Posted on 7 March 2013 by Nicola Lewis
Thursday 7th March 2013 is World Book Day; a day when the joy of reading is celebrated and promoted. Numerous events will be held in schools, nurseries, libraries, and book shops across the UK and Ireland. Many children will dress up as their favorite storybook characters and numerous World Book Day tokens will be exchanged for one of eight World Book Day new book releases. A smartphone app will also be launched aimed at young adults, featuring stories from leading teen authors. This delivering of content digitally highlights the era… Read more
Posted on 1 March 2013 by Kate Moody
On January 16th, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland said beef burgers with traces of equine DNA were being supplied by subsidiaries of the ABP Food Group. One product was found to be classed as 29% horse. The finding resulted in ten million burgers being taken off the shelves of retailers including Tesco, Lidl, Aldi, and Iceland. Over the next week, Burger King switched supplier from ABP Food Group as a precautionary measure, while Sainsbury’s, Asda, and the Co-op removed some frozen products from their shelves, though none were found… Read more
Posted on 22 February 2013 by Matthew Bailey
At a New York press event on 20 February, 2013, Sony took to the world stage to unveil its latest incarnation of the PlayStation line: the PlayStation 4 (PS4). Although the console itself was not revealed, Sony’s main emphasis was on the concept behind the PS4, which was given a vague release window of holiday season 2013. Notably, much attention was paid to how the console will fit in with, and thus compete against, consumer movement to casual mobile experience offered by smartphones and tablets, which typically run on iOS,… Read more
Posted on 20 February 2013 by Ashirvad Tomar
In 2011, HDFC launched its Infinia credit card, only 5,000 of which are to be issued. This case study examines how and why HDFC aims to meet the requirements of a small but potentially lucrative customer base: India’s ultra-rich. In July 2011, HDFC launched Infinia, an ultra-premium credit card. It is being offered to only 5,000 customers, and its lack of a pre-set spending limit, other benefits, and marketing are all intended to position it as a highly exclusive product for the ultra-rich only. India has a growing class of… Read more
Posted on 13 February 2013 by Ashirvad Tomar
In September 2011, Texas Instruments (TI) acquired National Semiconductor (NatSemi), a leading manufacturer of analog semiconductors. The deal significantly increases TI’s share of the buoyant and highly profitable analog market. It is also the latest in a series of acquisitions and divestments that over the course of more than a decade have helped transform TI from a diversified technology company into one highly focused on semiconductor manufacturing. TI has been using acquisitions and divestments to focus on its core competence of semiconductor device manufacturing. In 2011, TI acquired NatSemi, a… Read more
Posted on 7 February 2013 by Ashirvad Tomar
John Lewis Partnership is one of the UK’s most well-known and successful retail chains. Whereas most retailers of its scale are owned by shareholders, John Lewis Partnership is owned by its employees. John Lewis Partnership is owned by its employees via a trust. Financials for the past ten years show JLP performing strongly, even in difficult market conditions. This is reflected in the structures in place for workplace democracy, and in the annual profit-share bonus given to all employees. Company strategy focuses on long-term planning, brand strength, and employee partnership…. Read more
Posted on 18 January 2013 by Neelam Bilal
The hair care industry in India is continuing to grow rapidly. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of the market in the period spanning 2006-2010 was 15.4%. As a result of this, many companies are entering this market. Head and Shoulders entered the Indian market in 1997, followed by the success of its rival product Clear by Unilever. Both products have gone head to head to dominate the Indian anti-dandruff hair care industry. This included harsh marketing, price wars and the introduction of a Social Responsibility program by P&G to… Read more
Posted on 10 December 2012 by Goska Kafel
Natura Cosmeticos, a Brazilian company, that develops, produces, and sells cosmetics, fragrances, and hygiene products, is emerging as the Latin American cosmetics giant. Established in 1969, by 2009, the company had overtaken global incumbents like Unilever and Avon in the Brazilian market and is growing its presence in Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Peru. Natura’s products are also marketed in Bolivia and Uruguay through local distributors. Natura operates a door-to-door sales model and through a network of 1,418,400 consultants reaches a potential client base of 100 million consumers. The company’s operations… Read more
Posted on 30 November 2012 by Matthew Bailey
Having been released in North America on November 18th, 2012, Nintendo’s Wii U has seen great consumer demand in its first few days on sale. In fact, Nintendo of America’s president Reggie Fils-Aime has claimed that the console is effectively sold out at retail, and that 400 thousand Wii U units were sold in its first week on sale. Nintendo will hope to repeat similar volumes of sales in Europe, where the console is being released today. The situation mirrors that of the launch of the Wii U’s predecessor, the… Read more
Posted on 23 July 2012 by Hannah Wright
…they’re just away for the summer holidays. MarketLine’s Company Financial series are getting a makeover – and so aren’t currently appearing on the MarketLine Advantage site. Apologies for any inconvenience but it will be worth the wait – there will be a new format and new titles reappearing in SEPTEMBER. In the meantime, if you have any specific requests for Company Financial products then please don’t hesitate to get in touch and we’d be happy to help out.
