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What it is advisable to know
- Samsung’s formally becoming a member of the AI bandwagon with Galaxy AI, which will likely be making its grand debut on the upcoming Galaxy S24 smartphones.
- Galaxy AI is kicking issues off with a characteristic referred to as “AI Stay Translate Name,” which will likely be built-in into Samsung’s native telephone app.
- Samsung is promising on-device audio and textual content translations as you converse with the dwell translate characteristic.
After being slightly late to the generative AI occasion, Samsung is lastly catching up with Galaxy AI, a brand new native expertise that will likely be accessible on the Galaxy S24 smartphones subsequent yr.
Samsung’s newest AI endeavor is set to grace the company’s flagship smartphones early subsequent yr, in line with a blog post. The tech large says its new cellular AI expertise combines in-house on-device AI with cloud-based AI supported by trade companions.
The most recent announcement comes shortly after Samsung spilled the beans about its new undertaking at its AI Discussion board in South Korea. Presumably referred to as Gauss, this generative AI mannequin is Samsung’s tackle ChatGPT with the flexibility to summarize sentences, reply to person queries in pure language, compose emails, and translate textual content (through The Korea Times). It is nonetheless below improvement, however Samsung expects to combine it into its Galaxy smartphones early subsequent yr.
Consider Gauss because the powerhouse that can gasoline Galaxy AI to offer a complete new stage of intelligence and personalization in your Galaxy smartphone. Considered one of Galaxy AI’s capabilities is a dwell translation characteristic, which Samsung calls “AI Stay Translate Name.”
This new functionality, constructed into the corporate’s native telephone app, guarantees to translate telephone calls on the spot utilizing synthetic intelligence. As you converse throughout a name with somebody talking one other language, each audio and textual content translations will seem in real-time.
Samsung is making huge guarantees with dwell name translations on its next flagship phones. Plus, the corporate is touting its on-device AI tech to maintain your chats below lock and key.
Stay name translation is just the start for Samsung’s Galaxy AI lineup. The corporate is gearing as much as roll out extra AI options on its merchandise, giving Google a run for its cash. The search large has been busy squeezing AI into all the pieces, even their Pixel 8 telephone, however customers are nonetheless eagerly awaiting that chatbot-powered Google Assistant.


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Nashville police and residents were searching Monday for clues to the Christmas Day theft of a cinnamon bun that found unlikely fame for its resemblance to the late Mother Teresa’s face.
The bun has been a draw for curious tourists since it was preserved and put on display in a glass case at the shop where it was discovered by a customer in 1996.
“What I can’t figure out is why anyone would steal it,” said the shop’s owner, Bob Bernstein. “They can’t sell it on eBay, it’s not fit to eat, there was no ransom note and the police put its value at only $25 on their report.”
Bernstein said the thief broke into the coffeehouse at 6 a.m. on Sunday, and had smashed the glass case containing the bun, ignoring cash lying nearby.
Before her death in 1997, Nobel Peace Prize winner Mother Teresa wrote to Bernstein asking that her name not be used commercially. The pastry became known simply as the “Nun Bun.”

domain: news


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Yesterday John Paczkowski of re/code stated Apple, Inc. would be holding a Special Event on September 9. Many sites had been claiming a mid-September or October announcement for a forthcoming iPhone launch, however, it appears Paczkowski has the inside track on all-things Apple events.
In the past Apple has launched products, such as the iPod, on-campus, hosting the media in their own Town Hall auditorium. But over time Apple has shifted their Special Event venues to downtown San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. The auditorium can seat roughly 550, two times more than that of Apple’s aging Town Hall facility, giving the company a stronger real-time reach into the tech media.
The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts calendar shows the schedule for early September wide open. Specifically, September 9, and the days leading up to the anticipated event are available. At least, the public calendar shows those dates are available. The fact that the center has often blocked out times and dates for Apple Special Events without specifying any company reservation can serve to validate Paczkowski’s claim, which we believe to be an accurate date.
The event is largely assumed to be an iPhone unveiling, but Packzowski makes no such claim, nor does he specify where the event will be held. Anticipate the event at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and it being the announcement for the new iPhone Air (which our sources claim will be the new official nomenclature for the next iPhone).
- Stop the Insanity! Did Apple's iPhones Sales Really Fall Last Quarter?!
- Stop The Fake News! iPhone X's OLED Display Is NOT Just Like Any Other Samsung Offering
- iPhone X: Android Publications Can't Get Enough Of It
- Apple Gears Up at Costco, Just In Time For Christmas
- NY Times David Pogue Gets Why Apple TV 4K is the Best Streaming Box On The Market
- iPhone X: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
- Absolutely The Best Feature Change In iPhone X
- Apple Gets the Millennial and Journalists Don't Like It
- Apple's Best Hidden Talent Resides Within Their Silicon Team
- Is Intel's Reign Almost Over?


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Supermarket giant Somerfield is rolling out a Windows NTbased stock control system at its 560 Somerfield and 800 Kwik Save stores. Somerfield senior project manager, Simon Turner, said the company wanted...
The company also stressed the importance of other technologies, like uplink-downlink decoupling
Kevin Fielder, CISO of food delivery service Just Eat, is using gamification and automation to bring security to the forefront
Tech giants collaborate to reduce lock-in - yes you read that right
Huawei hardware embedded in BT's 21st Century Network a risk to UK national infrastructure


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New Delhi: Mahindra’s Truck and Bus Division (MTB) on Tuesday launched new range of commercial vehicles Furio at a starting price of Rs 17.45 lakhs.
With this launch the company enters into the Intermediate Commercial Vehicles (ICVs), MTB said in a release.
Developed with an investment of Rs 600 crore, this new range is manufactured at Mahindra’s facility in Chakan.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Pawan Goenka, Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra said, “The launch of the new FURIO range of ICV trucks with an unprecedented customer value proposition of “Get More Profit or Give the Truck Back”, is a unique and pioneering promise, which reflects our serious commitment to the segment and confidence in our product. Today we are probably the first and possibly the only CV brand in the world to have an end-to-end presence from 3 wheelers to 49 T truck."
He added that with Pininfarina design, the new Furio is set to be a game changer for the company and perhaps for the industry.
The new ICV from Mahindra also comes with the first time ever 5 years/ 5 lakhs kms free maintenance guarantee (free AMC) and 5 years / 5 lakhs km transferrable warranty.


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A reworked customs policy regarding direct port delivery (DPD) operations — announced in April and intended to create a level playing field for third-party logistics providers (3PLs) operating container freight stations at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) — has generated an apathetic response from terminal operators. JNPT handles the majority of India's container freight.
As the scale of DPD handling — under which pre-approved importers can clear their freight directly from the wharf within 48 hours of landing at the port — substantially increased and, in turn, proved to be a growth disruptor for the port-based logistics industry, customs authorities at JNPT lifted a previous notice restricting storage of DPD containers left uncleared by consignees at the wharf beyond this timeline, to a single, port-designated off-site depot, and reopened that business opportunity to all storage yards in and around the port.
The Container Freight Station Association of India (CFSAI), the umbrella body of warehouse logistics providers, however, said there has been no noticeable, broader shift of DPD cargo, due to the above rule change, thus far — except for the roughly 4,000 TEU per month provided by APM Terminals’ Gateway Terminals India.
“We held meetings with Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal and Nhava Sheva (India) Gateway Terminal, [both operated by DP World], and we were informed that they are complying. However, there was not a single box under such category for any of our CFS [container freight station] members,” the group said. “We somehow find it difficult to believe.”
At the same time, CFSAI stated that following its intervention with JNPT, port-operated Jawaharlal Nehru Container Terminal offered to put in place necessary logistics rearrangements to facilitate such DPD diversions.
The association, which represents 27 CFS operators, also urged authorities to deal with terminals’ disinclination toward that wider DPD logistics operation, at the upcoming stakeholder review meeting.
India’s ease-of-doing business goals
The government has a two-pronged goal under the ease-of-doing-business program: decrease dwell times at the port with speedier cargo clearance and reduce logistics costs via the elimination of so-called intermediaries in the supply chain ecosystem.
The results are, by and large, encouraging, as data collected by JOC.com show JNPT has steadily increased its DPD volume, with that percentage hitting a new high of 40.6 percent in July. Dwell times at the port — which typically cause congestion — have also improved considerably, but rail-related clearance issues lately have impacted the overall progress on this front.
To tackle that tardiness in the clearance of railed freight to/from inland container depots, JNPT intends to bring down, in phases, the allotted free storage time for cargo handled by road from the current seven days to three days. Stakeholder consultations are under way regarding this proposal.
Looking ahead, the government wants JNPT to transact as high as 80 percent of its imports via DPD, which will further increase the challenges facing 3PLs who essentially operate on a single-port market basis, unless they radically remodel their service offerings. This sentiment was shared by dominant market research firm CRISIL in a recent analysis.
“To offset this [setback], CFS operators are expected to focus on alternative revenue sources from allied logistics and transportation services,” the agency, a unit of credit evaluator Standard & Poor’s, stated.


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Cash in before you’re forced out
Dubai’s companies have come a long way since they were surrounded by doomsday predictions and debt last year. But as they start to offload assets, are they jumping or are they being pushed?
December 12, 2010 8:51 by Eva Fernandes
DIC is the private equity arm of Dubai Holding, and it’s not the only major Dubai company offloading assets. Early this week the National also reported that Istithmar World is considering selling its share in a shopping and entertainment development in Cape Town. Istithmar, which is owned by Dubai World, hasn’t confirmed the speculation surrounding the sale of the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront shopping and entertainment complex, but a source within Dubai World has told the paper Istithmar is prepared to sell if it receives an attractive offer.
And though Dubai World has recently worked on a debt-restructuring, the past year has seen it offload a number of assets, including a $254 million stake in the former Metropole Hotel building in London, International Hotel Investments (IHI) and an exit from a $50 million fund to develop and own 30 no-frills Tune hotels.
The sale of the waterfront shopping and entertainment complex is still in its speculative phase, but Dubai World seems to have the right idea – sell the assets when you can, at your own discretion and in your own time. In the case of Alliance, DIC, by holding on too long, seems to have lost out against its will and in a deal that was beyond its control.
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Thirsty Monk, the Šariš brewery's mascot, gets ready to fight for a fat beer market share.
It will also be a furious duel of world beer giants, since Šariš is 98 percent owned by South African Breweries, Ltd. (SAB), and Zlatý Bažant is 66-percent owned by Dutch Heineken, ranked respectively number five and two in the world in production volume.
Šariš announced on February 17 its 1997 production fell to 696,000 hectoliters from 735,000 hl in 1996. Bohumil Mazák, a member of the company's board, said the drop was mainly due to changes in Šariš's ownership and its brewing modernization program.
Last September, SAB bought a 97.6 percent stake in Šariš with an initial investment of about $38 million from the previous majority owner, Austria's Getränke Industrieholding (GIH), a subsidiary of Vienna's largest brewery, Ottakringer.
Despite the drop, the brewery sold 695,000 hectoliters of beer on the domestic market, beating the second-place Zlatý Bažant with 630,000 hectoliters, according to the Slovak Beer Producers' Association.
However, Mazák said that Šariš plans to boost production slightly in 1998 to around 725,000 hectoliters. "We think the plan has been set quite realistically, as the Slovak market currently seems saturated," Mazák said.
SAB has already launched a long-term investment program to modernize all Šariš's facilities. "The completion of changes in our equipment and technology is scheduled to take years," Mazák said, adding that changes to the brewery's bottling line were already underway. The brewery's biggest revenue earner is the Šaris brand followed by Smädný Mních (Thirsty Monk). Together, they secure most of the brewery's market share of between 16 and 17 percent.
Pheasant takes off
Just like the pheasant takes off in a Heineken-trademark, yellow-and-gold TV commercial for Zlatý Bažant, the brewery's production took flight last year, soaring by 51 percent and securing a 16.2 percent Slovak market share. On February 16, company officials announced that Zlatý Bažant's production was 712,600 hectoliters, way up from 471,798 hectoliters in 1996.
Martin Porada, the brewery's marketing manager, conceded that his brewery is shoulder-to-shoulder with Šariš in terms of market share, but added that the tables turned last August, when Zlatý Bažant first beat Šariš in monthly sales. "We have been the market leader since August 1997 and our volume of sales has increased [even more] dramatically since the beginning of last January," Porada said. "We made a lot of improvements in terms of quality, packaging, marketing support...and a huge advertising campaign."
Dutch people often joke that Heineken's advertising campaigns, especially TV commercials, are better than its beer. But in case of Zlatý Bažant, the campaigns seem to be backed by quality, as the brewery exported 56,794 hectoliters last year, a 46-percent increase over 1996.
Apart from its own beers, the company also brews Heineken's Amstel brand under license, but no figures on the amount of Amstel sold in Slovakia are yet available.
The two giants seem determined to continue their battle over Slovakia's insatiable beer market. Heineken acquired another Slovak asset last December, buying 49 percent of the country's fifth largest brewer, Karšay. Combined, Heineken's two acquisitions have at least a 20 percent share on the domestic beer market.
But SAB is not giving up. "We're focusing mainly on the domestic market," Mazák said, adding that the company indirectly exports only two to three percent of its production, mostly to the Ukraine.
Heavy investment should help SAB to sustain the run for Slovak beer leadership. Present also in Hungary, Poland and Romania, SAB is the biggest investor in beer production in central and eastern Europe, with total investments approaching $250 million.


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Apple has been opening plenty of Apple stores in China, but it could go even further into East Asia with a brand new retail store — based directly across the street from Samsung’s headquarters in Seoul, South Korea.
We guess Tim Cook’s been taking trolling notes again!
While we don’t yet know what kind of battery life the iPhone 6 is going to have, it’s always good to have a way of charging your smartphone when you’re out and about.
With that in mind, the city of Seoul in South Korea has announced that it is building a series of outdoor recharging ports along manmade stream, the Cheonggyecheon, in the city’s downtown region. Rather than drawing from the city’s regular power grid, the chargers will instead draw their current from various hydroelectric turbines which are embedded in the stream itself.


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Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, the nation’s fastest growing dumpling automat concept, has signed its first franchising deal to bring five locations to Connecticut. The brand is poised to disrupt the quick-service restaurant industry with their innovative automat technology and contactless format. Even before the first location opens its doors in New York, potential franchisees are eager to sign on to the concept.
I am very excited about Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, the brand’s innovative technology is exciting and the food is delicious, says the first franchisee, who would like to remain anonymous at this time. Getting into the brand early is a very wise decision. In the next two or three years, I expect we will see a lot of automat restaurants, so it’s great to jump on board with the innovative concept now.
The unique flavor combinations are imagined by the founder, Stratis Morfogen, who is inspired by traditional diner delights such as cheeseburgers, French onion soup and even peanut butter and jelly. Each dumpling has a perfect bite, thanks to the advanced robotic technology creating them. Chefs and a full kitchen are not needed in this innovative concept, making it easy to find quality staff and perfect for small spaces.
We are thrilled to team up with this franchisee, who has a tremendous track record in [quick-service restaurants], says Morfogen. We couldn’t have picked a better partner for Connecticut.
The franchisee’s first location will be in New Haven, where Yale is located, as the concept is perfect for college cities and residents will be able to boast that they have one of the first Brooklyn Dumpling Shop locations in the nation. The 24-hour concept will be an ideal spot for college students who are awake at all hours of the night looking for a delicious to-go meal. The custom packaging is noteworthy, as it has been specifically designed to ensure all products from dumplings to Frosé.
This is the first of many deals expected to close for the brand on its goal towards launching 500 units in the next five years. Everything from the technology, packaging and food combinations has been thoughtfully designed to maximize return-on-investment and ensure a safe environment for customers.


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J.C. Penney may develop land around Plano headquarters
Retail giant J.C. Penney may develop 240 acres of land around its Plano headquarters, the Dallas Morning News reported.
The newspaper said Penney (NYSE: JCP) has picked a development team led by Plano-based Karahan Cos. and which included Columbus Realty and KDC.
Penney has owned the land that faces Dallas North Tollway and State Highway 121 since 1987. A company spokesman told the Morning News that the company was exploring its real estate options, but that nothing had been confirmed.
The Morning News said that sales declines have weakened Penney's cash flow and that the Plano-based retailer has been selling assets to shore up its cash position.
Lance Murray edits and writes for the DBJ's website and can be reached at 214-706-7106. Subscribe to our email newsletters.
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Nestle’s India boss Suresh Narayanan has insisted Maggi products in India are compliant with all Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) rules following fresh concerns about the popular noodle brand.
As individual Indian states begin to lift their ban on Maggi noodles, Nestlé has been paving the way for a return to the shelves for the snack which has suffered a torrid year at the hands of the subcontinent’s food authorities.
Over the last few days it feels like we’ve written about little more than the Maggi noodles affair in India. Thankfully it is now reaching a conclusion. But still it raises some vitally important questions that must surely be addressed.
Nestlé India has voiced its disappointment at the “unprecedented step” by the Indian government of going to the courts to seek nearly US$100m in damages for “unfair trade practices” in the wake of the Maggi noodles affair.
The Bombay high court has ruled that the chief executive of India’s food regulator, the FSSAI, had “acted in an emergent, drastic and arbitrary” fashion in ordering Nestlé to withdraw its popular Maggi noodles from the shelves in June.


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SEOUL, July 26 (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor posted a 51 percent drop in net profit for the April-to-June period, missing analysts’ estimates, as political headwinds hit sales in China and U.S. sales decelerated.
Hyundai Motor, which together with affiliate Kia Motors is the world’s fifth-biggest automaker, on Wednesday reported a second-quarter net profit of 817 billion won ($729.14 million), versus 1.66 trillion won a year ago and analysts’ consensus forecast of 1.35 trillion won.
Hyundai posted an operating profit of 1.34 trillion won and sales of 24.3 trillion won for the quarter. ($1 = 1,120.5000 won) (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Himani Sarkar)


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The Byju Raveendran-led online learning app Byju’s, which has been raising capital every few months, has now got on board Chinese internet giant Tencent in a fresh $40-million financing round, valuing the Bengaluru company at around $750 million after the investment.
BENGALURU: The ongoing, high-tension Doklam stand-off between India and China has not deterred one of the largest Chinese internet groups from continuing to back Indian startups with millions of dollars in investments.
Byju’s fund-raising spree stands in contrast to the largely muted investor sentiment that has gripped the ecosystem for the past year or so. For Tencent, which runs the popular messaging service WeChat in China, this will be its second investment in India this year after it led the $1.4-billion financing round in Flipkart, signalling its bullishness around the India internet story.
Even as Byju’s raises capital, it is expected to have closed fiscal 2017 at Rs 265 crore in revenue as it aims to turn profitable by the end of the year and use the capital raised to expand into geographies outside of its home country. In its previous financing round, which came through in March this year, the company had racked up a $650-million valuation, as we had reported then. “Along with expanding outside of India, we will use the funds to make acquisitions in the product space,” said Raveendran, who founded the company in 2007.
Byju’s began by offering physical coaching classes for students to crack the Common Admission Test (CAT) for the IIMs, but is now largely an online player focused on the Class 4-12 school segment. “We are excited to have Tencent on board with us. This makes our strong investor portfolio even more diverse. With increased brand awareness and strong adoption among students, this year we expect the revenue to double again and we will be profitable on a full-year basis.
This round of funding will help us leverage our expertise in creating highly effective tech-enabled learning programmes to cater to the learning requirements in new markets,” said Raveendran.


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Following job cuts and other cost-cutting measures last year, Bruker BioSciences hit its goal for first-quarter revenue and net earnings, and executives at the firm are cautiously optimistic Bruker will grow revenue at a greater clip than competitors in the industry.
The company also reaffirmed its intention to continue cost-saving measures in the near future, but stressed that more job cuts are not likely to be an option. Rather, Bruker will look for ways to "reduce inventories, improve cash flow, improve quality, [and] redesign cost efforts," according to a senior officer.
Last week, the Billerica, Mass.-based firm reported 2005 first-quarter revenue of $74.9 million, a 9.9-percent increase over revenue of $68.2 million in the first quarter of 2004. However, taking into account a favorable foreign currency effect of 2.6 percent, the firm reported a 6.3-percent increase in organic revenue growth.
Although revenue dropped from record quarterly receipts of $85.8 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2004, the sequential dip in the first quarter was not unexpected. The firm had cautioned that the first quarter was traditionally the "lowest quarter of the year" in terms of sales (see BioCommerce Week 3/10/2005).
Revenue for its Bruker Daltonics business grew 10 percent year-over-year to $42.6 million. Of that amount, 70 percent was derived from the sale of mass spectrometry systems, 10 percent from substance-detection systems, and 20 percent from after-market sales, the company said. Sales from the firm's Bruker AXS unit, which makes X-ray analysis equipment, increased 11 percent year-over-year to $32.5 million.
In a conference call following the release of the results last week, Bruker CEO Frank Laukien said, "We didn't detect any significant differences in demand or growth for AXS and Daltonics," adding that products for the two units are at a similar level of growth and demand.
Europe, Asia Good; Pharma 'Promising'
Laukien noted that the Asia-Pacific region continued to show the strongest growth geographically. He said sales in the US and Europe were comparable, though Europe was a slightly stronger market than North America in the first quarter.
Michael Willett, a Bruker spokesman, told BioCommerce Week that the firm currently has 12 sales reps in the Americas — 10 in the US, one in Canada, and one in Latin America. He said the firm has also done some hiring in Eastern Europe, particularly Poland, where it set up operations last year to expand its ability to sell in that market.
According to Laukien, demand for the firm's products among academic customers has "continued to be good. We've also had some promising sales to big biotech and pharma, [and] we have not seen some of the trends reported by others," he said, referring to the slowdown in large pharma spending reported by Bruker's main competitors in the field, particularly Waters (see BioCommerce Week 4/28/2005).
Laukien also said during the call that the firm "did not notice any new trends in the first quarter within the relative mass spec landscape. It's a continuation of the trends we saw last year, or at least it's too early to see a trend clearly."
Asked what trends he was referring to, Willett told BioCommerce Week the business remained strong. "We're continuing the same mass spec trends from last year, and we're doing well in proteomics particularly," he said.
He pointed to the company's recent product introductions at the PittCon meeting in Orlando, Fla., in February, which included three new mass spectrometers, three mass-spectrometry accessories, and a benchtop machine for high-throughput protein crystallization.
Bruker's highest-priced new release was its micrOTOF-Q ESI-Q-qTOF mass spectrometer — a benchtop model that offers a resolution of 15,000 at full sensitivity, a mass accuracy of 3 ppm, and a high dynamic range. That instrument costs about $500,000.
Bruker's new Q-TOF was designed to be used with another new release — the Apollo II ion funnel electrospray ionization source. By increasing the ion-holding capacity by 10 times, the Apollo II funnel raises the sensitivity of the micrOTOF-Q up to ten-fold, according to Bruker. The Apollo II can also be used with Bruker's Fourier-transform mass spectrometers, especially its apex-Qe line of hybrid Q-q-FTMS mass spec, the firm said at the PittCon meeting.
During PittCon 2004, Bruker introduced at least seven new products with proteomics applications, but sales did not provide instant top-line benefits. However, the strong showing in the fourth quarter last year suggested that the new introductions had begun to pay off by year end — and may also indicate that Bruker could see a jump in sales later this year.
More Cost-Saving Ahead
Bruker's net income for the first quarter was $400,000, or $0.0 per share, compared with 2004 first-quarter net income of $500,000, or $.01 per share. The firm met its previously stated goal of "break-even" net income in the period.
Laukien said during the conference call that income from operations and net income as a percentage of revenues improved sequentially for the third straight quarter. "These improvements are a result of our continued efforts to control spending and cost-cutting efforts that have been implemented globally over the past several quarters," he said.
Those cost-cutting efforts included laying off 60 employees in September, which the firm expects will save $6 million on an annual basis. A second phase of the restructuring occurred in December and included a 20-percent pay cut for Laukien (see BioCommerce Week 12/23/2004).
In November, Laukien told analysts that the company will continue looking for ways to save money, and hinted that additional steps will be announced before the end of the year. "We will go beyond [what was announced in September], and we will have an announcement before the end of the year," he said (see BioCommerce Week 11/11/2004).
Bruker CFO William Knight said during the conference call, "We are continuing our efforts to bring overall gross margins up to industry-standard levels over the next several years." The company reported a gross profit margin of $31.4 million, a 1.7-percent improvement year-over-year.
Knight added during the conference call that many of the "cost-cutting steps [initiated last year] have been implemented. There are further optimization steps that don't involve cost-cutting but hopefully can improve our productivity and efficiency," he said, "and there's additional steps we're taking at several of our factories to reduce inventories, improve cash flow, improve quality, [and] redesign cost efforts. These will be ongoing for the next two to three years."
Laukien said the company was not planning additional job cuts, and confirmed the company's previous fiscal 2005 guidance of 10 percent to 12 percent revenue growth and 3 percent to 5 percent operating income growth. He declined to provide guidance for the second quarter, pointing out that because the firm sells big-ticket, capital equipment, "we may from time-to-time experience fluctuations between our anticipated and actual results" — a sentiment shared by many of his BioCommerce Week Index mates (see BioCommerceWeek 4/14/05 and BioCommerceWeek 4/07/05).
Indeed, Laukien said Bruker "remain[s] somewhat cautious about the remainder of 2005, particularly in due of the apparent slowdown reported by many other companies in our industry."
As of March 31, Bruker held cash and short-term investments of $84.8 million, compared with $77.7 million at the end of the fiscal 2004 year and $76.7 million at the end of the first quarter last year.
— Edward Winnick ([email protected])


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Hacking masterminds are hard to prosecute
When a former Australian army communications expert, Vittorio Lalli-Cafini, started work at a small business in Perth called the Mod Shop in 2003, his boss told him to figure out a way to hack into a company called Foxtel.
Lalli-Cafini did as he was told, and less than a month later, he had found a way in. The owners of the Mod Shop then set up a program to allow cardsharing for legitimate Foxtel card-holders. Four years on, when the company was ordered to pay up more than $1 million, Lalli-Cafini did not face time behind bars. The authorities did not prosecute. The “serial hacker”, as he was later called, was never charged. In fact, his bosses took the blame but this is not always the case.
More often, in corporate hacking and cybercrime, it is the low-level players, the weakest link in the corporate chain - the hacker, who gets charged, prosecuted and sent to jail. The alternative is often too difficult to prove – especially in criminal cases – so the true masterminds behind the crime, and usually those who stand to benefit the most financially, escape scott free.


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THAILAND CANNABIS MARKET
Cannabis, sometimes referred to as marijuana, is derived from hemp plants like cannabis indica and sativa. The primary psychoactive component of cannabis is THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which is also utilised medically in a number of nations across the world.
Thailand had a long history of using cannabis as a traditional medicine, just like many other nations. Additionally, it was employed for a number of medical uses, including as a food seasoning and a muscle relaxant.
Since the plant was taken off the list of prohibited substances, the production of cannabis products has skyrocketed in Southeast Asia.
THAILAND CANNABIS MARKET DEVELOPMENTS AND INNOVATIONS
This month, Thailand authorized cannabis cultivation and use, overturning a strict policy of lengthy prison terms or even the death penalty for narcotics offences. The new law seems to give Thailand what is arguably the most lenient marijuana policy in the entire globe.
There are now no restrictions on how much of the plant may be grown and consumed, but there are certain restrictions on how it can be marketed and sold. A temporary cannabis truck and more compact cannabis shops have started to offer various strains of the plant since it became legal.
Authorities have tightened regulations as a result and issued a warning that street vendors must obtain permits. The Ministry of Higher Education and Bangkok’s city administration have subsequently prohibited cannabis use in universities and colleges.
Thailand has a geographical advantage in the production of cannabis due to its year-round tropical environment, which lowers production costs because cannabis growing requires less artificial lighting and temperature control.
Additionally, Thailand has a long history of utilising cannabis for medical reasons, which is anticipated to have a beneficial effect on demand. Other significant market-drivers include foreign investments, an ageing population, an increase in clinical trials and R&D spending, among others.
Thai Cannabis Corporation is a leading mobiliser of the equipment in the market. The latest integration has been the creation of CBD, another compound with medical use. CBD is not heavily regulated (in Thailand and internationally).
Therefore, a cannabis plant with a very high CBD content but a THC content below the legal limit could be referred to be “medicinal cannabis,” but not marijuana. Its main objective has been to increase agricultural income and wealth through commercial strategy planning.
Naresuan University is part of the component manufacture trending companies in the current industry.
As a function of the organisation’s study, which integrates resources from multiple different faculties with a view to generating medications from marijuana and hemp, high-quality cannabis-derived medicines will be accessible in around five years.
The Government Pharmaceutical Organization has given its approval to each. Currently, the Royal Thai Police Narcotics Suppression Bureau sends marijuana bricks to NU.
- Thai Cannabis Corporation
- Naresuan University
- Rajamangala University
- Tilleke and Gibbins


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Reese Witherspoon wore a black Michael Kors pearl-embroidered dress from the Transeason 2015 collection to the Palm Springs International Film Festival awards gala on Saturday, where she received the Chairman's Award for her performance in "Wild." [Los Angeles Times]
Nanette Lepore announced via Twitter a new partnership with Bluestar Alliance meant to provide capital for global expansion.
Denmark's National Museum in Copenhagen has mounted a major exhibition titled "Fur: An Issue of Life and Death." It examines the ethics and economics of fur and is scheduled to be open through Feb. 22. [WWD]
The "selfie-stick," a retractable pole that attaches to a smartphone to allow the user to take better selfies, was the holiday season's hottest accessory. [Bloomberg]
The UK Advertising Standards Authority has banned an Urban Outfitters' underwear ad that shows too much "thigh gap," a condition that appears only in the very thin. The authority said the representation was "irresponsible and harmful." [Daily Mail]
New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute is planning to showcase the wardrobe of Countess Jacqueline de Ribes in an exhibition next fall. Considered to be one of the best-dressed women in the world, the countess was a muse to designers including Yves Saint Laurent and Valentino. [WWD]


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Tax office admits to error for self-employed people trying to file their tax returns - here's all you need to know
The UK tax office has admitted to a processing error that meant thousands of self-employed people, who were given grants to help with the fallout from Covid-19, were charged the wrong tax bill. Here's all you need to know.
8 April 2022
'I'm self-employed but confused about whether I can claim the fifth grant' – Unsure? Here's what you need to know
100s of self-employed people are confused about what constitutes being “adversely affected” by coronavirus, we have some helpful scenarios to work out where you stand, as well as HMRC’s guidance.
1 October 2021
HMRC plans 'penalty points' system for those who miss tax returns deadline
The Government's proposing new penalties for those who are late filing their tax returns or paying their tax bill
17 August 2016
Small businesses face forking out £185/yr for not opting out of BT classified listings
Small business owners could unwittingly end up paying up to £185/yr by not opting out of BT's classified listings
11 August 2016
HSBC axes free banking for 100,000s of small businesses
Many small businesses, who pay nothing now, face a £66/year charge to bank with HSBC
29 August 2013
Santander U-turn saves free business banking
Santander has scrapped plans to force 230,000 small business customers to pay a fee for a 'free forever' account
6 September 2012
Banks guilty of mis-selling to small businesses
Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland have agreed to compensate customers in the latest scandal
29 June 2012
Pensions enrolment delay for small businesses
Automatic pensions enrolment for small businesses is to be delayed until the start of the next Parliament
28 November 2011
Energy watchdog in small businesses switching vow
Ofgem vows to crack down on suppliers who frustrate small businesses from switching to another provider
21 November 2011
Bank lending increases - but for how long?
Banks made more credit available to households this summer but have warned the eurozone crisis may hit future lending
29 September 2011
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16 April 2024If you have a Chase current account, you may be able to get a table-topping 5.1% easy-access savings rate to go with it, as the bank has launched a new, temporary bonus offer for some existing customers.
16 April 2024If you've got a Spotify Individual, Duo or Family account you'll see prices rise by up to £2 a month (equivalent to £24 a year) in a month's time, the music streaming service has announced.
16 April 2024NS&I has launched its 'British Savings Bonds' – three-year fixed rate savings accounts first announced by the Chancellor in his Spring Budget last month. But they'll only pay 4.15% AER – a rate you can easily beat elsewhere.
Subway customer? You've got until 14 May to use your loyalty scheme points before shake-up – here's what's happening9 April 2024If you're a Subway Rewards member, you have until the end of Tuesday 14 May to spend any points you've built up – or lose them entirely.
Nearly 850,000 people missed out on cheaper passports last year – here's how to cut costs and beat the upcoming price hikes9 April 2024Nearly 850,000 people missed out on cheaper passports last year – and with fees rising by 7% this week, here's how to get a new passport for less.
16 April 2024It is a national tragedy that getting on for a million pensioners, many of whom have been paying into the system for years, are missing out on a critical boost to their income. It's called pension credit, and this year it also means you get an extra £650 to help with energy bills.
Martin Lewis: Energy bill credit – how much is too much? Stop the rip-off and get back £100s, by understanding the monthly direct debit energy cycle…26 March 2024Martin Lewis dissects how much energy bill credit is too much, and when it's best to ask for it back
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Clever ways to calculate your finances


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It started in a Swiss supermarket. 48 hours later a police report had been filed against one of the world’s biggest banks and people as far away as Sydney were citing Alki David’s revelations when they tore off their masks
“Call the police, call them!” said Alki David during a scuffle at the COOP supermarket in Bern, Switzerland. The Greek billionaire and tech mogul had done his shopping maskless after posting several talks on Instagram urging people not to give in to the worldwide “Scamdemic” — the fear driven crackdown on civil liberties he contends is being perpetrated by China to bring the West to its knees.
Now in Sydney, Australia, the popular dessert store Love Crepe’s co-founder Nick Kondilis has repeatedly shared posts on his Facebook page mocking the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine and the need for mask orders. He credits Alki David with opening his eyes to the “Crime against humanity.”
Love Crepe faces a $200 fine for not enforcing the local order to wear masks.


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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - A Tennessee woman, who is also a college basketball coach, championed over 86 skin cancer removal procedures, saying that although she was knocked down 86 times, “I got back up 87 times.”
Lisa Pace, 43, of Knoxville, has battled skin cancer for around 20 years. She said she has not had a skin cancer removed in several months, adding that “these are my cancer-free months.”
“I do personal skin checks every morning. I am very diligent about getting to my dermatologist if I notice something new,” Pace said.
But her two-decade road to recovery involved first discovering that her skin cancers had melanoma, basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas. With the encouragement of her mother, she finally went to a dermatologist, according to a post she wrote on the American Academy of Dermatology.
“They found two places of concern, so biopsies were done,” Pace wrote. “A couple of weeks later I found out they were they melanoma.”
At the time, she thought skin cancer was “something they would just scrape off me.”
“My mom had used sunscreen on me as a child, but during my late teens and early twenties, I used the indoor tanning salons,” she said. “I was addicted to them.”
She wrote in the AAD blog post that skin cancer did not previously scare her.
“I was uneducated about it,” she wrote. “Plus, tanning was cool! All my friends were doing it.”
But it wasn't until the surgery on her face that her life changed.
“One morning I found this white spot on my left cheek. I watched it for a couple weeks and noticed it was getting bigger. So I went back to the dermatologist. This changed my life,” she wrote in a blog post on Coolibar, a UV protective clothing company. “They took a huge chunk out of my face. I was devastated. I couldn’t look at myself.”
But she spoke with her doctors and after much discussion, “I found out that all those times going to the tanning bed had caused me to have skin cancer.”
“This was the first time anyone had discussed this with me. Remember, this was almost 20 years ago. I had done this to myself. I questioned every time I had ever wanted to go tan. Why did I do this?” she wrote. “I didn’t lack self-confidence, I just wanted to have a bronze look and to 'fit in.' I knew better than to “follow the crowd.'”
She said she was “so angry” at herself. But her competitive, athletic and positive mindset reminded her that she had a “choice every day.”
“We choose to win the day or wallow in self-pity. We outwork our competition. And skin cancer was my competition,” she wrote.
Pace said every surgery was different.
“In some cases I would only have one cut to remove the cancer, in other cases my doctor would have to go in 2 or 3 times to remove all the cancer. It all depends on the margins,” she said. “I have had MOHS surgery with a majority of my skin cancers.”
Now, she wants to send a message of hope and urge others to protect their skin.
“I am very fortunate that all my skin cancers have been caught early. The decisions I made to tan as a teenager and in my early twenties, caught up to me,” Pace said. “It doesn’t have to happen to anyone else. Protect your skin and stay out of the tanning bed.”
She said she began tanning a few times in high school, but more frequent in college starting her freshman year. She would go one to two times a week, “then every day for a few weeks if something big was coming up. Like picture day, or spring break.”
“I felt I needed a 'base tan,'” she said. “Which now I know there is no such thing and that thought process leads to skin cancer.”
Pace has since changed her thought process and has a new motto: “You are beautiful to those that matter most without a tan.”
When asked if she had anything else to share about her cancer survival journey, she had a positive message.
“I just want people to love and embrace who they are. We are all unique and beautiful,” Pace said. 'Getting skin cancer from the tanning bed and the sun can be avoided. Wear protective clothing and sunscreen.”
Pace currently leads a productive life, as she is also a licensed massage therapist.
This story was reported in Los Angeles.


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Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT) and Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) may seem like very similar companies on the surface. They both operate in the discount retail space and have large market capitalizations. But there are important differences between them. In short, Wal-Mart and Costco are going in opposite directions. Wal-Mart is really struggling to increase sales, while Costco is firing on all cylinders.
Wal-Mart caters to lower-income consumers. On the other hand, Costco caters to higher-income consumers, through a membership program. The difference in this regard is plain to see in their respective earnings reports over the past year.
The differences have had a distinct bearing on their varying levels of success this year, and the divergence between the two is having an effect on their ability to raise dividends. Here's what income investors need to know.
A tale of two retailers
Wal-Mart's comparable-store sales, a metric that measures sales at locations open at least one year, was flat last quarter. Its Sam's Club segment, which is the direct competitor to Costco's model, posted flat comparable sales last quarter. Overall, Wal-Mart's diluted earnings per share are down 0.4% over the first half of the year.
However, one bright spot in Wal-Mart's last earnings report was the performance of its smaller stores under the Neighborhood Market banner. Comparable sales for the Neighborhood Market concept rose 5% last quarter, and comparable store traffic increased 4%. This represents a compelling growth opportunity for Wal-Mart, as these smaller stores will allow the company to enter urban areas and big cities, areas in which Wal-Mart did not have a pronounced footprint previously. Not surprisingly, this is where the company plans to focus investment this year. Management noted that Wal-Mart opened 22 Neighborhood Market locations last quarter and is on track to open a total of 180-200 new stores this year.
Still, the Neighborhood Market brand represents a fairly small portion of the total business, and the continued struggles of Wal-Mart's Supercenters will weigh on the company for some time. That is why management significantly adjusted its earnings forecast for the full year, to a range of $4.90 to $5.15 per share, down from the previous forecast of $5.10 to $5.45 per share.
That's why Wal-Mart's recent dividend growth has been a disappointment. The last dividend raise was just 2%. This was well below its 12% compound annual growth rate over the past five years.
By contrast, Costco has increased its dividend by strong rates over the past five years, including its 14.5% dividend increase this year. That's because its underlying financial results have been much stronger in recent periods. For example, Costco's U.S. comparable sales increased 6% in its most recently concluded fourth quarter and increased 5% for the full fiscal year. Total companywide comparable sales climbed 4% in fiscal 2014.
That performance allowed Costco to increase its dividend by 14.5% this year. Over the past five years, Costco has increased its payout by 14% compounded annually. Even with these generous increases, Costco still distributes less than one-third of its earnings per share. This is better than Wal-Mart's 40% payout ratio, which will provide even more flexibility for Costco to raise its dividend at higher rates going forward.
The better pick: Costco
Wal-Mart is struggling to increase sales, and it's going to aggressively invest in its new smaller-store concept to reignite growth. Doing so will be a costly effort, hence management's conservative dividend increase this year. Investors should expect future dividend increases to remain below the company's recent five-year average.
Wal-Mart stock has an advantage over Costco stock because of its higher dividend yield: The stock yields 2.5% based on recent closing prices, better than Costco's 1.1%. But that's about where the advantages end. Costco is growing much faster than Wal-Mart. It also carries a lower payout ratio and so should produce significantly higher dividend increases going forward. That's why, even though Wal-Mart's dividend yield is higher now, with enough time Costco's higher dividend growth will make up the difference.
For all these reasons, income investors should pick Costco over Wal-Mart.
Bob Ciura has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Costco Wholesale. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


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MacLaurin said Prowse, part of FTSE group Compass, has won major contracts with tennis’ Aegon Championships, Chelsea F.C. and the Investec Derby in the last 12 months.
“It is a sure sign that demand for premium seats at renowned events is top of the wish list for both corporate customers and the increasingly prevalent private client,” he said. “We are seeing a greater variety of companies buying hospitality and using it as part of their wider marketing mix and particularly apparent is the increasing number of SMEs interested in purchasing corporate hospitality from us. In addition to this, the advent of corporate policies has been beneficial to us, as organisations are keen to use official suppliers such as ourselves. “
He said not just Prowse but the whole hospitality market has seen a return to pre-austerity form. However there are changing trends.
“Organisations are taking more of a strategic approach to entertaining; be it for brand engagement, relationship building or employee incentives. Increasingly we’re seeing marketeers implementing hospitality as part of their wider brand engagement and retention strategies,” he said. “Almost half of directors have told us that hospitality packages are a beneficial means of creating an inspirational setting, which can of course lead to better relationships and interaction amongst guests.”
Tomorrow in our corporate hospitality series, we hear from head of sales, meetings and events at Marylebone Cricket Club, Nick Kenton…


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New industrial chains such as design, software, materials, and digital manufacturing derived from 3D Printing technology are gradually optimizing traditional manufacturing and building a new manufacturing ecology. In our country, a wave of 3D printing “intelligent manufacturing” is covering the whole country. The application of 3D printing in various fields has been valued by people from all walks of life.
From 2017 to 2019, the scale of my country’s 3D printing industry has increased year by year, and the growth rate is slightly faster than the overall global growth rate, so that the proportion of my country’s 3D industry in the world is constantly increasing. According to the “Global and China 3D Printing Industry Data for 2019” released by CCID in March 2020, the scale of China’s 3D printing industry in 2019 was 15.75 billion yuan for the printing industry, an increase of 31.1% from 2018. In a number of application scenarios, 3D printing is becoming “connected” with protective products. For example, 3D printed ski helmets. Generally speaking, 3D printed ski helmets are made of digital technology and 3D printing intelligent manufacturing technology. The lattice structure protection system of this helmet breaks the limited protection performance of traditional helmets. In the product development process, relying on solid scientific and technological development and production technology, based on the mechanical boundary defined by nearly 10,000 head crash tests, and using cutting-edge digital algorithms, the 3D printed ski helmets that have emerged on the market have high stability and good practicability. The lattice structure protection system protects the skier’s head safety. In April 2017, Adidas announced an important partnership with Carbon to jointly produce 100,000 pairs of Future Craft 4D sports shoes with 3D printed soles. By using Carbon’s digital light synthesis technology, Adidas was able to print out shoe soles with a grid structure in 19 minutes. Because the 3D printed grid structure sole can reduce the total weight of the shoe, it can provide better stability and cushioning, so it can better respond to the movement of each athlete. Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is widely regarded as one of the engineering thermoplastics with excellent performance, with unique high-temperature mechanical properties and chemical resistance.
Generally speaking, knee pads made of PEEK3D printing materials use magnetorheological damper, which is essentially a shock absorber in the biomechanical system, which can effectively prevent the knee from receiving more force, thereby reducing the possibility of further injury to the knee. Allow users to wear knee pads more comfortable. 3D printed goggles also have a place in practical applications. The goggles made by 3D printing rapid prototyping technology can be customized for medical staff and fit the user’s facial contours perfectly. On the whole, not only the protective effect is good, but also it is comfortable to wear, so as to prevent the wearer’s facial skin from being crushed by the goggles. Of course, being able to “make a big show” in the field of protective equipment manufacturing is inseparable from the advantages of 3D printing itself.
First of all, 3D printing technology can achieve “zero” waste of production materials in the production process. The production process of 3D printing technology is to print layer by layer according to the three-dimensional design of the parts. Compared with the traditional “subtractive” processing, it achieves “zero” waste of production materials. Secondly, the use of 3D printing technology can speed up the progress of product development. 3D printing technology has changed the way designers think, turning more ideas into reality.
In addition, the use of 3D printing technology can greatly shorten the production cycle. From design to production, 3D printing technology eliminates the process of process design and verification in the traditional processing process, shortens the production cycle, and can adjust the production quantity and batch in time according to market demand. 3D printing is regarded by all countries as one of the core technologies leading a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, and its development prospects are broad. With the economic development and the improvement of living standards, consumers are more pursuing personalized needs. 3D printing will work with robots, unmanned vehicles, artificial intelligence and other technologies to improve the flexibility of manufacturing production lines, and manufacture them quickly and at low cost. More types of products. As expected by industry insiders, I believe that with the rapid development of my country’s Internet of Things, new materials, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, industrial Internet, and advanced manufacturing, the 3D printing industry will achieve rapid and obvious results in localization. We wait for the arrival of this day!
Link to this article：Another hot field, 3D printing protective equipment, smart air outlet opens
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Candy Crush Saga maker King Digital Entertainment’s debut on the New York Stock Exchange is expected to value the company at more than $7bn (£4.2bn).
The firm has raised $500m by selling 22.2 million shares priced at $22.50. Existing shareholders are expected to sell an additional 6.6 million shares today.
According to City A.M., King’s largest shareholder Apax Partners is to sell a 3.4% stake today leaving it with a 44.8% stake worth $3.4bn.
King’s chairman Mel Morris, who provided seed funding for the company and owns a 12.2% stake, is set to be worth nearly £500m after the float.
Also, chief executive Riccardo Zacconi will be worth more than £435m through his 10.4% stake.
King Digital Entertainment reported profits of $567m on revenues of $1.88bn last year.


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IN the whirlwind of the Internet economy, amid the frivolity.coms and e-nough-already business models, there were a bunch of companies that filled real needs but that were nonetheless swept away by the storm.
Some of those are already being rebuilt on sounder financial footing by others -- for example, the grocery business, where Albertson's and Safeway are investing in online ordering services a year after the $1 billion failure of WebVan.
And it is now the case with Jupiter Media Metrix, once one of the most prominent Internet research firms, whose components are being bought by rivals who want to continue in the same business. Three weeks ago, the company sold its key patents and international contracts to NetRatings, its main competitor.
And in the next 60 days, the company hopes to find buyers for its Media Metrix business -- once the leader in measuring Web audiences -- as well as its Jupiter research unit, formerly a foremost cybersage. The consensus among media and research executives, however, is that there are few buyers willing to pay much more than token sums for either piece.
Jupiter Media Metrix, which is based in New York and was formed by the 2000 merger of Media Metrix and Jupiter Communications, is running out of cash as its business atrophies. In the most recent quarter, its revenues were $10.8 million, down 64 percent from a year earlier.Continue reading the main story
In retrospect, the merger hastened the company's decline by reinforcing its dependence on dot-com clients and Internet-oriented services. The year it spent combining two dissimilar cultures could have been used by each of its component companies to diversify their revenues and batten down the hatches as the storm clouds massed.
And yet, no matter how much the market for online advertising may have shrunk, it is not going away. So advertisers will still need a way to measure the size and composition of Web sites' audiences. Likewise, companies will still seek seers and gurus who try to forecast the future -- or at least make them feel more secure in their uncertainty.
Indeed, Robert Becker, the chief executive of Jupiter Media Metrix, holds out some hope that with the cash it has raised selling pieces of the ratings business the company might be able to continue in the research business.
''We have hit bottom, and we are bouncing along it,'' Mr. Becker said last week. ''This space is not as big as we thought when everyone had to buy Jupiter research because the Internet was a crazy, unbelievable new thing,'' he said. ''But we have a real market, real products and real customers.''
Investors are hardly convinced. Jupiter's shares had a rally of sorts last week. The stock was at 13 cents on May 7, before the company announced the NetRatings deals. On Friday, the shares closed at 32 cents. But that still valued the company at only $11.48 million. (If shares do not rise above $1 by June, the company faces delisting by Nasdaq.)
In October 2001, Jupiter, already seeing its cash gauge moving toward empty, agreed to be bought outright by NetRatings for $71 million. But that purchase was blocked by the Federal Trade Commission, which objected because NetRatings would have been left with a monopoly on the Web audience measurement business.
NetRatings is a much smaller company, but it has two advantages. To begin with, 65.5 percent of it is owned by VNU, the Dutch conglomerate that operates the Nielsen Media Research television rating business. Also, NetRatings used the Internet bubble as an opportunity to take in money, rather than spend it. At the height of the boom, it sold more than $300 million in stock to the public, and used the interest on that stash to fund its operating losses.
The ultimate effect of the F.T.C.'s earlier move is that NetRatings will still wind up with the greatest share of the ratings business, but at a far lower cost, while Jupiter's shareholders and employees will be far worse off.
Last month, NetRatings bought Jupiter's AdRelevance division -- which lets companies keep track of what ads their rivals are placing -- for $8.5 million.
In the NetRatingsdeal, Jupiter sold the contracts for its audience measurement business outside of the United States for $2 million. At the same time NetRatings paid $15 million for the patents on Media Metrix's technology to create software that can track Web users -- the online equivalent to the meters used by the Nielsen television ratings. Jupiter had been suing NetRatings for patent infringement, and that potential claim was seen as one of the company's most significant remaining assets.
The deal, in fact, allows Jupiter Media Metrix -- or any company that buys it -- to continue to use the patents in the United States, but only for three years. So it is hard to imagine that the company could remain a serious rival to NetRatings.
While NetRatings does not get the revenue from Jupiter's ratings contracts in the United States, neither does it incur the expense of shutting down its domestic or international networks of tens of thousands of users who have their Web use monitored. In the merger, it had planned to eliminate this service and other duplications at a cost of $45 million.
NetRatings has received a break on another front, too. The same week as its Media Metrix deal, it agreed to buy from VNU for $9.6 million the 80 percent of its overseas unit, e-Ratings, that it does not already own. NetRatings originally was going to buy e-Ratings in October, when it was going to buy Jupiter, so it could combine the international operations; the price had been set at $16 million.
''We will wind up paying $35 million for most of what was going to cost us $130 million,'' said William Pulver, NetRatings' chief executive.
These deals leave little value in Jupiter's United States ratings business, which it is still trying to sell. ComScore, a Reston, Va., market research company that also measures Web audience behavior, is interested in buying the Media Metrix client contracts, said Gian Fulgoni, comScore's chief executive. But it has no interest in the company's employees or its panel of users. ComScore has a different methodology it says is better and cheaper for measuring the use of Internet sites.
The fate of the Jupiter research business is even less certain. The two most probable buyers -- Forrester Research and Gartner -- have decided not to buy it, as many of Jupiter's top analysts leave for greener pastures.
Gartner is having enough trouble getting its rival to Jupiter, called G2, off the ground to be interested in expanding in that business, people close to Gartner say.
And Forrester already serves many of Jupiter's clients, leaving little reason to buy the firm, according to George F. Colony, Forrester's chief executive. So far Forrester has avoided Jupiter's fate by pursuing other research topics -- like pure technology and supply-chain issues -- that have not been as hard hit as Web forecasting. And while Mr. Colony says he is confident that the research business will rebound, he acknowledges that it has not happened yet.
''Change is the gasoline that drives our business forward,'' he said. ''And in 2001 and 2002, there is not much wind blowing on the change front.''Continue reading the main story


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Toyota sets $1.1B payment to settle vehicle acceleration suit
Toyota Motor Corp. is awaiting a judge's approval on a $1.1 billion settlement over a class-action lawsuit related to claims that millions of its vehicles accelerated unintentionally.
Toyota, which operates a truck manufacturing plant in San Antonio, would be one of the largest of its kind, The New York Times reports.
CNBC reported that the proposed settlement will compensate Toyota customers for any financial losses related to possible safety defects in their vehicles.
The settlement affects Toyota vehicles in model years 1998 to 2010.
The suit was filed in 2010 after complaints that numerous Toyota vehicles would accelerate without warning. The automaker then recalled more than eight million vehicles across the U.S. to fix floor mats that could affect the accelerator pedals, or faulty accelerator pedals.
The class-action case alleged that, rather than issues with accelerator pedals or floor mats, Toyota’s electronics systems were at fault, the Times reports.
Toyota admitted no fault in the proposed settlement, CNBC reported.
Greg Barr runs the day-to-day operations of the Houston Business Journal newsroom and website, as well as overseeing the weekly executive living section, H-Town.
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It’s been more than 5 years since Honda launched the current City globally. It was getting a bit old in terms of design and losing out to competition in many markets thanks to newer products from rivals like Hyundai. The 2014 Honda City will be unveiled in Japan on 25th November to fix this problem, it will be launched in India in 2014, most probably at the Indian Auto Expo in February 2014.
The current generation of the Honda City was first launched in 2008, the car was already very popular thanks to Honda’s reputation as a manufacturer which was class above its rivals. The 2008 Honda City looked very sharp compared to its predecessor with angular headlamps which blended into the grille, tight surfaces, a side profile which looked like a ‘tensed arrow’ and new very well integrated tail-lamps. The interiors looked good, beige interiors kept many customers happy and the build quality was typical Honda. But competition ate into the City’s sales as people began preferring those cars offered diesel engines.
The 2014 Honda City, when launched in India will be offered with the same 1.5-litre DTEC diesel motor that does duty in the Honda Amaze. It will obviously be tuned for more power than the 99 BHP that it produces in the Amaze, but will at the same time be frugal as every other engine offered by Honda in India. The styling of the new Honda City will be evolutionary than revolutionary and is expected to be based off the Honda Jazz showcased earlier in 2013. The interiors will receive a serious upgrade and a plethora of features to compete against the Hyundai Verna. One thing is for sure, the Honda City will have one of the most spacious cabins in the segment, this we can be assured of after seeing what the company managed to pull off in the Honda Amaze.
Honda has stopped the production of the current generation of the City and dealers are clearing off stock, which means that there will be heavy discounts. Some dealer shave also started accepting deposits to book the 2014 Honda City, which will be only delivered after the launch of the car in February 2014.
Are you looking forward to the 2014 Honda City? What features would you like the company to add to the car? Let us know in the comments section below.


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In something that is coming out of nowhere, Netflix has announced that it is in the early stages of developing a live action series based on Nintendo's infamous The Legend of Zelda.
Netflix is reportedly working closely with Nintendo on the project, as the Japanese gaming giant is very protective of its properties, allowing only a few adaptations of its games into movies or TV shows over the years - but let's forget about Super Mario Bros., ok? The series will fall in line with the game, where an ordinary boy named Link has to save Princess Zelda and her fantasy world Hyrule.
The series will be made into an episodic adventure show, something that will include the usual swords and sorcery, but it will be very "light-hearted and kid-friendly" according to Dark Horizons.
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Although it increased temporary demand in the short term, concerns for the C4C plan arose as early or even before the program was ended.
But, the government offered free money to entice people to buy a new car. What could go wrong?
A lot actually.
By artificially increasing the demand now, this dramatically decreased future demand. Another unfortunate consequence is based on government inefficiencies. There was such a large influx of requests for the government money, that they could not keep up. This forced dealers to sell cars at a loss, but promised them money after. This would not be a problem if the demand was sustained. Because the demand has dropped off, the dealers still have that loss, but now are not selling enough cars at full price to stay afloat.
On top of that the timing for C4C was picked poorly. Legislators were so concerned with getting a higher approval rating that they did not take the timing of the plan into account either. The program was implemented in July, and was stopped in late August. The new model year begins typically in September. Unfortunately the increase in demand was right before the new model year began when prices and profits would be higher.
Cash for Clunkers turned out to be a short term popularity boost for politicians, but it came with a long term cost for Auto manufactures and dealers.


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This feature is part of The Grocer’s Green Issue, read the digital edition here.
The pandemic has brought the issue of food waste to a head. So how has the industry adapted, and what is it doing as the government threatens mandatory reporting?
It had all the makings of an unparalleled food waste disaster. When the coronavirus pandemic struck the UK in March, food supply chains faced immediate and severe upheaval.
As lockdown forced the hospitality sector to effectively shut down overnight, food companies and redistribution charities were left with just days to try to find a home for tens of thousands of tonnes of food.
At the same time, the UK faced a workforce crisis that threatened to see vast amounts of crops ploughed straight back into the ground.
So, six months on, has Covid-19 proved to be the catastrophe for food waste that many feared? Or could it be the catalyst for a new era of transparency?
Last week saw the publication of two major reports on food waste: one from the World Resources Institute (WRI) and another from Wrap and IGD. Crucially, both claim retailers and suppliers have been making huge progress despite the grim backdrop of the virus.
The most glowing was the WRI report, which hailed the UK as an “international exemplar” in fighting food waste. While it slammed global efforts as being “woefully” behind in the UN target (Sustainable Development Goal 12.3) of halving food waste by 2030, the UK is actually ahead of that goal.
The Wrap and IGD publication is similarly positive. Two years on from the launch of their landmark Food Waste Roadmap, the number of food businesses committed in the UK has grown from 70 to 213, with 60 businesses signing up in the past year alone.
“Bearing in mind the year we’ve had, the fact we’ve got 213 businesses with a combined turnover of £250bn – that’s 60% of UK food industry turnover – is an impressive increase in anyone’s book,” says Wrap food waste advisor Andrew Parry.
“One of the key messages in this report is the level of engagement is hugely impressive considering we are talking about: companies who are worried about Brexit trade deals and the impact of Covid.”
A read through the list of signatories is encouraging. Despite the travails of the hospitality sector, Wrap’s latest report shows big out-of-home names like Burger King, McDonald’s UK and Pret a Manger have all joined the roadmap in the past year.
Perhaps even more importantly, the Progress Report details the rate of food waste reduction. The 45 businesses publicly reporting historically comparable data have slashed food waste by a collective 17%, saving around £300m or 180,000 tonnes.
However, that only 45 businesses provided comparable reporting data – a further 15 gave data for this year only – brings us to a key criticism from campaigners: that the industry is dragging its feet when it comes to transparency. It seems a reasonable point given that no fewer than 138 companies refused to share data publicly, instead sharing it “in confidence” with Wrap.
Transparency is admittedly going in the right direction. Wrap points out that only a handful of businesses reported publicly prior to the launch of the roadmap. That grew to 30 companies in 2018, 45 in 2019, and 60 this year. Still, of those 60 companies, the vast majority were part of a separate initiative launched by outgoing Champions 12.3 chair and Tesco CEO Dave Lewis in 2017. Most worryingly, Wrap estimates around 400 large food companies have not signed up to the roadmap at all.
Wrap admits it is unsure of the extent to which Covid has impacted on the lack of transparent reporting. Of those companies that provided evidence of implementing its so-called ‘Target, Measure, Act’ approach to tackling waste in 2019, seven said they had been unable to do so this year because of Covid-19 disruption.
The food waste battle in numbers
businesses signed up to the roadmap, representing a combined turnover of £250bn
estimate of waste generated each year in their own operations by the businesses signed up to the roadmap
active whole chain projects planned by end of 2022
major food businesses yet to implement Target, Measure, Act
3.5 m tonnes
annual reduction in UK to farm to fork food waste if SDG 12.3 is achieved
Source: Wrap Food Waste Roadmap progress report, September 2020
Regardless of the reason, this lack of transparency is something food waste leaders are keen to address. Take Tesco, which last week revealed its own-label suppliers had cut 125,000 tonnes of food waste. Meanwhile, its partnership with 11 of the world’s biggest household brands – including Coca-Cola, Kellogg’s, Nestlé and Unilever – saw them cut a further 30,000 tonnes from their operations.
The supermarket is now calling on ministers to embed transparent food waste reporting into its post-Covid food strategy. Unless action is taken, events like the pandemic could “fatally undermine efforts”, it warns.
“One third of the world’s food is going to waste, while one in nine people go hungry”
To hammer home the point, Lewis bowed out from his role at Champions 12.3 boss last month with a poignant final remark: “One third of the world’s food is going to waste, while one in nine people go hungry.”
He believes reporting will help address the issue – but understands the challenges involved. In an exclusive interview with The Grocer last week, Lewis said he believed the industry was “following through” with its promises, while admitting that Tesco itself had learned the hard way about the downsides of being totally transparent.
“For the first three years of us publishing food waste data we got a massive amount of negative coverage,” he says. “So it’s very difficult to think about waste in that way.
“Companies worry that by publishing, the commentators will be critical and that they won’t understand the challenges,” Lewis adds. “And publishing is an exposure they’re uncomfortable with as they’ve seen people like me have to defend it. But the industry needs to be more ambitious.”
Plus, the industry may not have a choice in the matter for long. The government has been promising a consultation on mandatory reporting of food waste since 2018, when it appointed philanthropist Ben Elliot as its new food surplus and waste champion.
Those plans had been temporarily shelved because of the Covid crisis. However, The Grocer has learned talks were held last week between Defra, food companies and trade bodies, which made clear plans for mandatory food waste reporting are soon to get back underway. A consultation is due to come out before the end of the year.
This mandatory approach has the backing of Carina Millstone, executive director of campaign group Feedback. She says Wrap’s claims of major progress are exaggerated and believes the government needs to clamp down quickly on the lack of upfront reporting.
“Promises and pledges neither constitute action nor progress,” she says. “While we applaud the leadership of Dave Lewis, we must also recognise that Tesco has been the exception rather than the rule when it comes to tackling food waste.
“Fifteen years after the UK’s first voluntary agreement on food waste, many companies have failed to make any meaningful progress on food waste prevention, if at all,” Millstone argues. “It’s now crystal clear that the time for volunteerism is long gone and that only regulation will compel the industry laggards to catch up with the food waste leaders.”
Unsurprisingly, Wrap largely refutes these suggestions. Parry strongly denies that the roadmap lacks ambition and smarts at suggestions that the battle for food waste has been mainly a Tesco-driven agenda.
“Promises and pledges neither constitute action nor progress”
He points to the launch of the roadmap’s first ‘Whole Chain Food Waste Reduction’ project, launched this year by Sainsbury’s and its suppliers: Fullers Foods International and Lamb Weston/Meijer. For him, this was a “ground-breaking” move to measure waste in the retailer’s potato and frozen chips supply chain.
Judith Batchelor, director of Sainsbury’s brand, says this is just one example of the “very ambitious targets” across its supply chain. “We are looking to extend our work with our suppliers,” she says. “Particularly further upstream with farmers and suppliers, where much of the carbon footprint of food waste exists.”
Batchelor says the threat of Covid has actually brought retailers closer to suppliers when it comes to tackling the issue of food waste. “The pandemic has impacted everyone in the supply chain from our suppliers to the communities we serve so it’s important that we continue to support each other now more than ever,” she says. “The only way forward is through collaboration. No one business can do it on its own.”
Another collaboration highlighted in Wrap’s progress report is the Meat in a Net Zero World initiative, which saw 38 of the UK’s largest organisations involved in the production and sale of meat pledge to halve the amount that goes to waste each year. That pledge came in June, when the pandemic was in full flow.
With these initiatives in mind, Alan Hayes, head of sustainability programmes at the IGD, dismisses the suggestion of too many targets and not enough results.
“There are some businesses that may be recording their waste on the back of a fag packet and others that have embedded super-sophisticated reporting systems, but it doesn’t really matter to me,” he says. “What’s important is that they are measuring and acting to tackle waste. I would describe reporting as the icing on the cake. Companies are achieving 20%-30% reductions in their food waste: that is surely the big thing.”
Wrap and IGD’s report shows those reductions have stood firm despite Covid, along with the movement towards sharing food waste figures. In fact, the pandemic may have focused minds. “What we don’t know, of course, is how many businesses might have signed up if the situation had been different,” says Parry. “But what we do know is that nobody has been putting the phone down on us.”
That, as those who bitterly remember the reluctance of many to get involved in transparent reporting of food waste will remember, is progress in itself.
The impact of lockdown on food waste
It’s an uncomfortable truth. The more lockdown measures are eased, the more food waste there is in UK households.
In May, Wrap revealed how lockdown had taught the nation to reduce waste. Its research among almost 5,000 UK adults showed that levels of waste across staples including potatoes, bread, chicken and milk were down by a third compared with pre-coronavirus levels.
With shoppers slashing the number of trips to stores but buying substantially more products, Wrap said there had been fears of a food waste disaster.
However, as people cooked far more than usual at home and ate significantly fewer takeaways, the survey showed that households had learned to get better at preventing waste.
But that changed as restrictions were lifted. Research by Wrap shows household food waste increased by 30% in the summer, compared with the early stages of lockdown in March.
While concerns about going to the shops and running out of food initially motivated people to waste less, those concerns eased as restrictions did.
Wrap is hoping to tackle that. In August, it launched a new phase of its Love Food Hate Waste campaign called ‘Keep Crushing It’, to encourage the public to keep up their pre-shop planning, smart storage and creative cooking.


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The rumor mill points towards a flexible smartphone from Samsung next year, but they may not be the only company with something foldable in the works. A new report suggests LG is working on one as well, and it could be ready to debut next year.
LG is taking the world by storm this summer and today’s piece of intel is about the latest smartphones/tablets that will win the hearts and minds of US customers, the LG K10 and the LG G Pad X 8.0.
The brand new LG X max and LG X mach smartphones were officially revealed just one month ago, back in June and they’re expected to hit the world-wide markets any time soon. Until that day, the Korean company chose to tease us a little bit more by releasing official promo videos showcasing the droids for making the fan base drool!
The LG Stylus 2 Plus has been making the rounds through the rumor mill for a while before launching in Taiwan just last month. As expected, the LG Stylus 2 price for India has become official as the phone is set to arrive at Rs. 24,450 for consumers in the region.
The jury is still out on the LG G5 as it didn’t make quite the splash with consumers the company had hoped for. A new report suggests the LG V20 release could help right this ship while giving the Galaxy Note 7 Edge a run for its money.
While there have been a few key releases missing from LG’s arsenal this year although they have amped up their mid-range efforts. The LG X Skin and the LG X5 are two of the company’s latest handsets which have just become official in South Korea.
The LG Nexus 5X has been on sale plenty of times in the past, but we rarely seen it as cheap as it’s listed today. A new sale has the device listed at $269 unlocked, but you’ll only have a few days to take advantage of the offer.
Nexus devices are well known to provide the best Android experience to the user. Last year LG had brought out the Nexus 5X, while Huawei came in with the high end version, Nexus 6P. Huawei’s version brought the company universal acclaim and there were rumors that the company would be developing the higher end version of the Nexus device this year too. Speaking of rumors, HTC is also said to be developing both the Nexus devices this year. A device, codenamed ‘Sailfish’, has surfaced and is said to be an HTC Nexus device.
There are several phones available from LG’s K lineup, and Sprint has just unleashed one of them for its pre-paid networks. The LG K3 price through Boost and Virgin Mobile is listed at $79.99 and it’s an option if you need an entry-level handset that won’t break the bank.
Most of our coverage here at Phonesreview.co.uk is focused on gadgets, tablets, and smartphones. Occasionally we delve into other types of tech including the LG Mosquito Away TV lineup, which has just been announced for India.


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It was trousers rather than shift dresses that dominated the catwalks as London fashion week drew to a close yesterday. For the first time in its 25-year history, a day of dedicated menswear shows provided the event's finale.
Entitled MANday, yesterday's showcase was a new initiative by the British Fashion Council to exhibit 13 new and emerging menswear talents in the UK. The event has grown out of the ongoing success of MAN - a collaboration between Topman and Fashion East which has provided support for several young designers over the past eight seasons.
Many believe the event was long overdue. Gordon Richardson, design director at Topman, which funded the event, said: "You really have to ask yourself, why, why, why has menswear been so unrepresented in the UK? When you look around there are so many cool kids in bands and out on the streets championing a unique British style and attitude."
Topman's catwalk was inspired by public schoolboys who escaped to 1950s Soho - a world of art houses and seedy sex shops. Tweed blazers were worn under parka jackets with slim cotton drill trousers and hobnailed boots, with berets and rucksacks as accessories. Swap the beret for an iPod and you have a look certain to be adopted by students up and down the country come autumn.
In the past, Fashion East has helped to launch the careers of many young British designers. Gareth Pugh, once the enfant terrible of British fashion with his penchant for sci-fi and black rubber, earned his reputation with the project's backing. He now has his own menswear show in Paris and enjoys financial support from LVMH, the French luxury goods conglomerate that owns Louis Vuitton.


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EMURGO Speaking at BlockBatam Blockchain Conference
EMURGO Indonesia CEO Shunsuke Murasaki will be guest speaker at the upcoming BlockBatam Blockchain Conference in the Special Economic Zone of Batam, Indonesia - an officially designated economic zone by the Indonesian government to spur foreign investment into digital technologies. BlockBatam is set to be a distinguished event comprised of senior Indonesian government officials and blockchain industry professionals from the ASEAN region to bring more awareness to blockchain-related efforts to reshape the regional business landscape.
Murasaki is scheduled to speak on a 14:10 - 14:30 solo session on August 20th entitled: “Implementing Blockchain Education For A Better Tomorrow” regarding the importance of blockchain education to build an actual ecosystem like Cardano.
As the CEO of EMURGO Indonesia, Shunsuke Murasaki is focused on leading the regional drive of Cardano adoption through engagement with local regulators, enterprises, and academia. Cardano - the first, third-generation blockchain to evolve out of a scientific philosophy - is uniquely designed to meet the intensive demands of scalability, sustainability, and interoperability required of a large enterprise-grade blockchain.
Indonesia: Fourth Largest Country & Rapidly Growing Economy
Indonesia, the world’s fourth-largest country by population with over 270 million people and more than 1.9 million square miles of land, is a prime market for exploring the integration of blockchain-based solutions into business verticals. It is also one of the fastest-growing emerging market economies with the median age at 28.6 years old according to an 2018 IMF Report. This means that over half of the population is under 29 years old, and coming into their early working years which therein lies the immense potential for educating blockchain developers.
Under Murasaki-san’s leadership, EMURGO Indonesia is making huge strides to set a foundation for consistent dialogue and education with relevant stakeholders to raise awareness of the utilities of Cardano to bring about real changes in the local economy to benefit society as a whole.
Earlier this year, Murasaki-san gave a detailed talk regarding the potential benefits for Cardano and blockchain to integrate with Indonesian coffee supply chain management to make the existing system more efficient, transparent, and fair for all parties in the supply chain. It holds huge potential implications for Indonesia as it is the world’s fourth largest producer of coffee beans.
To bring about these potential benefits using Cardano, EMURGO Indonesia has been partnering with local universities to expand its blockchain education program offerings to talented local students & developers. As blockchain education is the first step towards onboarding more applications, enterprises, and overall interest into the Cardano ecosystem, EMURGO Indonesia has been hard at work reaching out to the local community and public at large.
What is BlockBatam Blockchain Conference?


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Toyota recalls trucks, SUVs and cars to fix air bag problem
The Toyota Motor Corp. logo is seen on a tire wheel of an Avensis sedan at Toyota's headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, Aug. 2, 2011. (AP / Shizuo Kambayashi)
The Associated Press
Published Friday, October 12, 2018 10:03AM EDT
Last Updated Friday, October 12, 2018 10:54AM EDT
DETROIT -- Toyota is recalling nearly 188,000 pickup trucks, SUVs and cars worldwide because the air bags may not inflate in a crash.
The recall covers 2018 and 2019 Tundra pickups and Sequoia SUVs as well as 2019 Avalon sedans.
Toyota says the air bag control computer can erroneously detect a fault when the vehicles are started. With a fault, the air bags may not deploy in a crash. The company wouldn't say if the problem has caused any injuries.
Toyota will notify owners and dealers will update the air bag control software. The recall is expected to begin Oct. 22.
Toyota says the recall covers about 185,000 vehicles in North America and 2,600 in other markets.


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Sky to launch 'picnic' broadband-only service
BSkyB, the company behind the Sky TV and broadband service is expected to announce the launch of a broadband-only service which does not require users to have a Sky TV subscription. The service is expected to be called 'Picnic Broadband'.
BSkyB were not available to comment on the new brand name but did issue a statement:
"Sky is the UK's fastest growing broadband provider and we're always looking at ways to bring quality and value to even more customers. However, no plans are confirmed at this time."BSkyB Statement
The service is likely to appeal to those who either have no desire for additional channels or already have a Freeview service whilst those on Virgin Media packages are more likely to take the Virgin broadband service too. The broadband service is also expected to include a call bundle option as well. This will help make more efficient use of the Easynet LLU network which Sky took over on its acquisition of the company and allow users to receive the same services currently available on Sky Broadband packages. It is believed that a new wireless Netgear router is going to be used setting Sky on track for competing with BT and its Home Hub.
More of the rumours are being discussed over on the Sky User forums.


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Kardemir (BIST:KRDMD), the Turkish steel producer, is set to benefit from a short-term boost to its business as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine hits global steel production. But the company’s future success will depend on how it navigates longer-term challenges, including supply chain disruptions as well as higher energy and commodity prices.
The company, listed on Borsa Istanbul with a market cap of nearly TRY13bn (£), has had a strong 2021, after recovering from having to reduce output the previous year during Covid-19.
According to its latest set of results, for the year ending 2021, the company generated a TRY3.85bn net profit, the highest on record, and up from TRY60.7m in 2020. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased by 288% over the period to TRY4.9bn, while sales were up 96% to TRY14.76bn.
The group announced a total dividend of TRY1bn, or TRY0.8772 per share, which it said is the highest distribution to shareholders it has ever made.
Kardemir working to boost steel capacity
The company, which just celebrated its 85th anniversary, has an annual production capacity of approximately three million tons.
Kardemir, which sold approximately 35 thousand tonnes in the second half of the year, has been working to increase its exports capacity.
Turkish steel exports overall are expected to see a $1bn boost to countries in the European Union, after a ban on steel imports from Russia and Belarus, according to a recent Reuters report. The bans have meant that the bloc will redistribute the quotas previously allotted to the two countries, with Turkey expecting an additional 1 million tonnes.
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Even prior to the ban, demand for Turkish steel had risen in the aftermath of the invasion in February. According to the Turkish Steel Producers’ Association (TCUD) steel exports in January and February were up 2% year-on-year, while the value of the exports increased 52.4% to $2.4bn.
Year to date, Kardemir’s share price is up 72.5% and over one year it is up 136.5% to TRY16.32.
Rise in pig iron prices
But as pig iron prices rise, due to a lack of supply as a result of the war in Ukraine, there have been concerns that the Turkish steel industry, which imports a lot of pig iron, would be negatively impacted. Local paper Dunya reported that the Ministry of Industry and Technology met with Kardemir and rival Isdemir, to ramp up domestic production, which may provide some relief.
Despite the strong momentum off the back of 2021 results and a boost in demand for its products, Kardemir is not going to be immune from the long-term challenges facing steel producers.
The outlook for steel demand is uncertain for 2022 and 2023, according to WorldSteel Economics Committee chairman Maxino Vedoya in a statement to press.
But according to analysts at Info Yatirim, Kardemir stands out amongst its competitors. The group forecast a 2.7x P/E with a 1.4x EV/Ebitda, which is at a discount to peers that have a median 4.8x P/E and 2.6X EV/Ebitda. The analysts raised their price target for Kardemir to TRY23.