Eastman Kodak Co posted a sharp quarterly loss and said it would cut up to 4,500 jobs this year after suffering a dramatic decline in demand for digital cameras and commercial printing equipment.
The report sent shares of Kodak down 25 per cent to a historical low, making the company one of the biggest percentage losers on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.
The maker of cameras, picture frames and consumer printers and provider of commercial printing services, also plans another round of restructuring to cut costs, the latest in a string of such moves dating back to at least 2003.
About a year ago, Kodak said it had completed an expensive four-year restructuring that transformed it into a maker of digital photography products and printers. During that restructuring, Kodak halved its workforce, which now stands at about 26,900 people.
The company said on Thursday it would reduce its workforce by between 3,500 and 4,500 positions in 2009. Kodak late in 2008 had earmarked 1,000 to 1,500 jobs to be cut in 2009, and on Thursday said an additional 2,000 to 3,000 jobs will be cut.
Standard & Poor's Equity Research Analyst Erik Kolb questioned if Kodak's cost cuts would be deep enough, and wondered what strategy it can dream up to spur sales.
"They were late to the game in their shift to digital and they have been playing catch-up since," he said. "Now, given the deterioration of consumer spending trends, they are still struggling to turn the business away from film sales."
Since late 2003, Kodak has focused on the expanding market for digital devices and services, hoping to outpace the drop in demand for film. But the economy has soured, and consumers are scaling back on vacations and other events that typically spur use of photography services.
Its fourth-quarter loss from continuing operations was $137 million, or 51 cents per share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $215 million, or 75 cents per share. Kodak called the results preliminary because additional asset-related charges may be recorded for the period.
Excluding special items such as restructuring and legal costs, Kodak's loss was 8 cents a share, far short of analysts' expectations of a profit of 19 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates. Revenue fell 24 per cent to $2.43 billion. Sales of products like still and video cameras and digital picture frames fell 36 per cent.
"During the last three months of the year, we experienced dramatic declines in several of our key businesses due to the slowdown in consumer spending and significantly reduced demand for capital equipment," Chief executive Antonio Perez said in a statement.
The Rochester, New York, based company's new restructuring aims at "rationalising selling, administrative, research and development, supply chain and other business resources in certain areas and consolidating certain facilities." In addition, it will waive wage increases in 2009.
In all, the moves are expected to save Kodak $300 million to $350 million a year. It expects to take charges in the range of $250 million to $300 million for the restructuring, which is expected to take place primarily in the first half of 2009.
Analyst Shannon Cross said Kodak spent about $139 million on dividend payouts in 2008, adding that the dividend "must be at risk... given the substantial pressure on operating cash flow." But despite its desire to cut costs, a spokesman for Kodak said it has no plans to change its dividend.
Agencies
Friday, January 30, 2009
Is Wipro set to hire 8,000 freshers?
Is the country's third-largest IT company bucking the hiring trend? Yes, so says the website ITexaminer.
According to a report on the site, Wipro is making around 8,000 campus offers this fiscal year. In an email sent to all freshers seeking jobs in areas such as technical support and offshoring, the IT major has invited applications for 15,000 seats, says the report.
In the mail, the company's corporate vice president for human resources, says that nearly 14,000 offers were made last year, with the students expected to join by the end of this fiscal. He emphasised that there has been no delay in new recruits joining the company, and that those who received offers this year are expected to join the firm within the next fiscal year.
Incidentally, for the first time ever, Wipro in its Q3 report, showed a drop in its employee headcount in the IT services business by about 1,100 as compared to the earlier quarter.
The company went down by 1,092 software engineers and 226 BPO employees during the quarter. Wipro had 96,965 employees as of December 31, 2008, which includes 75,385 employees in IT business unit and 21,578 employees in the BPO unit.
In the JAS quarter, the company had 97,552 employees as of September 30, 2008. Though volumes have grown year-on-year (y-o-y), the number of employees has remained stagnant at year-ago levels.
Indiatimes.com
According to a report on the site, Wipro is making around 8,000 campus offers this fiscal year. In an email sent to all freshers seeking jobs in areas such as technical support and offshoring, the IT major has invited applications for 15,000 seats, says the report.
In the mail, the company's corporate vice president for human resources, says that nearly 14,000 offers were made last year, with the students expected to join by the end of this fiscal. He emphasised that there has been no delay in new recruits joining the company, and that those who received offers this year are expected to join the firm within the next fiscal year.
Incidentally, for the first time ever, Wipro in its Q3 report, showed a drop in its employee headcount in the IT services business by about 1,100 as compared to the earlier quarter.
The company went down by 1,092 software engineers and 226 BPO employees during the quarter. Wipro had 96,965 employees as of December 31, 2008, which includes 75,385 employees in IT business unit and 21,578 employees in the BPO unit.
In the JAS quarter, the company had 97,552 employees as of September 30, 2008. Though volumes have grown year-on-year (y-o-y), the number of employees has remained stagnant at year-ago levels.
Indiatimes.com
Tech giants NEC, Hitachi announce 27,000 job cuts
High-tech giants NEC and Hitachi said on Friday they were cutting up to 27,000 jobs as Japan Inc. buckles under the strain of the global economic crisis.
NEC Corp. said it was slashing 20,000 jobs worldwide by March 2010 - half of them regular workers - as it sinks deeper into the red. About 40 percent will be in Japan and the rest overseas, NEC president Kaoru Yano told a press conference.
Hitachi Ltd. said it would shed up to 7,000 jobs as it forecast a net loss of 700 billion yen ($7.8 billion) in the current financial year to March. It will try to move full-time workers around within the company to minimise job losses, company president Kazuo Furukawa said.
"We will take various measures but may not be able to avoid cutting some regular workers," he said.
NEC announced the job losses after saying it expects a net loss of 290 billion yen ($3.2 billion) in the year to March as recessions in major economies from Japan to Europe and the United States hammer demand.
"It is regrettable that we have to announce such a big downgrade," Yano said. "We must cut waste."
Computer maker Fujitsu Ltd. said its net losses ballooned to 36.1 billion yen ($403 million) in the nine months to December, and forecast it would end the year to March in the red.
"I have absolutely no confidence in the fiscal year 2009," Fujitsu chief financial officer Kazuhiko Kato told reporters. "I have no clue what the outlook will be."
Japan is in the midst of its first recession in seven years as the global slowdown saps demand overseas for cars, computers, cameras and other key exports.
A slew of gloomy economic data released on Friday suggested the recession is deepening, with factory output falling a record 9.6 percent in December.
Japanese companies have also been hit hard by a strong yen, which recently soared to a 13-year high against the
Layoffs dollar.
There was more bad news from the car industry as Honda Motor Co. reported that its net profit dived 89 percent to 20.24 billion yen in the fiscal third quarter as car sales slumped.
All Nippon Airways meanwhile said it expects an annual net loss of nine billion yen -- its first in six years -- as travel to North America and Europe declines due to the global economic crisis.
There was also fresh misery in the banking sector as Mizuho Financial Group posted a net loss of 50.55 billion yen in the nine months to December due to the global financial crisis.
Mizuho has been badly hit by financial market turmoil and losses on toxic mortgage-backed securities. A year earlier it had made a net profit of 393.03 billion yen.
The group downgraded its outlook but still hopes to end the current financial year to March in the black. It expects a net profit of 100 billion yen, down from an earlier projection of 250 billion yen.
"The dislocation of the global financial markets stemming from US subprime issues has worsened with the failure of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 and has caused an economic downturn on a global scale," it said in a statement.
"As a result, the economic situation in and outside of Japan has been deteriorating rapidly."
Agencies
NEC Corp. said it was slashing 20,000 jobs worldwide by March 2010 - half of them regular workers - as it sinks deeper into the red. About 40 percent will be in Japan and the rest overseas, NEC president Kaoru Yano told a press conference.
Hitachi Ltd. said it would shed up to 7,000 jobs as it forecast a net loss of 700 billion yen ($7.8 billion) in the current financial year to March. It will try to move full-time workers around within the company to minimise job losses, company president Kazuo Furukawa said.
"We will take various measures but may not be able to avoid cutting some regular workers," he said.
NEC announced the job losses after saying it expects a net loss of 290 billion yen ($3.2 billion) in the year to March as recessions in major economies from Japan to Europe and the United States hammer demand.
"It is regrettable that we have to announce such a big downgrade," Yano said. "We must cut waste."
Computer maker Fujitsu Ltd. said its net losses ballooned to 36.1 billion yen ($403 million) in the nine months to December, and forecast it would end the year to March in the red.
"I have absolutely no confidence in the fiscal year 2009," Fujitsu chief financial officer Kazuhiko Kato told reporters. "I have no clue what the outlook will be."
Japan is in the midst of its first recession in seven years as the global slowdown saps demand overseas for cars, computers, cameras and other key exports.
A slew of gloomy economic data released on Friday suggested the recession is deepening, with factory output falling a record 9.6 percent in December.
Japanese companies have also been hit hard by a strong yen, which recently soared to a 13-year high against the
Layoffs dollar.
There was more bad news from the car industry as Honda Motor Co. reported that its net profit dived 89 percent to 20.24 billion yen in the fiscal third quarter as car sales slumped.
All Nippon Airways meanwhile said it expects an annual net loss of nine billion yen -- its first in six years -- as travel to North America and Europe declines due to the global economic crisis.
There was also fresh misery in the banking sector as Mizuho Financial Group posted a net loss of 50.55 billion yen in the nine months to December due to the global financial crisis.
Mizuho has been badly hit by financial market turmoil and losses on toxic mortgage-backed securities. A year earlier it had made a net profit of 393.03 billion yen.
The group downgraded its outlook but still hopes to end the current financial year to March in the black. It expects a net profit of 100 billion yen, down from an earlier projection of 250 billion yen.
"The dislocation of the global financial markets stemming from US subprime issues has worsened with the failure of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 and has caused an economic downturn on a global scale," it said in a statement.
"As a result, the economic situation in and outside of Japan has been deteriorating rapidly."
Agencies
Starbucks & AOL join in cutting jobs
Joining major companies cutting jobs as recession deepens, popular coffee giant Starbucks and internet services major America Online plans to lay off about 6,700 employees in the coming months. Starbus, which has reported a 69% drop in profit for the first fiscal quarter, has announced slashing its headcount by 6,000 and closing of 300 stores.
AOL chief executive Randy Falco sent an internal memo to employees about plans to cut jobs — 7,000 or 10% of its workforce.
Electronics parts maker Jabil Circuit says it is cutting 3,000 jobs mostly overseas, or nearly 4% of its work force, because of the global economic turmoil.
St Petersburg, Florida-based Jabil Circuit said about 10 of its global plant sites will be affected, and about 10% of the cuts will take place in the United States. It currently has 85,000 workers.
The company expects $55 million a year in cost savings as a result of the cuts, and will take a related pretax charge of about $65 million over fiscal 2009 and 2010.
About 3,000 Thai workers have reportedly lost their employment in the first month of 2009, while more than 60,000 others are at risk of losing their jobs soon, according to the ministry of labour.
Since the New Year, 50 private firms have closed, causing 2,863 employees to lose their jobs. Another 102 companies are likely to be impacted by the economic crisis, with 68,122 employees’ jobs to be affected. Of this number, 23,296 workers are likely to be laid off, while another 44,826 may be asked to reduce their working hours, director-general of the department of labour protection and welfare Amporn Nitisiri said in Bangkok.
In Malaysia more than 10,000 have lost their jobs since January 1, Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive director Shamsuddin Bardan has said.
Agencies
AOL chief executive Randy Falco sent an internal memo to employees about plans to cut jobs — 7,000 or 10% of its workforce.
Electronics parts maker Jabil Circuit says it is cutting 3,000 jobs mostly overseas, or nearly 4% of its work force, because of the global economic turmoil.
St Petersburg, Florida-based Jabil Circuit said about 10 of its global plant sites will be affected, and about 10% of the cuts will take place in the United States. It currently has 85,000 workers.
The company expects $55 million a year in cost savings as a result of the cuts, and will take a related pretax charge of about $65 million over fiscal 2009 and 2010.
About 3,000 Thai workers have reportedly lost their employment in the first month of 2009, while more than 60,000 others are at risk of losing their jobs soon, according to the ministry of labour.
Since the New Year, 50 private firms have closed, causing 2,863 employees to lose their jobs. Another 102 companies are likely to be impacted by the economic crisis, with 68,122 employees’ jobs to be affected. Of this number, 23,296 workers are likely to be laid off, while another 44,826 may be asked to reduce their working hours, director-general of the department of labour protection and welfare Amporn Nitisiri said in Bangkok.
In Malaysia more than 10,000 have lost their jobs since January 1, Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive director Shamsuddin Bardan has said.
Agencies
Thursday, January 29, 2009
VCs bullish on Indian IT Sector
The year 2009 is slated to be an interesting year for entrepreneurs and venture capitalists (VCs) alike. Even as the global recession continues to haunt industries, many VCs are very bullish on India. A global venture capital firm has invested a sum of Rs 20 crore in Appnomic Systems, an infrastructure management services (IMS) company.
Pramod Haque, managing partner at NVP, a global venture capital fund said, I know this time the recession is different and may take longer time to recover than earlier. But we see tremendous opportunities as an outcome of the recession.
I feel is it is good time to invest in growth equity sectors as the valuations are down. I see more opportunities due to slowdown. But it is true that certain VCs are following a certain trend in the US and fewer companies are getting funded today. I see that trend to continue till end of 2009 or early 2010, he said.
The Bangalore-based Appnomic with operations in India, Middle East and Africa will use the funds to strengthen its existing market presence, expand into the US market and further build out its innovative product and service offerings.
The managed services market is already a mature industry however, the offshoring of infrastructure management services (IMS) to India is still in its infancy. The market opportunities for IMS in India is predicted to be as large as the application development and maintenance sector, said Haque.
The growing pressure on corporations to better handle the complex IT requirements demanded by internal and external regulators is accelerating the need for simplification and efficient management of IT at a low cost, and we believe that about 75% of infrastructure management opportunities can be offshored, said D Padmanabhan, MD & CEO of Appnomic Systems P Ltd. Appnomic has the next generation technology, proven customer traction and seasoned team necessary to capitalize on the growing market needs.
The company started 2.5 years ago has 390 employees and experiencing a 100% growth. The company has about 23 customers in banking, Internet portal sites, BPO and remote management.
I don t feel why the Satyam (SATYAM) incident must dampen our investment plans since even in the US, the Bernard Madoff incident has seen a $50 billion fraud case in the US recently. So incidents like these keep happening but don t affect us in any way.
NVP has made significant investments in India over the years. In fact, we have made about seven or eight direct investments and about 20 cross based operations in India.
Recently the company has invested in three companies Persistent, Adventity and Yatra.
Pramod Haque, managing partner at NVP, a global venture capital fund said, I know this time the recession is different and may take longer time to recover than earlier. But we see tremendous opportunities as an outcome of the recession.
I feel is it is good time to invest in growth equity sectors as the valuations are down. I see more opportunities due to slowdown. But it is true that certain VCs are following a certain trend in the US and fewer companies are getting funded today. I see that trend to continue till end of 2009 or early 2010, he said.
The Bangalore-based Appnomic with operations in India, Middle East and Africa will use the funds to strengthen its existing market presence, expand into the US market and further build out its innovative product and service offerings.
The managed services market is already a mature industry however, the offshoring of infrastructure management services (IMS) to India is still in its infancy. The market opportunities for IMS in India is predicted to be as large as the application development and maintenance sector, said Haque.
The growing pressure on corporations to better handle the complex IT requirements demanded by internal and external regulators is accelerating the need for simplification and efficient management of IT at a low cost, and we believe that about 75% of infrastructure management opportunities can be offshored, said D Padmanabhan, MD & CEO of Appnomic Systems P Ltd. Appnomic has the next generation technology, proven customer traction and seasoned team necessary to capitalize on the growing market needs.
The company started 2.5 years ago has 390 employees and experiencing a 100% growth. The company has about 23 customers in banking, Internet portal sites, BPO and remote management.
I don t feel why the Satyam (SATYAM) incident must dampen our investment plans since even in the US, the Bernard Madoff incident has seen a $50 billion fraud case in the US recently. So incidents like these keep happening but don t affect us in any way.
NVP has made significant investments in India over the years. In fact, we have made about seven or eight direct investments and about 20 cross based operations in India.
Recently the company has invested in three companies Persistent, Adventity and Yatra.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
'Bloody Monday' sees over 50,000 job cuts
Tens of thousands of job losses were announced in the US on Monday. American economists say they expect the recession to worsen this year.
US heavy vehicles maker Caterpillar said it would cut over 20,000 jobs to deal with the challenging global business environment.
The company had earlier announced axing 15,000 workers in 2008. The people who will lose their jobs amount to about 18 per cent of the company's total workforce. Caterpillar currently employs about 1,13,000 workers.
Last week, Microsoft said it would cut 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months.
Research-based biomedical and pharmaceutical company Pfizer/Wyeth has announced a layoff of 20,000 workers while Texas Instruments will axe 3,400 employees.
In Europe too, more than 10,000 job cuts have been announced.
Financial firm ING has announced that 7,000 employees will be sacked.
Other companies that have recently announced job cuts include electronic giant Philips which will axe 6,000 workers and UK's steel manufacturer Corus which will layoff 3,500 among others.
Hoping to deal with the financial crisis soon, US President Barack Obama is lobbying for a quick Congressional passage of his $825 billion stimulus package.
US heavy vehicles maker Caterpillar said it would cut over 20,000 jobs to deal with the challenging global business environment.
The company had earlier announced axing 15,000 workers in 2008. The people who will lose their jobs amount to about 18 per cent of the company's total workforce. Caterpillar currently employs about 1,13,000 workers.
Last week, Microsoft said it would cut 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months.
Research-based biomedical and pharmaceutical company Pfizer/Wyeth has announced a layoff of 20,000 workers while Texas Instruments will axe 3,400 employees.
In Europe too, more than 10,000 job cuts have been announced.
Financial firm ING has announced that 7,000 employees will be sacked.
Other companies that have recently announced job cuts include electronic giant Philips which will axe 6,000 workers and UK's steel manufacturer Corus which will layoff 3,500 among others.
Hoping to deal with the financial crisis soon, US President Barack Obama is lobbying for a quick Congressional passage of his $825 billion stimulus package.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Internet users rise 17 pc in 2008, says IAMAI study
The number of active Internet users in the country has grown by nearly 17 per cent in 2008 over the same period a year ago, a study says.
According to a study by Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International, India has 45.3 million active users at the ended of September 2008, of which 42 million are from the urban community.
"Urban users continue to dominate Internet use contributing to 42 million of the 45 million odd users," a study by the organisations 'Internet in India' finds.
In the same period last year, the number of active users in urban India was 36 million, which shows a year-on-year growth of 16.66 per cent.
"The growth rate was alarming compared with the rest in past years as well as with some other countries notably China where the number of Internet users are more than 250 million," IAMAI President Subho Ray said.
Study defines active Internet users as those users, who have used the Internet at least once in the last one month, which is an internationally accepted benchmark for enumerating internet users
Meanwhile, the study also found that the number of "claimed" Internet users in September 2008 was 57 million compared with 48 million of last year. Claimed users are those, who have used the Internet sometime but not in the last one month.
I-Cube (Internet in India) study is conducted annually by IMRB International and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).
Agencies
According to a study by Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International, India has 45.3 million active users at the ended of September 2008, of which 42 million are from the urban community.
"Urban users continue to dominate Internet use contributing to 42 million of the 45 million odd users," a study by the organisations 'Internet in India' finds.
In the same period last year, the number of active users in urban India was 36 million, which shows a year-on-year growth of 16.66 per cent.
"The growth rate was alarming compared with the rest in past years as well as with some other countries notably China where the number of Internet users are more than 250 million," IAMAI President Subho Ray said.
Study defines active Internet users as those users, who have used the Internet at least once in the last one month, which is an internationally accepted benchmark for enumerating internet users
Meanwhile, the study also found that the number of "claimed" Internet users in September 2008 was 57 million compared with 48 million of last year. Claimed users are those, who have used the Internet sometime but not in the last one month.
I-Cube (Internet in India) study is conducted annually by IMRB International and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).
Agencies
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