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.

  • Apple Stores set to enter India; teams up with Croma Retail

    Apple Stores set to enter India; teams up with Croma Retail

    Apple Stores will now officially enter Indian shores in partnership with Tata-owned consumer electronics chain Croma which will host Apple at six locations – five in Croma stores, Mumbai and one in Bangalore – to begin with. The locations are Juhu, Oberoi Mall, Malad, Ghatkopar, and Phoenix Mall in Mumbai. In Bangalore, it will be opened in Jayanagar. These stores will be opened by Diwali this year.

    Avijit Mitra, chief executive officer of Infiniti Retail, which owns Croma said, “We are proud to partner Apple to launch the Apple Store in India and extremely bullish about it. These stores will be modelled on the global design and will offer the best experience to consumers, showcasing the entire range of Apple products.”

    It should be pointed out that these stores will be different from Apple exclusive stores in India. Apple will not own these stores, but has franchisees who are premium re-sellers. Apple products are sold online via e-commerce portals as well.

    The Apple space will be 400-500 square feet in area and the store design, furniture, fixtures and lighting will the same as that used in Apple stores globally and the sales staff will also be trained by the company, the report added.

    Croma has stated that it has 97 stores across the country with 3.8 million customers where as Apple owns more than 460 stores in 17 countries. The company has significantly increased its retail presence in the country in the past year with five distributors in India.

  • China’s JD.com expands operations to Silicon Valley

    China’s JD.com expands operations to Silicon Valley

    JD.com, China’s second-largest e-commerce services provider by sales, has expanded its operations in the United States, with the opening on Monday of a research and development facility in Santa Clara, California — right in the centre of Silicon Valley.

    “Given the scope and strength of American brands, products and capabilities, the US was the obvious choice as we sought a location for our first office outside of Asia,” said Richard Liu Qiangdong, the founder and chief executive of JD.

    The move followed JD’s unveiling last month of a new office in Hong Kong that was set up to help the Beijing-based company better engage with major brands and retailers across Asia.

    Dennis Weng, the chief technical advisor for JD Mall, has been tasked to initially oversee the new US facility, which will focus on areas such as cloud computing, mobile applications and big-data infrastructure to improve the online retail experience for its customers in mainland China and boost the company’s US-sourced offerings.

    JD’s research and development operation is also expected to provide both rotational job possibilities for engineers in China and opportunities for certain skilled technical workers in Silicon Valley.

    “Our nearly 120 million active customers stay loyal because they know we work continuously to improve their shopping and fulfillment experience by implementing the most advanced technologies and processes,” said Rain Long, JD’s chief human resources officer and general counsel.

    Nasdaq-listed JD launched a “US Mall” marketplace on its website, dedicated exclusively to meeting the demand on the mainland for authentic imported American products.

    “As we build out and staff our new facility in the coming months we look forward to forging new partnerships and attracting new talent that will help JD.com achieve its goals of delivering an unparalleled level of service and quality,” Long said.

    JD, which posted second-quarter revenue of 45.9 billion yuan (US$7.2 billion), claims it has the largest fulfilment infrastructure of any e-commerce company in mainland China.

    It operates seven so-called fulfilment centres and a total of 166 warehouses in 44 cities. In addition, its own staff runs 4,142 delivery stations and pick-up stations in 2,043 counties and districts across the country.

    Efforts to widen JD’s international sourcing capabilities are in line with the company’s announcement in August of expanding into 100,000 villages across mainland China by the end of this year. This marks the company’s most aggressive domestic market expansion since 2013, when it started its foray into lower-tier cities..

    “Management expects to see more than 50 per cent order contribution from lower-tier cities in the near term,” Jefferies equity analyst Cynthia Meng said in a report.

    Meng said the fastest-growing product categories on business-to-consumer e-commerce platform JD Mall included apparel and shoes, home furnishing, watches, food and beverage, cosmetics and baby products.

    JD’s rural expansion would heat up competition with domestic market leader Tmall.com, e-commerce giant Alibaba Group’s business-to-consumer operation, in that fast-growing market segment.

    The number of online shoppers in rural mainland China increased 40.6 per cent year-on-year to 77.14 million at the end of December, according to data from the China Internet Network Information Centre.

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  • Qantas and Singapore named the best airlines in the world by AirlineRatings.com

    Qantas and Singapore named the best airlines in the world by AirlineRatings.com

    Qantas has been named as one of the best airlines in the world if you want to travel in style.

    Popular travel rating website Airlineratings.com has announced the winners for their third annual Best of the Best in luxury air travel, and Qantas, along with Singapore Airlines were clearly ahead of the competition.

    Editors of the site examined the offerings and in-flight service of more than 450 airlines.

    Qantas and Singapore made it into the Top Ten in each of the four categories, while Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific Airways and Etihad made the Top Ten in three of the categories.

    This lucky guy has plenty of room to stretch out in his first class seat on a Singapore Airlines A380 airliner.

    This lucky guy has plenty of room to stretch out in his first class seat on a Singapore Airlines A380 airliner.

    AirlineRatings.com Editor-In-Chief Geoffrey Thomas said that it was “not surprising that Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific Airways, Etihad Airways and the Virgin Group featured so significantly in the Top Ten selections. These airlines are consistently a byword for in-flight excellence and service. They are the trendsetters and the industry looks to what they are doing next.”

    AirlineRatings launched in June 2013 and rates the safety and in-flight product of 450 airlines using a proprietary system.

    The winners — in alphabetical order:

    FIRST CLASS: All Nippon Airways, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Japan Airlines, Korean Air, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Swiss and Thai International

    BUSINESS CLASS: Air France, Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Etihad Airways, Japan Airlines, Qatar, Qantas, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia/Atlantic

    You can watch the clouds go by or pop on the tele in first class on board Singapore Airlines' Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Supplied.

    You can watch the clouds go by or pop on the tele in first class on board Singapore Airlines’ Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. 

    PREMIUM ECONOMY: Air France, Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airways, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, EVA Air, Japan Airlines, Qantas, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic/Virgin Australia

    LONG HAUL ECONOMY CLASS: Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific Airways, Etihad, EVA Air, Japan Airlines, Korean Air, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways

    In June, Qatar Airways was voted the best airline for 2015 in the annual Skytrax awards for the world’s best airline.

    Time for a dinner date on board a Qantas A380. Supplied.

    Time for a dinner date on board a Qantas A380.

    Meanwhile, in June the presitigous Skytrax awards were revealed, with Qantas coming in at number 10 on the list. The awards are judged by 18.9 million passengers in 110 countries around the world who vote on factors such as comfort, friendliness of cabin crew and in-flight food.

    The top ten airlines included Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Turkish and Emirates.

    In the low-cost airline category AirAsia was voted the world’s best for the seventh year in a row, despite the tragic accident in the Java Sea last year that killed all 162 people on-board flight QZ8501.

    Other awards included Garuda Indonesia for best cabin crew, Air France for most improved airline, EVA Air for cleanest aircraft cabins and Cathay Pacific for best transpacific airline.

    The best airlines for 2015, according to Skytrax:

    1. Qatar Airways

    2. Singapore Airlines

    3. Cathay Pacific Airways

    4. Turkish Airlines

    5. Emirates

    6. Etihad Airways

    7. ANA All Nippon Airways

    8. Garuda Indonesia

    9. EVA Air

    10. Qantas Airways

    The fancy Qantas Chairman's Lounge at Sydney Airport serves up some first class food. Supplied.

  • Asian startups got more than $10 billion in April-June quarter

    Asian venture capital-backed companies enjoyed 45% year-on-year growth in capital received during the second quarter of 2015, bringing in more than $10 billion in investments, according to a recent report by KPMG, an audit, tax and advisory company.

    The report notes that venture capital growth is driven by corporations on the hunt for companies with creative innovations. The buyers hope to integrate these innovations with their own businesses. Their activities are expected to continue as it is “cheaper for companies to invest in technologies rather than develop [them] internally,” the report says.

    Eight of every 10 deals in the quarter were made by Asian Internet and mobile companies, according to KPMG.

    Singapore was the top country for Southeast Asia’s venture capital activities, followed by Indonesia and Malaysia. In the second quarter, the republic had deals worth $160.7 million, while Indonesia had deals worth $3.5 million and Malaysia made $2.4 million worth of deals. For 2014, the amount of venture funds attracted by Singapore was around $1.07 billion.

    Terence Lee, managing editor of TechinAsia, an online news organization, said, “Singapore’s business-friendly environment and sound infrastructure is key.” He added that the Singapore government’s initiative to expand its Technology Incubation Scheme in 2012 “most likely led to the spike in investments in Singapore startups.”

    The government program helps to fund incubators that in turn seed startups. Under it, the government co-invests up to 500,000 Singapore dollars (around $350,000) in Singapore-based startups. An incubator can buy out the government’s stake in a startup within three years by repaying the initial capital plus interest.

    Investors have been investing in e-commerce-related companies, which are soaring in popularity in Asia. The online retail market in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and three other Southeast Asian countries is worth around $7 billion. Globally, venture capital-backed companies raised $88.3 billion in 2014.

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  • Singapore to help revive Lak Sathosa

    Singapore to help revive Lak Sathosa

    Singapore has extended its support to revive Lak Sathosa, Sri Lanka’s sole State-owned retail chain In a significant development affecting Sri Lanka’s retail market segments. The immediate offer of support comes in the wake of a Ministerial level call made recently in Colombo, High Commissioner Chandra Das, the former Member of Parliament of Singapore from Chong Boon said.

    In 2014, Singapore was in fourth place in the list of Sri Lanka’s main importing countries representing 6.6% of Sri Lanka’s total imports.

    The LakSathosa retail chain has over 310 outlets.

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  • Changi Airport Group injects buzz with luxury tender

    Changi Airport Group injects buzz with luxury tender

    Changi Airport Group (CAG) has issued a tender for luxury brand concessions in the terminal three departure/transit lounge south at Singapore Changi airport.

    Concession A spans 112sq m, concession B 103sq m, concession C 86sq m and concession D 100sq m. The contract for concessions A, B and C is for three years from July 1 2016 to June 30 2019. For concession D, the contract is for three years from January 9 2017 or on the physical handover of the premises to the winner, whichever is later. The deadline for submissions is October 29.

    A CAG statement said: “We are looking for unique and exciting luxury brands and concepts that are currently not represented at Singapore Changi airport terminal three and will inject buzz and differentiate the retail offerings at Singapore Changi airport. All product categories may be considered, except for liquor and tobacco and perfumes and cosmetics.”

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  • UnionBank bets on retail boost

    UnionBank bets on retail boost

    UNION BANK of the Philippines, Inc. (UnionBank) expects its retail business to boost its growth this year as an industry-wide slump in trading gains is seen continuing on the back of persisting market volatilities.
    The Aboitiz-led bank’s total loan portfolio is already bigger “in general” compared to its income from securities, UnionBank Senior Executive Vice-President Edwin R. Bautista said.“There’s a big growth in our loan book. It’s something that in the past we’ve said that we’ll do but the growth has always been just modest… but since last year, most of our growth is coming from retail,” Mr. Bautista told reporters in the sidelines of an Aboitiz party last Thursday.

    Currently, consumer lending — auto loan, mortgage, salary loans — makes up “more than half” of UnionBank’s P150-billion lending portfolio, while the rest are commercial loans, he added.

    “I think most of the banks know that the trading income would not be as much this year. We’re all trying to recover it through net interest income, fees, so growth, it will have to come from expansion of loan book because your source of income would be loans, fees, trading income. Since the opportunity to gain from trading income is not there, you have to make up through the other lines,” Mr. Bautista said.

    The bank official, who is set to take over the post of current UnionBank President and Chief Operating Officer Victor B. Valdepeñas by yearend, noted that there is a push to foray into retail banking since the “margin is very good.”

    Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. (AEV) President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Erramon I. Aboitiz said in his speech during the same event that for UnionBank, AEV — the listed holding firm of the Aboitiz family’s businesses — “remains focused on its 2020 strategic objectives: double market share to 9%, 15% CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) volumes, balance revenues and becoming a great retail bank.”

    Last May, Mr. Valdepeñas told reporters that the Aboitiz-led bank targets up to 30% growth in its loan portfolio in 2015 compared to its P139-billion loan book as of end-2014.

    Moving forward, UnionBank sees its loan portfolio rising a little over its current level by yearend.

    This, however, will not be enough to lift the lender’s growth this year over its 2014 record.

    “Right now, we are I think more than 50%. In this market, once you hit 50% that’s already a big thing since the consumer market is small compared to the corporate loan market. So if you want to be big in terms of balance sheet, you have to be big in the corporate lending… [but] everyone wants to go into retail since the margin is very good,” Mr. Bautista said.

    “I think we will end the year near where we are right now or pretty much a little bit more, 5-10% from where we are today. Before, if you look at our balance sheet, securities made up bulk of that, but now loans in general take up bigger share compared to securities,” he further said referring to the bank’s loan portfolio growth.

    A STRETCH
    Mr. Bautista added: “It will be difficult to surpass last year’s growth.

    I think for all the banks, it will be a stretch. I think it will already be a big achievement if we match our level last year.”

    The bank earlier targeted a 5% growth in net income this year to P8.7 billion on the back of the continued expansion of its lending business, with at least a quarter of the earnings guidance to come from City Savings Bank, Inc. (CSB), a Cebu-based thrift lender it took over in 2013. The move consolidated the Aboitizes’ banking ventures under one company. UnionBank, a universal bank, is majority-owned by Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc., while CSB is also majority-owned by AEV and its food unit, Pilmico Foods.

    Meanwhile, UnionBank is open to possible acquisitions, Mr. Bautista said, “if the right opportunity presents itself” although the listed lender’s main focus “to strengthen” its current base.

    The bank is also currently maximizing its growth “to the extent that our capital allows without raising more capital right now” but UnionBank may tap the debt market should there be a need to do so.

    “We don’t see a need yet to raise the capital. We are in a sustainable growth trajectory that our income is enough to provide capital for the growth. But if we see an opportunity … then I think we will consider raising more capital. But we also don’t want to raise capital prematurely because it will reduce our RoE (return on equity),” he said.

    UnionBank saw its net income for the first six months of 2015 plunge to P3 billion compared to the P4.467 billion it posted in the same period a year ago.

    UnionBank shares closed at P53.80 apiece last Friday, gaining P1.80 or 3.46% from its previous close of P52 each.

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  • SCB plans to double its retail banking

    SCB plans to double its retail banking

    Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) has planned to double its business size of retail banking in Bangladesh within next five years, a top executive of the bank said.

    “We’re working to double our retail banking business size in Bangladesh by 2020,”  Sebastian Arcuri, regional head for retail banking in ASEAN and South Asia of SCB, said in an exclusive interview with the FE Thursday.

    Currently, Mr Arcuri is overseeing the bank’s retail business in 11 countries such as Singapore, India, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Philippines.

    He arrived in Dhaka Wednesday night on a brief visit to Bangladesh.

    During his stay, Mr Arcuri met senior officials of Standard Chartered Bank. It was his maiden visit to Bangladesh.

    As part of the plan, SCB will put emphasis on small and medium enterprises (SME) sector to help achieve maximum economic growth in Bangladesh.

    “We’ll also extend financing in the SME sector that would help create employment opportunity across the country,” the SCB executive said while replying to a query.

    SCB is celebrating 110 years in Bangladesh this year.

    “We are proud to have the largest high-value segment customer base in the country, and several generations in the same family are banking with us. With continuous innovation in products and solutions, our bank has been the pioneer in retail banking of Bangladesh,” Mr Arcuri noted.

    SCB also plans to keep on bringing new products and services to the existing and potential valued customers to be their bank of choice.

    He said SCB has planned to introduce a new online solution in Bangladesh for opening new account within five minutes by 2016.

    At present, SCB is providing such solution in South Korea for opening accounts.

    “We’re now working to introduce such solution in Bangladesh within the stipulated time,” Aditya Mandloi, head of retail clients of the bank’s Bangladesh operation, told the FE while elaborating preparations in this regard.

    Regarding the latest market activities, the regional retail banking head said emerging markets are moving faster in terms of digital and smartphone adoption, leapfrogging compared to more mature markets.

    “We’re revamping digital platform so that clients can do on mobile phones and online everything previously done in a branch where possible,” he explained.

    Mr Sebastian Arcuri joined the UK-based foreign commercial bank in 2014. Earlier, he worked with HSBC Brazil as an executive director and head of retail banking and wealth management, and president of HSBC Insurance in the country.

    Banking is a cyclical business. Currently facing challenges, but SCB has resilience and diversification to respond, according to the senior banker.

    “Focus on the key clients, the emerging affluent and investment in products, new branches, better technology. Here for good – here for our clients for the long run – this will keep the bank going through the short-term cycles,” he noted.

    SCB is now focused on the fastest-growing cities in the world, which are in footprint of Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

    “We are client-segment focused so we can address clients’ needs from a life-cycle approach. We are investing heavily in technology to be digital by design so we can deliver easy, convenient banking through whatever channel the client prefers, whenever the client wants it. The future can only be better,” Mr Arcuri observed.

    Standard Chartered has already made a series of key hires to step up the growth of its retail client business across the world.

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  • Meyer Sound LEOPARD & D-Mitri At Ocean Park Hong Kong Halloween Fest

    Meyer Sound LEOPARD & D-Mitri At Ocean Park Hong Kong Halloween Fest

    Ocean Park Hong Kong is partnering with Meyer Sound to stage the 15th edition of Asia’s largest Halloween-themed event. A LEOPARD™ linear sound reinforcement system and D-Mitri® digital audio platform lead a lineup of Meyer Sound systems to bring utmost sonic immersion and push the scare factor for the Park’s fear-loving guests.

    “To bolster our iconic Halloween celebration on its 15th anniversary, we decided to elevate the scary experience to new heights for our guests by exploring different sound effect treatments,” says Jacky Chan, technical manager of Ocean Park Hong Kong. “The project is challenging because we want to use sound to inspire an intense fear in our guests, independent of scary visuals. Meyer Sound’s sophisticated D-Mitri platform, coupled with the company’s experience with international performances in Broadway and Las Vegas, allow us to achieve our desired outcome.”

    One of the festival’s most popular attractions, the Hellympics live show features an immersive 5.1 surround sound system. The system is anchored by LEOPARD line array loudspeakers and 900-LFC and 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements, with signal distribution provided by a D-Mitri digital audio platform. In addition, D-Mitri drives the sound effects in the haunted house H15 presented by Yahoo! Hong Kong. H15 follows the visitors’ afterlife journey as a “corpse bearer” leads them from room to room while the guests are strapped to a mortuary bed on wheels.

    The LEOPARD line array system is the newest and smallest member of the Meyer Sound LEO® Family. LEOPARD boasts tremendous power-to-size ratio with ultra-low distortion. With LEOPARD, visitors to Ocean Park Halloween Fest will experience a level of sonic impact and detail like never before.

    Audio Dynamic, Meyer Sound’s Hong Kong dealer, provides audio equipment and design support for the attractions.

    Ocean Park Halloween Fest 2015 will run through November 1.

  • ADS Securities Hong Kong Launches Retail Offering

    ADS Securities Hong Kong Launches Retail Offering

    Representatives from the financial services industry, media and VIPs gathered at The Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong today to mark the launch of ADS Securities Hong Kong Limited’s retail offering. Investors in Hong Kong will now have access to over 60 currency pairs on ADS Securities’ proprietary, multi-asset online OREX trading platform.

    Francis Lee, Managing Director of ADS Securities Hong Kong Limited, welcomed guests and introduced the cutting edge offering, setting out the vision and ambition of the company. “Retail customers in Hong Kong are looking for a trading partner that is highly capitalized, offers access to tier one bank and non-bank liquidity, and uses cutting edge institutional-level platforms. This is precisely the gap in the market ADS Securities’ retail offering will fill.”

    Philippe Ghanem, CEO & Vice Chairman of ADS Securities, said: “Our physical presence in Hong Kong and strong retail offering are critical to our broader corporate strategy of bridging trade flows between Europe, the Middle East and Asia. ADS Securities has earned its reputation in the Middle East and Europe by providing excellent client service and competitive pricing, using the latest online trading technology. Our retail clients in Hong Kong today will now have the opportunity to experience a key driver of our global success: our tier 1 multi-asset trading platform, OREX.”

    OREX represents a multi-million dollar investment in technology which is accessed by investors around the world. This award-winning institutional-level platform was developed with the consumer in mind, providing access to ultra-low latency pricing infrastructure, fast execution, and flexible trading size.

    From the launch (September 14), ADS Securities Hong Kong will offer highly competitive pricing across a full range of over 60 currency pairs, with no minimum deposit requirement. Tutorials and educational tools are also available for novices, intermediaries and professionals, along with dedicated multilingual customer support teams on hand 24/5 via phone, email and Whatsapp.

    ADS Securities Hong Kong Limited provides leveraged FX trading services to Hong Kong clients, giving them market leading technology, excellent prices and spreads, and best in-class client service. ADS Securities Hong Kong Limited is a fully owned subsidiary of ADS Securities LLC based in Abu Dhabi and regulated by the Central Bank of the UAE.

    Hong Kong’s team of highly experienced FX specialists is led by Francis Lee, the widely respected academic, finance expert and executive, who runs the group’s strategic development and business operations in the Asia Pacific Region. ADS Securities Hong Kong Limited is regulated by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (CE No AXC847), and holds a type three license allowing it to trade leveraged FX.

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  • Hong Kong retail sales slump by widest margin since January

    Hong Kong retail sales slump by widest margin since January

    Retail sales in Hong Kong declined for a sixth straight month in August due to a slowdown in inbound tourism and sluggish economic conditions.

    The value of total retail sales in August declined 5.4 per cent year on year to HK$37.9 billion, following a 2.8 per cent drop in July, according to the latest figures from the Census and Statistics Department.

    The fall was the biggest since January’s year-on-year decline of 14.5 per cent.

    The government said on Friday that the tourism downturn and recent stock market gyrations might have dented consumer sentiment.

    The total number of visitors dropped 6.6 per cent to 5.6 million in August, while the largest source of visitors -from the mainland – declined by 7.1 per cent.

    The spokesman also said the different timing of the MidAutumn Festival, which fell in late September this year but early September last year, pushed back some sales and added weakness to the performance in August.

    Sales of Chinese drugs and herbs recorded the biggest drop of 17.4 per cent among the various sectors.

    Apparel and department store sales suffered further retreats of 13.5 per cent and 8.6 per cent respectively, after dropping 13.1 per cent and 7.3 per cent in July. The value of jewellery, watches and clocks and valuable gifts dropped for an eleventh month, with a decline of 8.8 per cent in August.

    Bank of Communications economist and strategist Kelvin Lau Gin-yip said the continued fall in retail sales was expected, and warned that the worst was yet to come.

    “It is just the beginning,” Lau said.

    “The tourism downturn results in downsizing for the retail sector, which further dents local consumer sentiment. This is reflected in the decline in apparel and department store sales.”

    Lau also said the near-term outlook for retail sales remained subject to uncertainties, and he could not see any prospect for recovery in the short run because of the strong US dollar to which the local currency is pegged.

    However, there was some positive news. Sales of miscellaneous consumer durable goods surged 50.2 per cent in August. No explanation was given.

    Commerce minister Greg So Kam-leung said yesterday that the spending pattern of tourists, especially mainlanders, had changed.

    He added that the government noted weakening Asian currencies had prompted tourists to visit alternative destinations, and economic uncertainties had dented tourist sentiment, which had led to slumping retail sales. He said the government would closely monitor the situation and consider possible strategies to help tourism.

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  • Davidoff & Sparkle Roll seal huge China deal

    Davidoff & Sparkle Roll seal huge China deal

    Oettinger Davidoff AG and the Hong Kong listed Sparkle Roll Group have rubber stamped their earlier agreed multi-million dollar Davidoff cigar and cigar accessories joint venture for China, with Davidoff taking 49.9 % and Sparkle Roll 50.1%.

    While the framework agreement was announced several months ago, the development is nevertheless a huge commitment for both companies with Oettinger Davidoff agreeing to subscribe for 499 Shares in the New Joint Venture Company, representing 49.9% of the total number of the issued shares at a total purchase price of US$1.497m (equivalent to approximately HK11.677m).

    For its part, Sparkle Roll/CGL is subscribing for 501 Shares representing the 50.1% balance at a total purchase price of US$1.503m (equivalent to approximately HK$11.723m).

    Commenting on the landmark arrangement, Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard (left), CEO and Board member of Oettinger Davidoff AG, said: “The signing of this Joint Venture agreement heralds a new era in our relationship with Sparkle Roll and in our commitment to building the Davidoff business in China.

    “This market represents the single largest business opportunity for Davidoff in our time and I am convinced that with this new Joint Venture we will be able to exploit that opportunity to its fullest.”

    Mr. Tong Kai Lap, Chairman of Sparkle Roll, said: “Since the individual customers of Sparkle Roll’s existing principal business in top-tier automobiles are predominantly people with high spending power, the Joint Venture will create synergies for both companies. The end products in both businesses are perceived to have the same target customer group and market positioning in the premium segment.”

    The Sparkle Roll Group’s business reads like the Who’s Who of the luxury goods industry, with its main business principally engaged in the trading of top-tier automobiles, high-end watches and jewellery, fine wines and other branded consumer goods in the PRC, Hong Kong, Macau and Malaysia. It also operates dealerships for top-tier automobiles such as Bentley in Beijing and Tianjin, Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce in Beijing.

    The original announcement relating to this deal was made earlier this year and referred to in Davidoff’s results statement earlier this year.

    The first part of a comprehensive interview with Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard also appeared in the September issue of TRBusiness, with the second due to appear in the October TFWA show issue in a few week’s time.

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  • AirAsia makes Tune Money its wholly owned unit

    AirAsia makes Tune Money its wholly owned unit

    AirAsia Bhd is acquiring the remaining 60% interest in financial services provider Tune Money Sdn Bhd as well as its entire issued redeemable preference shares (RPS) for RM6.36mil in cash.

    In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, AirAsia said the payment of about RM0.038 per ordinary 10 sen share and RM150,000 per RPS to vendor Tune Money International Sdn Bhd (TMI) would be financed by the company’s internally generated funds.
    TMI and AirAsia share two common shareholders and directors, namely Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin Meranun.
    AirAsia said Bank Negara had stated on Sept 30 that it had no objections to the transaction.
    On the rationale for the acquisition, it said this would give additional benefits that could only be realised through full ownership and control of Tune Money.
    “Full ownership would allow greater control and facilitate accelerated decision-making with regards to AirAsia priority items that would help support the company’s business plan and commercial objectives.
    “Additionally, once AirAsia increases its stake in Tune Money to above 50%, Tune Money will no longer be classified as an associate and AirAsia will be able to incorporate Tune Money’s contributions to company revenue, which would improve AirAsia’s top line as well as ancillary revenue,” the low-cost carrier said.
    These, it added, were on top of the existing benefits that AirAsia enjoyed through its ownership of a stake in Tune Money, such as lower merchant discount rate, increasing ancillary spend by incentivising guests with meal and baggage discounts, and accelerating deployment of the BIG Loyalty programme by allowing points accrual from purchases outside the AirAsia ecosystem.
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  • CRMNEXT Launches Indonesian Digital Operations in Alliance with Dimension Data

    CRMNEXT Launches Indonesian Digital Operations in Alliance with Dimension Data

    CRMNEXT, Global Leader in commutable cloud, Digital-Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions, today announced, launch of its full-fledged Indonesian operations in alliance with Dimension Data, a leader in cloud architecture solutions. The 2-day (7th & 8th October) launch event kicked-off today at Hotel Sultan in Jakarta, Indonesia.

    Indonesia is the fastest growing economy in south-east Asia. In order to cope with a growing economy amidst a wave of global Digital disruption, businesses such as Banking, Financial Services & Insurance in particular, need smarter tools to manage and nurture their customers.

    Elaborating on the inaugural event, Sushil Tyagi, Director – Global Sales for CRMNEXT, said “We are truly excited with the launch, as Indonesia not only has an impressive economic growth, but is also coupled with well-functioning financial systems. It’s imperative that technology solutions would advance organization’s efficiency and overall progress.  CRMNEXT is the world’s only true auto-upgrade, scalable and agile CRM Solution for the digital age. Dimension Data brings the right synergies to deliver cloud CRM solution on private or public cloud. Together, we would be able to offer the right solutions to the Indonesian customer to implement a true cloud solution for today’s digital Age.”

    Delivering a seamless delightful customer experience that propels companies to accelerate growth is the need of the hour. Acknowledging this need, CRMNEXT’s partnership with Dimension Data will provide Digital-CRM solutions that are custom made and designed for Indonesian business.

    Manish Pratap, General Manager, IT as a Service, Dimension Data Asia Pacific said, “In the digital economy, organizations need to innovate faster than ever before. They must think big, start small and scale fast. We at Dimension Data are committed to making industry leading solutions available to enterprises on our Managed Cloud Platform™. It is our pleasure to partner with CRMNext, a leader in the Digital CRM market, to jointly deliver their solution on cloud.”

    Speaking on the occasion, said Hitesh K. Arora, Director of Strategy and Customer Advocacy for CRMNEXT, “Businesses can start small, do a thorough pilot and then scale up as per need on a reliable true-cloud infrastructure. We’ve proven this for Asia’s largest enterprises including the largest Digital-Native Bank. This kind of convenience driven by agile, cost-effective technology has repeatedly given significant savings on running costs and is primarily offered only by CRMNext. Hence, we believe we’re here to stay and serve the Indonesian business community.”

    Insurance Companies, Banks & Financial Services Enterprises of Indonesia would especially be impacted by this new partnership that offers smarter tools to manage and nurture their expanding customer-base.

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  • Tesco Asia sell-off ruled out

    Tesco Asia sell-off ruled out

    Tesco has ruled out selling any more of its Asian operations in the wake of the Homeplus South Korea divestment.

    At least for now.

    After the US$6 billion sale of Homeplus and an earlier divestment of a stake in its Chinese operation, Tesco Asia retains a large business in Thailand, trading as Tesco Lotus, and in Malaysia.

    Tesco Chairman John Allan has assured shareholders there are “no immediate plans” to sell off any of the company’s remaining overseas arms, including those in Asia.

    “As we sit here today we believe that we have the right sort of assembly of geographies that we are in,” said Allan.

    “At the moment our intention is to hold what we have and to develop it and make the very best of it.”

    When Tesco’s troubles came to light at the end of last year the company received several opportunistic approaches by parties to buy out the Thai and Malaysian operations. But it ruled out any fire sale at the time and now appears committed to retaining and growing the businesses. The company also has operations in Central Europe and Ireland.

    While Allan conceded he could “envisage circumstances” the company might change its mind, that comment was perceived as a safeguard.

    Selling Homeplus has allowed Tesco to retire about £4.2 billion of its massive £21.7 billion debt mountain.

    The company is still looking for a buyer for its Dunnhumby data business, nine months after it ut the business on the market. Dunnhumby analyses grocery sales data from across the store network and sells it to manufacturers.

    “We have looked at the options around Dunnhumby… We’ve not concluded that. As soon as we conclude it we would announce what it is we intend to do,” CEO Dave Lewis told shareholders.