LG Electronics shares tumble on talk of $891 mn rights offer

SEOUL: Shares in LG Electronics plunged early on Thursday amid market talk the world's No.3 handset maker was planning a rights offer worth some 1 trillion won ($891.4 million).

"There are rumours in the market LG Electronics is seeking a share issuance," said Kim Do-han, an analyst at Samsung Securities.

The rights offer is said to be worth around 1 trillion won ($891.5 million), another market source who declined to be named said.

The firm is planning a board meeting on the possible offer soon, according to media reports.

The Korea Exchange has asked LG to clarify the talk. An LG spokesman told Reuters he was looking into the rumours.

Shares in LG Electronics dropped 11 per cent to 63,300 won, the lowest level in five weeks, compared with the broader market's 1.1 per cent fall.

Market insiders said LG Electronics may be seeking to raise money to fund struggling affiliates such as LG Display

or a merger and acquisition deal. "LG Display, which has been posting losses, needs fresh facility investments and LG Electronics as the top shareholder may need to pitch in," said John Park, an analyst at Daishin Securities.

LG Electronics controls around 38 per cent of the world's No.2 flat panel maker, which posted a record quarterly loss last month.

LG Display was also recently the center of rights offer rumors, which a company executive flatly denied last month in a meeting with investors.

LG Elec may also be seeking to acquire new growth engines as some of its business lines struggle, Park said.

World No. 2 memory chip maker Hynix is among the firms mooted as possible LG Elec takeover targets.

LG Elec last week reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, with its troubled mobile phone division sinking deeper into the red. 

VIVEK KUMAR 
PGDM IIIrd Sem

Shree Renuka hits 52-week low; Brokerages downgrade to 'Underperform'

NEW DELHI: Shares of Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd slipped to their 52-week low of Rs 36 on Monday after the company reported a net loss of Rs 620 crores in the September quarter hit by foreign exchange losses on account of acquisition of mills in Brazil.

The company's performance was also affected because of higher interest cost, which rose to Rs 192.5 crore during the quarter ended September 30. In the same period last year, interest stood at Rs 117.7 crore.

Bank of America has downgraded Shree Renuka Sugars to 'Underperform' from 'Buy' and cut its target price to Rs 38 from Rs 88, citing earning miss in September quarter due to delayed turnaround of Brazilian operations.

"We have cut our target price driven by a cut in EPS for FY12 to a loss of Rs 4.3 per share from a profit of Rs 9.5 per share and cut in EPS for FY13 to Rs 3.2 per share from Rs 11.6/share," said BofA-ML in a report on Sunday.

"Subdued sugar price along with higher cost of cane in Brazil as well in India and excess debt will hurt earnings and stock performance," said the BofA report. "We expect global raw sugar price to remain at around current level of UScent 25 per pound as production surplus of sugar globally will rise by 6mt next one year compared," added the report.

In a separate note Morgan Stanley has also downgraded the stock to 'equal-weight' from 'underweight' and cut the target price to Rs 42 from Rs 57 citing potentially lower international sugar prices and slower balance sheet deleveraging.
Kotak Institutional Equities said in a note , "We have reduced our earning estimates for FY2012E and FY2013E led by lowering of earning estimates in Brazilian subsidary Renuka do Brasil and higher debt.

"Company has consistently disappointed in the Brazilian business in the last couple of quarters. Net debt has shown no improvement in 2HFY11. We would like to see improvement in net debt and operating results for a positive view on the company," added the Kotak report.

Kotak downgraded the stock to 'REDUCE' from 'BUY' with a revised target price of Rs 55 from Rs 75 earlier.

At 12:55 p.m., shares of Shree Renuka were at Rs 38.50, down 25.5 percent. The stock has hit a low of Rs 36 in early trade. For the year the stock has plunged over 50% on the Bombay Stock exchange (BSE). 

VIVEK KUMAR 
PGDM IIIrd Sem

B2B Technology Purchasers Influenced by More Digital Collateral

B2B marketing is usually viewed as being behind the curve with regard to the online space. It has a reputation of being more traditional in its approach to how prospects and customers are reached and then developed. While this image of B2B marketers being less progressive than their B2C counterparts is warranted to a degree it appears as if that perception may be changing.
A recent study by Eccolo Media (which is a content marketing company so our research source antennae should be up class) shows that B2B technology buyers are expanding their marketing intake palette a bit. In other words, it’s not all white papers any more. Here is a snapshot of some of the ways that these tech folks are consuming marketing messages over the past six months.


These figures are showing that over the past six months B2B buyers are going to more options like web sites (oh no not those!), social media, blogs, video and more. What was once purely the domain of the white paper, tech B2B marketing may be changing to a more digital look. It only makes sense in the technology sector but maybe you were as surprised as I was to see that this sector isn’t as digital marketing savvy as you might suspect.
One additional finding of the study showed that the inclusion of a sharing option actually increases the perception of just how influential the content is. Here are the findings.

The report posits that maybe people perceive that content that is worth sharing carries more weight. In other words, if you, the marketer, want someone to share it then it has to be right? Unfortunately, in a world where less and less critical thinking is taking place this line of thought could be very real and something that needs to be considered in any marketing not just in the B2B space. You almost have to take advantage of the mindless passing along of information that is being fostered by social media etc even though it may not be of the highest quality “referral”.
Do you see significant differences in the way that B2B marketing is taken in? Is this shift toward more online collateral options a surprise? Did you think that the B2B space was even that much different than the B2C space?
So many questions with many potential pilgrim answers. Let us know your thoughts on this in the comment section.



                                                                                        Vikash singh
                                                                                       PGDM-3rd

More Than Half of App Downloaders Do It For Free 0

You have a mobile phone, right? How many apps are on it? How many did you use today? How many did you pay for?
If you’re typical, each answer should be a smaller number than the one before it.
Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project says that we’ve crossed the halfway point for mobile phone app usage. A full 50% of all adult cell phone owners have apps. That’s double where we were only two years ago.
But even with the rise in usage, the demographic remains the same. App users are younger, more educated, upwardly mobile urban or suburbanite. Adding tablets into the mix hasn’t changed that at all. The only real difference is that women have nearly caught up to men in regard to app downloads.
So downloads are up, but usage is still a mixed bag. 51% of users said they use a handful of apps at least once a week. 31% said they use six or more on a weekly basis. Even so, we all have many more apps that we rarely, if ever, use.
Maybe this is why only 46% of downloaders have shelled out hard cash for the privilege. Of those people, more than half spent under $5. Personally, I’ve only ever paid more than $5 for one app (Pages) and it stressed me out to do so. It’s silly, since I’ll drop more than that on a fast food lunch without blinking, but apps have a perceived price point ceiling and $5 is it.
If you’re selling an app, then the best demographic to aim for are male, urban, college-graduates over 30 who make more than $50,000 a year. A popular demographic, and not just for apps!
What kinds of apps are most popular? Games still get the most use and they’re one of the few apps that people are willing to pay for on a regular basis. Now take a look at this chart. This is the percentage of people in each demo who downloaded a shopping app.
I guess real men do shop online.
If you’re in the mobile app biz, or even thinking about getting into it, download the free report from Pew. It’s loaded with detailed information about what’s working and what isn’t. All you have to do is click here, no app required unless you’re reading this on a tablet in which case. . . you know the drill. . . there is an app for that.


                                                                                    vikash singh
                                                                                    pgdm-3rd

Moneycontrol Bureau

Moneycontrol Bureau:
The US markets recovered from their day's lows to close higher with more than 1% gains after FED Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the FED may look to reinvest in mortgage backed securities to provide additional support to the weak housing market.
Stocks shaved their gains earlier after the FED slashed its growth forecasts and following a report that said the sixth tranche of loans to Greece may not be paid until after Greek referendum is held.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.53%, the S&P 500 index gained 1.61%, while the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 0.87%.
FED statement:
The FED leaves interest rates unchanged and announces that they are holding off on any new actions to aid the economy, but left open the possibility of taking further steps in the near future.
In addition, the FED cut its growth forecast to between 1.6 and 1.7% for 2011.
US economic data:
US private-sector employers added 110,000 jobs in October. Weekly mortgage applications rose last week,  as demand for both purchases and refinancing gained.
Data to watch out for:
Jobless claims for the week is expected to come out today. Consensus figures indicate a decline from 402,000 to 400,000.
Factory orders for September is expected to remain the same month on month.
Meanwhile, the ISM Manufacturing data for October is expected to indicate an uptick to 53.5 from 53.
Also productivity and costs data for the third quarter is expected to come out today. NPN Farm Productivity is expected to improve.

BY-ANKIT KUMAR

Big Brands Like Facebook, But They Don't Like to Pay

Everybody wants to be liked. The question for Facebook Inc. is how much advertisers are willing to pay for the opportunity.

Companies That 'Like' Facebook Ads

View Interactive

See the number of ad impressions from major marketers in September, and the portion that appeared on Facebook.

• More photos and interactive graphics

The centerpiece of Ford Motor Co.'s online campaign for the 2012 Focus was a free Facebook page hosted by an orange-colored puppet that in a few weeks won over a new, younger audience for the once-stodgy compact.
Ford spokespuppet "Doug" drew crowds to online conversations and videos that starred him clowning around the new Focus. Doug inspired more than 43,000 Facebook users to click "Like," the icon that broadcasts to friends a thumbs-up approval of a brand or product.
While Ford shelled out an estimated $95 million to advertise the new Focus across a broad range of media, it spent just pennies on the dollar for Facebook ads.
Facebook's estimated market value, now in the neighborhood of $70 billion, is founded on the belief that companies will spend big to advertise on the site. Facebook's revenues, which come largely from ads, were $1.6 billion in the first half of this year, up $800 million from a year earlier.
But most of its ads were for small advertisers, such as local businesses and small-scale websites, according to comScore Inc. Facebook is under pressure to grow its advertising on a grand scale, and to snag the sort of big brand names who now drive billions of dollars to TV, radio and print campaigns.

 

Watch clips from the Ford Focus "Doug the Spokespuppet" online video ad campaign.

Doug's ad campaign shows Facebook's uphill battle. It mirrors the experience of other brands—including Progressive insurance, Intel and Pepto-Bismol—that chased customers to online social networks. After some experimenting, the companies found they could reach a target audience at a steep discount through what's akin to word-of-mouth campaigns that spring from free


Name - Rakesh prasad
PGDM 3rd

RIM's stock dips below book value amid troubled year

Research in Motion's stock dipped below its book value for the first time since 2002 on Wednesday, highlighting the BlackBerry maker's fall from smartphone supremacy.
RIM's shares were listed at $18.91 (all figures USD) when the NASDAQ index in New York closed Wednesday afternoon -- a figure that is one cent below the telecom giant's book value per share of $18.92. That figure is from the end of last quarter, according to numbers compiled by Bloomberg.
In afterhours trading the stock was up slightly to $18.93.
The latest data suggests a decrease in investor confidence for RIM during a year that's seen a massive service outage, patchy tablet sales and wild takeover rumours.
Those pains were especially felt on Tuesday when the company's stock fell below $20 in U.S. trading for the first time since 2004. The plunge occurred against a backdrop of the company's dropping profits, but also the eurozone financial crisis and a Greek debt showdown.
The stock bottomed out at $18.55 earlier in the day.
With the bad press piling up, it's yet to be seen how RIM will return to its previously iconic tech status as company co-CEO Mike Lazaridis had pledged in late September.
"We understand that the past few quarters have been challenging," he said in a Sept. 15 conference call. "We are confident that we are on track to return to growth in Q3 and beyond."
Though the company has seen a sharp dip in profits, Lazaridis told analysts that he expected strong future sales of the BlackBerry Bold, Torch and Curve handsets.
But analyst Peter Misek with Jefferies & Co. in New York said the company faces fierce competition from other innovative tech giants.
"They are just not selling. They are not competitive," he told The Associated Press last September. "They are getting really hit hard by Android phones."
To help keep costs down while competing in a rapidly growing smartphone market, RIM announced in late July that it planned to cut 2,000 jobs this year. That figure amounts to 11 per cent of its global workforce.



Name - Rakesh  prasad
PGDM -3rd