and inspiring people to be resilient, to stay giant, in the small things in life as well as the big things."


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Major fire broke out at Kolkata’s City Mart shopping mall
Kolkata, April 26 (ANI): A major fire broke out at a shopping mall in the New Market area of Kolkata city on Sunday. Around 15 fire tenders have been pressed into service to douse the flames at the City Mart shopping mall. Fire officials were seen working to try and douse the fire. Thick black fumes of black smoke have engulfed the entire building. There is no report of any casualty or injury. Cause of the fire is yet to be known. Further details are awaited.
Watch the Video below


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- SL apparel export numbers decline 16.5% from Jan to May 2023
- Bangladesh grown phenomenally, as has India, Vietnam, Turkey
- SLASA holds discussion to push competitiveness agenda forward
August 2023 – Colombo, Sri Lanka – The Sri Lanka Apparel Sourcing Association (SLASA) held a sundown meeting with the objective of moving beyond immediate challenges facing the apparel industry and obtaining the buy-in of the industry to make it more competitive, given the lessons learned this year. While the Sri Lankan apparel industry’s export figures were phenomenally good in 2022 despite the fallout from the pandemic and the economic crisis – a total of USD 5.5 billion, the highest increase of 10 percent since the crisis, the industry’s performance hit a low from the beginning of 2023.
Presenting the business side was Secretary of SLASA, Gayan Galapitage. “Global inflation, softening retail markets, the Russia-Ukraine war and uncertainty in financial markets all helmed the challenges that led to Sri Lanka’s apparel exports reducing 16.5 percent in the first five months of 2023 with the primary markets of US, EU and UK all facing unprecedented challenges. US orders regressed by a significant 22 percent, the UK by 15 percent and the EU by 14 percent.”
Panelists at the discussion were Chairman of SLASA Wilhelm Elias, Vice Chairman Azmina Kareem, Ex-Co Member Padmal Silva and Committee Member Sandun Silva with the session moderated by SLASA’S Secretary General Gopal K Iyer.
Elias, given his 25-year experience has global insights into the industry, added that Sri Lanka imports about 70 percent of the fabric requirement which translates to high fabric prices.
Observing the reasons for the downturn in fortune for Sri Lanka’s apparel industry, Elias opined five primary reasons: “Customers being overstocked post-Covid as a result of buying in advance due to extended lead times, inflation in the UK and the EU reaching unprecedented levels, the Sterling Pound losing ground to the US dollar which resulted in 11.5 percent decline in buyer budgets, Sri Lanka’s destabilization in May 2022 seeing customers shift to Bangladesh and India and both these countries pushing costs down significantly to keep factories operational, which Sri Lanka found difficult to compete with,” he stated.
Kareem pointed out that customers having lesser disposable income is a fact that won’t change anytime soon. “Countries like Bangladesh and India were hungry and with buyers chasing margins and cost becoming a major factor, they read the signs and reacted to these faster than Sri Lanka did,” she said. Sandun Silva added context; “Sri Lanka overstocked in the US and was not proactive enough to understand the market changes at the time. Sri Lanka has become complacent with what the country enjoyed before and was not open to change.”
Padmal Silva explained that India’s domestic market in 2022 was USD 100 billion and that by 2028 will increase to USD 175 billion. “Being the fastest growing economy in the world and one which we supply to, India has been pragmatic, studying global markets and leading the trend. US brands are in India now because they see potential. As and when premiumizing happens and the massive middle-class population increases, disposable income will in turn, go up. What Sri Lanka hasn’t explored is how we leverage on those synergies and collaborations India has already forged.”
Elias further explained that Sri Lanka’s fabric offer although having played a vital role for thirty years, is very basic given that there are still only four jersey mills in the country. “We have to push boundaries, invest in R&D and strive for excellence. Sri Lanka was known as a reliable and safe pair of hands that always brought new and innovative products to the table. But we have been beaten at our own game. It’s not that we have regressed, it’s just that our competitors have progressed in our strongest points of years ago. We are just not aggressive enough.” Kareem amplified this by saying, “We are not being strategic as an industry; there is no newness. As an industry, we have to come together because otherwise, it’s a missed opportunity.”
Elias reiterated that unless the industry united, focused on issues and fast-tracked a pathway for the immediate future, the future looked bleak. “We can’t go cheaper but we can be more competitive. We must focus on pricing from wash plants to trim and fabric supplies. We must strive for excellence again. We had it, but lost it and so, we must inculcate it into our culture once more. The FTAs are important as are roadshows. We have to be louder as an industry, reestablish our USP, re-set and create greater awareness of how great we were and demonstrate via a clear strategy on the changes we are making as an industry that once set the standard for this region.


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GSM models are expected to make the switch to Intel while CDMA models may continue carrying Qualcomm modems.
Experimental MotoMods could add docking station support and better camera
A Pro Camera MotoMod could add a 10x optical zoom on top of the existing rear camera.
Samsung working on a high-end clamshell smartphone
Dubbed Veyron, the device is said to feature a Samsung Exynos 8890 processor and dual 3.9-inch HD Super AMOLED displays.
Analysts predicting 15 million Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge smartphones sold as of Q2 2016
Samsung's smartphone division is expected to grow by 17.1 percent this quarter due to the runaway success and critical acclaim of the latest Gala...
Notebookcheck's Top 10 Smartphones under 120 Euros
June 2016 update. Here you will find the best smartphones under 120 Euros (~$135) reviewed by Notebookcheck over the last few months. Our list of...
Notebookcheck's Top 10 Smartphones under 300 Euros
June 2016 update. Here you will find the best smartphones under 300 Euros (~$340) reviewed by Notebookcheck over the last few months. Our list of...
Lenovo briefly teases flexible displays and foldable tablet concepts
The early prototypes show off Lenovo's plans beyond the Phab 2 Plus and Moto Z smartphones.
OnePlus teasing OnePlus 3 camera quality with new pictures
Four pictures taken with the OnePlus 3 have been released in anticipation for the new flagship smartphone set for a reveal on June 14.
Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 gets Android Marshmallow
The new firmware is now available for both the 4.7-inch and the 5.5-inch Idol 3 handsets, so both variants receive the usual Marshmallow goodies.
Lenovo Moto Z is now official
The modular handset previously known as Moto X is now official and is expected to hit the market in September.
ZTE Blade V7 Smartphone Review
All-rounder. The Blade V7 is the newest mid-price product in ZTE's successful Blade lineup. The device offers a decent configuration at a fair price of 250 Euros (~$282, RRP). Read in our report whether the manufacturer has eliminated the former model's drawbacks and improved in the right places.
Mediatek MT6753 | ARM Mali-T720 MP4 | 5.2" | 136 g
Mediatek MT6753 | ARM Mali-T720 MP4 | 5.2" | 136 g
Notebookcheck's Top 10 Smartphones
June 2016 update. Here you will find the latest smartphones reviewed by Notebookcheck. Our Top 10 list is regularly updated, maintained and comme...
ZTE Blade A2 offers an octa-core SoC for under 110 Euros
The 5-inch smartphone launches next week in China and will be one of the cheapest smartphones with an integrated fingerprint sensor.
ZTE Nubia Z11 Max launching June 16 for 270 Euros
The 6-inch Nubia Z11 Max will ship with a Snapdragon 652 SoC, 4 GB RAM, and 64 Gb eMMC. LTE support, however, may not cover common European bands...
Notebookcheck's Top 10 Phablets (>5.5-inch)
June 2016 update. Here's a list of the best XL-sized smartphones - with screen sizes of 5.5 inches and greater - we've reviewed in the last few m...
Notebookcheck's Top 10 Smartphones (≤5-inch)
June 2016 update. Here's a list of the best compact smartphones - with screen sizes of 5 inches or less - we've reviewed in the last few months. ...
Samsung Galaxy S7 Active hits AT&T tomorrow
This rugged Samsung handset debuts tomorrow on AT&T for $26.50 USD for 30 months or $33.13 USD a month for 24 months.
Huawei plans to beat Samsung and Apple in five years
The company's CEO has recently said that Huawei plans to overcome Samsung and Apple, becoming the global leader of the smartphone market within f...
Android Marshmallow usage reaches 10 percent
Back in April, Marshmallow was heading for the 5 percent market share barrier and now has just left behind the 10 percent milestone.
Gartner predicting single-digit growth rates for 2016 smartphone market
Worldwide smartphone shipments are expected to flatten by 2020 at around 1.9 billion units.
BlackBerry Priv sales have been disappointing worldwide
In what is probably a surprise to no one, sales of the Priv smartphone and its slide-out physical keyboard have not been meeting expectations.
Moto Z to feature tricolor frame
This upcoming handset with modular accessories is expected to feature a rather original design, with a tricolor frame.
Lenovo PHAB 2 Plus may be the first consumer-ready Project Tango smartphone
Demoed at CES earlier this year, the Chinese manufacturer may finally be ready to launch a Project Tango smartphone for the masses. Prices and la...
Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge now available in Pink Gold across Europe
The attractive Rose Gold color option that Apple popularized has now made its way to Europe after landing in North America last month for the Sam...
OnePlus 3 pre-orders in China start at around 400 Euros
Up to 1000 users can put down 3000 Yuan each to secure themselves a OnePlus 3 upon launch. The actual launch price, however, will be cheaper than...
Samsung Galaxy S7 Active coming to AT&T
This rugged flagship has about the same specs as the North American Galaxy S7, but features a larger battery and better protection from the eleme...
Samsung unveils Galaxy J3 Pro smartphone
This 5-inch affordable handset is powered by a Snapdragon 410 chip, next to 2 GB RAM and 16 GB internal storage, coming only with Android Lollipo...
Huawei may be responsible for the next Google Nexus yet again
Huawei manager let slip in an interview that the company may be involved with the successor to the Nexus 6P.
Huawei ready to announce new Honor device for Europe
An unknown Honor device is coming to Europe this June 20th. Signs point to either the recently announced Honor V8 or a new smartphone entirely.
OnePlus 2 gets OxygenOS 3.0.2
All OnePlus 2 handsets should receive the OTA notification for this Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow-based firmware by Tuesday.
LG unveils affordable Stylus 2 Plus phablet
The phablet is now available in Taiwan and includes a higher resolution display and faster Snapdragon processor than the Stylus 2 for around 300 ...
Worldwide smartphone market is slowing down according to IDC
Research firm predicts a growth of just 3.1 percent this year compared to 10.5 percent in 2015.
Xiaomi may launch 4.3-inch Mini Mi 5 with Snapdragon 820 SoC
The published specifications on Weibo claim a very powerful 4.3-inch offering from Xiaomi for a starting price of just 250 Euros.
Samsung Galaxy Note 5 successor renders leak online
Official reveal date purportedly set for August according to latest rumors.
Apple iPhone 7 cases seemingly confirm rumors
OppoMart cases for the next generation of iPhones have appeared online to reveal dual cameras and a largely similar design to the iPhone 6 series...
Outdated LG Android software revealed to have security flaws
Owners of LG smartphones may want to keep their devices updated to avoid these vulnerabilities.
OnePlus 3 confirmed for June 15th unveiling
An official poster from OnePlus is inviting users to join a 10 AM local time press event for the inevitable unveiling of the next OnePlus smartph...
Micromax plans to enter China
India's second smartphone retailer after Samsung plans to enter the Chinese market in 2017 and to go public the next year, also aiming to grab th...
Xiaomi to ship Android devices preloaded with Microsoft Office and Skype
As a result of the two companies' recent agreement that also involves cross-licensing and patent transfers, Xiaomi will ship its Android devices ...
Sony officially unveils entry-level Xperia E5 smartphone
The Xperia E5 will ship with LTE and Android 6.0 Marshmallow later this year for just under 200 Euros.
ZUK Z2: High-end specifications for mainstream prices
The 5.2-inch Z2 Pro will sport 6 GB RAM and a 3000 mAh battery while the smaller 5-inch Z2 will sport 4 GB RAM and a larger 3500 mAh battery.
ZTE Nubia Z11 Max phablet to ship with large 4000 mAh battery
The manufacturer teases its new "NeoPower 2.0" technology for improved power consumption without even giving any battery life estimations or comp...
Sirin Labs unveils ultra-secure Solarin smartphone
This handset for those who value their privacy more than anything else has a price tag of more than $14,000 USD and weighs 0.55 pounds.
Huawei Honor 5A and 5A Plus at TENAA certification
The 5-inch 5A and 5.5-inch 5A Plus will succeed the current entry-level 4A series.
Samsung shows off 5.5-inch 4K AMOLED panel prototype for VR
The manufacturer revealed at Display Week in San Francisco a prototype AMOLED panel that promises ideal colors and reduced soreness in the eyes f...
Sony Xperia X lineup coming to the US this summer
Four Xperia X devices are coming to the US, the first one being Xperia X which is already up for pre-order and will start shipping in late June.
ARM unveils Cortex-A73 processor cores and Mali-G71 graphics
The two new chips are optimized for virtual reality and augmented reality but offer all-around improvements when compared to their predecessors.
Verizon Galaxy S5 gets Android Marshmallow
Almost two months after Sprint and one week after T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless updates the two-year-old Samsung flagships on its network as well.
Computex 2016 | Asus VR headset might launch soon
This competitor for the Gear VR will work with the ZenFone lineup and is expected to hit the market later this year.
Oppo unveils a custom edition of the F1 Plus smartphone
This limited edition handset aims football fans, more precisely those who would enjoy a smartphone styled in Barça red-and-blue aesthetics that a...
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Twilight star Peter Facinelli – who plays vampire Carlisle Cullen in the hit movie series – will take part in a celebrity charity bake-off this month.
The actor will go spatula-to-spatula with Joan Cussack and Glee’s Jayma Mays to sell the most cookies in an effort to raise money for pediatric cancer research.
The Celebrity Cookie Challenge online bake sale is sponsored by The Glad Products Company to support Cookies For Kids’ Cancer, a non-profit organization that raises money for research for new and improved treatments for pediatric cancer through bake sales and online cookie sales. Pediatric cancer is the leading cause of death by disease for children in the United States, yet approximately half of the drugs used to treat children with cancer are at least 20 years old.
The three actors have begun rallying support online by encouraging visits to the Glad to Give Facebook page, where fans can join their teams by “liking” them. Joining a team allows participants to receive updates about celebrity activities surrounding the Celebrity Cookie Challenge and display their team spirit by embedding a celebrity team badge on their personal website or blog.
In addition, each celebrity will host a live stream telethon on the Glad to Give Facebook page, encouraging fans to either buy cookies or donate money online to Cookies For Kids’ Cancer. During each one-hour virtual bake sale, participants can ask the actors questions in real-time, listen to exclusive interviews, watch baking demonstrations of the actors’ favorite cookie recipes and have a chance to win autographed “Team Joan,” “Team Jayma” or “Team Peter” t-shirts. By purchasing cookies virtually from their favorite celebrity, fans can help their team raise the most dough and win the challenge. Check the Glad to Give Facebook page for additional details regarding the live stream bake sales in early November.
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with these great actors. By leveraging the power of Facebook we hope to reach and inspire consumers to help us set a record year of fundraising for Cookies For Kids’ Cancer,” said Bob Hillman, brand manager for Glad®.
“Hosting a bake sale is just one way to help, but please do something,” said Gretchen Witt, founder of Cookies for Kids’ Cancer and mother of 6-year-old Liam who has been battling cancer since he was two. “Let’s show parents what it means to live with hope and give more kids a chance at being kids. A cure for pediatric cancer begins with us.”


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15, Dec 2023
Bengaluru , December 15, 2023 – Infibeam Avenues Ltd, a listed fintech company, announces its strategic foray into the capital markets and digital lending software market by acquiring a significant 49% equity stake in Pirimid Fintech, investing Rs 25 crore to solidify this strategic partnership.
This move is in direct response to the surging demand in the thriving global capital markets for cutting-edge secured and zero latency AI-backed software to streamline trading, research and investment processes. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the capital market, with stockbrokers, mutual funds, corporate treasuries, and investment banks using AI backed trading software for algorithmic trading strategies, which not only boosts performance, accuracy, and returns but also enhances compliance, fraud detection and prevention.
Alongside its established presence in the capital markets technology space, Pirimid Fintech is also making significant strides in the digital lending sector with capabilities around modern loan origination systems, data sourcing and advanced business rule engine (BRE). Leveraging the expertise and technological foundation provided by Infibeam Avenues, Pirimid Fintech is poised to develop innovative digital lending solutions to streamline the lending process, offering faster and more efficient credit disbursement, enhanced customer experience, and improved risk management through advanced data analytics and AI algorithms.
Pirimid Fintech caters to a diverse clientele across global and domestic capital markets. The company specializes in developing customized capital markets and digital lending products, tools, services, and workflows to meet specific client needs. Notable clients include BidFX, a subsidiary of the prestigious Singapore Exchange (SGX), as well as financial institutions like Bank of Baroda and Indian fintech player Lendingkart.
Expressing his enthusiasm, Mr. Nirav Prajapati, CEO, Pirimid Fintech said, “We are very excited about this investment and strategic partnership with Infibeam as they are leaders in digital payments developing cutting-edge AI solutions for financial transactions. Their expertise in building highly secured and scalable technology frameworks will enhance our capabilities and their proven technology solutions will seamlessly integrate with our robust tech solutions, effectively addressing the rising demand for risk mitigation and enhanced operational safety in online capital market trading & digital lending systems.”
This strategic partnership will integrate Infibeam’s digital payments and AI-based frameworks with Pirimid Fintech’s capital market trading software for its clients in India and globally. This integration aims to not only improve the performance of Pirimid Fintech’s clients but also address and meet regulatory concerns regarding the safety and security of stock market trading. Globally, market regulators are prioritizing trust, security, and risk management in capital markets. As per Juniper Research forecasts the AI-driven financial fraud detection sector to grow from $6.5 billion in 2022 to $10 billion by 2027, marking a substantial 57% increase.
Unlocking Additional Revenue Streams: Infibeam Avenues Seizes Compelling Growth Opportunities.
The strategic investment promises to propel the company not only to new heights in the capital market technology space and positioned itself as a key player in the evolving landscape of capital market technology but will also offers an opportunity to build upon its existing payments and platform business for this new business vertical.
“Pirimid has built a robust product for capital markets stakeholders and this strategic investment opens up a compelling growth opportunity to capitalize on our existing digital payments and platform solutions, by creating a synergy with the Capital market tech products,” said, Mr. Vishal Mehta, Chairman & Managing Director, Infibeam Avenues Ltd.
Infibeam Avenues Ltd, which had processed worth US$54 billion of transaction in FY23, expects to witness an increase in its payment processing business through this strategic investment. The company will plug-in or offer its flagship payment gateway brand – CCAvenue with Pirimid Fintech’s capital market & digital lending tech software products for its end user clients, which would upsurge the payment transaction processing volumes, resulting into revenue increase from Infibeam’s payment business.
Globally, capital market or stock market processes multiple payment transactions per day, much higher than the ecommerce or offline payment channels like POS. According to various market research, the global online trading platform market reached a valuation of $8.9 billion in 2021 and is anticipated to reach $18.4 billion by 2031. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.8% from 2022 to 2031.


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The expectation is that instead of 25% of all new cars sold in Britain being bought in August, sales will be more evenly spread with March, September and January - with fleets and private buyers buying vehicles to benefit from the year change - expected to be the peak months.
But David Lee, fleet administration manager in charge of the 2,500-strong solus fleet of construction company John Laing and a counsel member of the Institute of Car Fleet Management, believes the Government and the motor industry should have opted for plate changes in April and October.
Under the present registration system few fleets buy cars in June, July, November and December and Lee believes the introduction of the new system will limit the attractiveness to fleets of buying cars in January.
'If the industry wants to even out new car supplies and have three changepoints a year surely January, April and October would be better,' said Lee. 'The way it has been decided closes the door on January as a vehicle buying date. We would be barmy to buy cars in January when by waiting eight weeks we can buy cars in March which feature both a new plate and a new year. However, if the change was in April it would be much less attractive to postpone buying in January.'


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In the battle to shift the flow of automotive investment from low cost Mexico, Sandra Pupatello’s decision to chase a luxury carmaker seemed to make sense. Windsor’s failure to land a new Jaguar Land Rover plant brings home the stark reality that Mexico is winning the war on all fronts.
In the battle to shift the flow of automotive investment from low cost Mexico, Sandra Pupatello’s decision to chase a luxury carmaker seemed to make sense.
Canada’s auto industry specializes in the production of minivans, muscle cars, crossover utility vehicles and pricey nameplates, like Lexus and Lincoln; value-added, mid-and-full-sized vehicles with profit margins healthy enough to offset the higher cost of auto assembly in this country compared to Mexico, where autoworkers earn about a tenth of the hourly wages of their Canadian counterparts.
So, when word surfaced last year that Volvo Cars and Jaguar Land Rover Ltd., were planning to build new plants in North America, the CEO of the WindsorEssex Economic Development Corporation mounted separate campaigns aimed at luring the carmakers to the region. In the end, only Jaguar took the pitch from Pupatello, as well as the federal and Ontario governments, seriously enough to visit the city in early January to look at a parcel of land near Windsor’s airport.
A month later, however, the British-based carmaker declined Canada’s offer, which, according to sources, would have covered 40 per cent of its investment. The overriding concern: the governments’ incentive package, in particular Ottawa’s program of loans, paled in comparison with the advantages of producing vehicles in lower cost jurisdictions, said a source familiar with the discussions.
“There wasn’t enough money on the table,” the source said.
While Jaguar, which was purchased by India’s Tata Motors in 2008, has yet to confirm where it will locate its new plant, company executives have said they are considering spending more than $500 million to build a new factory somewhere in Mexico.
Losing a luxury assembler seemingly better suited to the Canadian industrial landscape known for its highly productive, educated and skilled workforce, has been a bitter pill to swallow.
“It’s concerning,” said Matt Marchand, CEO of the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce. “I don’t believe we can’t compete because we can. I think we need to be more aggressive. We have to go back and understand why we haven’t done it.”
Charlotte Yates, principal investigator at McMaster University’s
Institute for Automotive Research and Technology, said Mexico has emerged as the place to not only build small cars with thin profit margins, but luxury, value-added vehicles.
“Where Canada does have some competitive advantage, that clearly has been eroded by Mexico,” said Yates. “The game has changed.”
In the past two years, eight automakers have opened or announced new plants or expansions in Mexico. Just last month, Toyota announced plans to move production of the popular Corolla sedan from Cambridge to Guanajuato. The carmaker pledged to replace the Corolla with “mid-sized, higher-value vehicles.” Ford Motor Co., chose Mexico over Windsor for a $2-billion global small engine program, despite an incentive package that included $900 million from the federal and provincial governments and $170 million in cost savings from Unifor.
Daimler AGand Japan’s Nissan Motor Co., unveiled plans last June to invest about US$1.4 billion in a new plant in Mexico to jointly develop and produce small luxury cars. While the decision was based in part on Nissan’s strong presence in that country, it was also a vote of confidence in Mexico’s competitiveness and the quality of its workforce, allowing it to compete against the United States and Canada for highly skilled automotive jobs.
Add hourly all-in labour rates in assembly plants averaging about US$8 an hour, a one-stop government support for attracting investment, a more lax regulatory environment and free trade deals covering more than 40 countries, and Mexico’s competitive edge becomes irresistible for carmakers looking to export to the U.S. and across the globe.
In fact, real wages in Mexico have been falling while productivity has been rising, added Yates. “Companies have the ability to make profit in a landscape where wages are held down by a host of factors.”
Sean McAlinden, senior economist at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., said cheap labour isn’t the sole reason for the automotive procession to Mexico. German carmaker Audi will save $5,000 per vehicle in overseas tariffs when it ships a Q5 SUV from its factory in the state of Puebla, compared with building the same vehicle in the U.S., he said.
“That’s more important than the labour cost advantage that Mexico has when it comes to global luxury cars,” said McAlinden. “Any country that has the largest number of free-trade deals will have the highest score at attracting auto plants.”
With small cars “it’s all about labour costs,” he added. “But a tariff is a big deal on luxury cars.”
Joe Hinrichs, president of the Americas for Ford, said as much in an interview with The Windsor Star during this year’s Toronto International Auto Show: “If you have a low-cost environment and you have more free-trade agreements, you have the ability to have lower costs and ship globally and do more volume out of one manufacturing location.”
The latest failed attempt to win a new assembly plant has increased pressure on the federal and Ontario governments to establish a national automotive strategy steered by an auto czar empowered with the resources to target and secure investment.
“Canada still has some competitive advantage,” said Yates. “But it needs to move fairly quickly, organizing and co-ordinating government programs to hit a home run in terms of getting that investment.”
Mexico’s share of North American auto production grew to 19 per cent last year as new Honda and Mazda factories opened. Meanwhile, Canada’s production rose a fraction and its share of North American output fell to 14 per cent, its lowest level since 1987.
While the U.S., in particular the southern states, has done a better job than Canada in drawing new auto plants and jobs, it finds itself in the same boat as Canada when it comes to competing with Mexico, said McAlinden.
Mexico’s emergence as an automotive superpower has come at the expense of jobs and investment in Canada and the U.S., said McAlinden. It’s time, he added, for a critical review of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
“Wages in Mexico keep falling despite all the new investment,” said McAlinden. “It has a softer regulatory environment that probably shouldn’t exist. We have to renegotiate NAFTA. There’s too much of an imbalance.”
Canada’s automotive trade deficit with Mexico was a record $10.3 billion in 2014, said Jim Stanford, senior economist at Unifor, which represents hourly workers at Detroit Three plants in Canada.
“They buy less from us than they did in 2000,” said Stanford. “It’s a one-way street, and Mexicans aren’t even benefiting. Real wages are no higher than they were when NAFTA was signed in 1994.”
Free-trade advocates had argued that Canada would keep high-end vehicles while losing “bare-bones, low skilled jobs,” said Stanford. “But autoworkers in Mexico are quite capable of doing high skilled, high value work. There are still huge labour cost savings for producing an Audi or BMW in Mexico compared to producing it here.
“This race to the bottom has been unleashed by free trade and will be experienced in all vehicle classes, whether low end or high end.”
10 ways Mexico is winning
1.Unionized auto assembly workers in Canada earn about US$50 in wages and benefits an hour compared to about $8 in Mexico. In the U.S., its $58 at General Motors and $38 at Volkswagen’s factory in Tennessee. Wages and benefits at Mexican auto parts plants are even lower, averaging about $4 an hour.
2.Mexico has a network of 12 free-trade agreements that cover about 43 jurisdictions including the European Union, Canada, the U.S., Israel, South and Central America.
3.Mexico’s auto supply chain is growing, attracting powertrain facilities from such automakers as the Detroit Three, Volkswagen and Nissan. Ontario-based Magna International is also a big player, employing 24,000 workers in Mexico.
4.ProMexico, the economic development arm of the Mexican government, offers a one-stop support for investment attraction. Created in 2007, it pools the resources of federal and state agencies, enabling anyone interested in investing in Mexico to quickly access all the necessary information.
5.Mexican auto production more than doubled in the past 10 years and is expected to rise another 50 per cent to about five million vehicles annually by 2022. U.S. production is expected to increase only three per cent, to 12.2 million vehicles, in the next seven years.
6.Automakers now have 18 factories in 11 Mexican states, many built in the past 10 years. In four years, five more will be built, moving the country from the world’s seventh biggest auto producer to fifth.
7.The number of auto producing jobs in Mexico has risen almost 40 per cent since 2008, from 490,000 to 675,000 in 2014. During the same period, U.S. auto manufacturing employment grew 15 per cent to nearly 903,000. In Canada employment in the auto sector, including assembly and parts manufacturing, has plunged from more than 160,000 in 2000 to just under 120,000.
8.Companies in Mexico’s light-vehicle industry perform activities that range from assembly to casting and stamping of vehicles and engines. Currently, more than 48 car and light-truck models are produced in Mexico.
9.Mexico is the world’s eighth largest car, truck, part and component producer. It’s main export market is the U.S. In 2014, nine of every 100 vehicles were exported to Latin America. The main destinations for Mexican exports were Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Chile. F
our of every 100 light vehicles exported went to the European Union.
10.In 2010, Mexico overtook Canada as the leading supplier of commercial vehicles to the U.S.
Sources: Center for Automotive Research, IHS Automotive, Government of Mexico, ProMexico, Wards AutoWorld, Unifor, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and RBC Economics


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Covintus opens applications for the Winter 2022 Technological Reservoir Accelerator
A 10-week virtual program will guide startups in making technology product decisions to achieve high growth potential. The deadline to apply is December 10, 2021.
– Logan Ryan, Covintus Delivery Manager and Tech Tank Program Coordinator
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES, November 1, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ – Covintus Tech Tank Top, a technology-driven virtual accelerator designed to educate startup teams on the technical aspects of business success and reaching their high growth potential, has opened applications for its Winter 2022 cohort, which will run from 25 January to March 31, 2022. The deadline to apply is December 10, 2021.
The 10-week virtual program will offer expert-led sessions advising founders on how to avoid common startup mistakes and leverage their technology strategy as a true differentiator. Topics include Bandaid / Blowtorch; Optimize relations with partners; and Maximize valuation.
Selection criteria include:
â¢ Startups with a technology or software product with high growth potential
â¢ Companies in the start-up and growth phase with a significant technological challenge
â¢ Full-time, goal-oriented founder (s) determined to complete the virtual program
“Covintus builds on the success we achieved with our first Tech Tank Accelerator held last summer, where we supported five US-based startups, âsaid Brian Flood, Covintus co-founder and coordinator of the Tech Tank program. âWe are delighted to welcome next year two cohorts, in winter and in summer, which will support up to 20 startups. From the moment they submit an application, the founders will benefit from the whole process.
Each startup selected for the winter 2022 cohort will receive $ 5,000 for success. In addition, the Covintus Tech Tank Pitch contest at the end will award the first place winner a total of $ 25,000, as well as a total of $ 10,000 to the second place winner. All prizes are matching credits, which can be used on any of Covintus’ consulting services, such as software development, UI / UX design and / or technical support and consulting.
Ahead of the December 10 application deadline, Covintus will host virtual information sessions giving applicants an overview of the program and answers to some frequently asked questions before applying. The schedule is as follows:
â¢ Thursday, November 11 at 12 p.m. EST
â¢ Tuesday, November 16 at 2 p.m. EST
â¢ Fri, December 3 at 10 a.m. EST
Through its Tech Tank accelerator, Covintus has pledged $ 1 million in development and support enabling startups to achieve success and high growth potential. To date, Covintus has awarded $ 85,000 to Covintus Tech Tank startups.
âThe founders who completed our summer 2021 cohort have left more informed about their technology products and more connected to the resources they need to grow,â said Logan Ryan, Covintus Delivery Manager and Tech Tank Program Coordinator. âWe encourage any Founder with a well-developed idea and a scalable product to apply to Covintus Tech Tank. “
Information on Covintus Tech Tank, as well as the schedule of briefings and the online application, can be found here: https://covintus.com/tech-tank/.
Founded in 2010, Covintus is an innovative, internationally managed crowdsourcing company, the first of its kind. The company serves Fortune 500 companies and businesses of all sizes, including startups, with software solutions that propel their businesses forward. With a unique managed crowdsourcing model, Covintus relies on the world’s best developers and coders, who have proven their skills in international programming competitions. With its team of in-house project management professionals, Covintus delivers custom software solutions to its clients faster, better and cheaper than anyone else. For more information, visit covintus.com. Follow Covintus on LinkedIn to stay up to date with the latest company news.


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Macy's store meant a lot to us over years
I was saddened to hear the news that the Kingsdale Macy’s will be closing its doors in March ( Dispatch article, Friday). In today’s era of online shopping, it is rare for a department store to mean so much to a community.
This store has been present in so many milestones in my family. It was there that we purchased prom dresses, suits for job interviews, appliances for first apartments, wedding gifts, baby gifts, and the list goes on. When my mother passed away, it became a place for me to go to feel close to her and remember all the special shopping trips.
While all the items this Macy’s offers are of the best quality, the same can be said about its people. When family members visit us, they are eager to visit “our” Macy’s where the associates are friendly, eager to assist, and enjoy sharing the shopping experience with customers.
I know that I am not alone in saying that this store will be greatly missed. I hope that whatever businesses occupy the space next will serve the community with the same dedication and sincerity.


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To Sustain Economic Growth, China Is Outsourcing Domestically
Chinese workers had been China’s backbone in their growing economy and trade growth.They are the engine of China economic growth and roaring export economy.
Most of them came from the countryside moving to industrial centers where they work in factories manufacturing various goods whether it’s food, electronic, clothing, beauty products or any household items.
The Chinese government has another way of utilizing them, not in the form of services but for their paychecks. These workers which comprise the big bulk of earners is crucial in Chinese domestic economic development.
They must start buying the very products that they manufacture, spending their hard earned pay on electronic items like plasma TV, other items like lipstick, lingerie, household items like kitchen items and furniture.
The government see them an alternative to once lopsided approach of too much dependent to foreign consumers. Chinese government economic officials emphasized the need to restructure for years their financial system since the global financial crisis affected their export industry.
With their currency renminbi appreciating and their tolerance in handling factory strikes due to wage increases, has signaled that China now is serious in reshaping the country’s economic model.
With the appreciated value of renminbi, may likely that Chinese products may be less competitive in global market place but it would strengthen the purchasing power of the consumers.
Government can effect wage increases to poor laborers numbering to 150 million migrant workers that could also spur consumption if pay increase is ahead than inflation. It is a positive way of boosting domestic consumption and at the same time restructuring the economy.
“For a long time, wage growth has lagged behind economic growth, and that has forced China to continue to depend on exports,” said Liu Cheng, a scholar of labor law at Shanghai Normal University.
In recent months China have shown a strong recovery and Chinese economic officials obviously felt confident that the recovery to go forward with the currency revaluation.Tagged as: economic growth of outsourcing, sustained economic growth in china
- Philippine Economy Registers A Modest Economic Growth, Third Only To China & IndonesiaThe Philippines has maintained its position as one of the fastest growing economies where business...
- Is Europe’s Debt Crisis Affecting China?Recent Europe’s financial crisis has started in Greece and now threatens to spread across Europe....
- Germany Overcomes Financial Crisis, Instilling Own Vision Of Economic GrowthGermany best performance since reunification 20 years ago which is equivalent to nearly 9 percent...
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|Print article||This entry was posted by Affleap on July 11, 2010 at 12:53 am, and is filed under Economic Issues. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.|


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Rachel’s Kitchen Dishes Up Expansion Plans
Madera Group Launches Delivery-Only Mexican Concept
The Pie Hole to Open 3 New Locations by December
IFA Joins Global Day Dedicated to Giving Back
The Pizza Press Sets Sights on National Expansion


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Weddings are occasions where women come together to support and celebrate each other, and in the same spirit, leading online wedding dressmaker Azazie is taking a meaningful vow – to donate up to $10,000 to National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF).
By Jan-Carol Publishing, Inc.
Jan-Carol Publishing, Inc., of Johnson City, Tennessee, is proud to join Vickie Combs in her participation in Susan G. Komen's Big Wigs for this year. Since 2005, Susan G.
By Salon Adrian
Salon Adrian, located in Gulf Coast Town Center, kicked-off their "Think Pink" special on Oct. 1 in support of breast cancer awareness month. The special will continue throughout the month of October.
For the month of October, British luxury leather brand Maxwell Scott are supporting CoppaFeel! as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
By SKA Consulting Engineers
Continuing its tradition of honoring breast cancer awareness month, SKA enjoys quilt raffle, event ticket giveaway, pink bagel day and group photo around "Driving Hope" pink truck.
Votion team members discuss what they enjoyed about participating in Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the important of raising awareness for the disease
By Nature's Answer
Motorcycle Riders Complete Cross-Country Road2Wellness Tour During Breast Cancer Awareness Month to Support Leading Research and Healthcare Organizations and Raise Awareness for Cancer Prevention, Treatment and Cure
By Compass Financial Federal Credit Union
Credit Union will be holding a "Café, Pastelitos and Croquetas" fundraiser
By Ridpath Creative
Award-winning photographer Roger Ridpath announced today the donation of a limited edition print from his Kansas City Illuminated Series No. 1.,"Pamona in Pink." The print is the very first in a series focused on his hometown, Kansas City.
By Hallak Cleaners
Pink Pride Month at Hallak Cleaners
By The Outlets at Orange
Funds raised will go towards goal of reducing breast cancer deaths
By Hungry Howie's Pizza
Renowned Pizza Franchise Joins the Fight Against Breast Cancer Through Fundraising Efforts


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Were you unable to attend Transform 2022? Check out all of the summit sessions in our on-demand library now! Watch here.
It isn’t easy for brick-and-mortar retailers to compete with internet behemoths such as Amazon, Jet, and eBay. Online shoppers spent a record $108.2 billion last holiday season, according to Adobe Analytics, and that number is only expected to grow. By 2021, Statista projects that more than 230 million customers will browse products, compare prices, or buy merchandise online at least once.
So how’s a big box store to compete? Jamie Rapperport, cofounder and CEO of Eversight, thinks the solution might be artificial intelligence-powered dynamic pricing. “We want to bring pricing experimentation and promos right to the shelf,” Rapperport told VentureBeat in a phone interview.
Enter Eversight Pricing Suite, a new cloud software solution that’s meant to complement Eversight’s core platform, Eversight Cloud, which allows brands and retailers to test, adapt, target, and validate in-store promotions before they’re rolled out at retail.
Here’s how it works: When a retailer chain gives Eversight Pricing Suite the green light, the platform automatically begins running experiments on a subset of items throughout a handful of stores, taking into account factors like competitors’ pricing and shoppers’ historical behavior.
MetaBeat will bring together thought leaders to give guidance on how metaverse technology will transform the way all industries communicate and do business on October 4 in San Francisco, CA.
The tests are randomized to ensure they aren’t impacted by external factors, and they’re run across a number of product categories. “It’s tremendously complicated,” Rapperport said. “[The AI] figures out the inner relationships of different items and looks at the impact of prices in a highly structured way.”
After at least a week has passed, the system evaluates the results, taking stock of the price’s impact on sales. If a group of stores sold more of an item after a price increase or decrease, and the difference is statistically significant, it’ll suggest making the new price point permanent. And if an item sold poorly, the system will provide insight into which product categories might be hurting sales.
Rapperport is adamant that Eversight Pricing Suite doesn’t discriminate against demographics of customers or specific markets. Prices set by the AI are published to all customers in a store, and prices are never increased above MSRP, meaning the system only tests discounts of different depths.
“We’re not treating people differently,” Rapperport said. “We’re [simply] giving retailers the tools to compete [with online stores] … with a different merchandising technique. We see it as a continuous learning machine that gets smarter on price everyday and gives retailers the power to beat their brick-and-mortar competitors, as well as pure-play ecommerce retailers.”
Eversight, which is based in Palo Alto, California, has raised $24.2 million to date in funding rounds led by Sutter Hill Ventures, Emergent Capital, and others. It counts Coca-Cola, Hershey’s, Mars, and Molson Coors among its clients.
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The Shifting Photo Tides in 2015
We’ve offered up brief peeks at what 2015 will have in store for shutterbugs in this space over the last few months or so but as we move deeper into the year a few things are coming into clearer focus. Let’s take a look at a few that are worth keeping an eye as the year rolls along.
Suffice it to say, it has been a rough last few years for traditional camera makers and a quick look at sales numbers of late tells a rather sorry tale. Research from IDC tells us that in 2009 there were 35 million cameras sold in the U.S. and that number was down to 9.4 million this past year. And, truth be told, it’s headed south for the foreseeable future.
All that being said, camera makers are now focusing on producing excellent product, if less of it, as a higher quality alternative to smartphones. A sliver lining perhaps?
We can expect to see a continued influx of larger-sensor compact cams, more super zooms like Panasonic’s DMC-FZ70 (60X optical) and Pentax XG-1 (52X optical zoom), more of the rugged, take-anywhere cameras and some more movement within the ILC categories to offer a wider range of more affordable models for the masses.
With 4K TV was all the rage at the recently concluded CES, you can expect 2015 to see this tech showing up in more and more cameras and camcorders as the year progresses. For the uninitiated, the jump in quality with 4K is quite noticeable but there are a few kinks that need to be worked with regard to the tech in cameras. The ability to save the footage directly to removable media appears to be getting addressed as Samsung’s NX1 (and others) now allows.
Some of major camera manufactures have also announced plans to make it super easy to grab a single 4K video frame as a standalone 8MP still image – an important part of the 4K mix for sure. The entire notion of being able to grab high quality stills from video clips is something that should gain steam throughout the year.
The Mirrorless Play
Well, simply stated, this category hasn’t exactly lit the industry on fire as was originally hoped. DSLRs are actually outselling Mirrorless cameras (or Compact System Cameras – CSC) by a nearly 3 to 1 margin. However, that doesn’t mean the category isn’t, and won’t continue, to turn out some very cool product.
I think the main issue here has more to do with lenses, as in those with legacy DSLR lenses are staying put. With the recent rumors that Canon is expected to get a bit more serious about the CSC category in 2015, with an expected full-frame sensor model, the CSC certainly isn’t going away.
Despite what Canon does or does not do, the CSC category will continue to produce plenty of excellent camera options, led by Sony (the Alpha a5100 is a beauty), Samsung (NX30 is a winner too), Nikon (the Nikon 1 System has been solid) and Olympus (we love the EM-1’s all-weather flexibility).
After idly sitting by for a few years, watching smartphones decimate point-and-shoot sales, camera makers now understand the weight wireless tech truly carries. As a result, you can expect Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity to become standard camera fare in 2015.
Look for the even faster Wi-Fi 802.11ac wireless tech and we’re sure many will follow Samsung’s lead by adding NFC and Bluetooth connectivity to new models as well. It’s a shoot-and-send world today and the photo industry jumped on just as this train was leaving the station.
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Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announced that it delivered a key customer experience transformation program for Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise (ALE) to drive improved sales velocity and revenue growth.
TCS has been ALE’s growth and transformation partner for several years and has contributed to many of its strategic initiatives such as co-creating a next generation unified communication platform and digitally transforming its IT landscape across the business value chain.
The company partnered with TCS to redesign its customer engagement processes across the value chain and reinvent its engagement with more than 2,800 global business partners. TCS helped the company digitally transform B2B customer engagement processes across all touch points and across the customer journey.
The reimagined customer-centric approach has allowed ALE to serve customers better and deliver consistent, enhanced experiences, leading to significant improvement in sales velocity and revenue growth.
“This is a strategic initiative to drive the next wave of growth for ALE, therefore it is critical for us to bring a partner who comes with a deep understanding of our business model, an extensive experience in end-to-end services from design to delivery of customer experience transformation and proven expertise in Salesforce technology,” said Jean-Pierre Roullin, Head of IT, ALE.


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Square Enix announced that the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster are finally coming to the PS4 and Nintendo Switch!
Konami announced that the first two Suikoden games will get an HD remaster under the Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars release!
The official Bandai Namco Entertainment YouTube channel posted the System Introduction trailer for the upcoming JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R game. The trailer highlights the various mechanics and gimmicks this game has.
It was announced at the recent Nintendo Direct Mini that three mainline entries of the Persona series are now coming to the Nintendo Switch!
It was announced at today's Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection.
Square Enix announced the Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion game to commemorate Final Fantasy VII's 25th anniversary.
Capcom has unveiled the official trailer for Street Fighter 6, as well as revealed new details for the game
Bandai Namco Entertainment posted the latest trailer for the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R game, which revealed new characters, as well as four new playable characters.


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Fined: Kidlington shop sold cigarettes to a minor
A Kidlington shop owner and his store manager have been ordered to pay a total of £2385 for selling cigarettes to an underage buyer during a routine purchase operation on April 10, 2017 undertaken by Oxfordshire County Council’s Trading Standards Service.
Owner Soran Salih, who runs Wisla Supermarket at 12 The Parade, faced prosecution after manager, Erfran Gharib, sold a packet of Berkley Blue cigarettes to a Trading Standards volunteer, who had only recently turned seventeen.
The pair pleaded guilty at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, January 10. The Court heard that a Trading Standards advice visit was made to the shop on April 5, where Mr Gharib was advised on ways to prevent selling age-restricted products to underage customers including to make age-verification checks such as Challenge 25.
However, just a few days later, when the test purchaser asked to buy some cigarettes, he responded “the cheapest”, he made the sale without any checks on the purchaser’s age.
At interview, Mr Salih, admitted that he hadn’t provided his staff with any formal, structured training in age-restricted sales and had instead relied on verbal reminders, despite being advised in writing to do so following a failed test purchase of alcohol in February 2017?, when cans of Budweiser had been sold to a 15 year old boy.
Mr Salih, 33, of The Parade, Kidlington was fined £1000 with £500 costs and £100 victim surcharge. Mr Gharib, 34, also of Kidlington, was fined £500 with £235 costs and £50 victim surcharge.
Councillor Judith Heathcoat, Cabinet Member for Trading Standards said: “Around two-thirds of adult smokers admit to starting their habit when they were underage. Retailers have an important role to play in helping to stop the next generation of smokers from starting in the first place. Most take their responsibilities very seriously. We will not tolerate any retailers selling cigarettes or other age-restricted products to children.”
Jody Kerman, Trading Standards Operations Manager said: “whilst smoking rates have fallen considerably, unfortunately it is still the case that 300 children start smoking everyday in the UK. If anybody has any concerns about people selling tobacco and other restricted products to children, please report to Trading Standards by calling 03454 04 05 06”.
Notes to Editors:
A review of the premises licence for Wisla Supermarket was instituted by Oxfordshire County Council’s Trading Standards Service and took place on November 20 at Cherwell District Council offices as a result of the underage sales of tobacco and alcohol.


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Tata Harrier bookings begin at Rs 30,000, deliveries to start in January 2019
Tata Motors has started receiving bookings for their upcoming SUV, Harrier. The car was first unveiled at the Auto Expo earlier this year. Interested buyers can book the car at a price of Rs 30,000 which will be refundable.
Last Updated: October 16, 2018 | 13:33 IST


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Turkish Cargo launches SVO service
Starting today, 12 June 2019, Turkish Cargo includes Sheremetyevo Airport (SVO), one of Russia’s major air cargo hubs, to its direct airfreight destinations network. Located just 30 km from the capital Moscow, the area is considered an important export and import centre in Russia.
Operating an A330-200F to and from its hub in Istanbul, the airline will carry many export products, particularly automotive accessories and raw oil materials, originating from Russia, as well as many imports such as textiles, electronics, vegetables and fruit into the Russian Federation through this new destination. (ah)


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Ford Motor Co. is likely to announce the Southampton factor shutdown as a part of its European operations restructuring due to continuing eurozone crisis.
Closure of Southampton factory will not only end more than 100 years association of Ford with Britain, but will also see over 500 British workers losing their jobs.
The announcement regarding the Southampton factory is likely to be made after a management and union meeting, which starts at 10:00 BST at Ford’s Basildon technical centre. The speculations of Southampton plant closure fever-pitched after Ford announced the proposed closure of Belgian plant, hitting 9,500 jobs.
Ford hasn’t made any comments regarding the Southampton factory closure yet, but has called its British trade union representatives in the meeting.
Recent factory closures by Ford can be blamed to the developing pressure in Europe, where demand for Ford’s models is diminishing. Ford is expected to record a lose of more than $1 billion in Europe this year.
Ford’s plan to end productions has come as a threat to Britain, where it employs 11,500 workers in motor industry. Ford Financial and Ford Retail employs another 15,000 British workers.
MPs and leaders expressed their concerns for the workers, with Councillor Keith House, Lib Dem leader of Eastleigh Borough Council, saying that the closure of Southampton plant would mark a “desperately sad day, not just for Southampton but for the whole region”.
“Huge numbers of families would be affected. It would also be very bad for the UK motor industry”, claimed Labour MP John Denham. Shocked by the news, Southampton City Council’s Labour leader, Richard Williams, said “we want to help those workers affected as much as possible”.


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The Fingerprint Cards and Precise Biometrics technological combo is once again powering a new smartphone—in this case Nubia’s Z11. The China-based OEMs latest mobile device features FPC hardware running Precise Biometrics algorithm software.
The Z11 uses an FPC1035 sensor—the same sensor model that was recently incorporated in Coolpad’s Max Lite smartphone. And like many other smartphones featuring FPC hardware, the device’s biometric capability is also powered by Precise BioMatch Mobile software.
For its part, Nubia is no stranger to biometric technology. The company integrated eye vein biometrics into its Z9 Mini Elite last autumn. Fingerprint biometrics, meanwhile, are a much more popular modality, and fingerprint scanners being an increasingly standard feature on mobile devices. That trend has helped to propel the businesses of companies like FPC and Precise Biometrics, whose technologies are often paired together as they are in the new Z11.
June 28, 2016 – by Alex Perala


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Signs of the new International Business Machines emerged this week when Hitachi Ltd. agreed to sell a portable computer designed and built by IBM in Japan.
Hitachi will begin buying 2,000 IBM notebook computers in April and reselling them in Japan under its own label. The computer will be based on IBM`s Model 55 computer, which was developed in Japan and is not even available in the United States, said Mike Ryder, a spokesman for the company in White Plains, N.Y.
Analysts predicted the deal would add only $25 million to $30 million to IBM`s annual sales of $70 billion, but said it demonstrated how quickly IBM is moving to boost sales and squeeze more out of its labs and factories.
The deal also demonstrated how IBM is relying more on its labs in Japan and less on its personal computer lab in Boca Raton to create products for the fastest growing part of the computer market -- portable computers.
The Hitachi deal coincides with a broad restructuring of IBM. Early this month, IBM said it would boost sales in part by selling more of its disk drives and other computer systems to other computer makers.
Such sales will contribute several hundred million dollars to IBM`s 1991 revenues and should grow to $3 billion annually by 1993, said Mac Jeffrey, a spokesman at IBM`s headquarters in Yonkers, N.Y.
``It allows us to make better use of our manufacturing resources, and creates an incentive to develop both full machines and sub-assemblies for resale,`` he said.
The Hitachi deal follows by three weeks, IBM`s decision to place the company`s Boca Raton lab under a Japanese executive. That move aims in part to pit engineers in Boca Raton against those at outside companies and other IBM labs that also want to supply IBM with personal computer designs.


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If it feels a little too soon for the fall favorite, you may be right. Aug. 25 is the earliest date the Pumpkin Spice Latte has ever been made available. Last year’s fall menu at Starbucks launched on Aug. 27.
Also available now are the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew and two themed bakery treats: a pumpkin scone and a pumpkin cream cheese muffin.
The PSL, as it’s often called, has been a popular item for nearly two decades with an intense following of loyal fans. Starbucks has sold more than 400 million PSLs since the drink’s introduction 17 years ago, according to CNN.
Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte may, however, have a little competition this year. Competitor Dunkin’ Donuts rolled out its fall menu on Aug. 19 with its very own PSL beverage, available hot or cold, for the first time ever.
- StormTracker 8: Dry today; rain for Thanksgiving
- 5 wanted for using counterfeit bills at Chesterfield-area Walmart
- Publix in Chesterfield latest target in string of grocery store robberies
- Dr. Avula: Community spread contributes to more nursing home staff unknowingly transmitting COVID-19
- What’s your preferred way to cook a turkey? Most in Virginia say…


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Hearst rang in the New Year with a look back at 2015.
Company president and chief executive officer Steve Swartz circulated a memo to staff Monday morning addressing wins and losses of the year.
He led with the good news, which included touting Hearst’s fifth consecutive year of “record levels” of revenue growth and profit. While Hearst is a privately owned company, and thus does not disclose figures, the ceo said revenue grew 6 percent to $10.7 billion in 2015.
Hearst credited its revenue growth to investments, such as Fitch Group, its single largest majority-owned business at 80 percent; First Databank, a drug information company that is its largest “wholly owned stand-alone business,” and Homecare Homebase, a software services company for the home-health industry.
Swartz turned to the media branch of the company, noting that Hearst Newspapers was profitable for the fourth straight year, and its U.S. magazines division pulled a profit for the second year in a row.
Hearst’s cable television companies, ESPN and A+E Networks, also delivered profitable growth, but the ceo acknowledged the difficult environment for the group. In October, ESPN slashed about 300 jobs, or 4 percent of its workforce, in order to invest in digital amid flagging cable and satellite subscriptions.
Swartz addressed the cuts, offering: “Sports rights have gotten more expensive and cord-cutting and cord-shaving have caused modest losses in the number of ESPN households; however, we are confident that this brand and this team have many years of strong revenue and profit growth ahead of them, as there simply is no substitute for ESPN.”
Hearst’s broadcast TV group achieved “record revenue,” the company said, but there was no mention of profit growth. The company said that television “in all forms remains by far Hearst’s biggest business,” adding that it’s eyeing emerging streams of revenue for TV, included targeted advertising and new forms of TV content bundles.
Despite all the crowing about a record-breaking year, the ceo did admit that “cutting through the clutter” in consumer media is the company’s “preeminent challenge.” Hearst hopes to slash through the thicket with live sports events via ESPN, by using Cosmopolitan’s “unique voice” for young women and Sweet, its new Snapchat channel led by Cosmo’s editor in chief Joanna Coles. The company is also looking to local news franchises, WCVB-TV in Boston and the Houston Chronicle, as well as investments in digital brands Buzzfeed, Vice, AwesomenessTV, Complex and Roku.
Swartz noted the difficult international environment, offering: “Our overseas magazines, headed up by Duncan Edwards, continued to battle against sluggish markets, the strong dollar and some difficult political situations.”
Nonetheless, Hearst said it would continue to invest in core operations. The company noted that it spent about $150 million in 2015 on projects such as the development of digital publishing platform MediaOS for all of its consumer media mobile and Web properties, as well as a new headquarters for the Houston Chronicle and KETV, its Omaha, Neb., TV station.
On the flip side, Hearst ended its four-year partnership with reality TV producer Mark Burnett by agreeing to sell its remaining stake in United Artists Media Group to MGM.
The ceo ended his note name-checking leaders across the company, including the magazine division’s digital executives, President Troy Young and content chief Kate Lewis, and business-side gurus Michael Clinton and Todd Haskell. Although he mentioned a handful of magazines for their strong year, he singled out Harper’s Bazaar as setting a “profit record” in 2015.


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Volkswagen has unveiled a new teaser image of its new Arteon Shooting Brake.
The sleek new model is set to rival the likes of the Mercedes CLA Shooting Brake and offer a more practical version of Volkswagen’s Arteon fastback, which has been on sale since 2017.
It’s been spied testing on various occasions, but this is the first official image of it to come from Volkswagen. While exaggerated in these design sketches, the stylish estate-like shape can easily be seen in the new sketch.
It’s set to be shown alongside a facelifted version of the regular Arteon, which will receive light styling tweaks and technology and safety updates.
Key to the updated model will be a revised interior, with its touchscreen set to use the latest MIB3 operating system found in the latest VW Group products. It offers enhanced connectivity functions and is likely to feature an advanced voice control system – just as it does on the new Golf.
A new ‘Travel Assist’ safety assistance feature is set to be offered, too – allowing an advanced adaptive cruise control system that can look after the steering, acceleration and braking, though the driver must remain in control at all times. It already features on the new Passat.
Alongside the revised model and new Shooting Brake version, VW is set to offer a hot ‘R’ model on the new Arteon, though just what powertrain will underpin it remains unclear. A plug-in hybrid option is also a possibility – given such powertrains are found in the Passat and are likely to be introduced to the mechanically-similar Tiguan SUV shortly. Mild-hybrid powertrains are likely to be utilised as well.
The Arteon Shooting Brake will be unveiled on June 24.


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This week on the Spartan News Update, Princess Charlotte made history on Monday, Trump meets with France’s president to discuss a deal with Iran, and one student could face life in prison.
-Southwest Airlines passenger dies. -MSU students organize a rally. -Dicks sporting goods destroys all unsold gun stock. -Okemos business staple closes. -Starbucks closing its doors for day to educate employees on racial bias.
This week on the Spartan News Update, a grandma is on the run in a nationwide manhunt, Starbucks is set to close 8,000 stores for training and Kendrick Lamar wins a Pulitzer Prize.
This week on the Spartan News Update, a shooting at Youtube’s headquarters, snow storms are hitting parts of upper Michigan, and police are still looking for two people who stole thousands of dollars worth of jewelry in Florida
-Best city to retire. -Drug sniffing dogs. -April is sexual harassment month. -March madness is wrapped up.