Thai Beverage Public Co (ThaiBev) has bought a 76 per cent stake in Thailand restaurant chain Spice of Asia for THB114.5 million (US$3.4 million).
Funding for the acquisition will come from internal resources, says the F&B giant.
Spice of Asia has 10 restaurants under four brands – Cafe Chilli, Chilli Thai Restaurant, Eat Pot and Pot Ministry, serving Thai food and hotpot concepts. The acquired stake will be held by ThaiBev subsidiary Food of Asia.
State-affiliated Cool Japan Fund says it will launch comprehensive Japanese food outlets overseas featuring restaurants, shops and cultural experiences.
Its first such outlet will be in London early next year through a JV, Ichiba UK, with Japan Centre Group, a Japanese-run company based in the British capital. Cool Japan Fund will invest up to £3 million (US$3.9 million) for the establishment of the outlet.
It will be called Ichiba, modelled after Italian food marketplace Eataly, and will include a food zone offering Japanese cuisines, a retail zone for groceries and other products from all over Japan, and Japanese cooking demonstrations.
Japan Centre Group, established in 1976, runs two Japanese grocery stores and 11 restaurants.
Similar outlets are planned for other major European cities, including Milan and Paris, says Cool Japan Fund.
Japan’s government hopes to boost agricultural exports by releasing information about Japanese food culture abroad and supporting moves to sell Japanese specialties in overseas markets.
Oppo Mobiles India has been granted approval to open single-brand retail stores, meaning the Chinese smartphone maker can now sell directly to consumers in addition to its wholesale business.
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board announced the approval on its website, and has also approved luxury goods retailer Louis Vuitton’s application to open its own stores in India.
India allows foreign firms to sell directly to consumers through the “single-brand retail” system, but companies need to source 30 per cent of the products locally. India moved to partially relax those conditions last year, exempting foreign retailers for three years from the 30 per cent local-sourcing rule.
AirAsia Indonesia inaugurated its new flight route from Bali to Kolkata in India on Oct. 4.
The service offers four flights a day departing from I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali and arrives at Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
Upon landing, the maiden flight, which used an Airbus A320-200 airplane, was greeted with a water canon at the airport in Bali.
According to AirAsia Group CEO for Indonesia Dendy Kurniawan, the ticket sales for this route was first made available on Aug. 17 in accordance to the 72nd anniversary celebration of Indonesia’s Independence Day.
“We want to emphasize that this expansion is only possible due to the hard work of the Transportation Ministry. We are currently in the first category of the FAA safety rank and we really appreciate it,” said Dendy.
Following the launch of the new service, AirAsia now offers two routes to India as it previously launched Bali – Mumbai flight in May.
This also marks the fourth international route from AirAsia Indonesia after Bali – Narita, Bali – Mumbai and Jakarta – Macau.
The travel time between Bali from Kolkata is 7.5 hours including a short transit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
India has the second highest growth percentage for the number of tourists to Indonesia with 27 percent per year, right behind China with 45 percent per year.
Tesco Asia sales plummeted in the last half year – but profit soared by nearly a quarter.
The UK headquartered supermarket operator, which operates Tesco Lotus in Thailand and Tesco in Malaysia – said in its trading statement that Asian operating profit before exceptional items was £141 million, up 24.8 per cent at constant exchange rates and 39.6 per cent at actual rates.
“This improvement has been driven by refocusing on our core retail offer and significantly
reducing the level of short-term promotional coupon activity. Furthermore, we have continued to focus on reducing our cost base as part of the group’s overall cost savings program and to help offset inflationary cost increases in the region.”
Overall Tesco Asia sales fell by 6 per cent at constant exchange rates, with like-for-like sales falling 8.3 per cent.
“The sales performance in Asia reflects our decision to withdraw from bulk selling activities in Thailand at the start of the financial year. Before this impact, underlying like-for-like sales in the region were down circa 2 per cent, largely as the result of a reduction in the level of short-term promotional couponing activity and the deflationary impact of lowering our food prices for customers. New store openings contributed 2.3 per cent to sales growth in Asia,” the company said.
“Strong progress”
Tesco CEO Dave Lewis hailed “strong progress” for the group as it reported an eightfold rise in overall first-half profits to £562 million and resumed dividend payments after a three-year hiatus.
“Our offer is more competitive and more customers are shopping at Tesco. Today’s announcement that we are resuming our dividend reflects our confidence that we can build on our strong performance to date,” he said.
“Market conditions have been challenging with inflationary pressure being felt throughout the half, but we have worked hard with our supplier partners to minimise price increases for customers.
“Our overall sales inflation in the half was around 1 per cent less than the rest of the market, helping us become even more competitive.”
However some analysts were a little more cautious in their assessments, suggesting the retail will soon have to raise its prices in the UK.
Molly Johnson-Jones, senior retail analyst with GlobalData, said Tesco UK could not afford to maintain the 1 per cent inflation gap with its rivals and simultaneously reach its ambitious 3.5 – 4 per cent margin target and £1.5 billion cost savings goal by the 2020 year.
“Tesco’s ability to maintain its price competitiveness will be challenged by cost inflation, which will continue through to 2019, and shelf-edge inflation, which will reach a peak of 2.9 per cent in the first half of 2019. Using our price tracker, we have seen that Tesco raised its prices circa 2 per cent during the first half, and we estimate that they are, therefore, absorbing about 1 per cent of cost inflation. At the moment, this ability to absorb cost inflation comes from the volume benefits that it has gained from suppliers.
“We predict that Tesco’s prices will begin to increase towards 2019 as volume benefits from its supplier negotiations start to dissipate.”
Myer has become the first Aussie retailer to launch Android Pay and Apple Pay on a Visa card, in a move that the department store retailer says accelerates its commitment towards digital.
Launching this month, the card is issued by Macquarie Bank and supplied by Visa payment technology. It allows shoppers to access smart phone digital wallets and designed to make it easier to track and manage spending through the Myer credit card app.
The new card is also now the only way for customers to earn Myer one shopping credits on eligible credit card purchases.
“The card will provide our customers with an easier way to pay and reward them for their loyalty,” said Richard Umbers, Myer CEO and managing director.
“We are delighted with our partnership with Macquarie and Visa which will further accelerate the growth of Myer’s digital capability.”
The head of Macquarie’s Banking and Financial Services Group, Greg Ward, said the finance firm had offered credit cards directly and through white label arrangements for “many years” and that the Myer partnership was the “latest step in supporting innovative digital banking solutions for Australians.”
Stephen Karpin, Visa’s group country manager for ANZ and the South Pacific, said digital technology is driving “new and imaginative commerce experiences” within retail, and that “how people pay is at the heart of these experiences.”
It’s the second tech-related launch embarked on by Myer in recent weeks, after the department store retailer dipped its toes into radio frequency identification technology, with a six to eight week trial.
Australia’s first Jaguar Land Rover retail experience store has opened at Westfield Bondi Junction last week.
The new-look premium retail experience store covers 290sqm over two floors and showcases display vehicles housed in two state-of-the-art digital vehicle configuration spaces.
Electronic displays allow customers to “build” their cars on-screen, changing and comparing interior and exterior colours, adding options and also try different wheels and trims to create unique vehicles.
The auto firm said the space offers a different experience to traditional automotive retail outlets, and is staffed by dedicated product experts.
The location will offer a full range of Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles on-site at the shopping centre for immediate test drives.
Jaguar Land Rover Australia’s managing director, Matthew Wiesner, said the new retail experience store’s location puts it right in the heart of one of Sydney’s most upbeat areas.
“We are very excited to see the first Jaguar Land Rover premium retail experience store in Australia and we are extremely pleased to have worked with our partner Inchcape to bring it to fruition, he said.
“The location at Westfield Bondi Junction illustrates how changing market trends and buyer demands are bringing the premium retail experiences to shopfront locations.”
Designed by Centric Architects and built by Reitsma Constructions, the store also carries a complete range of quality, branded merchandise from clothing and accessories to luggage and die-cast models, office items, toys, tees and back packs.
“This fantastic new facility is in line with our own approach to delivering new, customer-centric ways of experiencing the brands, sophisticated environment that is totally focussed on consumer needs and convenience,” said Nick Senior, CEO of automtive supplier, Inchcape.
To promote the alcoholic drinks being sold on its platform, Amazon Japan will launch a promotional pop-up bar in Tokyo.
In Ginza, the 78-seat Amazon Bar will run for 10 days from October 20, serving cocktails, sake and wine.
The online retail giant says some products will be exclusive, and the bar will not have a menu but recommend drinks to customers. It is the company’s first such venture, its previous foray into brick and mortar being bookstores.
Japan is one of Amazon’s four largest markets and is among the world’s biggest alcohol markets. Beer drinking is fading there, with wine showing the biggest increase in popularity over the past decade, followed by whiskey. The number of drinkers has risen by more than 55 and 34 per cent respectively, according to Japan’s National Tax Agency.
Permata Bank has become the first domestic bank in Indonesia to introduce voice biometrics as part of its customer authentication protocol, using technology from customer experience company NICE.
NICE Real-Time Authentication (RTA), together with its process automation solution, will allow the financial institution to conduct secure and seamless voice authentication, improving customer service.
Permata Bank is a veteran NICE customer, already benefiting from its Quality and Workforce Management solutions, as well as real-time back office applications. More recently, the bank sought new ways to improve fraud prevention and increase the efficiency of its contact center, turning to NICE to address these challenges.
NICE’s Real-Time Authentication (RTA) solution creates and utilizes one voice print for each caller to deliver quick and efficient customer service across all voice channels, with no customer effort required.
Authentication takes place within the first few seconds of the call, and customers’ issues are resolved during the natural flow of conversation. This automated, rapid and transparent process will help Permata Bank deliver better service while improving the accuracy of its fraud prevention program.
“Permata Bank’s introduction of voice biometrics in the local banking industry positions us as a leader in financial services innovation throughout Indonesia,” Permata Bank director of consumer banking Bianto Surodjo said.
“This is largely thanks to NICE’s unique Fluent engine capability, which provides omnichannel authentication with a single voiceprint, which is a major advantage over competing solutions in the market.”
Marken has acquired Touchdown International Ltd, a privately held specialty logistics company in Taiwan, for an undisclosed sum. Touchdown is dedicated to the life sciences industry and complements Marken’s strategy to continue expanding in the Asia Pacific region.
Touchdown was founded in 2013 as a specialty courier with specific expertise in clinical trials logistics. In 2015, Marken entered into an exclusive sales and agency contract with Touchdown, which allowed Marken to quickly establish its brand with local pharmaceutical and life science clients. With a dedicated staff and fleet of vehicles, Touchdown provides courier services across Taiwan for biological samples, clinical trial drug shipments, API-, and other clinical trial materials. The acquisition enables Marken to expand its service offerings in Taiwan by leveraging both Marken’s and UPS’ global transportation networks.
With the acquisition of Touchdown, Marken now has its own operational presence in Taiwan and adds its 46th global location to a continually expanding network of logistics sites, depots and regional offices. The new legal entity will be named Marken Taiwan Ltd. with its headquarters in Taipei.
Mike Wu, the founder and CEO of Touchdown, will remain with Marken as the new general manager in Taiwan. Mike commented, “We have worked hard to establish Marken’s brand locally in Taiwan. We respect Marken’s approach to clinical trial logistics and are proud to introduce their services to our local life science clients. We are very much looking forward to becoming part of the Marken family.”
Michael Culme-Seymour, VP APAC for Marken stated, “Asia continues to be a vital part of Marken’s strategic growth plans. With the acquisition of Touchdown, we now have a solid footprint in Taiwan, whose pharma market is expected to grow to US$84 billion by 2020. We can now serve our clients in Taiwan with the depth and breadth of our global services.”
French carmaker Renault expects a first-mover advantage in electric cars and a wider range of vehicles for emerging markets to help it deliver a 44 percent sales increase by 2022.
Electric cars are “turning into a significant contributor to our performance while other automakers are just starting the journey”, Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said on Friday.
Renault’s mid-term plan shows it growing faster than alliance partner Nissan (7201.T), which it trails in China, due to recent investments in Iran and India and a Russian rebound.
While taking a lead in electric vehicles had come at the expense of profitability, Ghosn expects to turn this around with the launch of eight new battery-powered models and 12 hybrids.
“Our vision now is a profitable core business,” he said. Renault and Daimler’s (DAIGn.DE) Smart are likely to extend their small-car cooperation into electric models, he added.
Renault plans to increase annual sales to 5 million vehicles by 2022 from 3.47 million last year while also aiming for a 7 percent operating profit margin and 70 billion euros ($82 billion) in revenue, goals that were announced in February.
Renault said on Friday that its margin would remain above 5 percent in the intervening years, as it pursues 4.2 billion euros in cumulative productivity gains and invests 18 billion euros in research and development.
The company also outlined a new dividend policy, promising to increase shareholder payouts to 15 percent of earnings by 2022, from 7 percent last year.
In addition, it will continue to pass through its own Nissan and Daimler dividends to Renault shareholders. Renault owns 43.4 percent of its Japanese alliance partner and 3.1 percent of the Mercedes-Benz maker.
Renault’s share price was up 1.5 percent at 86.86 euros at 1100 GMT and the price might be supported in the coming weeks by “management’s increased confidence” over its mid-term goals, Evercore ISI analyst Arndt Ellinghorst said.
“This is good news in a world where most people fear earnings, cash flow and profitability will fall due to disruption,” Ellinghorst said.
LOW-COST RANGE
The market in China, where Renault only began manufacturing last year, is expected to account for half a million sales by 2022.
Renault’s budget car line-up, starting with the Dacia Logan in 2004, has underpinned the push into emerging markets and spawned a second car platform underpinning the Kwid mini-SUV, which has more than doubled the group’s sales in India.
Combined sales of the “Global Access” low-cost cars are seen expanding 54 percent to reach 2 million vehicles, or 40 percent of the group total. An expanded utility van range is also expected to contribute to the emerging-markets surge.
Europe’s share of Renault vehicle deliveries would shrink to 36 percent from 52 percent under the plan, with sales in the home region remaining broadly flat.
Pure electric cars may rise to about 5 percent of global sales, Ghosn said, adding that the forecast was “probably conservative” and almost certainly wrong.
Renault has been transformed since 2005 when he took over from a carmaker dependent on French sales of Megane compacts into a “resilient, multi-polar global company”, Ghosn said.
Ghosn, who also heads the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, has not yet indicated whether he will seek to renew his contract as Renault’s CEO, which expires next year.
Singtel has signed on as the exclusive telco partner in Singapore for Google’s planned Pixel 2 XL smartphone.
The operator will become the first in Southeast Asia to launch the device for customers when it is launched on November 15, Singtel said.
The Cat 11 LTE compatible Pixel 2 XL will support data speeds of up to 500Mbps island-wide using Singtel’s LTE-Advanced network. It will also support a localized version of the Google Assistant virtual assistant service, which will be launched soon for use with Singaporean English.
The device is now available for pre-order on Singtel’s website.
“We’re excited to bring the Pixel 2 XL to Singapore. It is a device that many Android fans here have been eagerly waiting for, and we are sure they will be amazed by its innovative features,” Singtel CEO consumer Singapore Yuen Kuan Moon said.
“With our extensive 4G network speeds and new Combo plans, coupled with our unlimited data options, customers will enjoy the optimal Google Pixel 2 XL experience.”
Convenience store chain 7-Eleven Thailand is not breaking the law by offering beer on tap as long as it is poured by cashiers rather than customers, and beer brand names or logos are not visible.
Debate is raging after 7-Eleven outlets on Bangkok’s Yaowarat Road in Chinatown introduced a draught beer service, but an official says a beer dispenser worked by store staff members is fully within the law.
Deputy-director Dr Asadang Ruayajin of the Department of Disease Control (DDC), which works under the umbrella of the Public Health Ministry, says an inspection of the stores in question – after receiving a petition to do so – shows the dispensing machines have labels attached to obscure the beer brands’ logos, which complies with the Alcohol Control Act.
The department has been watching about 10 stores but has not found any transgressions.
Coconuts Bangkok offers a backstory to the protest, following a video of draft beer being poured from a 7-Eleven automatic machine went viral on the Facebook page Thai Smile.
Thai netizens got just a little too excited about the new Leo beer-pouring machine,” it reports. But when an official visited the store the beer machine was covered with a big white cloth hiding the beer logo. Also, customers need to pay at the cashier where IDs can be checked.
NEC has completed a demonstration in India involving use of renewable energy management technology at telecoms tower sites with unstable power supplies.
The project incorporated solar power photovoltaic generation systems and lithium-ion rechargeable battery systems to reduce reliance on diesel generators as backup power sources.
Indian tower companies are under pressure to reduce fuel consumption by diesel generators due to cost reduction requirements and the conditions outlined in the Indian government’s Green Telecom policy.
The demonstration project was organized by the Indian government in collaboration with its Japanese counterpart and overseen by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). NEC was selected to implement the project in 2014.
“NEC is focused on providing solutions for society that are friendly to people and the Earth,” NEC general manager for ESS Michihiro Ezawa said.
“With approximately 400,000 telecom tower sites throughout India, there is a great deal of promise for these technologies to significantly reduce the impact on our environment, while improving business conditions. Moving forward, we aim to proceed rapidly with the verification of business models that enable effective commercialization of these technologies.”
He said that through its involvement in the project NEC has demonstrated reductions in diesel fuel consumption, energy costs, CO2 emissions and total costs of ownership, as well as the safety of lithium-ion batteries and the reliability of AI-powered prediction technologies in estimating power failures and recovery times.
Revolut has raised a $66 million Series B round with Index Ventures leading the round, and existing investors Balderton Capital and Ribbit Capital also participating. The startup will also run another $5 million crowdfunding campaign in a few weeks. The company has raised $83 million in total.
Revolut started as a mobile app that lets you send and receive money in multiple currencies. Over time, the company has added a ton of financial services, turning it into a credible alternative to a regular bank account.
When you sign up, you can create virtual cards and receive a good old plastic MasterCard. You can top up your account using another card or a bank transfer. You can exchange your money in 16 different currencies in order to send it or spend it without any fee up to £5,000/€5,000 per month.
700,000 people have signed up so far. That’s why users are also using Revolut to split bills and instantly send money. When you create an account, you now also get an IBAN.
More recently, Revolut introduced a credit feature for U.K. users and business accounts. The startup even plans to add cryptocurrencies, stocks and bonds soon. You’ll also be able to purchase travel insurance from the app. With today’s funding round, the company also plans to expand to new countries in Asia and North America.
It’s sometimes hard to understand where Revolut is heading as the company is launching so many different products and currencies at once. It looks like the company doesn’t want to restrict itself. As long as it’s a financial or insurance product, Revolut wants to have it. And with so much more money in the bank account, the startup is definitely not going to stop just yet.