Author: Mei Ling Tan

aVinco Level Up Your Online Baccarat Games Skills With This Easy Guide In 2021
Perhaps you still do not know this wonderful card game, very similar to blackjack, which is especially famous in Latin America. We can enjoy it in the European continent, where it is a success. Online baccarat is a game between a player and the dealer, and users must bet on who will win the card game if the player, the dealer or the result will be a draw.

In online baccarat table games, the best card is 9 and then 8. A hand of two nines is known as ‘natural’, as are two eights. The winner will be the one that is closest to the value 9, adding the total of their cards, and if we have guessed the winner or the tie in case of a link, we will win our bet that is paid at 1: 1. Below we leave you a more detailed explanation of the rules and the value of the cards.

How does online baccarat work?

Each online baccarat room sets a minimum bet amount, which, in each game, we will have to respect by playing the Player Win, Bank Win or Draw.

Each card’s value is its face value; that is, the 2 is worth 2, the 4 is worth 4 and so on all except the figures that are worth all 10 and the Ace that counts 0.

Basic rules

Both the player and the Bank have rules and conditions to follow during the game.

The player is obliged to stand if his cards total 5, 6, 8 or 9.

However, the Bank:
- It is forbidden to draw a third card if the player does not do so.
- If your cards total 8, you cannot draw any more cards.
- If his cards’ total value is 4, he can draw a third if the third that the player has previously drawn is a 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7.
- If his cards’ total value is 5, he can draw a third if the player’s is 4, 5, 6 or 7.
- If his cards’ total value is 6, he can draw a third if the player’s is a 6 or a 7.
- If the total value of her cards is 7, she is forced to stand.
Bets and strategies in online baccarat

As we have said, victories in online baccarat are paid 1: 1; that is, if we bet € 20 on a game and win, we will receive another 20 euros of benefit.

Bet on Player

The first option is to bet on the player, and we will come out with profits if the player’s cards are finally closer to the number 9 than those of the Bank. The advantage of the online casino in question over us bettors, in the case of betting on the player, is 1.36%.

Remember that the player is only a participant in the game and does not refer to us, the bettors. The player will play his cards following the rules named above.

Bet on the Bank

The second option is to bet that the Banker wins the Baccarat game. With this bet, the casino has an advantage of 1.06%, and this is the reason why many users say that it is more likely to win by betting on the Banker. The probability is indeed higher, and that is why for each prize, if we have bet on the Bank, the casino will take a 5% commission.

Bet on Tie

And finally, we can also bet on the tie, something much less likely, which is why it pays better, precisely 8 or 9 to 1, depending on the house. The casino advantage on this bet amounts to 14.4%.

Tips and strategies

To play and win baccarat, you do not need to be a full-time strategist, as there are few game options with only two outcomes.
1. You have three betting possibilities: the player, the house and the tie. Betting last is not the best, as the house edge will rise. Thus, your chances of winning the other two bets will be higher.
2. According to your intuition, you can play baccarat online, taking into account the rounds’ latest results and betting evenly only on the player or the dealer. Or alternate between one bet and another.
3. Always bet on the dealer until you lose. Only then should you change your bet to the player’s.
4. Bet on a trend, for example, 4 times in a row on the dealer round and then switch to the other hand if you have won.
Why play baccarat online?

Online baccarat is a new, dynamic, and exciting game. That is why it is going viral among casino players across Europe.

Play from home

Turn on your laptop, tablet or smartphone, open the default browser or download your favorite casino application and start enjoying wherever you are!

Receive online baccarat bonuses

And of course, enjoy and take advantage of the bonuses for online baccarat, reduce your risk and increase your chances.

In fact, you can get started right now by clicking on the link of the casino you’ve already had a look at and creating your gaming account, then make a deposit and play with the Welcome Bonus at the best online casinos.

Variants of online baccarat

Due to the success that online baccarat has had among casino players, different variants and new games derived from this exciting board game have emerged.

Live Dragon Tiger

Perhaps the Live Dragon Tiger is the best known, an authentic Game Show very fast and set in incredible conditions. It is a new release from Evolution Gaming, and you will find it in all live casinos.

It is an Online Baccarat in which we have to bet on whether the Dragon or the Tiger wins to win the game.

Speed Baccarat

Speed Baccarat is a fascinating modality to win real money fast. The waiting time is reduced and a lightning game is created.

Baccarat Squeeze

Baccarat Squeeze is a new live table game with a small change that adds even more excitement to the game. During each play, the game presenter and dealer will gradually lift the cards from the Bank, little by little, to intuit the final value.

Is online baccarat legal

Online casinos like 888 casino are fully regulated by the government of all the territories of the globe and especially managed by an official team. Therefore, users only play legal casinos on the Internet. Those without a license simply do not reach the public, which is great for players.

Are online baccarat games regulated?

Consequently, online baccarat games are regulated. Since they are offered on legal and licensed casino platforms, we can enjoy baccarat without limits.

Can you play baccarat online for free?

It is possible to play baccarat online for free as long as it is Virtual Baccarat. However, baccarat with a live dealer is usually difficult to play for free since they live table games and are played directly with real money baccarat games.
February 16, 2021
AirAsia offers cheap flights to Boracay, Bohol, Palawan

AirAsia is offering discounted one-way flights to several destinations in the Philippines. Cebu to Davao flights can be availed for as low as P98, while Manila flights to Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Kalibo, and Tacloban can be booked for only P288.

For as low as P317, travelers from Manila can book flights to Caticlan (Boracay), Bohol, Davao, Iloilo, General Santos and Puerto Princesa.

February 16, 2021
AirAsia Food to spread its wings to Johor and Penang next month
Almost a year since its introduction in the Klang Valley area, AirAsia food is now set to spread its wings to other major cities in the country starting with Johor and Penang next month.

AirAsia Bhd chief executive officer Riad Asmat said the business was recording very positive growth, especially during the return of Conditional Movement Control Order between October to December 2020, and the trajectory remained promising into 2021.

He said under its expansion plan, the company had started an entrepreneurial program to recruit more talents to grow AirAsia food together in the upcoming potential markets, as well as securing more merchants under its umbrella”

People are ready and looking for more (food delivery services) options right now and our offerings at AirAsia food, be it from the customer and merchant’s perspective, can accommodate their needs within the market,” he told Bernama in an interview recently.

Riad named Ipoh, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Miri, and Kota Bharu as the next potential markets.

As for the international market, he said the company aimed to mark its presence in Singapore next month, and other markets such as Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand soon.

Launched during the Movement Control Order (MCO) in May 2020, AirAsia food is a seamless, fuss-free, and affordable food delivery platform for merchants as it runs on a flat-rate model that is equivalent to only a 10 percent commission rate.

He said at present, it has the lowest commission rate in the market as other platforms’ commission fees range between 15 percent and 30 percent, and AirAsia food is the only platform that offers a flat rate.

Merchants can also easily control their menu and prices and receive extended delivery coverage of up to 60 kilometers compared to a 15-kilometer coverage by other food ordering platforms.

Riad said although there are service providers that have been in the market much longer, AirAsia food believes that the market is big enough for one more alternative with the advantages it can bring to the table.

He said AirAsia food provides merchants with a competitive offering, which directly and indirectly can help them reap a greater return in terms of profitability and low cost, which in turn benefits their customers.

As one of the businesses under the airasia.com Asean super app, AirAsia food is supported by airasia.com’s ecosystem of over 60 million users who are able to earn and pay with their BIG Points, he said.

“The advantages of merchants joining us will be on the basis of the strong structure, including from the technology and client perspectives. A merchant now will get a potential exposure of up to 60 million clients within our ecosystem,” he said.

On prospects, Riad said sales picked up during the lockdowns but the business would remain relevant in the future after vaccines are made available, as technology helps people to meet their needs in a very convenient way.

“If you give the right products that people want and keep enhancing the business with innovation, surely you can sustain the business for a long period.

“Our growth at AirAsia food does not only help local food businesses, but also has a spillover effect in creating more job opportunities,” he said.

To-date, AirAsia food employs more than 1,500 teleporters (riders) offering services to 1,200 restaurants around the Klang Valley
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February 15, 2021
ApplePay will now allow users to make purchases using Bitcoin

Bitcoin is still the most famous cryptocurrency. And at Friday’s close, each Bitcoin was valued at close to $48,000, more than double the valuation of the digital currency about a year ago. Not only can you buy more with your Bitcoins, but you can also find it easier to spend thanks to the Apple Pay mobile payment service. The BitPay wallet app’s Prepaid Mastercard can be added to the Apple Wallet and Apple Pay can help Bitcoin owners spend the cryptocurrency online, through apps or in a store.

The BitPay wallet app not only works with Bitcoin, but will also work with Ether, Bitcoin Cash and as well as the dollar-pegged stable coins USD Coin, Gemini Dollar, Paxos Standard and Binance USD. The stable coins are based on a 1:1 ratio with the U.S. Dollar. For every Gemini Dollar in circulation, there is a corresponding U.S. Dollar held by the State Street Bank and Trust Company.

There are plans in the work to add support for the BitPay Wallet by the end of next month with other mobile payment services Google Pay and Samsung Pay. This will allow Android users to more easily spend Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies including the aforementioned names that are pegged to the U.S. Dollar.

To add your BitPaycard to Apple Wallet, you need to have the latest version of the BitPay app. The latter, which can help you securely store, spend, and manage Bitcoin, can be installed from the App Store and the Google Play Store. BitPay CEO Stephen Pair (both of him) said, “We have thousands of BitPay Wallet app customers using the BitPay Card. Adding Apple Pay and soon Google and Samsung Pay makes it easy and convenient to use the BitPay Card in more places.”

Apple should do even more when it comes to digital currencies; should Apple add a cryptocurrency exchange it could generate over $40 billion. RBC analyst Mitch Steves believes that this would allow Apple’s shares to rise 25%. RBC noted that “Square takes in $1.6 billion a quarter through bitcoin-trading revenue from its roughly 30 million active users. Apple has an install base of about 1.5 billion people, signaling that it could make up to $40 billion a year from a Wallet-based crypto exchange.” The report adds that “if Apple went down this path, the USA would likely acquire the most crypto assets from a global perspective. If the USA owns the most crypto assets (be it Bitcoin or other assets), it would not make logical sense in our view to ban it. In addition, with Apple’s secure and world-class software, the USA would be able to have confidence in user information and balances if needed in the future.”

Apple’s big move comes right after Tesla CEO Elon Musk showed interest in cryptocurrency Dogecoin. Tesla says that it soon will accept Bitcoins as payment toward the purchase of a Tesla vehicle. RBC’s Steves notes that the combination of Apple’s interest in Bitcoin and Apple’s popularity in the tech world can help the U.S. become the technological leader in cryptocurrencies for as long as the next 20 years.

Thanks to the Blockchain technology, the method used to keep track of Bitcoin transactions, using the cryptocurrency is secure. Data on transactions is kept inside blocks and when a block is full, it is chained to the previous one. If someone wants to steal Bitcoin and hacks into the Blockchain to alter the information in one the blocks, it can’t be done without all members of the Blockchain spotting the changes. There are smartphones that can store and verify cryptocurrency transactions such as the HTC Exodus 1s.
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- Vietnam’s Vingroup announces new retail venture in electronics
February 15, 2021

Huawei founder and CEO says Apple makes the best 5G phones

Huawei is not the company it was a couple of years ago when it was on its way to becoming the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer. Restrictions placed on the firm by the U.S. forced Huawei to sell its Honor sub-brand in order to get Honor out from under the thumb of the U.S. The manufacturer that could have been number one this year is more likely to be number seven by the end of the year.

Huawei is aware that in one major regard, it is much closer to being like Apple than it is to be like other Android manufacturers in its class such as Samsung and arguably Google. Like Apple, Huawei has more control over both the hardware and software used on its phones. The head of Huawei’s U.K. consumer business told Forbes last year that “we are one of only two companies globally that can have this hardware and software solution for our own ecosystem… Only Huawei and Apple can do this—it’s our long-term strategy.”

A couple of years ago, Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei admitted that he uses an iPhone and even buys them for his family. Ren said in 2019, “iPhone has a good ecosystem and when my family are abroad, I still buy them iPhones, so one can’t narrowly think the love for Huawei should mean loving Huawei phones.” That same year, the executive said,”Apple is the world’s leading company… Apple is my teacher; it is advancing in front of us.” When Ren’s daughter, Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, was arrested in 2018 under a U.S. warrant for fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud, she had in her possession a MacBook, an iPad, and an iPhone.

Zhengfei says that the 5G iPhone 12 series features the best 5G enabled handsets currently available. He calls them “the world’s best” 5G phones and has talked up the quality of the technology found in the 2020 iPhone lineup. He has also used Apple’s 5G iPhone models as a way to promote the quality of Huawei’s 5G networking equipment; Huawei remains the world’s largest supplier of networking equipment. “We support the progress made by Apple’s iPhone 12,” Ren said, pointing out that the device “has been able to achieve download speeds of 1.82 Gbps, making it the best in the world… We helped build the best 5G networks in many cities around the world: Berlin, Munich, Madrid, Zurich, Geneva, Amsterdam, Vienna, Barcelona, Seoul, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Riyadh… Our networks in Europe top global network performance tests.” As the company started just last week, “Huawei has undertaken hundreds of 5G networks worldwide. According to the results of 5G network experience test in global major cities conducted by many third-party organizations around the world, in cities such as Seoul, Amsterdam, Madrid, Zurich, Hong Kong, and Riyadh, Huawei’s contracted operators ranked number one in 5G network experience.”

Ren also complimented Apple’s dominance of the high-end premium phone sector and said that Huawei’s networking equipment is good for iPhone users. Ren commented that “Many high-end device users in Europe use iPhones, and the way those phones operate on our networks in Europe actually is a sign we are also doing well. The fact high-end users can use the iPhone 12 to its fullest effect on our 5G networks in Europe is a testament to the quality of our networks. This is helping balance opinions towards Huawei in Europe.” Zhengfei pointed out last year that “there are only two big players with ecosystems,” he said, “Apple and Google. It will not be a problem to have a third one. In any industry, three top players is reasonable.” Huawei has since added its own ecosystem and we could see the company’s own HarmonyOS debut on a smartphone with the upcoming P50 line.

February 15, 2021

AirAsia’s private placement will prove its capabilities to raise funds

Airasia Group Bhd’s private placement exercise will prove the airline’s capabilities to raise funds among the investors if it is done within the stipulated timeline, MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd Research (MIDF Research) said.

The research house added that this will bring a sigh of relief to the cash-strapped company.

“If the private placement is completed within the stipulated timeline, it will prove that there are still lingering confidence remaining in the group among the investors, allowing it to raise funds despite its current predicament.

“However, we would like to stress that this exercise only serves as a stopgap measure to partially address the group’s financial concerns,” it said in a recent report.

MIDF Research cited AirAsia’s management had previously indicated a conservative estimate that the group needs between a capital RM2 billion and RM2.5 billion to tide them over comfortably until the end of the financial year 2021 (FY21).

AirAsia is expected to raise RM250 million through the first tranche of its private placement involving 369.85 million shares priced at 67.5 sen each. This represents a discount of 9.82% to the group’s five-day volume-weighted average price.

MIDF Research said the full placement exercise is expected to raise gross proceeds of up to RM451.51 million, considering that it was stated in its previous announcement — a large portion of the raised amount or circa 62% is earmarked for working capital expenses and fuel hedging settlement.

“Furthermore, about 17% of the fund will be allocated to grow the group’s digital pillar via AirAsia Digital’s subsidiaries, which is in line with the group’s strategic pivot to become a digital lifestyle company,” it noted.

The research house believes AirAsia may need to go through another few rounds of fundraising exercises, exposing its current shareholders to more potential dilution in the future.

It added that the worrying level of Covid-19 infections in Malaysia and other the group’s key markets are alarming and dampening the recovery trajectory this year.

“Furthermore, with other air operator certificates (AOCs) under the group in similar distress, it is probable that AirAsia will step in to inject liquidity to maintain the respective AOCs capital adequacy.

“To note, Philippines AirAsia Inc (PAA) and PT Indonesia AirAsia (IAA) are currently in various stages of bank loan applications,” it said.

The research house has maintained its earnings forecasts on AirAsia for now — as all the potential adverse impacts to the extent have been well priced in — and reiterated its ‘Sell’ call on the group by maintaining the target price (TP) of 37 sen per share.

It added that the TP has taken into account the potential enlarged share base to 4.01 billion shares from the private placement exercise, which is an additional 20% of new shares from its current share base of 3.34 billion.

“Although recovery for the aviation sector and air travel is expected to gradually take place in 2021, it remains an uphill battle for AirAsia given it is struggling financially to remain afloat in the current pandemic-laden operating environment.

“Key risks to our call include faster than expected travel demand recovery, worsening pandemic, stricter Movement Control Order imposed on air travels, and further round of equity fundraising,” it said.

Public Investment Bank Bhd (PublicInvest Research) has maintained its ‘Underperform’ call on AirAsia, with an unchanged TP of 39 sen.

It added that overall, key operating statistics for its FY20 were below expectations, with passengers carried and available seat kilometers only accounting for 83% and 75% respectively.

“AirAsia’s 4QFY20 results and passenger yield data are expected to be released in two weeks’ time, which we believe will continue to be under pressure due to lower passenger traffic and loss in revenue,” it noted in a recent report.

AirAsia has announced its 4QFY20 operating statistics recently, with its passenger volume for the consolidated AOC operations (Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines) declining 30% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ).

The group said this was mainly dragged by the reimplementation of interstate travel restrictions in Malaysia, where seat capacity was reduced by 55% QoQ.

Nevertheless, its IAA and PAA units showed a QoQ rebound in both passenger traffic and seat capacity as domestic travel restrictions eased, while its passenger load for the consolidated AOCs.

February 15, 2021

Amorepacific inks Memorandum of Understanding with Shopee to boost growth of K-beauty

Shopee, the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, and Amorepacific, Korea’s leading beauty company, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen regional partnership and accelerate the growth of K-beauty in the booming online beauty category in Southeast Asia. This year, Amorepacific will not only be focusing on growing its online presence in Southeast Asia, but have also included Taiwan as a new market within the partnership to boost its reach and share in the wider region.

Since launching on Shopee Mall in 2018, Amorepacific has recorded more than 13x of growth in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV), and doubled its e-commerce business regionally, in 2020. The leading Asian beauty brand aims to take its success further on Shopee with data-driven strategies, joint marketing efforts and more co-branded collaborations. Amorepacific also aims to expand the coverage of its current portfolio of brands on Shopee to more markets, in order to meet untapped demand and provide more assortment to consumers. These brands include Sulwhasoo, Laneige, Mamonde, Ryo, Mise en scene, innisfree and Etude.

Michael Youngsoo Kim, Head of Amorepacific APAC Regional Headquarters, said, “As our key e-commerce partner in the region, we are glad that we have seen strong and successful results with Shopee, and want to take it further by collaborating on new and innovative initiatives.

With Shopee’s deep understanding of the local market landscape in the region, engaged users, and data expertise, we believe that Amorepacific and Shopee together, will be able to better serve the needs of consumers by bringing more of our world-class products to them. We also look forward to the first regional campaign of Sulwhasoo on Shopee Premium, which will help to expand our brand presence with the growing online luxury beauty shoppers.”

Chris Feng, Chief Executive Officer at Shopee, said, “As one of the invited brand partners of Shopee’s newly launched Regional Champion Brands Programme1, we are confident of helping Amorepacific capture more growth and opportunities regionally with priority access and support on all regional initiatives and resources. This partnership will also enable us to tap on their vast portfolio and industry expertise to strengthen Shopee’s beauty and personal care offering, giving our shoppers more choices, as well as upgrading the online shopping experience. We look forward to working with Amorepacific to achieve even greater success than before, as they scale their presence and investment on e-commerce this year forward.”

Exclusive regional campaign for Sulwhasoo to drive premium category growth

With the growth in demand of premium beauty brands exceeding mass beauty brands on Shopee, Amorepacific will be launching the first regional campaign for Sulwhasoo on Shopee Premium this April, to drive online sales and premium category growth on e-commerce. This follows the exemplary performance of Sulwhasoo’s launch in Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand on Shopee last year.

Sulwhasoo can curate brand content and tap on the differentiated user experience on Shopee Premium to enhance its brand storytelling, and deepen engagement with the growing number of premium and luxury consumer segments2. The beauty brand will also explore launching a brand membership programme on Shopee to reward loyal shoppers.

Engage users with personalised and unique content

Amorepacific also aims to leverage Shopee’s market leadership and deep data insights into consumer shopping trends and behaviour, to help pre-launch new exclusive products that serve existing brand lovers and acquire new users. In addition, Amorepacific will also explore introducing its brand ambassadors such as popular Korean celebrities and artistes, into its Shopee campaigns, strengthening its brand affinity and awareness with consumers across the region.

Korean beauty and skincare continues to attract a huge following in Asia and beyond. In Shopee’s annual mega campaigns from 9.9 to 12.12, Amorepacific brands such as Laneige and innisfree consistently ranked in the top five of the beauty category. This is driven by consumers’ preference toward skincare products made with unique, natural ingredient formulas4 and personalised beauty solutions, as well as the global rise of Korean pop culture, particularly throughout Southeast Asia.

February 15, 2021

Bosch’s Wrong-Way Skoda Vehicles Will Come With Wrong-Way Warning System

With its cloud-based wrong-way driver warning system, Bosch has developed a solution that warns both the wrong-way driver and all road users at risk of the impending danger within seconds – much faster than traffic news on the radio. Now Skoda is the world’s first automaker to opt for the Bosch wrong-way driver warning system. Thanks to a new infotainment app, Skoda owners will receive the lifesaving warning directly via the display in their vehicle’s cockpit.

Starting in the first quarter of 2021, Skoda will offer the wrong-way driver warning system in numerous models, such as the Superb, Scala, Kamiq, Karoq and Kodiaq. Other vehicle models are scheduled to follow before the year is out.

Accidents caused by wrong-way drivers are fortunately rare, but when they do happen, they usually have serious consequences. In most cases, however, the warning of the unforeseeable danger comes too late: one-third of such incidents generally end after just 500 meters – in the worst case, with fatalities. With Bosch’s cloud-based warning system installed directly in the head unit of Skoda vehicles, the two companies now want to further reduce the number of accidents caused by wrong-way drivers.

As a vehicle approaches a freeway entrance or exit, the system automatically sends its current anonymized GPS position to the cloud. In the Bosch cloud backend, the software then compares the vehicle’s current direction with the permitted direction of travel. If these two pieces of information clash, the system will alert the wrong-way driver to their mistake by flashing a warning on the display. The distinctive feature of this solution is that the warning occurs within just a few seconds.

In the vast majority of cases, this is before the driver even gets on the freeway. In addition, Bosch and Škoda are planning that the app will also immediately warn all oncoming road users who are connected and potentially at risk. This feature should be available later this year.

February 15, 2021

With Oil Past Peak, Shell Vows To Eliminate Carbon By 2050

Energy giant Royal Dutch Shell vowed to eliminate net carbon emissions by 2050, raising its ambition from previous targets, as oil output was set to decline from its 2019 peak. The Anglo-Dutch company is in the midst of its largest overhaul yet as it prepares to expand its renewables and low-carbon business in the face of growing investor pressure on the oil and gas sector to battle climate change. Shell last year laid out a plan to reach net-zero by 2050, in line with the Paris climate agreement and European Union ambitions, but it said the goal depended on its customers.

In a strategy update on Thursday, Shell outlined plans focused on rapid growth of its low-carbon businesses, including biofuels and hydrogen, although spending will stay tilted towards oil and gas in the near future.

“We will use our established strengths to build on our competitive portfolio as we make the transition,” CEO Ben van Beurden said in a statement. Investors welcomed the upgraded targets.

“Shell’s net-zero target is industry-leading and comprehensive as it covers all their carbon emissions,” Adam Matthews, Director of Ethics & Engagement for the Church of England Pensions Board, who led investor engagement with Shell, said in a statement.

Shareholders will be able to vote on Shell’s transition plan at this year’s general meeting, an industry first, Matthews added.

Shell shares were down 1.1% at 0840 GMT. Its strategy is to continue to rely on its retail business, the world’s largest, aiming to increase the number of sites to 55,000 by 2025 from today’s 46,000 and increase the number of electric vehicle charging points to 500,000 from 60,000 now.

Shell did not outline any plans to grow its solar and wind power generation capacity, marking a difference from rivals, such as BP and Total, which both aim to boost their ownership of physical wind and solar farms.

In the near term, Shell will invest at least $5 billion a year in what it calls its growth pillar, dividing the investment roughly equally between its trading and retail business and renewables units. It previously aimed to spend up to $3 billion on renewables and marketing combined.

Its upstream business, or oil and gas production, will attract a larger share of its budget at $8 billion. It will also spend $4 billion on its liquefied natural gas (LNG) business and up to $5 billion on chemicals and refining.

Total spending is expected to remain within a range of $19 to $22 billion per year.

Shell, which said its greenhouse gas emissions peaked in 2018, accelerated its plans to reduce carbon emissions. It aims to reduce its net intensity by between 6% and 8% from 2016 levels by 2023. The target rises to 20% by 2030, 45% by 2035 and 100% by the middle of the century. The company previously said it would reduce its net carbon footprint emission intensity metric by at least 3% by 2022, 30% by 2035 and 65% by 2050 from a 2016 baseline.

Intensity levels represent emissions per unit of energy produced, technically allowing higher production. Most European energy majors have set some kind of net-zero carbon target by 2050.

Shell’s ambition differs from BP’s in that it covers the emissions from the end-use of products other companies have produced but which Shell sells to customers.

Shell’s total carbon emissions, which include its own production as well as sales of products to customers, peaked in 2018 at 1.7 gigatonnes. Shell is the world’s largest oil and gas trader. Oil production is expected to gradually be reduced by 1% to 2% each year from a 2019 peak of around 1.8 million barrels per day, including divestments of oilfields and the natural decline of fields. But it will rely on revenue from its oil and gas division to pay for shareholder returns and the transition. BP aims to reduce its oil output by 40% by 2030.

February 15, 2021

Uber Reduces Losses On Food Delivery Expansion, Modest Uptick In Ride Bookings

Uber Technologies Inc on Wednesday posted a narrower loss as its ride-hail and delivery businesses rebounded slightly from pandemic lows, and the company said it was well on track to reach its goal of achieving an adjusted profit by year-end.

Uber said customers in cities’ outer boroughs and suburbs had returned to its rides platform during the quarter.

Nearly complete recoveries in markets including Brazil and Australia point to leisure travel to restaurants and cultural events bouncing back quickly once the pandemic ends, with business travel returning more slowly, as many employees continue to work from home.

Shares fell 3% in after-hours trading after gaining around 6% during the day. Shares had risen after smaller ride-hail rival Lyft Inc said on Tuesday it might become profitable during the third quarter, three months ahead of a previous goal, thanks to a rebound and cost cuts.

Uber reported a loss on an adjusted basis before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $454 million, significantly less than analysts’ average expectations for a $514 million loss, according to Refinitiv data.

Uber cut costs throughout 2020, including reducing staff by nearly 30% from the beginning of the year. A focus on its core rides and food delivery business and divestments of ancillary units will allow Uber to emerge from the pandemic a slimmer company.

Adjusted EBITDA, which excludes the cost of the company’s extensive stock-based compensation and other potentially significant items, is the profitability metric Uber uses.

Uber reported $3.17 billion in total revenue in the months from October through December.

Fourth-quarter mobility revenue, largely comprised of rides, declined by 52% from last year, but at $1.47 billion was up 8% on a quarterly basis despite new lockdown measures in the United States, Europe and the Middle East.

The company said it could not predict the quarter in which ride-hail volumes might return to pre-pandemic levels. Airport travel, which made up 15% of gross bookings before the pandemic, will take longer to return than leisure and business trips, Uber said.

It expected first-quarter adjusted EBITDA to be flat or down compared with the fourth quarter.

Orders at Uber’s food delivery platform, Uber Eats, further grew during the fourth quarter, as many countries and U.S. states issued new lockdown orders, closing restaurants and prompting many people to order in.

Delivery revenue more than tripled from last year and at around $1.36 billion, grew 19% compared with the third quarter.

Uber has expanded its footprint in the competitive space and acquired smaller food-delivery rival Postmates for $2.65 billion and alcoholic beverage delivery service Drizly for $1.1 billion.

Both deals were largely stock-based, with the Drizly deal expected to close later this year.

Uber also said it had further lowered costs in the fourth quarter, with total costs and expenses dropping 14% in that period.

Following a directive by Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi to focus on the company’s core businesses, Uber has sold two cash-burning units.

The company in December sold its self-driving Advanced Technologies Group (ATG) in a $4 billion equity deal at a steep drop in valuation. Khosrowshahi at the time said the deal would accelerate Uber’s profitability goal.

The same month, Uber also handed over the keys to its air taxi business Elevate, without disclosing the terms of the deal.

February 15, 2021

Over 100 Financial Firms Hit by DDoS Attacks

More than 100 financial firms were victims of distributed denial-of-service attacks by the same threat actor with North America and Europe overwhelmingly making up the dominant share, according to a recent report.

Cyber intelligence sharing group FS-ISAC said that over 100 financial services firms were targets of a wave of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks – a method of overloading a web system with requests in order to prevent it from functioning properly.

Interestingly, the report claims that the attacks were conducted by the same threat actor within a short period of time.

The criminals sent extortion notes threatening to disrupt the firms’ websites and digital services, the report said. The threat actor methodically moved across jurisdictions in Europe, North America, Latin America, and Asia Pacific, hitting dozens of institutions within weeks.

According to the report, North America and Europe made up an overwhelming share of the DDoS attacks with 43 percent and 38 percent, respectively. Asia (15 percent) and Latin America (3 percent) made up less than one-fifth.

By sub-sectors, retail banking dominated the list, accounting for 41 percent of the DDoS attacks. This is followed by exchange (15 percent), payments (13 percent) and, securities and investment (10 percent).

In 2021, we have already seen new cyber threats in the form of supply chain attacks, which we can expect to proliferate and evolve quickly, said FS-ISAC’s chairman of the board Jerry Perullo «The only way to stay ahead of these ever more sophisticated threat actors is to collaborate. Now more than ever, we need global leaders to model what effective sharing looks like to the rest of our community as well as the industry at large.

February 15, 2021

Crypto Firm Nabs Ex-HSBC Banker as CEO

A British banker is taking over the top job at Valour, a Swiss start-up that plans to expand a zero-fee bitcoin exchange-traded product across Europe.

Zug-based Valour is naming Diana Biggs as its CEO, effective immediately, it said in a statement. She is the former chief of innovation at HSBC’s private banking unit and a cryptocurrency backer of the earliest hour.

Biggs is the latest banker to leave traditional finance for digital assets, which is a booming industry in Switzerland thanks to friendly regulatory handling. Diana is the perfect candidate to lead the company through this next phase of growth and expansion, Valour founder Johan Wattenstrom said.

Founded three years ago, Valour in December launched a fee-less digital asset product that trades on the Nordic exchange’s growth index, NGM. The start-up manages nearly $30 million and plans to roll out more exchange-traded notes at other European venues in the coming months.

At HSBC, Biggs led fintech partnerships and championed open innovation. Prior to joining the British bank, she worked for digital currency platform Uphold, e-commerce startup Soko, and spent nearly five years as a consultant at Oliver Wyman.

February 15, 2021

China’s Geely Sets Out To Become A Force In Electric Cars

Like many others in his industry, Geely Chairman Li Shufu has been irked by skyrocketing valuations for electric car manufacturers such as Tesla Inc and Nio Inc, sources at the Chinese automaker say.

Getting Geely, which owns Volvo Cars and 9.7% of Daimler AG, to a place where it too may claim a sizeable chunk of China’s burgeoning electric car market and burnish its share price at the same time, has preoccupied Li for much of the past year, they added.

The result: a flurry of tie-ups unveiled last month that lay bare Geely’s intention to position itself as the go-to contract manufacturer for electric vehicles in China and beyond – assembly services that will also offer up its engineering and development expertise.

“The chairman’s attitude towards contract manufacturing is clear: he is embracing it and actively pursuing it,” a Geely executive told Reuters.

Outsourcing production of some models through original equipment manufacturing (OEM) deals is common in the auto industry, but Geely’s plans represent the most aggressive attempt yet by an automaker to build up a contract manufacturing business.

Of the four deals announced, a venture with Taiwan’s Foxconn to provide electric vehicle (EV) contract manufacturing, is the most important, said the sources, who were not authorized to speak to media and declined to be identified.

A subsequent agreement to build mass-market electric vehicles for embattled Los Angeles-based startup Faraday Future would be handled by the venture with Foxconn.

Geely, which is China’s largest privately-owned automaker, has also made a separate pact to make smart electric cars for internet giant Baidu Inc, with the first model due to be launched next year. In addition, it is joining hands with Tencent Holdings Ltd on smart car control and autonomous driving technology.

Geely declined to comment for this article or make Li available for comment.

Geely has several electric car models on the market and in September launched a brand new EV-focused platform, developed at a cost of 18 billion yuan ($2.8 billion).

But amid a two-year slump in sales, Li became convinced Geely was being too conventional in its approach and began pushing for an aggressive adoption of “Big Tech” partnerships, sources said. In doing so, Li returned to a more active running of the group after stepping back somewhat in 2017 and 2018.

The shift did not come without some opposition. At management meetings, some people raised concerns that any big shift to contract manufacturing could make Geely a lesser partner in its relationships with tech firms and cause it to lose its edge as an independent automaker, senior sources said.

Caution was also expressed about picking Faraday Future as the first client for the venture with Foxconn, as the startup has a track record of over-promising and slow progress in development.

Li dismissed those concerns, they added.

The deal with Faraday was not well received by the market with shares in its main unit, Geely Automobile, sliding some 16% over four days in the wake of the news.

On the plus side, however, the deals could address chronic under-utilisation at Geely plants. For example, Geely Automobile, which houses its Geely brand cars, is capable of building more than 2 million vehicles a year but sold only some 1.3 million in 2020.

The deals could also help Geely get the most out of the EV-focused platform, which is now open-sourced and can be used for small to large cars and even light commercial vehicles.

That said, just how big contract manufacturing will become for Geely is uncertain and the company has no internal numerical targets to meet at the moment, the sources said.

“Basically, it’s unclear now how many clients we will have in the coming years,” said one source.

Li is also planning to shore up Geely’s financial base with a secondary listing for Geely Automobile on the mainland’s STAR board this year. Its Hong Kong listing values the unit at $37 billion, with shares having risen over 12% so far this year.

That, sources say, has been a deeply unsatisfactory state of affairs for Li who compares it to the $800 billion-plus valuation for Tesla and the $98 billion valuation for Nio, which sold less than 44,000 cars last year.

Geely had looked at investing in Nio previously, sources have said.

Analysts describe the rush of new deals as bold, potentially allowing Geely to save much time and money in developing and launching electric cars. At the same time, there are risks.

“Integrating one major partner is challenging enough for any company’s management regardless of the sector, so asking the management team to successfully launch all of them seemingly all at once is a pretty big ask,” said Tu Le, analyst at Sino Auto Insights.

February 12, 2021

Japan retailer turns to cuddly toys to boost Lunar New Year sales

Japan’s cuddly bear character Rilakkumma, who has captured the hearts of children and adults alike with his laidback demeanor, sits on the shelves of a swanky department store in the capital, flanked by Hello Kitty and other plush toys.

As the Lunar New Year begins on Friday, they are taking the place of home appliances, from rice cookers to electric toilet seats, normally favored by Chinese tourists who are absent this year because of coronavirus restrictions.

“Due to the current travel bans, it’s impossible for them to come to Japan,” said Jin Xuezhu, head of the inbound sales division at the Laox duty-free retail chain, which runs the store in Tokyo’s district of Akihabara.

Chinese have accounted for 90% of the chain’s customers since 2014, Jin said, adding, “So the absence of that 90% has a huge impact on our business.”

The sharp contraction in global tourism brought by the pandemic forced the chain to shutter half of its 24 stores last year to cut costs and restore cash flow. It has refurbished its image, adding friendly touches to lure domestic customers.

“We have put out many hobby and toy goods that are unique to Akihabara,” Jin said. “Before we were branded as a duty-free shop, but last year we renovated our stores so that Japanese customers can also feel welcome.”

But Laox has not forgotten its clientele in China, hosting live broadcasts from Tokyo since last autumn on Chinese e-commerce platforms, such as those of electronic giant Suning and messaging app WeChat.

“We have great expectations for online shopping through live streams,” said Cui Wenzhe, the manager of the chain’s live commerce section.

The chain hosted 350 such broadcasts last year and expects even better numbers during the Lunar New Year holiday, he added.

“We’re also looking forward to more sales events for Valentine’s Day.”

Laox declined to provide details of the hit to current Lunar New Year sales, but acknowledged the pandemic’s “huge impact” on its business.

Although Japan has not suffered virus outbreaks on the scale of other major economies, such as Britain and the United States, it has just extended by another month its state of emergency in Tokyo and other regions.

The continued travel ban, particularly the absence of holidaying Chinese for a second successive year, is expected to hurt Tokyo retailers further.

February 12, 2021