Posts for 'E-Industry' Category

Sony Corp. reported on Wednesday that second-quarter profit fell 72 percent, as growing worries about the global economy sent the yen higher and hit camera sales.Net income declined to ¥20.8 billion, or $215 million in the three months ended Sept. 30, from ¥73.7 billion, the company said in a statement. Sales fell 0.5 percent to ¥2.07 trillion.

Operating profit at Sony, which competes with Canon in digital cameras and with Samsung Electronics in LCD TVs, dropped 90 percent to ¥11.05 billion from ¥111.62 billion a year earlier.

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At a time when big American financial corporations are falling like nine pins, software giant Microsoft Corporation joined five other non-financial corporate debt issuers in the US to be assigned a AAA rating by Standard and Poor’s Rating Services (S&P).

The global credit rating agency Monday said it assigned its ‘AAA’ corporate credit rating and ‘A-1+’ short-term and commercial paper ratings to Microsoft with the outlook rated as ’stable’.

‘The ratings on Microsoft reflect the company’s excellent operating performance and financial profile,’ said S&P’s credit analyst Philip Schrank.The company maintains a vertically integrated and diverse product portfolio with numerous leadership positions, a broad geographic footprint, and minimal financial risk.

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Contrary to the impression left by your article, pending federal legislation to regulate tobacco products does not exempt menthol cigarettes from regulation. The legislation grants the Food and Drug Administration authority to reduce or ban menthol in cigarettes if the agency determines, based on the science, that such action would protect public health.

This approach allows the F.D.A. to follow the science in addressing the serious problems posed by menthol cigarettes and to consider the possible unintended consequences before banning a product to which more than 10 million American smokers are addicted.

This treatment of menthol was not a result of negotiation between our organization (or any other public health organization) and any tobacco company. The current bill treats menthol in the same way as previous bills supported by the public health community dating back to 2000, long before any tobacco company supported the legislation.

Tobacco use is the nation’s leading cause of preventable death. This legislation would for the first time grant a qualified, science-based agency the authority to regulate these deadly products. This authority extends to menthol cigarettes.

Yahoo Inc. is releasing more-detailed plans for an online-ad system aimed at increasing revenue from graphical display advertising, such as banner ads.

The effort is a bet that advertisers and Web publishers will be attracted to buy and sell Internet ads across a range of Yahoo and partner sites through a single system, with standardized means of targeting the ads at groups of consumers. The announcement Monday comes as Yahoo attempts to focus its activities and seeks alternatives to an unsolicited takeover bid by Microsoft Corp.

When released, Yahoo's system is expected to compete with efforts ...

Taiwan's stocks and currency surged after Ma Ying-jeou won the presidential election on pledges to forge closer ties with China and boost domestic spending. Foreign fund inflows rose to a record.

Chinatrust Financial Holding Co. and EVA Airways Corp. led gains by banks and travel companies on speculation trade and investment links with the world's fastest-growing major economy will expand. Goldsun Development and Construction Co. advanced to a 13-year high on prospects for more construction spending.

``There'll be significant synergy with China now,'' said Leslie Phang, Singapore-based head of private-clients investments at Schroders Plc's which manages $275 billion. ``We were hoping for a Ma win and our portfolio was positioned for a Ma win.''

The benchmark Taiex gained 340.36 points, or 4 percent, to 8,865.35 at the close of trade in Taipei, after climbing 6.2 percent, the most since Aug. 20, 2000. Trading volume was twice the 90 day moving average, spurred by a record $1.9 billion of foreign inflows. Almost 13 stocks advanced for each that fell.

Ma won by a 17 percent margin over Frank Hsieh of the Democratic Progressive Party in the March 22 election. His pledge to begin direct flights to China in two months and work toward a common market across the Taiwan Strait contrasted with Hsieh's more cautious approach. Ma is also committed to increasing spending to boost the local economy.

Taiwan's currency rose 1.1 percent to NT$30.229 versus the dollar at the close of trade in Taipei, the strongest in more than 10 years. China's CSI 300 Stock Index declined 4.5 percent today while China's yuan last traded at 7.053 to the U.S. dollar, taking gains to 3.4 percent this year.

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Temporary power generator provider Aggreko (AGGK.L: Quote, Profile, Research) expects its eighth set of earnings upgrades from analysts in 18 months after saying 2008 will be better than expected, its CEO told Reuters, despite predicting a weaker North American market.

It posted profit growth of 51 percent for 2007 on Thursday, in line with its forecast to grow by around 50 percent.

Chief Executive Rupert Soames said on Thursday analysts would be "scurrying to their calculators" to work out how much to raise earnings forecasts after saying Aggreko would spend more on improving its fleet of generators in 2008 than it forecast last December.

"It's our eighth upgrade in 18 months, the business has very strong momentum," said Soames by phone.

The shares rose as much as 3.5 percent in early trading, but were down 2.5 percent at 584.5p by 0925 GMT.

The company will spend 235 million pounds ($468 million) on improving its fleet of generators in 2008, 10-15 million pounds higher than the company had expected last December. Aggreko intends to spend 1 billion pounds over 5 years.

The company, which can supply a small generator or build a 100 MW power station, also unveiled a medium term target of annual double-digit growth, in the teens, over the next five years on Thursday. It expects profit margins to come down but Soames would not give specific details.

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Wall Street closed mixed Tuesday, recuperating from a sharp plunge as investors snapped up bargain stocks on rumors that a bond insurer rescue plan is progressing and upbeat comments from Cisco Systems Inc.

Earlier in the session, the market sank after Merrill Lynch lowered its full-year earnings prediction for Citigroup Inc., which a Dubai fund executive said will need to raise more cash to stay in business. Another damper on trading was Intel Corp., which lowered its forecast for first-quarter profit margins.

But in afternoon trading, the stock market showed signs of optimism. The financial sector regained some steam after CNBC reported that a plan to save the bond insurer Ambac Financial is advancing nicely.

Technology stocks rebounded too after a Dow Jones Newswires report that Cisco CEO John Chambers said he is "even more comfortable" with the long-term growth targets the company has outlined.

Wall Street is jittery, however, and as the volatility of the past several months has proved, the market's optimism can quickly turn to pessimism from one day to the next. While some investors search for bargains when stocks sink, the overall market is plagued by persistent worries about the bad debt held by the world's banks.

"What we're seeing is a very nervous market, and nervousness breeds volatility," said Anthony Conroy, managing director and head trader for BNY ConvergEx Group. "It took years to put this stuff on their books — it's not going to come off quickly."

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THE full financial picture of Newcastle United when billionaire owner Mike Ashley took control has been revealed in the club’s accounts.

Massive sums were spent on failing to get casino plans off the ground (£5m) and sacking manager Glenn Roeder (£1.1m), and a staggering £1.1m was paid to director Douglas Hall as a golden handshake on his departure from the club.

The accounts say Mr Ashley had to plough £75m into the club to keep it afloat.

Further expenditure included nearly £3m spent preparing the club for previous takeover bids that never happened – and refinancing the business before the buyout was completed.

The full picture for the last year of the Shepherd and Hall families’ reign at the club shows large debts, a worryingly large wage bill and poor footballing performances sending gate receipts down and hurting the club’s bottom line.

The accounts show former chairman Freddie Shepherd was being paid £500,000 a year, along with private health benefits, before being replaced by Chris Mort. Compensation paid to him will show up in next year’s accounts.

In total, Douglas Hall was paid £1.62m by the club, which included his compensation, his £448,654 salary and a private healthcare allowance. Chairman Chris Mort said in a statement: “Team performance in the 2006/07 FA Premier League fell below the level that the board of directors and the supporters regard as acceptable, culminating in a disappointing 13th-place finish and no European football in 2007/08.”

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It looks like the consumer spending crunch may even hit Google (GOOG). On Feb.26 the Internet giant's stock tumbled 4.7% after a research firm reported a decline in the number of clicks on the ads alongside Google's search results. The report, from researcher comScore (SCOR), fueled fears that as cash-strapped consumers ignore online ads, marketers will trim their spending on the Net. It also undermined assertions by Google co-founder Sergey Brin and others that the company could thrive in a recession as ad spending shifts.

The issue for Google may be broader than just a slowdown in consumer spending. There's a growing realization that the company's advertising model may not deliver quite what it promises to clients. Google, along with Yahoo! (YHOO) and Microsoft (MSFT), has long maintained that online advertising is the ultimate in pay for performance, because advertisers only pay if someone clicks on an ad.

But the correlation between clicks and sales is becoming less predictable at the same time Web surfers are clicking on fewer ads. That has Google, Microsoft, and others scrambling to develop compelling alternatives for advertisers. "The novelty of clicking is gone," says Mike Leo, CEO of Operative, consultant and software developer for digital media companies.

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 The European antitrust regulator imposed a record $1.35 billion fine against Microsoft on Wednesday in a ruling intended to send a clear message to the world’s largest software maker — and to any other company — of the dangers of flouting Europe’s competition rulings.

Neelie Kroes, Europe’s antitrust regulator, expressed irritation with Microsoft, saying it had not complied with a 2004 ruling.

The size of the penalty, which surprised lawyers and legal experts, was a clear assertion of the power of the European Commission and its main antitrust regulator, Neelie Kroes, who is its competition commissioner. She has emerged from a lengthy legal battle with Microsoft as possibly the world’s most activist regulator.

The dispute with the commission has cost Microsoft more than $2.3 billion in fines.

The commission’s willingness to enforce vigorously its interpretation of what constitutes unfair competition potentially raises the costs of running a successful business in Europe for many American companies. It might pose problems for companies like Apple, Intel and Qualcomm, whose market dominance in online music downloads, computer chips and mobile phone technology is also being scrutinized by the European Commission.

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