(column by Deepti Sharma & Vareen Gadhoke)

Tribune prints pink slips

Tribune Co., one of the top media companies in the United States, has announced plans to cut jobs, due to falling circulation, advertising and revenue and increasing newsprint costs. The Chicago-based company, with business interests in publishing & broadcasting, reported an October 2005 revenue of $439 million, down from $455 million in October 2004 (a 3.5% fall). The job cuts (to be carried out at five Tribune owned newspapers) include eighty five of 1,032 newsroom jobs at The Los Angeles Times (a Tribune newspaper), which is about 8% of its total editorial work force. The Times another Tribune newspaper, has also reported a fall.

Where's my money honey?

Western Union Financial Services (a part of the Denver-based First Data Corp.) has entered into an agreement with the State of Washington and forty six other states, to post clear warnings, cautioning customers against fraudulent telemarketers. Western Union, as a part of its drive against money-wiring frauds (foreign lotteries, fake advance-fee loans and fraudulent sales agreements), will contribute close to $8.2 million towards a national consumer awareness program. The move comes after numerous complaints against money-wiring frauds, followed by a review of all money transfers in 2003 between the United States and Canada, which revealed that over 38% of these transfers were of fraudulent nature.

Boeing flying high with 747-8

Boeing stretches its wings in the air. US-based aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co. has launched a stretched and more efficient version of the 747, the 747-8, which will be its biggest offering in recent times. The 747-8 is expected to lower trip costs by almost 20%. It will have a seating capacity of 450 passengers, with thirty four more seats than the existing 747-400, and will be able to carry 15 more tonnes of freight. Boeing will buy eight cargo versions of the 747-8 from Nippon Cargo Airlines Co., based in Japan and ten aircrafts from Cargolux Airlines International SA, based in Luxembourg.

Vodafone a la Humpty Dumpty?

One of the world's leading mobile telecommunications companies, Vodafone Group Plc. announced projections of slower sales and profit growth for 2006 (consequently, its shares stumbled by 10% in mid-November). The European telecom behemoth at 10 tributed the fall to increased competition and regulation in its core European markets and additional investments in its ailing Japanese division. The plummeting of shares wiped out almost $11.67 billion off the value of the Britain-based company. The company added around 6 million new customers in the quarter ending September 2005, increasing its worldwide customer base to a massive 171 million by the end of September 2005.

Oracle closer to take Siebel into its fold

Oracle, the world's largest enterprise software company has announced that anti-trust regulators in the United States have cleared its $5.8 billion acquisition of Siebel Systems, the worldwide leader in customer-facing solutions. The approval by the US Department of Justice will bring Oracle closer to acquiring Siebel, expected to close in the first quarter of next year. The takeover will make Oracle one of the leading providers of customer relationship management software. The acquisition still awaits regulatory clearance from the European Commission. Oracle also announced two smaller acquisitions - Thor Technologies, a cross-platform provisioning solutions provider, and OctetString, a virtual directory software provider.

Saint-Gobain cuts through BPB

Saint-Gobain, the France-based producer, processor and distributor of glass, ceramics, plastics, cast iron and other building materials, is buying UK-based BPB Plc., the world's largest plasterboard maker. The deal, worth $6.7 billion in cash, is expected to generate $117 million in cost savings over the next two years for Saint-Gobain, the world's biggest building materials supplier. Saint-Gobain agreed to pay 775 pence per BPB share, up from its previous offer of 720 pence. After the announcement, Saint-Gobain shares surged up 3.06% and BPB shares closed up 3.78%. Last month, the company had cut its operating profit forecast for the year, citing high energy and transport costs.

'Revolution' to the rescue of Nintendo

Japanese gaming company Nintendo Co. reported a 21% drop in net profits to $308 billion in the first half of the current financial year, end¬ing September 30. Sluggish sales of its GameCube console have resulted in a 51% plunge in operating profits; and its yearly sales targets have been cut to 2.4 million units. The world's biggest handheld video game manufacturer has created games featuring iconic characters like Pokemon, Mario Brothers and Donkey Kong. The Kyoto-based video game maker is now banking on its next generation console Revolution to compete with Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's Playstation 3.

The world's largest automaker, General Motors Corp. has announced 30,000 job cuts and is closing down twelve of its North American operations, as a part of a new cost cutting drive. Interestingly, the job cuts are 20% more than what chief executive Rick Wagoner had signaled earlier in June this year. Ford Motor Co., too, is the latest to join the job pruning bandwagon, as chief executive Bill Ford announced a significant 10% job cut in Ford's North American white collar jobs. The move comes after the company earlier announced plans to cut 2,750 white-collar jobs in North America this year.

Arcelor's arsenal against Dofasco

Arcelor SA, the second largest steelmaker in the world has launched an all-cash, $3.7 billion, hostile bid to take over Canadian largest steel manufacturer, Dofasco Inc. The acquisition bid by Luxembourg-based Arcelor is expected to help it gain a stronger foothold against its biggest competitor, Mittal Steel. Arcelor was formed after a merger between three steel makers, Arbed (Luxembourg-based), Usinor (France-based) and Aceralia (Spain-based) in 2002. The acquisition offer is open for 60 days from the formal offer date, and is subject to two-third of Dofasco shares.

Aussie bank parks itself in NY

Australia's largest investment bank, Macquarie Bank Limited, has led a consortium of investors to acquire a New York-based car parking company. Macquarie Bank, along with a group of industry superannuation funds (including MTAA Superannuation Fund, Australian Retirement Fund, Westscheme and Statewide Superannuation Trust), will acquire Icon Parking Systems, for a consideration of $634 million. However, Macquarie, the world's biggest private manager of infrastructure assets, will pay a cash amount of $124.5 million for its 52.5% stake in the car parking company. The Sydney-based bank plans to eventually sell the 58-year-old company (which operates 192 parking lots, mainly in Manhattan) in an initial public offering, as a Macquarie-managed fund next year.

GCap Media out of tune

UK's largest commercial radio company, GCap Media has announced 'extremely disappointing' half yearly sales for the period ending September 2005, even as it announced plans to re-launch Capital Radio. Operating profit for the six month period fell 27% to $25.36 million and revenues took an 11% beating at $192.46 million. With a view to bring the company back to the growth platform, GCap has now announced measures to sell nine analogue stations in the south-west, north-west and north-Wales and plans to revitalize Capital, its flagship station. GCap has been formed from the merger between Capital and GWR Radio.

Michael Rigas - It's all in the family!

Michael Rigas, former chief operating officer at Adelphia Communications Corp. (the fifth-largest cable-television company in the United States), has pleaded guilty of falsifying records at the company. Rigas' father, John Rigas (Adelphia founder and former chief executive) was earlier sentenced to fifteen years in jail in July '05. Adelphia, a cable TV company that has over 5 million customers in 31 US states and Puerto Rico, filed for bankruptcy in June 2002, after disclosing $2.3 billion in off-balance-sheet debt. Adelphia's cable assets are being bought by Comcast and Time Warner Cable.

Harley-Davidson on turbulent tarmac

Milwaukee-based motorcycle company, Harley-Davidson Inc. has voluntarily issued a safety recall on its 2006 model Dyna-series motorcycles, manufactured between June 9 and October 19 this year. The recall is due to a faulty transmission indicator that affects about 13,400 motorcycles. The company estimates total recall costs to be less than $5 million. However, the recalls are not likely to affect Harley-Davidson's previously announced wholesale shipment target of 329,000 units for this year.

'Made in India' Motorola

In an unprecedented move, Motorola Inc. will now assemble its best selling Motorola C115 mobile hand-set in India, which will be available by mid-December this year. This is the stepping stone of a multi-phase manufacturing strategy followed by Motorola in India, even as it is trying to break the mindset of Indian mobile phone users towards Nokia phones. The US-based handset maker has also launched its latest ultra-sleek and ultra-chic Motorola L6 mobile handset in India, the first market in the world where it has been launched. Earlier, Motorola entered into a strategic partnership with Bharti TeleTech Limited (India's largest manufacturer of fixed line phones) to increase sales in the Indian market.

(End of Deepti Sharma & Vareen Gadhoke column)