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Tag: asia

  • Adairs Profit Down

    Adairs Profit Down

    Adairs shares have lost more than 30 percent after the homewares and manchester retailer issued another earnings downgrade, citing supply chain challenges. The company announced on Friday it had observed “an adverse change” in trading momentum since the end of May, with sales growth completely flat over the first three weeks of June.

    Adairs chief executive Mark Ronan said the performance marked a material reduction from the 9.0 percent like-for-like sales growth recorded up until May 27.

    The company said it was, therefore, revising its FY19 earnings guidance of $46 million to $50 million – itself flagged as a downgrade at February’s half-year results – to between $42.5 million and $44 million.

    Its FY19 sales guidance has also been narrowed from between $340 million and $355 million to between $340 million and $345 million.

    Shares in Adairs closed 31.32 percent, or 57 cents, lower on Friday at a near two-year low of $1.25.

    Ronan admitted the update was disappointing but insisted the company was still healthy and growing.

    “We have specific issues to address to improve our supply chain capacity, productivity, and efficiency,” Ronan said.

    Ronan said he expected full-year like-for-like sales growth to be between 7.0 percent and 8.0 percent, which he said was in line with the company’s long-term targets.

    He said online sales had grown 40 percent in the second half to date and will represent 17 percent of total sales for the year.

    In February, the company reported a first-half profit increase of 6.83 percent to $14.89 million, following a period of significant online growth.

    But the company moderated its full-year earnings guidance as it braced for the impact of a depreciating Australian dollar “and a potentially more challenging consumer environment”.

    Adairs shares have fallen 33.51 percent so far in 2019.

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  • AirAsia announces five new domestic routes to Lombok, Labuan Bajo, Kertajati

    AirAsia announces five new domestic routes to Lombok, Labuan Bajo, Kertajati

    Low-cost carrier AirAsia launched five new domestic routes on Monday as it stated its “commitment to continue to support tourism and the economy by providing affordable flights”.

    Among the new services that will be operational on Aug. 1 are Jakarta-Lombok (11 times a week), Bali-Lombok (seven times a week), Yogyakarta’s Kulon Progo-Lombok (three times a week), Bali-Labuan Bajo (seven times a week) and Surabaya-West Java’s Kertajati (three times a week).

    Special promos are available for bookings made through airasia.com or the airline’s mobile app until June 30 for trips between Aug. 1 to Oct. 26, including for the Jakarta-Lombok (starting from Rp 635,000 [US$44.88]); Bali-Lombok (Rp 243,000) and Surabaya-Kertajati (Rp 626,000) routes. A free 15-kilogram baggage allowance is available for all the carrier’s domestic flights.

    “Since AirAsia’s newest hub in Lombok was inaugurated in early May and with the addition of our 25th Airbus A320 fleet, we are now ready to connect more and more of the country’s best destinations to support tourism and the local economy,” said AirAsia Indonesia managing director Dendy Kurniawan in a statement.

    AirAsia’s current domestic routes are Jakarta-Bali, Jakarta-Yogyakarta, Jakarta-Surabaya, Bali-Yogyakarta, Bali-Surabaya, Bali-Surakarta, Yogyakarta-Medan and Bandung-Bali.

  • VinFast Starts Production Of Two Cars Designed By Pininfarina At Its New Plant

    VinFast Starts Production Of Two Cars Designed By Pininfarina At Its New Plant

    The first two cars designed by Pininfarina for the Vietnamese brand VinFast will be manufactured in the new plant which was inaugurated by VinFast Production and Trading LLC at Dinh Vu Industrial Zone, Cat Hai, Hai Phong. It is built on an area exceeding 500,000 square meters out of the 335 hectares of the entire complex, meeting the requirements of Industry 4.0 automation and data exchange system. The designed capacity of the first and second phases are to grow from 250,000 vehicles per year to 500,000 vehicles per year, respectively, with the production speed reaching 38 vehicles per hour.

    The Vietnamese brand will produce the new Pininfarina-designed LUX A2.0 sedan and LUX SA2.0 SUV, both of which made their debut at the 2018 Paris Motor Show. After unveiling 20 concept designs submitted by world-famous design houses including Pininfarina, Vinfast asked customers to vote which they thought were in line with world trends and fitting with Vietnamese tastes and demand. Nearly 62,000 participants voted in the contest. The Sedan and SUV designs that collected the most votes were the two that Pininfarina will develop.

    VinFast has in fact already received 10,000 preorders, a year prior to the launching of its final products and that’s quite a record it’s set. After the inauguration of the factory, VinFast will organize the delivery and release of the first cars. Specifically, delivery of VinFast Fadil cars to customers started on June 17, while Pininfarina-designed Lux A2.0 sedan and Lux SA2.0 SUV will be delivered at the end of July 2019.

  • Lagardère Travel Retail partners with AirAsia’s OurShop to develop e-marketplace in APAC

    Lagardère Travel Retail partners with AirAsia’s OurShop to develop e-marketplace in APAC

    Lagardère Travel Retail and AirAsia’s e-marketplace OurShop have created a new partnership in Australia to allow travelers to pre-order and collect duty free items from arrival and departure points.

    As reported, OurShop, launched in July last year, is AirAsia’s online marketplace offering a wide selection of products from duty-free, high street and local retailers from across the world. The initiative was introduced to the industry via an exclusive interview by The Moodie Davitt Report with AirAsia CEO & Co-Founder Tony Fernandes.

    Introduced at the recently opened Aelia Duty Free at Avalon Airport in Victoria, the partners said the move allows “greater flexibility and freedom for travelers, alongside the ability to shop for international and local brands all year round”.

    “This is a new and exciting partnership developed with AirAsia, and we’re delighted to bring this to the Pacific region,” said Lagardère Travel Retail Pacific Region CEO Przemek Lesniak. “We believe it highlights endless benefits for our customers who choose to travel with AirAsia as it opens up a new world of accurate marketing, products and convenience within the travel retail sector.”

    Customers who purchase products on ourshop.com will also earn AirAsia BIG Points, which can be used to redeem free flights on AirAsia, creating a cycle of value.

    Lagardère Travel Retail Partnership Director for Pacific Josh Thompson said the collaboration represents “a win-win” for AirAsia, Avalon Airport and Lagardère Travel Retail, and most importantly their customers. “Customer satisfaction is a key driver for our business and as part of that, this exciting online shopping experience ensures our customers can access convenience shopping, while increasing their own benefits from AirAsia,” he said.

    OurShop Head of Acquisition Hassan Choudhury said: “What used to be a 20-minute shopping experience as travellers rush to their boarding gates is now 365 days of shopping indulgence at the tip of their fingers. I want to thank Lagardère Travel Retail and Aelia Duty Free for partnering with us to deliver this unique online shopping experience and we look forward to sharing incredible success together.”

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  • Sa Sa launched on HKTVmall

    Sa Sa launched on HKTVmall

    SaSa has launched a flagship store on online shopping platform HKTVmall. The SaSa flagship offers more than 1200 SKUs, consisting of trendy skin care, make-up, fragrances and personal care products. The group intends to leverage the platform’s big data analytics to formulate more effective and precise sales and product strategies, as well as offer a series of in-store marketing promotions to customers.

    “As online shopping has become increasingly popular nowadays, customers embrace smart living and enjoy online shopping anytime at their fingertips,” said Sa Sa International chairman and CEO Dr Simon Kwok. “We expect that over 4000 SKUs will be offered on the platform in the short term, and we will continue to keep up with the latest trends in the consumer market trend, exploring collaboration opportunities with other third-party platforms while providing with the customers diversified trendy products, ultimately creating a more intimate shopping experience and giving new impetus to our business growth.”

    “SaSa brought a new retail model to the industry with cosmetic products being sold on open shelves as early as 40 years ago,” said HKTV chairman Ricky Wong. “HKTVmall is developing another new retailing model aiming to build a digital ecosystem encompassing business operations, trading, retailing, financial services and all aspects of daily lives, providing a ‘one-stop shop’ platform to the customers.”

    Last year, personal care and skin care products ranked third most-popular category, accounting for 17 percent of HKTVmall’s Gross Merchandise Value, and Wong believes the partnership with SaSa will introduce more international brands of beauty products, diversifying the selection of skincare and cosmetics products on HKTVmall.

    At present, the SaSa flagship complements SaSa’s physical stores and its own website, as well as its mobile app. SaSa has also been collaborating with third-party platforms in Mainland China in recent years, including Tmall, Kaola, Xiaohongshu, and JD.

    HKTVmall collaborates with more than 2800 retailers and suppliers, providing more than 270,000 products and service choices. Last year, 680,000 unique customers made purchases via HKTVmall.

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  • Lazada activates official Olympic partner status

    Lazada activates official Olympic partner status

    Southeast Asia e-commerce platform Lazada Group has activated its Olympic Games partnership as part of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) long-term partnership with parent Alibaba Group.

    As an official Olympic partner in Southeast Asia, Lazada will help Olympic stakeholders further the reach of the Olympic Movement and connect with the region’s fans.

    “We believe Lazada’s digital footprint will assist us in spreading the spirit of the Olympic Games far and wide across this important region, particularly with a younger audience,” said Timo Lumme, MD, IOC television & marketing services.

    “As an e-commerce pioneer in the region, Lazada seeks to continuously accelerate progress in Southeast Asia and encourage every individual to pursue and ignite new possibilities,” said Lazada Group CEO Pierre Poignant. “We are honored to be activating Alibaba’s partnership with the IOC under our brand and look forward to bringing more Olympic-related moments to this region over the next nine years.”

    Lazada will use the advertising and promotional opportunities connected with using Olympic marks and imagery, including marks from National Olympic Committees. The editions leading up to 2028 include the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, the Olympic Games Paris 2024, the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 and the Olympic Winter Games 2026 in a city yet to be selected by the IOC.

    Lazada held a series of local-engagement initiatives themed “Every Small Inspiration Matters” during the weekend, starting with internal employee events across the region.

    “As Southeast Asia’s leading eCommerce platform by the scale and by reach, we are capturing and also contributing to the heartbeat of the region,” said Mary Zhou, chief marketing officer at Lazada Group. “Through this partnership, we hope to further extend the heart of the Olympic Games and its meaningful values to Southeast Asia.”

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  • Popular bookstore at Thomson Plaza Closing Down

    Popular bookstore at Thomson Plaza Closing Down

    The Popular bookstore at Thomson Plaza has closed after 31 years.

    The outlet, which has traded since 1988, has been closed due to what the owners describe as “lease issues”.

    Popular invited its customers to share their memories of the Thomson Plaza store in a Facebook photo contest which will end tomorrow. Three winners will get SG$20 worth of Popular vouchers.

    The Popular chain is celebrating its 95th anniversary this year, but like all book retailers worldwide, the company is facing challenges from the growth of digital books and consumers moving to other media to read or entertain themselves.

    The top 95 spenders at the Popular bookstore at Thomson Plaza have been rewarded with complimentary three-year membership of the company’s loyalty program, valid also at UrbanWrite stores.

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  • Yogurtland Expanding with Indonesian Stores

    Yogurtland Expanding with Indonesian Stores

    American franchise Yogurtland has entered an agreement to expand throughout Indonesia via the formation of Yogurtland Indonesia Global Mandiri.

    The agreement involves the establishment of 10 outlets in the territory within three years, starting off with a location at Central Park Mall this October. Indonesia is home to more than 270 million people and has 173 shopping centres.

    “The Yogurtland family is excited to welcome Frans [Natalio], William [Siawira], and Erwin [Sujono],” said CEO and founder of Yogurtland Phillip Chang. “Their combined experience and track record of excellence will ensure guests in Indonesia will enjoy a wonderful Yogurtland experience.”

    “We are impressed with the value Yogurtland delivers and the company’s commitment to quality,” said new partner Erwin Sujono. “Our team is ready to develop the Yogurtland brand as the best yogurt company in Indonesia.”

    Yogurtland currently has more than 320 locations throughout the US, Australia and Asia.

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  • Carrefour China business Sold

    Carrefour China business Sold

    Suning is to buy an 80 percent controlling stake in Carrefour China for €620 million (RMB 4.8 billion).

    The first Carrefour China supermarket was opened in 1995 when the French company was one of the first foreign retailers to enter the market. Currently, it operates 234 outlets – 210 large-format hypermarkets and 24 convenience stores. Net sales for its last full year were €3.6 billion (RMB 28.5 billion) and pre-tax profit €66 million (RMB 516 million).

    Just last month, Carrefour executives denied the business was for sale, but financial media have been reporting what turned out to be markedly accurate reports of negotiations this year.

    Suning’s purchase follows the acquisition of 37 Wanda department stores earlier this year, which will be converted to Suning.com branding.

    The company says it will use its smart-retail expertise to digitalize Carrefour China’s existing store network to create a “leading innovative supermarket shopping experience”.

    “In the future, we expect to open up the access for Suning’s various business models, such as household-electronics sales, Redbaby, JIWU, Suning Financial Services, SuFresh and Suning Xiaodian’s immediate delivery, [and] to get into Carrefour China’s stores located in the central business and living areas of Chinese first- and second-tier cities,” said Tian Rui, VP of Suning.com.

    “It will help us better meet more consumers’ needs due to strengthened core capabilities achieved by store innovation. With 400 million registered customers of the company’s retailing segment, Suning.com’s users-ecosystem will complement Carrefour China’s membership system, fully improving the customer value.”

    He said that by connecting the more than 6000 Suning Xiaodian stores with Carrefour China’s outlets, Suning’s ‘last-kilometre home-delivery service will be able to serve more consumers with lower cost but higher efficiency.

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  • BMW X1 Faceflift Makes World Debut In Munich

    BMW X1 Faceflift Makes World Debut In Munich

    The youngest SUV in the BMW family has received a comprehensive update and despite being the smallest, it doesn’t look like one. The current generation BMW X1 surprised us with its grown proportions and bold styling and even car enthusiasts confused it with the X3. The new 2020 facelift model builds upon that with clear and prominent revisions made to its face and rear. It looks more dominant sporting larger kidney grilles which merge in the center. The new Adaptive LED headlamps to include sharper light iconography and the bumper along with integrated LED foglamps also houses larger air intakes. The rear end of the X1 also looks stylish. For instance, the new inlay in the body-color rear apron adopts the car’s main body color.

    The driver side wing mirror projects two-tone LED X1 image when the car is unlocked. The new BMW X1 also gets three new body colors- Jucaro Beige metallic, Misano Blue metallic (exclusively for the M Sport model) and the ultra-exclusive BMW Individual Storm Bay metallic along with four new wheel designs. The 2020 BMW X1 Facelift will be offered in three variants- the base X Line, Sport Line and M Sport. The BMW X1 M Sport gets lowered stance, thanks to the M Sport suspension and BMW Individual High-gloss Shadow Line trim gets additional features along with the M Aerodynamics package.

    On the inside, the cabin is finished in high-quality materials and it continues to get contrast stitching on the instrument panel which is finished in black on its upper section and adopts the color of the interior upholstery lower down. The contrast stitching is available for the xLine, Sport Line and M Sport models only. Moreover, the floor mats also gain colored edging and contrast stitching for the edging and customers will get a choice of three upholstery options. There is also a 6.5-inch screen which is standard while customers can also opt for an 8.8-inch or 10.25-inch touch screen which can be operated using the BMW iDrive Controller or voice control and gets built-in navigation. The latest version of BMW’s connected drive is also standard on the new X1. Moreover, the rear seats can be folded down in three sections (40:20:40) and can slide forward by up to 13 cm, however, that is optional. Features such as automatic tailgate operation and Comfort Access are optional as well.

    The new BMW X1 line up will get 16 engine and transmission options globally which will include a range of three-cylinder and four-cylinder engine options. The BMW X1 sDrive16d which is powered by the 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine will be available with either a manual six-speed gearbox or a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and will develop 114 bhp and 270 Nm of peak torque. The xDrive 25d diesel will get the 2.o-litre, four-cylinder engine which puts out 228 bhp and 450 Nm of peak torque will be mated to an eight-speed auto transmission as standard and will clock triple-digit speed in 6.6 seconds. Finally, the petrol BMW X5 xDrive 25i will use the 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine which puts out 228 bhp and 350 nm of peak torque and is also mated to an eight-speed auto transmission as standard. It’s 0.1 seconds quicker to 100 kmph than its diesel counterpart and clocks triple-digit speed in 6.5 seconds.

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  • Porsche Recalls Cars Worldwide Due To Faulty Transmission Unit

    Porsche Recalls Cars Worldwide Due To Faulty Transmission Unit

    Volkswagen’s sports-car brand Porsche has to recall almost 340,000 Cayenne and Panamera vehicles due to problems with their automatic transmission, the German company said on Tuesday.

    A Porsche spokesman said the cars might roll when parked due to a potentially fragile part in the connection between the gear lever and transmission.

    Almost 100,000 of the affected vehicles, which date back to 2002, are in the United States and almost 25,000 in Germany.

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  • Google announces customers can now use PayPal with Google Pay

    Google announces customers can now use PayPal with Google Pay

    Google has just announced it has expanded its partnership with PayPal to provide merchants with more ways to accept payments online. Starting next week, Google Pay will benefit from PayPal integration in all 24 countries where customers can link their PayPal account to Google Pay.

    Merchants that enable PayPal as a payment method on their Google Pay integration will allow consumers to seamlessly check out on their website or app. Basically, users will no longer have to sign in to PayPal when they use it with Google Pay once they link their PayPal account.

    With the new option, customers will be able to switch between debit cards, credit cards, their PayPal account, and more just by choosing Google Pay at checkout.

    Enabling PayPal integration in Google Pay will let merchants keep all the benefits they currently have, including the ability to receive payments directly to their PayPal Business Account within minutes, no minimum processing requirements, as well as seller protection on select transactions.

    Now, if you’re a merchant who can’t wait to enable the option to pay with PayPal in Google Pay, there are a couple of things that you need to do before customers can use the new feature. However, instead of going too technical, we’ll just redirect you to Google’s developer blog, which has all the information needed to enable PayPal in Google Pay.

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  • Razer Partners Visa In Expanding Payment Network

    Razer Partners Visa In Expanding Payment Network

    Up to 60 million users of Razer’s mobile wallet, Razer Pay, will be able to try out the newly-developed virtual prepaid solution by Visa for making payments wherever Visa is accepted without the need for a bank account or a credit card, both companies announced on Monday

    We want to make sure that we are able to introduce the benefits of mobile and digital payments to [the under-banked and under-served population in Southeast Asia], in order to bring them up to the formal financial system, said Chris Clark, regional president of Visa Asia Pacific, in a statement.

    The new Visa prepaid service will be available in Southeast Asia next month, starting from Malaysia and Singapore where Razer Pay is already available. The service will then be expanded to other countries including the Philippines, where the launch of Razer’s e-wallet is in the pipeline, said Limeng Lee, Visa’s chief strategy officer. «Fintech is the extension of what we have been doing. We’re currently focusing on Southeast Asia where we see massive opportunity. There’s a huge youth demographic and a lot of them are gamers… and these are usually the early adopters of new technology,» Lee said.

    Southeast Asia’s mobile payments landscape grew rapidly in recent years, driven by high mobile penetration rates and the popularity of mobile services. In particular, Vietnam saw the highest growth globally in mobile payments use last year, with six Southeast Asian countries, including Singapore and Malaysia, in the top 10 markets for the shift to mobile, according to a survey by PwC in April this year.

  • Singapore’s Paradise restaurant group plans APAC expansion

    Singapore’s Paradise restaurant group plans APAC expansion

    Paradise restaurant group plans to open its 150th outlet worldwide by 2021, with an initial focus on Singapore.

    The company has opened 10 outlets in Singapore since January, include three at Jewel Changi Airport, and branches at Westgate, Wisma Atria, and The Star Vista. This year, a Paradise Dynasty outlet will be opened at Funan, and a Canton Paradise Tea House restaurant at Junction 8.

    The Paradise restaurant group’s brands include Seafood Paradise, Paradise Inn, Taste Paradise, Paradise Dynasty, KungFu Paradise, Paradise Pavilion, One Paradise and Canton Paradise. It already has outlets in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and China.

    “Since 2016, we have been on the lookout for expansion opportunities,” said Joyce Lao, Paradise’s head of business development.

    “We have opened an average of 20 outlets a year, both locally and overseas, since then. But this year, our focus will be on Singapore, to gain a bigger foothold in the food and beverage industry here.”

    The chain will be rolling out more “quick-service” restaurants where customers order from a menu pad and pay at the counter.

    Paradise restaurant group plans to develop technology in its cooking process, such as a central kitchen where ingredients can be cut and prepared; a noodle-cooking machine with a timer.

    “Some processes cannot be replaced because we do not want to compromise on taste or service standards. We still believe in the human touch,” said Lao.

    The group also plans to expand into non-Asian countries, starting with Los Angeles in the US by the end of the year.

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  • Telegram update adds location-based chats

    Telegram update adds location-based chats

    What not as popular in the U.S. as it is overseas, the Telegram messaging app offers end-to-end encryption and no limits on the number of people you can chat with or broadcast to at one time. It’s no wonder that protesters of all types outside of the states love to use Telegram. And today, the company announced some changes that will be found in version 5.8 of the messaging app.

    You’ll notice that all new chats have a new button on the top of the screen that says “Add to Contacts.” This feature will allow you to quickly add to your Telegram contacts list a person who has sent you a message on the platform even without knowing their phone number. Another option also available at your fingertips will let you block someone who has sent you a message. And let’s say you’re at a party and want to add someone who you’ve just met to your contacts list. Going to Contacts > Add People Nearby will allow you to exchange information with another Telegram user as long as they are standing right next to you (and have the same feature open on their phone).

    The People Nearby section allows you to find location-based group chats and even create one. As Telegram notes, “This update opens up a new world of location-based group chats for anything from conferences, to festivals, to stadiums, to campuses, to chatting with people hanging out in the same cafe.” The latest version of the app lets you transfer ownership of a group or channel to another Telegram user and toggle on or off message previews for specific chats using the Notable Exceptions feature.

    Those using Telegram on an iOS device can now open the Appearance page to see what a new theme will look like before they apply them. After installing version 5.8, iOS users can choose which icon they want on the home page from four different options. And Telegram users with the iPhone or iPad can arrange to open chats hands-free using Siri shortcuts.

    The new update just hit the Telegram app on our Pixel, so keep your eyes peeled for version 5.8 rolling out now. Telegram can be found in the App Store for iOS or the Google Play Store for Android.

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