General – Page 153 – Retail News CRM

AirAsia X shares sink as much as 21% amid going concern doubt

AirAsia X’s shares dived by the most in more than a year after the long-haul budget airline was officially categorized as a financially distressed firm, which gives the company a year to recast its finances or risk losing its Malaysian listing.

The stock tumbled as much as 21.1 percent to 7.5 sen on Monday (Nov 1), set for the steepest drop since August last year. The shares traded at eight sen at 10:40am amid volume that was six times the average for this time of day.

On Friday, AirAsia X’s auditor Ernst & Young issued a disclaimer of opinion on the airline’s audited financial results for the 18-month period ended June this year, citing threats that cast “significant doubt” on the firm continuing as a going concern, the airline said in a filing. AirAsia X said it has a year to recast its finances, failing which it will be delisted from Bursa Malaysia.

“AirAsia X continues to face severe liquidity constraints and all hopes are on successful debt restructuring and new equity funding from existing and new investors to provide sufficient capital to restart operations when international borders reopen,” Public Investment Bank wrote in a note on Monday. The brokerage maintained its stock-target price of one sen.

“The company is taking the necessary steps to address its Practice Note 17 status,” AirAsia X said on Friday, referring to its categorization as a financially distressed company.

AirAsia X is one of the many airlines in the Asia-Pacific region to have been hit by travel restrictions imposed to curb the coronavirus pandemic. It has grounded most of its aircraft fleet since March last year and has deferred payment to creditors.

AirAsia X recently offered to pay creditors only 0.5 percent of the more than US$8 billion (S$10.8 billion) total debt they are owed and terminate all existing contracts as it tries to restructure after it triggered events of default for various agreements.

AirAsia is set to meet its creditors to vote on its restructuring proposal on Nov 12 and it would require at least 75 percent of each class of scheme creditors in the meeting to vote favorably for its proposed debt restructuring exercise to carry.

November 2, 2021

Taxi firms eye fare hikes amid rising fuel prices

The opinion is divided among taxi companies about increasing fares after the recent fuel price hikes, with some wanting to do so and others fearing this will lose them, customers.

After four hikes in recent months, the latest on Oct. 26, the price of E5 RON 92 petrol currently stands at VND23,110 ($1) per liter, VND4,600 higher than in late May.

The price of RON 95 has reached a seven-year high of VND24,330, nearly VND5,000 up since May.

According to Ho Quoc Huy, chairman of Mai Linh Group, fuel accounts for 35-40 percent of costs, and so when fuel prices increase by VND5,000 per liter, taxi fares should rise by VND500-600 per kilometer.

Mai Linh and 70 other taxi firms in Hanoi have been discussing fare-related issues in the last two days, with many warnings they cannot keep fares unchanged, he said.

If companies do hike fares, they would do so by only VND200-300 to retain customers, many of whom themselves face financial difficulties amid Covid-19, he said.

Ta Long Hy, President of the HCMC Taxi Association, said: “If taxi fares increase, many people will not use taxi services because their purses are no longer full of money.”

November 1, 2021

Inflation rate lowest in five years

Vietnam’s inflation rate in the first 10 months was 1.81 percent, the lowest since 2016.

In October alone, inflation fell 0.2 percent from September, as lifted restrictions in localities help boost goods transport and reduce stockpiling demand, General Statistics Office reported.

Demand for electricity and water also fell as the country transitioned from summer to fall while decreasing rents also contributed to lower inflation, it added.

Gold prices fell 0.21 percent from September as global rates dropped.

Vietnam targets to keep inflation rise under 4 percent this year.

November 1, 2021

Vietnamese carrier announces first Vietnam-UK direct flights

Bamboo Airways announced the launch of the first Vietnam-U.K. direct flight routes Sunday in the presence of PM Pham Minh Chinh, in the U.K. for the COP26 meet.

The airline also confirmed that local firm APG UK will be its representative in the U.K.

Bamboo Airways chairman Trinh Van Quyet said that the direct flights could commence as early as this year when the resumption of commercial flights between the two countries is allowed.

The airline said it expects to operate six round trips a week between Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and London; and increase frequency based on demand.

Bamboo Airways’s direct flights would help cut travel time between Vietnam and the U.K. to around 12 hours, seven hours quicker than flights that require transit.

The flights are expected to drop off and take passengers at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 2, connecting Vietnam’s Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat airports with the U.K.’s largest airport. The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner will be used for flights on the Vietnam-U.K. routes, the airline said.

Nguyen Hoang Long, Vietnamese ambassador to the U.K., said opening direct flights between the two countries would boost commerce and people-to-people exchanges and would be particularly beneficial for the Vietnamese community in the U.K.

APG UK, a passenger and cargo representation company, will support the airline with sales, marketing, and customer support as also issues related to aviation policies and procedures.

There are currently over 100,000 Vietnamese studying and living in the U.K., and around 60 percent of them are in London. In 2019 alone, the number of tourists from the U.K. traveling to Vietnam reached 315,000, a 105 percent increase from the same period in 2018, according to the General Statistics Office. Among European countries, the U.K. has the second-highest number of visitors to Vietnam, the office added.

November 1, 2021

Vietjet, Rolls Royce ink $400-mln engine deal

Budget airline Vietjet has signed a $400-million agreement with British company Rolls Royce for aircraft engines for its wide-body fleet and engine servicing.

The signing ceremony on Sunday was witnessed by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, who is in the U.K. for the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference, according to a statement from the airline.

Rolls Royce Civil Aerospace’s chief customer officer, Ewen McDonald, said the company’s Trent 700 engine has the lowest lifetime fuel burn on its aircraft type, and has logged more than 60 million hours in service since its launch in 1995.

It is the only engine specifically designed for Vietjet’s wide-body aircraft, he said without naming the model.

The carrier’s managing director, Dinh Viet Phuong, said the new engines would improve flight range and quality and boost Vietjet aircraft’s technical reliability and operational efficiency.

Vietjet has a fleet of 90 single-aisle aircraft.

Rolls-Royce has more than 400 airline and leasing customers and 160 armed forces and navies.

Vietjet, which began flying in 2011, also signed a $20-million reinsurance agreement with brokers Gallagher Co. and Willis Towers Watson Co. for its entire fleet, according to a separate statement it put out.

November 1, 2021

Twitter brings Super Follows to everyone with an iPhone

Twitter announced it has begun testing a new monetization feature aimed at Twitter iOS users in early September. The so-called Super Follows feature is meant to allow Twitter users with more than 10,000 followers to earn a monthly revenue by offering an extra level of content and interaction as a monthly subscription.

Initially, Super Follows was only available to select users in the US and Canada, all Twitter users on iOS will have access to the new feature. As mentioned earlier, if you’re a Twitter user with more than 10k followers and you live in the United States, you can apply to become a “super followed” content creator.

There are three types of monthly subscriptions content creators can choose to offer to their followers: $2.99, $4.99, and $9.99. You don’t have to be in the United States to “super follow” someone, but you must have an iPhone to be able to use the feature.

According to Twitter, content creators can earn up to 97% of the revenue from Super Follows subscriptions, as the company won’t take more than 3% share until you exceed $50,000 in lifetime earnings. After that point, Twitter’s share will increase up to 20% of future earnings.

November 1, 2021

Sun Life names new president of Sun Life Asia

Ingrid Johnson has been named the new president of Sun Life Asia, responsible for one of Sun Life’s strategic pillars encompassing life, health and wealth management businesses in eight Asian markets, including Vietnam.

Johnson became the new President of Sun Life Asia on Oct. 26. She succeeds Léo Grépin, who left Sun Life on Oct. 15 to pursue other opportunities.

“Johnson will continue to foster growth and build scale in our Asia businesses where we are focused on providing protection, health and wealth management solutions to clients in the fast-growing middle class and high net worth markets,” Kevin Strain, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sun Life, said.

Johnson has more than 25 years of international commercial experience in the insurance and financial services industries. Most recently, she was the Group Finance Director of dual London- and South Africa-listed Old Mutual Plc and a member of its various subsidiary boards.

Prior to this, Johnson spent 21 years with South African-listed Nedbank Group, a 53 percent subsidiary of Old Mutual Plc, where she held several progressively senior roles encompassing both the technical aspects of governance, finance, treasury, risk and capital management with large-scale international, corporate, business and retail clients.

As an executive, she led 20,000 colleagues in delivering best-in-class client, culture and risk metrics, in addition to achieving sustainable financial performance and advancing leadership diversity.

While at Nedbank Group, Johnson led business transformation of Business Banking Cluster (servicing commercial clients) with results of such note as to merit a 2009 Harvard Business School case study that is still taught in business and leadership courses today.

Originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, Johnson is a chartered accountant, holds Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Accounting degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and completed the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School.

Sun Life is a leading international financial services organization providing insurance, wealth and asset management solutions to individual and corporate clients.

Sun Life has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of June 30, 2021, Sun Life had total assets under management of $1.36 trillion. For more information please visit www.sunlife.com.

Sun Life Vietnam (Sun Life) is a life insurance company with 100 percent capital from Sun Life Financial, a leading international financial service organization with 156 years of experience from Canada. Sun Life is an established industry pioneer and market leader in pensions for both individual and corporate clients in Vietnam.

November 1, 2021

Google Fi is fi-nally getting end-to-end encryption for phone calls

If you’re concerned about the privacy of your voice communications, Google has a new way to guarantee that no one can snoop in on your calls anymore.
Of course, there’s only so much the search giant can control, so the newly announced end-to-end encryption feature will merely work on the company’s own Fi MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) starting sometime “in the coming weeks.”

Both the caller and the callee will need to be Google Fi subscribers and use Android phones for everything to work as advertised, at least to begin with. There’s not a lot to the technology that Big G plans to deploy before long, and all you have to know is that everything discussed during fully encrypted one-to-one voice calls will stay between you and the person you’re talking to.

To avoid potential confusion or misunderstandings, a bunch of new “audio and visual cues” will make it crystal clear both before engaging in and during end-to-end encrypted calls that you’re wholly and entirely protected from spying ears.

Namely, look for a lock symbol and straightforward “Encrypted by Google Fi” text on your phone’s screen or be aware of a “unique ringing tone” to make sure the functionality is indeed up and running. Obviously, the feature itself is hardly groundbreaking, as Google points out by highlighting that end-to-end encryption has become an “industry standard” in recent years for messaging apps.

Slowly but surely, things are moving in the right direction from a privacy and security perspective as far as voice services are concerned as well, thanks to the likes of Facebook and now Google. The search giant’s Duo app actually launched with built-in end-to-end encryption for audio and video calls all the way back in 2016, so if anything, we’re surprised it took so long to implement this for Fi users.

October 29, 2021

Twitter users get the ability to record and share Spaces on iPhone

If you’ve been using Spaces on Twitter, you’ll be happy to know that the feature has just been improved with the addition of the ability to record and share them. For the time being, the new and improved Spaces are available for some Twitter users on iPhone, but the new enhancements will slowly expand to all other users in the coming weeks.

Starting today, some Twitter hosts will be able to record Spaces and share them across the social network, further extending the value of their work beyond live sessions. On top of that, followers will now be able to replay any of these recorded Spaces how many times they wish, as well as share them via their timelines.

Using the new record Spaces features is quite easy, as you’ll only need to enable the “Record Space” setting before launching your content on the internet. Everyone participating will see a red REC button that will appear in the Space window, so they’ll know it’s being recorded.

Space recordings will be kept for 30 days after the initial broadcast, so hosts and their followers will be able to share them on Twitter. Although hosts can delete their recorded Spaces at any time they wish, Twitter will still keep a copy for 30-120 days.

October 29, 2021

Facebook has a new corporate name and vision

As expected, Facebook today announced a new corporate name. Earlier today during the Facebook Connect event, the company said that it will now be known as Meta. Keep in mind that the website and the app will not have a new name and will still be known as Facebook.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the Facebook name isn’t a valid reflection of what the company does now and said that Facebook is only one of its products. “We are a company that builds technology to connect. Together, we can finally put people at the center of our technology. And together, we can unlock a massively bigger creator economy.”

The executive added that “But over time, I hope we are seen as a metaverse company.” A metaverse is “a virtual-reality space in which users can interact with a computer-generated environment and other users.”

In a blog post disseminated today, Zuckerberg wrote, “The next platform will be even more immersive — an embodied internet where you’re in the experience, not just looking at it. We call this the metaverse, and it will touch every product we build.”

Zuckerberg added, “The defining quality of the metaverse will be a feeling of presence — like you are right there with another person or in another place. Feeling truly present with another person is the ultimate dream of social technology. That is why we are focused on building this. In the metaverse, you’ll be able to do almost anything you can imagine — get together with friends and family, work, learn, play, shop, create — as well as completely new experiences that don’t really fit how we think about computers or phones today.”

In the blog, the beleaguered executive writes about a future where you can teleport as a hologram and arrive at your office without a commute. Or attend a concert, or even visit your parents without losing the time it takes to travel and deal with traffic. Many of the things that are part of the physical world right now could end up being holograms in the future such as “your TV, your perfect work setup with multiple monitors, your board games and more — instead of physical things assembled in factories, they’ll be holograms designed by creators around the world.”

According to the Facebook co-founder, “You’ll move across these experiences on different devices — augmented reality glasses to stay present in the physical world, virtual reality to be fully immersed, and phones and computers to jump in from existing platforms. This isn’t about spending more time on screens; it’s about making the time we already spend better.” He repeated a comment made in his original founder’s letter: “We don’t build services to make money; we make money to build better services.”

That last comment may not be sincere. Recently, Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen said that the company would rather make money than change its algorithm and make the world a safer place. Haugen stated, “Facebook makes more money when you consume more content. People enjoy engaging with things that elicit an emotional reaction. And the more anger that they get exposed to, the more they interact and the more they consume.”

Zuckerberg appears to realize the need for change, and not just changing the company’s name. He says that privacy and safety need to be built into the metaverse from the beginning. And from now on, the company will be metaverse first instead of Facebook first. Eventually, you won’t need to have a Facebook account to use the company’s other services. He says, “As our new brand starts showing up in our products, I hope people around the world come to know the Meta brand and the future we stand for.”

By the way, for you Facebook stock traders, the company’s stock symbol will change from FB to MVRS.

October 29, 2021

Instagram replaces swipe up gesture for sharing links with stickers

Instagram started to test a new way to share links for its users several months ago, but not many people have had access to the feature until recently. Starting this week, the so-called “link stickers” will be rolled out to all Instagram users on both Android and iOS platforms.

The link stickers are meant to replace the “swipe up” gesture for sharing links, which will be retired. Here is what you’ll have to do, to add a link to an Instagram story:

Capture or upload content to your story
Select the sticker tool from the top navigation bar
Tap the “Link” sticker to add your desired link and tap “Done”
Place the sticker on your story — like our other stickers — and tap on the sticker to see color variations

Instagram also hinted at future tweaks that the sticker might get, such as various customization options to make it clear what someone will see when they tap a link. If you don’t see the ability to add links in Stories yet, make sure to update your Instagram app to the latest version. Also, keep in mind that link stickers cannot be used on the main Instagram feed, they’re limited to Stories.

October 28, 2021

Apple Music app debuts on PlayStation 5

We reported last week that Apple and Sony might be close to launching the Apple Music app on the PlayStation 5. At the time of the report, the app appeared to be listed, but no one could download it.

Earlier today, Sony confirmed that PlayStation 5 users all over the world can download the Apple Music app. The console offers seamless integration with the Apple Music streaming service with background music and music video playback, which means subscribers can listen before, during, or after their gameplay session.

Apple Music subscribers who own a PlayStation 5 can start the app before opening a game, or during gameplay by pressing the PS button on the DualSense wireless controller to access the Control Center and select the Music Function card. You’ll be presented with recommendations that match the game you’re currently playing, or you can choose from a playlist in your library or other Apple Music-curated playlists for gaming.

Of course, subscribers can also find and watch music videos from a wide selection of artists in the Apple Music app. Simply start by playing the video in full screen and if you decide to continue/start playing a game, the audio from the music video will continue to play. To download the Apple Music app, make sure to visit the Media space folder on the PlayStation 5. Don’t forget to link your Apple Music account after installing the app.

October 28, 2021

Vietnam Airlines stock trading restricted to afternoon session

Trading in Vietnam Airlines’ stock will be restricted to the afternoon session from Nov. 3 aftermarket regulators deemed the carrier’s financial situation “risky”.

The main bourse Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange will consider lifting the restriction depending on its evolving financial situation.

The airline reported a loss of VND8.46 trillion for the first half of this year.

Its accumulated losses as of Jun. 30 were VND17.81 trillion, or more than its charter capital then.

In reviewing the company’s half-yearly financial statement, auditors Deloitte Vietnam said it has doubts about the airline’s ability to “continue as a going concern.”

The company’s recovery is dependent on financial support from the government, rolling over of loans by banks and the Covid-19 pandemic, it said.

Last month Vietnam Airlines said it had issued nearly 800 million shares to increase its charter capital by VND8 trillion to VND22.14 trillion.

October 28, 2021

Category: General