Yahoo Shuts Down Operations In Argentina and Mexico

Yahoo announced the closing down of its two offices in two Latin American regions.

Yahoo Inc. is recently struggling to save its business. Regardless of the fact that the business has already died, it is hanging in between saving its future, selling its core internet business, or selling off its Asian assets in the coming times. The internet company as well as the leader, Marissa Mayers, is under immense pressure from the investors and shareholders to come up to a conclusion. The activist investors, Starboard Value LP and Canyon Capital Advisors, are pushing the board of directors to sell the core business as well as separate Asian assets from its business.

As it is known people tend to make hasty decision under pressure, the CEO of Yahoo Marissa Mayers have announced to shut down operations in the Argentinean and Mexican regions immediately. Sources suggest that the company will be closing down its offices in Argentina and Mexico as a part of cost cutting strategy. This is not the first time, Yahoo previously opted for this strategy as well in which it closed down offices in the gulf areas specifically Dubai.

Financial Post reported that Yahoo will close down two offices in Latin America in order to save costs through scaling back some international operations and projects. The search engine giant issued a statement on Thursday that it will be operational in Brazil and Florida. The company has not yet disclosed whether how many people will lose jobs due to this decision. Indirectly it mentioned that both of the offices in Argentina and Mexico were small.

A California based company, Sunnyvale said “Yahoo is focused on maximizing growth. Latin America is an important region for Yahoo and we will continue to invest in the people and products there.”

It has been more than three years now since the company started to revive its business and business growth in the market. It was once known as the market leader which took the industry by storm with its services. Regardless of so many efforts made over the years, sales of the company remain in a slump. And this is mounting more pressure on the current CEO, Marissa Mayers, and her management team.

Starboard Value actually, but indirectly, wrote in a letter that Yahoo should let go of its CEO and the management team as it was tired to see the company struggling under her management. The investment and financial firm wrote that a person who cannot change the future in a long time should not be kept in charge. Yahoo did not respond to the letter but made an announcement that the board of directors is satisfied with the performance of Marissa Mayers.

Sources familiar to the matter reported that Ms. Mayers is expected to announce a new streamline in the coming times that will set the operations of Yahoo by next week. This announcement would surely include laying off of jobs in order to lower costs.

The search engine giant will be reporting its fiscal fourth quarter earnings on February 2. According to analysts, it will be another same quarter for the company. Analysts estimated that the revenue minus sales have passed on to partners declined 20 percent to US $948.2 million.

Apple iPhone Sales Fall But Sets Record Profit Of $18.4 Billion

Apple core product is struggling under the economic crux, which accounts for two-third of its revenue.

The hot discussion on Apple’s earnings, declared on Tuesday, was the slow growth of iPhone sales. Without a doubt, the recent economic crunch has hit the high technology behemoth too. In 2016, the sale of world most popular handset rose by less than 1% in comparison to the past year’s same period.

Despite the slowing growth in sales, the $555 billion company declared earnings of $18.4 billion; the expected profit was $18.22 billion. It made revenue of $75.9, which fell short as compared to the expected revenue of $76.67 billion; unanimously projected by Thomson Reuters’ analysts. Apple has been reported to have sold 74.8 million iPhones in last quarter. The fact that it could not boost the sales over “holiday season” is alarming.  

It is the first time since the release of Apple wondrous product, “iPhone” in 2007. Also, last year, when it introduced a new version of the handset with larger-screen, the sales escalated. iPhone sales make up to two-third of the company’s revenue and any halt in its sales will decelerate the company’s growth. Apple’s other core products – iPad and Mac – did not have soaring sales earlier. Both witnessed a fall in sales by 25% and 4% respectively.

Many critics expressed that the latest and upgraded iPhone 6S was a minor upgrade and it could not stand firm in the mature smartphone market. The company views many external factors too, which hindered the sale of the handsets. The fluctuating currency rates have high effect on the overseas market. For instance, the high dollar rates would have discouraged the consumers’ purchasing power.

The suppliers have noted the decline in iPhone 6S orders. The handset’s sales in 2016 do not look promising either. Not a long time ago, Apple entered in China and generated hefty revenue but the “soft economic growth” of Asian superpower is a deterrent in the continuing growth of the company.  

The sales in China grew by 14% to $18.37 million, which was down as compared to the sales that grew by 84% in fiscal year ended in September 2015. However, not all is bad for Apple as its “other products” including Apple Watch, Apple TV, and Beats accessories generated the revenue of $4.4 billion; going up by 62%. Moreover, the whopping $18 billion quarterly profit is the highest and the best for any public company – going up by 2%. 

The world’s leading high-tech corporation anticipated that in the next couple of quarters, its revenue might fall close to $50 billion. The reason can be the that it puts more focus on its anticipated project; a self-driving car dubbed under the name ‘Project Titan’, but the project will not be uncovered until at least 2019, according to Wall Street Journal. As of now, the investors and analyst are setting their eyes on the Californian company for its latest iPhone 7 expected to be released in the mid of 2016.

Apple’s stock came down at $99.99 at the market close on Tuesday. Many analyst pundits feel that the stock is highly undervalued. They have anticipated the price target at $179.

Boeing Jet 737 Interior Redesigned Shown Off By Budget Airline Ryanair

Boeing has modified the interior and the cabin of its jet, 737, which is shown to the passengers by Budget Airline Ryanair.

Boeing recently made modification and redesigned its jet, 737. The modified airplane was given a sneak peak by Budget Airline Ryanair to its passengers. It had a theme of garish yellow earlier making it as its trademark. Now the interior is given a theme of white and blue by the aircraft manufacturer.

Boeing Co.’s 737 now has a theme of white and blue with a new cabin on its new airplanes, with slim seats consisting of a yellow headrest. The windows of the planes are now bigger and have built-in LED lighting.

One customer also tweeted regarding the development, “Yay, sunglasses no longer needed on the 6:30am flights.” The airline has reportedly faced issues in the past when it comes to customer satisfaction. This is one of the efforts made by it to make customers happy with the help of Boeing modified commercial airplanes.

Passengers complained in the past for having lesser legroom on the Ryanair flights, which will give more space to the passengers now, according to the airline. The redesigned aircraft have a modern sleek look. 

Ryanair is taking help of the aerospace giant’s aircrafts to satisfy its customers. It has also made other customer-oriented changes, such as better baggage policies and an enhanced website. Online bookings are now convenient which helps in saving passengers’ time.

In other news regarding the aerospace company, it is facing more investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration, which has ordered the business to fix 300 of its airplanes, the wide-bodied 767, preventing unpredictable release of the jets’ emergency escape slides so that accidents can be avoided. The regulatory took this decision because it received information about emergency slides inflation during operating flights.

The unexpected release of the jets escape slides was alarming for the administration, as it might cause injuries to the crewmember and even passengers. The aerospace company has changed its door valves in its airplanes. A 42-month deadline has been given to the airline and businesses that are using these airplanes. The most affected airline by this deadline is, Delta Airlines, which is operating many airplanes of Boeing.

This the first time the FAA has made such a proposition due to a past accident that was caused by one of the company’s manufactured airplane in 2013, when an accident took place and a jet 7777 crashed while landing on the San Francisco Airport. This news caused a wave of terror among the masses.

Cablevision Altice Deal Stalled By New York City

New York City concerned about the deal, whether it could go through successfully amidst the decline of the cable operator.

Cablevision Systems Corporation is in a middle of nowhere currently. Altice NV approached the cable company for a possible deal that seemed to be going quite well, but all turned around suddenly. Altice NV was paying a massive $10 billion to buy out the TV cable operator but the deal is running into an ‘unexpected turbulence’.

The European telecom giant announced the acquisition deal in September but this had no positive impact on the company or its shares. Instead, its shares have further declined in the market. This raised many concerns for the management, investors, and loyalists. However, there are various other apprehensions of the deal.

The shares have gone further down even below Altice’s all-cash offer of $34.90 per share. To be precise, the stock of Cablevision Corporation declined by 9% and is currently trading below the agreed takeover price. This has raised concerns among the shareholders and investors regarding this deal.

Analyst at MoffetNathanson LLC, Craig Moffett, stated, “The spread has widened in large part because people have become increasingly concerned that neither the city nor the state will find that the transaction is in the public interest, or alternatively, they’ll demand so much in terms of givebacks that ultimately the deal won’t be palatable to Altice.”

The Wall Street Journal reported that New York City regulators have several concerns not only regarding this deal but about its closure as well. Furthermore, it is believed that New York City has showed authority by saying that it can deny the deal anytime it wants but only ‘if’ it does not find the public interest in it. It is known that the company’s massive 3.1 million customer base is concentrated mostly in the NY market.

On the other hand, Maya Wiley, top legal counsel of Mayor Bill de Blasio, expressed her concerns as well. She stated that the city is anxious whether the European telecom operator has enough financial resources through which it can buy out Cablevision without “skimping” on customer service and infrastructure upgrades for better Internet speeds. She further added that the city is worried about the impact that this deal would have on job opportunities. On many previous occasions, Altice has opted for cost cutting strategies.

She stated, “Altice is talking about $900 million in synergies. Well, what’s getting cut? How’s that going to impact the economy of New York and quality of services? We certainly are not afraid to disapprove a transaction.”

Delta Airline And KLM Codeshare Flights Making Amsterdam Its New Hub

Delta and KLM codeshare flights expand their agreement to India Jet Airways providing more traveling options to customers.

Delta Airline and KLM Royal Dutch Airline are launching an agreement of codeshare flights with India Jet Airways very soon, bringing their customer with a wider range of options throughout the India, Europe and USA. The western hub of India will shift to Amsterdam from Brussels.

The flights are going to be non-stop from Amsterdam, Mumbai and New Delhi; however, the government approval on this development is still on pending for now. Delta Airlines and KLM are going to use the routes through the codeshare flights agreement while Jet Airways share flights with the USA carrier on routes of Europe. All organizations are going to be coordinated with the customer services for efficiency in these actions to proceed.

After the air traveling companies receive the government’s approval, routes of codeshare flight will open in March 27 next year. The senior vice president of the giant US air travelling company, Nat Pieper, said, “Delta is committed to offering customers greater choice and a high standard of service. By partnering with Jet Airways, India’s preferred premier full service, international network airline, we will be able to meet demand for flights to India and beyond. We have track record of building successful partnerships with international carriers that broaden our global network and we are delighted to be opening up the Indian subcontinent to the many thousands of Delta customers wanting to fly to this region.”

In other news regarding the air travel providers, it has been making a huge success in satisfying its customers. Almost 87.6% of Delta’s flights arrived on time at the airports, while, on the other end, the carrier along with United has charged three gulf carriers of receiving $39 billion from their government including Emirates and Qatar. The company strongly argues that gulf airlines make the competition in the business unfair, as their government does not have any income tax policies. Other carriers in the aviation industry suffer immensely when it comes to the payment of huge tax bills of all sorts.

Delta has managed to achieve many different routes, through agreement with different organization in the industry and is making huge efforts to expand and succeed even more than it is now. It is giving a tough competition to many others in the business, and according to reports, it will keep on doing so. This indicates its bright prospects.

Delta stock closed at $50.18, going green by 1.83% on December 14.

Procter & Gamble Moves North American Management Business To Omnicom

Procter & Gamble moves its media buying and planning business to Omnicom.

The famous advertising investor has awarded Omnicom Group with a huge number of its media buying and planning business in North America. This is the biggest high profile review of this year, with the announcement made on Monday.

Omnicom Media group, being responsible for the company products, will now handle most of the Procter & Gamble North American operations. No decisions have been made yet as to which of the agencies are going to be handling which sorts of products such as home care health care products, Fabric and many other of the organization’s services.

The global brand officer of P&G, Marc Pritchard said during an interview, “What we are trying to do is find the best partner to help us really innovate in media and reach and attract more users to our brands with better precision and also greater efficiency. Omnicom demonstrated superior and proven performance in the area of data analytics, planning and buying, innovation, talent and financial value.” 

Pritchard believes this move is going to increase efficiency in the business operations with the help of another firm. Where one firm is at an advantage, another is at a loss; Publicis Groupe used to have the pleasure to run the business operations and media account in the region before. SMG was the company’s preferable firm for its important operations for 15 year and Carat for 10 years, which is evidently no longer the case. However, Starcom Mediavest Group is still handling Duracell products in America and might be doing so in Canada.

Some of P&G brands are Tide detergent and Pampers diapers, the company is looking to reduce the amount of agencies and relationships it is connected to in order cut it expenditures on them, also this creates inefficiency and makes the business difficult. The organization was reported to invest $2.7 billion on advertising a year before while it spent $3.1 billion in 2013. Now it is seeking to cut the extra expenses, by also selling 100 of its brands and make 10 products its focus.

This move might be good for the company because reducing products will give it time to give extra attention to the 10 decided products. However, it still has plans to spend on global media, it has cut 40% of agencies it was working with internationally saving around $300 million.

The products and services provider is the first client of Omnicom, some of the business of the company is still going to be handled by Carat.

PG stock closed at $77.75, going red by -0.79% on December 8. 

Canadian Solar Subsidiary Secures Finances For 157 MW Texas Project

Canadian Solar subsidiary, Recurrent Energy, teams up with Southern Power and secures financing for its Texas solar project.

Canadian Solar’s famous subsidiary, Recurrent Energy, announced a partnership with Southern Power on November 30, which is going to grant a controlling power in the 157 megawatts solar project in Texas to the Atlanta-based company. Through this, the company has also secured the required finances for the project and has started the construction in West Texas.

Canadian Solar subsidiary is developing the solar photovoltaic project; however, the agreement between the two subsidiaries will give 51% of equity to Southern company in the project while the giant solar company will hold the rest 49% of the ownership, and the shares are going help in constructing the project as quickly as possible.

The Texas-project is expected to provide enough energy to support almost 30,000 houses in the area making it one of the biggest projects in the state. It is anticipated to be fully operational by the end of 2016. This generated solar energy is going to be delivered to Austin Energy through a 20 year long Power Purchase Agreement.

The solar power company’s chief executive and chairman, Shawn Qu, said, “ Cost-competitive, large-scale solar power has enormous potential in Taxes, the Roserock project and Recurrent Energy's solar project pipeline in the state are each important steps forward as Texas approaches the more than 13 GW of solar that have been forecasted across the state. This agreement is a testament to our broader team's ability to deliver bankable solar projects with strong fundamentals.”

The project is occupying land of almost 1300 acres in Pecos County, West Texas, bringing 500 jobs in the area. It is expected to use 700,000 CS6X-P photovoltaic solar modules of the giant company. Apache Corporation initially constructed the layout of the project while McCarthy Building Companies will be the provider of engineering and construction facilities for the 157MW solar project in Texas.

This is the second time Recurrent Energy has collaborated with Southern Power giving it 51% hold of the project. In other news, the organization’s subsidiary made reports of supplying 112 megawatts of its CS6P-265P photovoltaic solar modules to Sunrun next year.

Canadian Solar is making its aim to grow globally, through constructing solar projects rapidly and helping stop global warming and contribute save the environment. Securing finances for solar project has become easier due to growing awareness worldwide of the climate change. To protect the environment globally, firms and companies are switching to renewable sources of energy.

Canadian Solar stock is running at $23.35, going green by 1.39% currently on real-time (December 1).