Thought of the Day:
“There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self.”
Aldous Huxley
Did you know?
There was a third Apple founder; Ronald Wayne sold his 10% stake for $800 in 1976.
India:
International:
“There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self.”
Aldous Huxley
Did you know?
There was a third Apple founder; Ronald Wayne sold his 10% stake for $800 in 1976.
India:
- ITC planning to foray into foods business; health platform the next big thing: ITC is firming up plans to foray into non-carbonated beverages and dairy businesses next fiscal to establish itself as one of the largest food companies in the country, a senior industry executive aware of the company's plans said. The Kolkata-based tobacco-to-hospitality conglomerate is developing products in categories such as juices, tea and coffee in the non-carbonated beverage space, while its ambitious dairy business rollout will include products such as packaged milk, butter and ghee, to take on category leaders such as Nestle, PepsiCo, Amul, Hindustan Unilever and Dabur, the executive said. The company also plans to soon start scientific trials on functional foods a pet focus area of its chairman YC Deveshwar addressing various metabolic disorders such as blood pressure, diabetes and nutritional deficiency. "ITC is on the job on developing several new product for these categories which will be rolled out in a phased manner from next fiscal," the executive said, requesting anonymity. The new products are developed in the company's food research unit at Bangalore. Market watchers say ITC has carved out its niche in the food space and can give tough competition in the beverage and dairy space to big marketers operating in the space. ITC's food business clocked Rs 4,720-crore sales last fiscal, 27% more than the previous year's Rs 3,712 crore.
- Quick Bytes: Interim budget has avoided the populist tendency: Govind Shrikhande, MD, Shoppers Stop: The Interim Budget is reflective of the UPA's honorable intent to inject fiscal stability and revive the economy. The seemingly Political budget clearly aims to appease the common man, the stressed industries and the ruffled economy. The clear beneficiaries are the manufacturing and automobile industries which have received significant respite in excise duty. The reduction in excise duty from 12 % to 10 % on capital and consumer goods will be a great relief to manufactures and retailers and will give a fillip to the growth of the industry. GST and DTC, predictably, are still work-in-progress. We echo the FM's pleas to parties to end the long delays in this matter. Overall, the interim budget has avoided populist tendency in order to build a strong economic direction for the future.
- NDMC to recover Rs 185-crore tax from Luxury Hotels: The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) is trying to recover property tax dues from the luxury hotels that have defaulted in property tax payment around Lutyens' Delhi area. A total of Rs 185.36 is pending as property tax dues from hotels in the area, said a minister of state, Mullappally Ramachandran. In response to the questions raised by the Lok Sabha MP, EG Sugavanam said the NDMC has taken necessary actions on the issues. The top tax defaulter hotels include The Taj Palace in the Diplomatic Enclave, The Ashoka, The Leela Palace, The Park, Samrat Hotel as well as Hotel Royal Plaza (formerly Kanishka). The Taj Palace Hotel owes Rs 42.55 crore to NDMC. Currently, the hotel's case is in litigation and the remanded case has been taken up for assessment and the hotel is making payment as per demand. The matters of The Leela and The Ashok Yatri Nivas are pending before the Delhi High Court while The Royal Plaza case is sub judice. The Hotel Samrat and Ashok matters are remanded cases that have been taken up for finalisation.
- Google to design Android apps in Indian languages: Google India will host a two-day Hackathon and workshop in Bangalore on 21 and 22 February focused on designing and creating Android applications in Indian languages. The event, which is expected to see about 100 developers participating, is open to both amateur and professional developers. The aim is to promote regional languages and develop applications for Internet users who communicate and understand only their native language with a view to encouraging more users to come online, Google said in a statement. “The next 300 million Internet users in India won’t use English. That’s why we’re working on enabling the Internet in Indian languages, which is the key to driving growth,” Google India managing director Rajan Anandan said. Google will host workshops covering the technical process of enabling apps in Indian languages and monetisation potential of language apps.
- Kaya exits salon business: Kaya Ltd, a unit of Marico Kaya Enterprises Ltd, has gone back to its original proposition of offering skin cure services, moving out of the more competitive salon business that focused on beauty treatments like facials. The skin services retail chain repositioned itself as a beauty care company in 2010-11 as it looked to increase its offerings and attract a wider range of consumers. But the beauty care services space has become very competitive, crowded by a large number of unorganized beauty salons and even retail chains likeLakme salons from Hindustan Unilever Ltd, the country’s largest consumer packaged goods company. “We are not equipped for competing with beauty parlours who pamper the consumers. In regular salon services like facials, our right to win is lower,”Harsh Mariwala, chairman and managing director of Marico Ltd, said on the sidelines of a recent function about the reason for shifting back to its original business model. The company has identified three core differentiators, said Arvind R.P., marketing head for Kaya. Each clinic has an in-house dermatologist, gives personalized skin treatments, and offers products and services researched and developed by dermatologists.
- NHAI to close Ambience U-turn: The NHAI said on Wednesday it would close the U-turn on the expressway for Ambience mall after the toll plaza is removed. TOI, in its ongoing campaign on choke points in Gurgaon, had highlighted the problems that could arise at the Ambience point because of the U-turn once the toll plaza was scrapped. “The speed of vehicles will now increase. This will now make it extremely unsafe for people to cut diagonally across the expressway to access the Ambience area. Now on, those who need to access the Ambience area will have to drive past the toll, take a U-turn and then take the extreme left lanes to access the zone,” Aloke Kumar Sharma, general manager, NHAI, told TOI. The U-turn has been a point of contention between HUDA and NHAI for long. “HUDA had asked for land on either side of the expressway for a flyover to the Ambience island. A concept was also developed to create an underpass. None of these ideas has come through,” Sharma added. HUDA administrator PC Meena said there was no proposal to construct a clover leaf or an underpass. “I am not aware of any such proposal. Anyway, the implementation of any such project will have to be done by NHAI,” he said.
International:
- Facebook to buy WhatsApp for $19 bln in deal shocker: Facebook Inc will buy fast-growing mobile-messaging startup WhatsApp for $19 billion in cash and stock in a landmark deal that places the world's largest social network closer to the heart of mobile communications and may bring younger users into the fold. The transaction involves $4 billion in cash, $12 billion in stock and $3 billion in restricted stock that vests over several years. The WhatsApp deal is worth more than Facebook raised in its own IPO and underscores the social network's determination to win the market for messaging. Founded by a Ukrainian immigrant who dropped out of college, Jan Koum, and a Stanford alumnus, Brian Acton, WhatsApp is a Silicon Valley startup fairy tale, rocketing to 450 million users in five years and adding another million daily. "No one in the history of the world has ever done something like this," Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on a conference call on Wednesday. Zuckerberg, who famously closed a $1 billion deal to buy photo-sharing service Instagram over a weekend in mid-2012, revealed on Wednesday that he proposed the tie-up over dinner with CEO Koum just 10 days earlier, on the night of February 9.
- Jack Wills Taps Richard Nicol: Richard Nicoll is poised to lend Jack Wills, the British high street clothing andaccessories brand targeted at university-age consumers, a dash of urban designer sophistication. On Wednesday, Nicoll was named creative director of the brand, a part-time role, and he will continue to design his own label. He showedhis fall collection last weekend at LondonFashion Week, a mix of sporty shapes with opulent fabrics and details. Jack Wills’ chief executive officer Wendy Becker said Nicoll’s collections have “a global appeal, but he is a British designer at heart and will lead the creative direction of our brand into its next important phase.” Nicoll told WWD he was approached about a number of positions recently, but decided on Jack Wills because he thought that it was an “interesting and unusual choice,” and one that could provide a different experience from his own brand. “I feel that our aesthetics are separate, but I understand the existing Jack Wills DNA,” he said. “I can bring timeless, sport luxe with a playful, British edge.” His first collection will be for spring 2015 and will drop in December.
- Joe Fresh Plots Global Expansion: Joe Fresh is going global. In a new international strategy that’s anything but timid, the brand has signed three separate partnership agreements to swiftly enter the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and South Korea, a total of 24 countries. In addition, “We are speaking to 10 or 12 [potential] partners all over the globe and hope to announce two or three more partnerships in the coming months,” Mario Grauso, chief operating officer of Joe Fresh, told WWD. “There’s a big corporate focus to make this business global.” There’s also “an emerging middle class in many of these countries presenting an opportunity in this value segment, which we play in,” added Joseph Mimran, president of Joseph Mimran & Associates and founder and creative director of Joe Fresh. How far and fast Joe Fresh can export its colorful, modern styling and downtown attitude remains to be seen, but the intent is to ramp up quickly. The first store will open in Seoul this spring, followed by one in the Middle East and then another in Seoul. New executives have been hired, including Alixe Boyer as senior vice president of brand development and Steven Horn as vice president of global retail. The company is recruiting several senior designers, and developing a kids-only store format to accommodate an assortment extending from baby and toddler sizes to girls and boys. The format is seen launching first overseas. Last October, Grauso joined Joe Fresh from Vera Wang, to take the business to the next level.
- Gap Readies Minimum Wage Increase: Gap Inc. is one of the first U.S. companies to heed the call to raise minimum wages for its 65,000 U.S. store employees. On Wednesday, chairman and chief executive officer Glenn Murphy said in a letter on Gap’sWeb site that the company will make a strategic investment to increase the minimum hourly rate for employees to $9 in 2014 and $10 in 2015. The move comes as there is growing pressure nationwide to raise the federal and state minimum wage rates. President Obama urged Congress in his State of the Union address to pass an existing bill increasing the national minimum wage to $10.10 an hour from $7.25 and indexing it to inflation by the second half of 2016. He also signed an executive order last week to require federal contractors pay federally funded employees a “fair wage” of at least $10.10 an hour.
- Buyers Praise London's Colors, Fabrications: Buyers lauded the strong colors, the wealth of fabrications and the plethora of creative, young designers to emerge from London Fashion Week, which ended Tuesday. “As a hotbed for creativity and out-of-the-box innovative design, London is our top stop on the four-city fashion circuit for finding emerging designer talent,” said Colleen Sherin, senior fashion director at Saks Fifth Avenue. Stephen Ayres, head of fashion at Liberty in London, agreed: “I really believe London delivers the most diverse and interesting mix of brands as part of [its] fashion week. No other fashion capital incubates and shows emerging designers alongside [larger brands] such as Burberry the way London does.” As for the individual collections, buyers were universal in their praise for Christopher Kane’s fall collection. “[Kane’s] tailoring and knitwear were very strong, the fabrications were interesting and everything looked modern — overall, really sleek,” said Natalie Kingham, head of fashion at Matchesfashion.com. Suzanne Timmins, senior vice president and fashion director at Hudson’s Bay Co., singled out Kane’s “sculptural dresses,” while Helen David, fashion director of women’s wear, accessories, fine jewelry and children’s wear at Harrods, pointed to the designer’s tailoring, chunky knits and mink. “It was super commercial — and completely unique. You could easily sell at least half of the looks on his runway,” she said.
- Ralph Lauren Taps Valérie Hermann to Head Luxe Division: Ralph Lauren is aggressively looking to accelerate growth in the luxury segment of his $7 billion empire. To that end, he has hired Valérie Hermann,former president and chief executive officer of Reed Krakoff, as president of Ralph Lauren Luxury Collections, a new post. Hermann will report directly to Lauren, chairman and ceo of Ralph Lauren Corp. She begins April 7. “The company keeps growing, and the luxury part of the business has grown to a point where we felt it deserves its own focus. My goal is building luxury in its truest sense,” Lauren said in an exclusive interview. He said the Ricky bag has become an important business; Ralph Lauren timepieces and fine jewelry (in a joint venture with Compagnie Financière Richemont) are growing, and women’s and men’s luxury apparel under Black Label, Purple Label and Collection is expanding. Hermann’s role will be an extensive one, giving her oversight of Black Label, Purple Label, fine jewelry, eyewear, timepieces, handbags, RRL and fragrance. “Anything that has to do with luxury, she will be the president of,” said Lauren. Her mandate is to leverage the strength of these brands and spearhead the strategy, merchandising, distribution and overall expansion of the global luxury businesses. Each of the division presidents of these categories will report into Hermann. “This [luxury] is one unit. It’s my company. It’s one family. Now we’ve really defined where we’re going, and how it’s going to be,” said Lauren.
- Lie detector on the way to test social media rumour: A lie detector for social media is being built to try to verify online rumours. The system will analyse, in real time, whether a posting online is true. It will also identify whether social media accounts have been created just to spread false information. The aim is to help organisations, including governments and emergency services, to respond more effectively to events. The project grew from research based on the use of social media during the London riots in 2011. The data being analysed will include posts on Twitter, comments in healthcare forums and public comments on Facebook.
- Retail Stocks Fall 1% on Wall Street: Retail stocks underperformed on a down day for Wall Street today. The S&P 500 Retailing Industry Group fell 1 percent to 890.42 as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6 percent to 16,040.56.But a few bucked the trend, particularly in the jewelry world. Zale Corp. jumped 40.3 percent to $20.92 on the word that it would be acquired by Signet Jewelers Ltd. for $1.4 billion. Shares of Signet also closed up, rising 18.2 percent to $93.65. Shares of jewelry firm Birks Group Inc., which was not part of the deal, rose 7.3 percent to $1.33. Also on the rise were Columbia Sportswear Co., up 7 percent to $84.14, and Christopher & Banks Corp., ahead 3.3 percent to $6.50.Omnichannel teen retailer Delia's Inc. was the biggest decliner for the day. Its shares dropped 7.7 percent to 69 cents a day after the firm disclosed preliminary fourth quarter results that reflected a steep decline in the quarter's sales, a projection of a larger loss for the three months, and plans for a private placement to raise $44.1 million. New York & Co. also fell 4.5 percent to $4.43, as did Revlon, down 2.7 percent to $23.47. European stock markets were broadly flat at the close of trading. The DAX in Frankfurt and the FTSE 100 in London were flat, closing at 9,660.05 and at 6,796.71 respectively. The CAC 40 in Paris edged up 0.2 percent to 4,341.10, while the FTSE MIB in Milan was down 0.2 percent to 20,438.30. The euro traded at $1.37 against the U.S. Dollar, while the pound fetched $1.67, and the Swiss franc equaled $1.12. The day’s biggest gainers included Safilo Group, which rose 1.1 percent to 16.96 euros; Luxottica Group, 1.1 percent to 39.55 euros, and Asos.com, 1.9 percent to 66.96 pounds. Among the stocks that lost the most ground were Brunello Cucinelli, down 2.3 percent to 21.10 euros; Tod’s, 1.9 percent to 99.90 euros, and Ferragamo, 1.1 percent to 23.34 euros.
Currency:
· 1 USD= ₹ 62.305
· 1 EUR= ₹ 85.663
· 1 GBP= ₹ 103.861
· 1 AUD= ₹ 55.759
Glitter Meter: India
Gold (INR/10g) | Silver (INR/kg) | |||
City | Current | Change | Current | Change |
Chennai | 30780.00 | 0 | 48757.00 | 0 |
Mumbai | 30290.00 | 0 | 48757.00 | 0 |
Delhi | 30040.00 | 0 | 48757.00 | 0 |
Kolkata | 30170.00 | 0 | 48757.00 | 0 |
World Indices:
Exchange | Last | Change |
DJIA | 16050.56 | -89.84 |
FTSE 100 | 6796.71 | +0.28 |
CAC 40 | 4341.10 | +10.39 |
DAX | 9660.05 | +0.27 |
Nikkei | 14518.14 | -248.39 |
Hang Seng | 22386.80 | -277.72 |
Sensex | 20722.97 | +88.76 |
NASDAQ | 4237.95 | -34.83 |
*Disclaimer:
World One Consulting Pvt Ltd will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information contained within this newsletter including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals.
World One Consulting Pvt Ltd will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information contained within this newsletter including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals.