Retail News CRM

Category: General

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest General Retail news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • Cebu Pacific cancels 24 flights due to workforce shortage

    Cebu Pacific cancels 24 flights due to workforce shortage

    Low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific canceled 24 domestic and international flights on Wednesday, citing workforce shortage.

    “Cebu Pacific continues to manage the impact of Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) on its workforce with employees who are either sick or under home quarantine,” it said in an advisory Tuesday night.

    The following flights have been canceled:

    5J893/894 Manila – Boracay (Caticlan) – Manila
    5J905/906 Manila – Boracay (Caticlan) – Manila
    5J787/788 Manila – Butuan – Manila
    5J567/568 Manila – Cebu – Manila
    5J581/582 Manila – Cebu – Manila
    5J975/976 Manila – Davao – Manila
    5J447/448 Manila – Iloilo – Manila
    5J373/374 Manila – Roxas – Manila
    5J653/654 Manila – Tacloban – Manila
    5J506/507 Manila – Tuguegarao – Manila
    5J5054/5055 Manila – Narita (Tokyo) – Manila
    5J310/311 Manila – Taipei – Manila

    Affected passengers may rebook or refund their tickets, or store the value in a travel fund, until 30 days from the original flight schedule.

    The airline said because the situation is still fluid, those with flights until January 23 may also opt to refund their ticket or rebook their flight for travel within 60 days.

    They can also store the amount to a travel fund valid for two years.

  • Twitter’s Trusted Friends feature is now called Flock

    Twitter’s Trusted Friends feature is now called Flock

    Last year, Twitter showed an early concept of a feature called Trusted Friends. As the name suggests, this feature allows you to tweet to a close group of friends, instead of spamming all your followers.

    This pre-announced feature now has a new name – Flock. Reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi has dug up parts of the feature and posted examples on his Twitter page. As you can see from the screenshots, Twitter Flock allows users to add up to 150 people to this privileged group.

    It’s worth noting that people will get a notification when they have been added to somebody’s Flock but won’t get one if they’ve been removed. The idea behind this feature is quite logical and it’s been implemented in other social networks such as Instagram (Close Friends).

    Unfortunately, there’s no official information about a potential rollout date, or whether this feature will be available across all platforms from the get-go. Chances are you’d need to use the official Twitter app on your mobile to get the Flock feature (when it’s officially released).

    Twitter keeps on adding new features lately, with the social network launching Super Follows and Safety Mode last Autumn, and finally starting to roll out the Twitter Spaces record and replay feature earlier this month.

    Lees ook:

  • TikTok testing new Video Avatar Tools, audio-only live streams, and more

    TikTok testing new Video Avatar Tools, audio-only live streams, and more

    TikTok is testing a couple of new features, and thanks to social media expert Matt Navarra (who has a great track record of revealing them) we have some inside information on how they look and what they actually do.

    TikTok experimental features at a glance:

    1. Video Avatar Tools
    2. Keyword filtering
    3. Group Chat shareable link invite
    4. Audio-only live streams
    5. Screen sharing in live

    1. Video Avatar Tools

    The first new feature is very similar to Apple’s Memoji, and will allow users to create a digital avatar based on a selfie shot. First you’ll need to choose a face template, which you would be able to subsequently edit with expressions based on your own face.

    “The feature lets you use your phone’s camera to take a selfie with a fun facial expression which your avatar will match,” wrote Navarra on his Twitter page.

    The screenshots, posted by Navarra, don’t explain the exact way this feature works, and whether it would be capable of tracking and mimicking your face in real time, or it would only be able to pre-record short video avatars/still images.

    2. Keyword filtering

    There’s also an interesting keyword filtering feature in the works, apparently. Contrary to the way most filtering options work, the TikTok keyword filtering will allow you to hide content from your feeds.

    Adding a keyword or hashtags to your filter will result in videos containing these words in the description or stickers not showing in your For You page or Following feeds. Advertisement containing these “filtered” keywords may still appear, though.

    3. Group Chat shareable link invite

    Also in the code, dug up by Navarra, lies a string suggesting that a new Group Chat feature is being developed. TikTok users will have the option to invite people to a group chat via a shareable link.

    TikTok has a Group Chat feature but you need to manually invite people by sending a video or creating a group chat in inbox and selecting the users you want to invite. The shareable link invite feature simplifies the process.

    4. Audio-only live streams

    TikTok is experimenting with the option to allow users to join live streams with audio-only, trying to hop on the Clubhouse train, even though the popularity of the app and all of its clones has plummeted in recent months.

    Twitter Spaces is a recent example and the company recently rolled out a new feature called Record and Replay, allowing users to record their conversations and make them available for anyone who wants to listen at a later time.

    5. Screen sharing in live streams

    This one is pretty interesting, as per the code: “Screen sharing allows viewers to see what’s on your screen in real time, including camera, audio, notification, and other alerts.”

    The ability to share your screen with friends will give TikTok creators new tools to enhance their material, new ways to make tutorials, and make live streams more interesting in general.

    TikTok provided an official statement to SocialMediaToday, shedding light on the idea behind these new experimental features:

    “We’re always thinking about new ways to bring value to our community and enrich the TikTok experience. Currently, we’re experimenting with ways to give creators tools to express themselves on TikTok.”

    Lees ook:

  • WhatsApp’s latest update brings Focus mode support to iPhones and iPads

    WhatsApp’s latest update brings Focus mode support to iPhones and iPads

    Although WhatsApp typically rolls out updates simultaneously on both Android and iOS platforms, the latest update is one of the exceptions since it brings specific features aimed at iPhone and iPad users. Two important new features are now making their way to iOS users and are expected to be generally available over the coming weeks.

    The first one is the ability to pause and resume while recording voice messages. Surprisingly, such a nifty feature wasn’t available until the latest update, so if you’re downloading WhatsApp v22.2.75, you can try it out by swiping up to lock a recording and then tap the “pause” and “resume” buttons.

    Another important new feature rolling out to iOS users is support for Focus mode. This has been added in iOS 15 and allows selected users to message you when you have set a Focus mode. When this mode is enabled, you can set notification, call, and message filters, as well as auto-reply to others when you’re not available. Think of it as a more efficient Do Not Disturb feature.

    In other news, WhatsApp is gearing up for yet another important new feature for its users: the ability to transfer Android chats to iOS. However, the feature is still being tested internally, so it might take a while until WhatsApp will be ready to make it available to everyone.

    Lees ook:

  • Malaysia’s Raya Airways denies acquisition talks with AirAsia

    Malaysia’s Raya Airways denies acquisition talks with AirAsia

    Malaysian air cargo carrier Raya Airways has denied being in talks with budget airline AirAsia Group Bhd for an acquisition, it said in a statement on Monday (Jan 24).

    The company said the news reported over the weekend about ongoing talks was factually incorrect.

    The weekly reported that the airline has approached businessman Ishak Ismail whose family owns Raya Airways, to acquire the carrier, and are in early conversations.

    “After consulting with Raya’s shareholders and Board of Directors, we would like to clarify that Raya and its subsidiaries/affiliate companies are not in any talks with AirAsia Group Berhad or any other parties for the acquisition of the Company or any part of its businesses,” it said.

    The carrier said its operational and financial position is strengthening and it is committed to the next stage of growth.

  • Lotte Group acquires Ministop South Korea

    Lotte Group acquires Ministop South Korea

    South Korea’s Lotte Group has agreed to acquire a 100% stake in Ministop Korea for 313.4 billion won ($263 million), the country’s fifth-largest convenience store chain, from Japan’s Aeon Co., Lotte said on Jan. 21.

    With the purchase in cash, Lotte’s convenience store operator 7-Eleven will be able to take on the two sector leaders —  CJ Group’s CU and GS Group’s GS 25, while further widening the gap with fourth-ranked Shinsegae’s E-Mart 24.

    “Competition is heating up in the quick commerce market for short-distance services, based on convenience stores,” said an official of the group’s holding company Lotte Corp.

    “We are now adding Ministop Korea’s 2,600 stores and 12 logistics centers to the list of our stores, which will expand our points of customer contact in the near term.”

    Lotte’s 7-Eleven runs 10,500 outlets nationwide. By comparison, CU boasts 14,900 stores, trailed by second-ranked GS 25 with 14,600 stores.

    Lees ook:

  • Malaysia’s AirAsia eyes air cargo carrier

    Malaysia’s AirAsia eyes air cargo carrier

    Malaysia’s flagship budget airline AirAsia Group is in early acquisition discussions for air cargo carrier Raya Airways to beef up its logistics business, The Edge Weekly reported on Saturday (Jan 22) citing sources.

    The business weekly said the airline has approached businessman Ishak Ismail whose family owns Raya Airways, to acquire the carrier, and are in early conversations, according to people familiar with the matter.

    AirAsia and Raya Airways did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

    AirAsia’s logistics unit Teleport said in November it was aiming to expand its fleet of cargo planes and scale up its freight business.

    Top executives at Raya Airways were not keen to sell the carrier, however, as they have plans for an initial public offering, the report said.

    AirAsia was last week classified as a PN17 firm by Malaysia’s stock exchange, a tag given to financially distressed firms. It said it was working on a plan to “regularise its financial condition”.

    Lees ook:

  • Clean up your Gmail inbox to check out the new “Inbox Zero Graphic”

    Clean up your Gmail inbox to check out the new “Inbox Zero Graphic”

    Because most of us never take the time to completely clean out our Gmail inbox, we usually never get the opportunity to reach what is known as “Inbox Zero.” With no email messages cluttering up your inbox, you are rewarded with a special illustration that Google recently revised. Before the change, the image showed a cartoon drawing of a woman without eyes reading a book in the woods with the sun in the background.

    Underneath the illustration, Google wrote “You’ve finished. Nothing in Primary.” We guess that this drawing is not enough of an incentive to get Gmail users to do some landscaping and delete their old and unneeded Gmail.

    It reminds this writer of a cereal bowl that yours truly once had as a kid. On the bottom of the bowl was an illustration of two popular (at the time) cartoon mice from television named Trixie and Dixie. To get to the drawing of the pair, you had to finish everything in the bowl giving you an incentive to eat all of your breakfast.

    Looking for an image that might motivate Gmail subscribers into cleaning out their inbox, a new illustration can be found on the Gmail app. It consists of colorful boxes and rectangles that look like empty cubby holes. Underneath the image, Google wrote “You’re all done. Nothing in Primary.”

    So get to work everyone and start getting rid of those junk emails.

    Lees ook:

  • Tobacco giant pursues green growth

    Tobacco giant pursues green growth

    The circular economy model helps production and business activities develop sustainably and creates added value ​​in the community, said a representative of British American Tobacco (BAT).

    Vietnam has been integrating more and more deeply into the global economy through free trade agreements that include provisions on sustainable development and oblige all parties to comply with emissions standards.

    These constraints are also consistent with the contents mentioned in the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals for the period 2015-2030 that Vietnam and its businesses are pursuing.

    These include eradicating hunger, ensuring food security and improving nutrition, developing sustainable agriculture, ensuring sustainable production and consumption patterns, and promoting long-term, inclusive and sustainable economic growth as well as productive and good work for all.

    Currently, 90 percent of tobacco plantations in Gia Lai is invested in by businesses following the cooperation model with the participation of enterprises, farmers, authorities and scientists. Vietnam Tobacco Corporation (Vinataba) is working with joint venture partners like British American Tobacco (BAT) to support farmers through seed investment (creation of new varieties with high yields), investment in fertilizers, agricultural mechanization (from gardening to irrigation), and organizing technical training for farmers to show them how to tend to their crops for the best quality and highest productivity.

    Besides, the Vinataba-BAT joint venture is interested in conserving biodiversity, saving irrigation water, protecting forests, and committing to not using natural forest firewood, while improving soil fertility, managing energy, and reducing water pollution in their plantations.

    After more than 15 years of developing tobacco plantations in Vietnam, BAT has helped to provide incomes 30 percent higher than the investment norm, and now over 90 percent of farmers are attached to the industry since its inception.

    In 2020, after 10 years of implementation, the use of BAT’s new hybrid varieties reached 54 percent. Meanwhile, the implementation of mechanization had helped save more than 20 percent of costs and labor for farmers.

    Pham Hung Anh Tuan, head of operations, BAT East Asia, said the application of circular economy principles needs to be adapted across the entire value chain, thereby providing opportunities for innovations and reducing overall environmental impact.

    “Effective application of sustainability has helped BAT on a global scale to be continuously recognized on Dow Jones Sustainability Index and continuously recognized as a Diversity Leader by Financial Times,” said Tuan.

    In addition to these efforts to develop sustainable growing areas, the BAT-Vinataba tobacco joint venture factory in Bien Hoa (Dong Nai) has implemented a range of initiatives focused on sustainable production and consumption, such as reducing water use (2 percent per year) and collecting rainwater to use instead of source water, production wastewater being reused instead of being discharged into the environment.

    Along with meeting the environmental A standard, the wastewater system at the BAT-Vinataba factory has been used for deodorizing and other water-saving activities. Kitchen waste, leaves, tobacco dust, sewage sludge, etc. are collected and transferred to the fertilizer production company.

    Up to now, BAT’s factories in Vietnam have completely switched to using biomass in the combustion boilers, contributing to increasing the rate of renewable energy use in Vietnam by the end of the third quarter of 2021 by 26 percent, doubling the plan set out for the year.

    A total 100 percent of lighting systems in factories have switched to LEDs, saving more than 40 percent of lighting energy compared to using conventional light bulbs.

    Thanks to the activities, 2021 was the third year that BAT was honored on the list of the 100 Most Sustainable Companies (CSI) in Vietnam organized by VCCI-VBCSD.

    Towards 2025, BAT in Vietnam will continue to make efforts to achieve its sustainable development goals. BAT aims to eliminate all unnecessary single-use plastics in packaging, achieving an average recycling rate of 30 percent for all plastic packaging. All plastic packaging products will be recyclable, reused, or biodegradable so they are environmentally friendly. A total 100 percent of BAT plants, including in Vietnam, will have zero landfill waste and 95 percent of waste will be recycled.

    As a member of the CSI organizing committee, Nguyen Quang Vinh, general secretary of Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, shared more about the Sustainable Business Index, developed by the VCCI and leading domestic and international experts to provide the community with an effective management tool and a measure to evaluate the level of sustainable development regarding aspects of the economy, society and environmental protection of enterprises.

    “We acknowledge BAT’s contributions to the sustainable development of Vietnam over the years in terms of environment, society and corporate governance,” said Vinh.

    Lees ook:

  • TikTok is testing paid subscriptions to allow creators to charge for their content

    TikTok is testing paid subscriptions to allow creators to charge for their content

    A TikTok spokesperson said that TikTok is testing paid subscriptions. This new feature would allow TikTok creators to charge followers with a subscription to their content.

    TikTok’s spokesperson didn’t provide specific information about the testing and how this new feature may work. The spokesperson also didn’t provide any information about pricing or possible subscription plans.

    Currently, TikTok has a few monetization features in place to enable its creators to earn more. Fans can send money to creators via their profiles, and viewers can purchase virtual gifts using the app and then send them to creators, which they can exchange for real money.

    TikTok said, “We’re always thinking about new ways to bring value to our community and enrich the TikTok experience.”

    The Information report comes right after Instagram revealed that it had begun testing a similar subscription feature. As previously reported, Instagram’s subscription feature is currently available only to ten content creators, but Instagram said that this number would increase in time. The prices of Instagram’s subscriptions may vary from $0.99 to $99.99 per month, and creators will be able to select the prices of the subscriptions themselves. Subscribers will have access to exclusive Instagram Stories as well as Instagram Live, which is a real-time video stream.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Instagram will try to hide “potentially harmful” content

    Instagram will try to hide “potentially harmful” content

    In the vast cyber jungle we call The Internet there are potential threats lurking in every dark corner, every thick bush. Now, dramatic preludes aside, there is a lot of bad content around the web – such as the pornography that spam bots were peddling on Instagram.

    The popular social network has been constantly testing new methods to filter potentially harmful content, and even halted the development of Instagram Kids, following recent backlash. Now the company has shared another slew of changes on its official blog, aimed to limit the visibility of potentially harmful content.

    Here’s a breakdown of all the changes:

    • Instagram will continue to remove content that goes against its Community Guideline, but now posts that may contain bullying or hate speech, or that may encourage violence, will be shown further down in Feed and Stories.
    • Instagram will down-rank potentially upsetting posts in your Feed based on your history of reporting content.
    • These changes only impact individual posts, not accounts overall. Instagram will also note the violators why their posts have been removed.

    Instagram already has algorithms in place to flag harmful content but now the company is targeting borderline posts and potential gray zones. “To understand if something may break our rules, we’ll look at things like if a caption is similar to a caption that previously broke our rules,” Instagram wrote in an update.

    The second bullet point in the changelog means that Instagram will try to predict the posts you’re likely to report and preemptively down-rank them in your Feed.

    It’s also worth noting that up until now Instagram algorithms have tried to hide harmful content from parts of the app visible to the public users, such as Explore. With the aforementioned changes in place, these posts will also be down-ranked for users following the account posting such content. The changes are already in effect, so be careful what you post, guys and girls!

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • AirAsia Experiences Turbulent Stock Market

    AirAsia Experiences Turbulent Stock Market

    AirAsia Group has announced that stock exchange operator Bursa Malaysia dismissed its application to extend a relief period that prevented it from being classified as a Practice Note 17 (PN17) company, a status that relates to companies that are in financial distress.

    Companies classed as PN17 must submit to the stock exchange a proposal to restructure and revive the company in order to maintain listing status. In a disclosure to the exchange on January 13, the AirAsia (AK, Kuala Lumpur Int’l) parent confirmed that, according to Bursa regulations, with the expiry of the relief period it is now “required to reassess its condition.”

    The PN17 financial distress criteria had been triggered in July 2020 after independent auditors from Ernst & Young highlighted in the group’s annual results that net loss and liabilities at the end of 2019 significantly exceeded assets, flagging material uncertainties that cast doubt on its ability to continue as a going concern.

    In light of the pandemic, Bursa Malaysia gave the group 18 months to take steps to address the issue, and when the relief period expired on January 7, AirAsia filed an appeal to prolong it. This has now been rejected, risking delisting from the exchange.

    The following day, on January 14, Bursa Malaysia issued a statement saying that short selling for AirAsia stock had been suspended for the rest of the day as “the last done price of the approved securities dropped more than 15 sen [cents] from the reference price.” Trading will be reactivated at 0830L (0030Z) on the next trading day, Monday, January 17.

    Meanwhile, in Jakarta, the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) again suspended trading in Indonesia AirAsia (QZ, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) on January 12. Trading had only resumed on January 3, nearly two-and-a-half years after its shares were suspended due to its failure to meet the 7.5% threshold for free-floating equity.

    This time, the IDX cited unusual market activity the previous day when the stock closed at 24.4% up. In fact, the bourse said, Indonesia AirAsia’s shares jumped in value by 185% from IDR184 rupiah (USD0.0129) on January 3 to IDR525 (USD0.0367) at the close of trading on January 11. The exchange appealed to investors to pay attention to the performance of listed companies and their disclosures of information before making investment decisions.

    In a statement, Indonesia AirAsia clarified: “There is no material information that has not been submitted by the company to the public; and there is no information about the company circulating as rumours or in the mass media.”

    Lees ook:

  • Reliance joins calls for India to tighten marketplace rules

    Reliance joins calls for India to tighten marketplace rules

    Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal on Tuesday said India is on the path of encouraging ease of doing business and stressed that the government is production-minded and not revenue-minded.

    In a tweet, Agarwal said trust, talent, and technology are the cornerstones of development.

    ”We fully agree with PM Shri Narendra Modi Ji at #DavosAgenda that it’s the best time to invest in India. It is a great opportunity for entrepreneurs to identify partners and investors to collaborate with them, as general consciousness is that they’d like to work with local entrepreneurs,” he tweeted.

    He also tweeted, ”#India is definitely on the path of encouraging ease of doing business. Govt. is production minded and not revenue minded.” Citing India’s commitment to deep economic reforms and the ease of doing business, Modi on Monday asserted that this is the best time to invest in the country as policy-making is focused on the needs for the next 25 years for a ‘clean and green’ as well as ‘sustainable and reliable’ growth period.

    In his special address to the World Economic Forum’s online Davos Agenda 2022 summit, Modi underlined a host of reform measures undertaken by his government to stress that it has worked to reduce the administration’s interference in business by deregulating many sectors and to clear the way for free trade agreements with different countries.

    India was once associated with ‘License Raj’, he had noted highlighting the measures, including the reduction of corporate tax to boost business and doing away with over 25,000 compliance requirements.

    He also mentioned new challenges, including cryptocurrencies, facing the world and said they call for countries to respond together as measures by any one country may be inadequate.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • After update, Google Maps disappears from Android Auto

    After update, Google Maps disappears from Android Auto

    Google Maps helps users get from point “A” to point “B” using the most environmental-friendly and fastest route. And once you get to “B,” the app helps you find a place to eat, a place to sleep, things to see, and more. In other words, many travelers depend on the app and use it almost every day to help them make their daily commute without running into traffic jams, accidents, and speed traps.

    According to several posts made on Google’s support forums, after the latest update to Android Auto 7.2, Google Maps just upped and disappeared. The app still shows up on the user’s handset and can still be accessed as long as the car is not connected to the phone. Outside of an Android Auto community specialist, Google has yet to acknowledge that this problem exists and with that in mind, the search giant has yet to issue a workaround.

    There is a solution, however, users with this problem can switch to another navigation and mapping app like Waze. Also owned by Google, Waze uses crowdsourced data to help it deliver the fastest and safest routes for users to follow. Unlike Google Maps, Waze concentrates on navigation although it can still lead you to gas stations and restaurants. Or, if using Google Maps is a must, just run the app through your phone instead of using Android Auto.

    One user who posted on Google’s forum said that prior to the latest Android Auto update, everything worked perfectly on his 2018 Audi Q7 and his Samsung S21 Ultra. Once he installed the update, Android Auto no longer appeared as an app on his phone home screen and could not be reinstalled. The Q7 display no longer includes Maps; after using his voice to call for the Google Maps app, he is told that “This application is not available on your device.”

    While he can navigate using Google Maps on his Galaxy S21 Ultra, his car no longer displays maps and the turn-by-turn directions can not be heard from his car’s speaker. After talking with Samsung, the man says that he was told that the issue is not with his Galaxy S handset, but with Android Auto.

    In his post, he notes that he tried uninstalling and reinstalling updates, rebooting the phone, and re-setup Android Auto on his car, all to no avail. A subsequent post was sent in by a person with a similar story who uses a Galaxy S20 Ultra running Android 12. This person also lost Google Maps on Android Auto.

    The aforementioned community specialist with the Android Auto team responded by saying, “Thanks for reporting this issue. We have reached out to you via email to collect more information. Please share the required details.” So at this point, we have to assume that Google is not totally familiar with the issue.

    If you are affected by this bug,, you should simply use Google Maps on your handset, or switch to Waze on Android Auto. Either way, you will need to wait for Google to make the necessary repair through an OTA software update.

    Speaking of updates, Android Auto 7.2, the one that caused Google Maps to disappear, was released at the beginning of this year with no changelist.

    Have any of you found that Google Maps has disappeared from your Android Auto screen after installing the 7.2 update? If so, which one of our suggestions are you using? Did you decide to simply turn to your phone to run Google Maps, or are you continuing to use Android Auto and have switched to Waze. Let us know by dropping your comment in the box below.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Unilever says GSK consumer arm ‘strong strategic fit’ for business

    Unilever says GSK consumer arm ‘strong strategic fit’ for business

    Dove soap maker Unilever signaled on Monday it would pursue a deal for GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer health business, calling it a “strong strategic fit” after its 50-billion-pound approach ($68.4 billion) was rejected.

    The update comes after GSK confirmed over the weekend that it had rejected the Unilever offer for its consumer healthcare business, which is home to brands such as Sensodyne toothpaste and Emergen-C vitamin supplement.

    “The acquisition would create scale and a growth platform for the combined portfolio in the U.S., China and India, with further opportunities in other emerging markets,” Unilever said, pointing to synergies in the oral care and vitamin supplements business.

    Unilever held talks with banks about additional financing for a potential sweetened offer for GSK’s consumer products division, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.

    Unilever, which is set to announce an initiative later this month to strengthen its business, said on Monday it was committed to “strict financial discipline” for any acquisitions.