Sunday, September 13, 2009

American Air Said to Consider Buying Stake in Japan Airlines

American Air Said to Consider Buying Stake in Japan Airlines


Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- American Airlines, the world’s second-largest carrier, may buy equity in Japan Airlines Corp. to prop up an ally that forecasts its fourth loss in five years, people familiar with the plan said.

American also plans to expand code-sharing with Japan Air, its partner in the Oneworld marketing alliance, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions aren’t public. Japan Air is talking with other carriers to strengthen its business, spokeswoman Sze Hunn Yap in Tokyo said, declining to comment on specific discussions or possible investments.

Japan Air, which has received three government bailouts since 2001, the most recent in June, is also in talks on possible stake sales to Delta Air Lines Inc. and Air France-KLM, people familiar with those negotiations have said. The carrier, known as JAL, may be seeking 250 billion yen ($2.8 billion) to rebuild operations, the Nikkei newspaper reported earlier today without saying where it got the information.

“I don’t think the Japanese government cares who gives JAL the money,” said Yasuhiro Matsumoto, an analyst in Tokyo at Shinsei Securities Co. “JAL would probably rather get money from American since they’re in the same group,”

American declined to comment on reports of an investment in Japan Airlines, according to Charley Wilson, a spokesman at the airline’s Ft. Worth, Texas, offices.

Alliance Benefits

Code-sharing with the Asian carrier would give American or Delta access to more cities in Japan and the ability to sell seats on Japan Air flights directly to customers. Alliances such as Oneworld and SkyTeam, which includes Delta and Air France- KLM, let airlines expand their networks by pulling in more passengers and sharing revenue at lower costs.

American, a unit of AMR Corp., has been talking with Japan Air for more than a month on a “far-reaching” joint venture, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier.

Japan Air posted a 99 billion yen loss in the first quarter, the most in at least six years, as business and leisure travel plummeted during the country’s worst postwar recession.

The airline, which predicts a loss of 63 billion yen for the full year ending March, received a 100 billion yen loan from the state-owned Development Bank of Japan and other local lenders in June. The government set up a panel of legal and academic experts last month to help restructure JAL.

“Japanese banks may be convinced to give JAL more money if it receives capital from another airline,” Shinsei’s Matsumoto said. “If an airline is willing to put substantial funds into JAL that means it’s more likely to survive.”

bloomberg

Cadbury Chairman Rejects ‘Low-Growth’ Kraft’s ‘Unappealing’ Bid

Cadbury Chairman Rejects ‘Low-Growth’ Kraft’s ‘Unappealing’ Bid


Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Cadbury Plc, the world’s second- biggest confectionery company, said an unsolicited takeover offer from Kraft Foods Inc. is an “unappealing prospect” due to its rival’s business model and “lower growth” prospects.

Kraft’s cash and stock offer, worth 9.6 billion pounds ($16 billion) at the Sept. 11 closing price, “fundamentally fails to reflect the current value of Cadbury as a standalone business,” Cadbury Chairman Roger Carr said in a letter to Kraft Chief Executive Officer Irene Rosenfeld posted on the company’s Web site yesterday.

“Under your proposal, Cadbury would be absorbed into Kraft’s low growth, conglomerate business model, an unappealing prospect which contrasts sharply with our strategy to be a pure- play confectionery company,” Carr said in the letter dated yesterday. Kraft is “a company with a considerably less focused business mix and historically lower growth,” he wrote.

The value of Kraft’s offer has fallen from 10.2 billion pounds when it was announced on Sept. 7, as investors sold the company’s stock last week. London-based Cadbury, halfway through a four-year drive to increase profitability, said shareholders will receive “optimum value” by sticking with its focus on the faster-growing confectionery market.

Kraft has a market value of $38.5 billion after its shares fell 7.1 percent last week. Cadbury is worth 11.4 billion pounds after its shared surged 37 percent this past week to 775.5 pence following Kraft’s approach. The price tag for Cadbury, the maker of Dairy Milk chocolate and Trident chewing gum, may reach 937 pence per share for the successful bidder according to the average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

‘Uncertain Value’

“The proposal is of uncertain value for Cadbury shareholders as underlined by the movement in the Kraft share price since your announcement,” Carr wrote.

Rosenfeld has led acquisitions including the $7.8 billion purchase of Paris-based Groupe Danone SA’s cookie unit to reshape the world’s second-biggest food company through international growth. Kraft is based in Northfield, Illinois.

Rosenfeld will speak at the University of Toronto on “Leading Transformational Change” later today, according to the Rotman School of Management’s Web site. Cadbury Chief Executive Officer Todd Stitzer is speaking at a Sanford C. Bernstein analyst conference in London on Wednesday, Sept. 16, where according to the Financial Times, he’ll lay out his strategy to keep the company independent.

Cadbury investors including Mario Gabelli, who runs Rye, New-York-based Gamco Asset Management Inc., said she’ll have to improve her offer to win their support

Raise Offer?

Lisa Gibbons, Kraft’s director of communications, declined to comment on the letter or confirm its receipt.

Cadbury’s four-year restructuring aims to increase the operating margin, a gauge of profitability, to a “mid-teens” percentage from 10 percent in June 2007. Under the program Stitzer plans to close 15 percent of all factories and cull staff globally.

The company has “a clear set of targets” and “a track record of delivery accepted by the market,” Carr said. “We have the scale, capabilities and resource to deliver on our commitments to shareholders.”

bloomberg

‘Clunkers’ Probably Boosted Retail Sales: U.S. Economy Preview

‘Clunkers’ Probably Boosted Retail Sales: U.S. Economy Preview


Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. government’s auto trade- in program probably lifted retail sales in August to their biggest gain in more than three years and boosted factory output, economists said before reports this week.

Total purchases climbed 1.9 percent, the most since January 2006, according to the median of 60 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey ahead of Commerce Department figures due Sept. 15. The Obama administration’s “cash for clunkers” plan also helped industrial production in August to its first back- to-back monthly increase since 2007, economists said.

Americans flocked to auto showrooms last month to take advantage of the incentive program while purchases of other items were subdued even as evidence mounts that the worst recession since the Great Depression is ending. With unemployment forecast to reach 10 percent by the end of the year, consumer spending likely won’t lead the recovery.

“When you get to the fourth quarter, the blip from cash- for-clunkers falls out,” said Brian Bethune, chief financial economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts. “The production recession is over and the housing recession is over. When you combine those two, they add up to a fair amount of traction in the overall economy.”

Excluding automobiles, retail sales probably rose 0.4 percent, economists said.

The recession “has brought on a new focus on frugality,” Mike Duke, chief executive officer for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., said last week at a conference in New York. “Clearly customers are watching every penny.” The world’s largest retailer is offering discounts to attract shoppers, Duke said.

Beige Book

In the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book business survey, published two weeks before officials meet to set monetary policy, the central bank reported “flat” retail sales in July and August and cited some auto-industry contacts as saying the cash-for-clunkers effect may be temporary. Factories, meanwhile, showed “modest improvements” in most regions, the Fed said.

The auto plan, which ended Aug. 24, offered buyers discounts of as much as $4,500 to trade in older cars and trucks for new, more fuel-efficient vehicles. The program produced almost 700,000 purchases, the Transportation Department said.

Cars and light trucks sold at a 14.1 million annual pace last month, up 25 percent from July, according to industry figures. It was the biggest gain since October 2001.

Industrial Production

Last month General Motors Co. called back 1,350 union workers, its biggest one-time increase in jobs since 2006, as it ramped up second-half production in part to meet demand linked to the government trade-in program.

The Fed’s measure of production, due Sept. 16, probably rose 0.6 percent, the most since October, according to the survey. The report may also show the proportion of plant capacity in use in the U.S. climbed to 69.1 percent, the highest in five months.

Manufacturing in the New York region posted its first back-to-back monthly expansion since January 2008, economists said before a report due Sept. 15. The New York Fed’s general economic index likely climbed to 15 this month from 12.1 in August, according to the survey.

The housing market also is showing early signs of a rebound. A Commerce Department report due Sept. 17 will show builders broke ground on 600,000 new homes last month at an annual rate, a 3.3 percent gain and the fastest pace since November, according to the survey median.

The Standard & Poor’s homebuilder supercomposite index has gained 35 percent since the beginning of the year, compared with 15 percent for the broader S&P 500 index.

‘Ups and Downs’

With the jobless rate at a 26-year high and 6.9 million job losses since the recession began in December 2007, policy makers are trying to temper expectations for a robust economic turnaround. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner last week said the government is moving to withdraw some of its support for financial markets, while cautioning that the recovery will have “more than the usual ups and downs.”

The economy will expand at a 2.9 percent annual rate in the July-through-September period, according to the median of 61 estimates in a monthly Bloomberg News survey. Growth is projected to slow to a 2.2 percent pace during the last three months of the year.

The world’s largest economy contracted 1 percent in the second quarter, the Commerce Department said last month, the fourth straight quarterly drop. That made the downturn the longest contraction since such records began in 1947.

The cost of living probably rose 0.3 percent in August from July as energy costs rose, after remaining unchanged the prior month, according to the survey. The Labor Department’s report on the consumer price index is due Sept. 16.

bloomberg

Ενδιαφέρον του Bloomberg για το «BusinessWeek»

Ενδιαφέρον του Bloomberg για το «BusinessWeek»

Το ενδεχόμενο υποβολής προσφοράς για το περιοδικό «BusinessWeek» φέρεται να εξετάζει ο όμιλος χρηματοοικονομικών πληροφοριών Bloomberg, όπως προκύπτει από δημοσίευμα της «Wall Street Journal».

Το ενδιαφέρον του Bloomberg για το «BusinessWeek» αντικατοπτρίζει τα σχέδια του ομίλου για επέκτασή του πέραν των βασικών του δραστηριοτήτων.

Τον Ιούλιο η McGraw-Hill Cos., ιδιοκτήτρια του «BusinessWeek», ανακοίνωσε ότι εξετάζει την πώληση του περιοδικού. Από τότε η McGraw-Hill Cos. βρίσκεται σε συνομιλίες με διαφόρους ενδιαφερομένους για την αγορά του περιοδικού.

Το «BusinessWeek» συγκαταλέγεται μεταξύ των επιχειρηματικών εκδόσεων που καταβάλλουν προσπάθειες να σταματήσουν τη μείωση των διαφημιστικών εσόδων.

Στο πρώτο εξάμηνο του 2009 οι διαφημιστικές σελίδες σε «Fortune», «Forbes» και «BusinessWeek» μειώθηκαν περισσότερο από 30% σε σύγκριση με το περσινό εξάμηνο, σύμφωνα με στοιχεία του Publishers Information Bureau.


naftemporiki

Εμπορικές εκθέσεις τώρα και σε... online σύνδεση

Εμπορικές εκθέσεις τώρα και σε... online σύνδεση

Μια νέα τάση αρχίζει να διαμορφώνεται στον τομέα της διοργάνωσης εμπορικών εκθέσεων, καθώς, χάρη στην ανάπτυξη της τεχνολογίας που υποστηρίζει τις interactive υπηρεσίες, την επικοινωνία και τις συναλλαγές μέσω Διαδικτύου, είναι θέμα λίγου χρόνου να αναπτυχθούν σε μεγάλη κλίμακα διαδικτυακές εκθέσεις.


Οι οn line εκθέσεις είναι μία οικονομική λύση, καθώς η επίσκεψη δεν στοιχίζει τίποτα.
Hδη, μεγάλες εταιρείες από διάφορες χώρες του κόσμου, από τις ΗΠΑ ως την Ινδία, έχοντας κατανοήσει ότι η διεθνής ανάπτυξή τους περνά από το Διαδίκτυο, έχουν δημιουργήσει ιστοσελίδες με περιεχόμενο, που εμπλουτίζουν συνεχώς, με πλήρη κατάλογο των προϊόντων και των υπηρεσιών που προσφέρουν και με υπηρεσίες διαδικτυακής επικοινωνίας. Μέσω video, computer animation και άλλων πιο εξελιγμένων τεχνικών, δημιουργούν οπτικά εφέ για πιο ευχάριστη και λειτουργική πλοήγηση. Κάτι αντίστοιχο γίνεται και με τις διαδικτυακές εκθέσεις.

Στην Ελλάδα, αν και οι επιχειρήσεις υιοθετούν με πιο αργούς ρυθμούς τέτοιες πρακτικές, λόγω και της οικονομικής κρίσης, έχουν στραφεί στην αναζήτηση φθηνότερων λύσεων για την εξεύρεση πελατών ή επενδυτών, προκειμένου να αναπτυχθούν και να προωθήσουν τα προϊόντα τους. Οι online εκθέσεις είναι μια οικονομική λύση, καθώς η επίσκεψη δεν στοιχίζει τίποτα, ενώ για συμμετοχή με περίπτερο το κόστος ανέρχεται στο 5% των εξόδων για τη συμμετοχή με φυσική παρουσία.

Ενδεικτική είναι η ανταπόκριση που έχει παρατηρηθεί από επισκέπτες στην πρώτη διαδικτυακή διεθνή online έκθεση που παρουσίασε η BusinessGlobal.com, μια υπηρεσία που δημιούργησε η κυπριακή εταιρεία IMC Business Global Public Ltd, εξειδικευμένη εταιρεία στη διοργάνωση διεθνών εμπορικών εκθέσεων.

Πρόκειται για την «The Best of China 2009», που προβάλλει σε 24 διαδικτυακές αίθουσες τα καλύτερα προϊόντα και υπηρεσίες της Κίνας. Συμμετέχουν 2.700 εκθέτες, ενώ τις 2 πρώτες ημέρες οι επισκέπτες ξεπέρασαν τους 43.000.

Σημειώνεται ότι το BusinessGlobal.com συνεργάζεται στενά με τον κινεζικό οργανισμό China-Europe Association for Technical and Economic Cooperation (CEATEC) και έχει την υποστήριξη του υπουργείου Εμπορίου της Κίνας. Επίσης, μετά την «The Best of China» θα ακολουθήσει άλλη διοργάνωση τον Οκτώβριο, το Euro-China Partnership and Investment Fair.

naftemporiki

Κύπρος: Κατά 22 εκατ. ευρώ κάτω τα έσοδα του Τελωνείου και Υπηρεσίας ΦΠΑ τον Αύγουστο

Μείωση 21,71 εκατομμύρια ευρώ παρουσίασαν τον Αύγουστο του 2009 τα έσοδα Τελωνείου και Υπηρεσίας ΦΠΑ, σε σύγκριση με τον Αύγουστο του 2008, σύμφωνα με τα στοιχεία που δημοσιοποίησε σήμερα το Τμήμα Τελωνείου.

Στο πρώτο οκτάμηνο του 2009, τα έσοδα Τελωνείου και Υπηρεσίας ΦΠΑ σημείωσαν μείωση 166,15 εκατ. ευρώ ή ποσοστό 10,11%, σε σύγκριση με την αντίστοιχη περίοδο του 2008 και διαμορφώθηκαν στο 1,47 δισεκατομμύριο ευρώ.

Το σύνολο των εσόδων, εκτός ΦΠΑ, μειώθηκε κατά 8,93%, στα 392,47 εκ. ευρώ το α΄ οκτάμηνο του 2009, σε σύγκριση με την αντίστοιχη περίοδο του 2008, ενώ το σύνολο των εσόδων ΦΠΑ μειώθηκε κατά 10,53%, στο 1,08 δισ. ευρώ.

Τον Αύγουστο του 2009, το σύνολο των εσόδων, εκτός των εσόδων από το ΦΠΑ, μειώθηκε κατά 6 περίπου εκ. ευρώ, στα 55,4 εκ. ευρώ, σε σύγκριση με τον Αύγουστο του 2008, ενώ τα έσοδα από ΦΠΑ παρουσίασαν μείωση 16 εκ. ευρώ, στα 99,5 εκ. ευρώ

ΚΥΠΕ
Share |