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04.17.2013
Digital advertising revenue climbed to a record high of $36.6 billion last year, a 15% rise over 2011, according to a new report by the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
According to the “IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report,” conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, search continued to be the digital champ, with 2012 revenue of $16.9 billion, or 46% of total digital expenditures, up 14.5% from 2011.
Display-related advertising revenue last year totaled $12.0 billion, or 33% of total digital expenditures, up almost 9% over 2011. Digital video, a component of display-related advertising, brought in $2.3 billion last year, an increase of 29% over 2011.
For the second year in a row, mobile achieved triple-digit percentage growth. Last year, advertisers spent $3.4 billion on mobile ads, an increase of 111% over 2011. Mobile accounted for 9% of total internet ad revenue in 2012.
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04.17.2013
A printing plant in New Albany, owned by Shoreview, Minn.-based Deluxe Corp., will close by the end of the year, and about 30 workers are being laid off in the process.
Printing done at the New Albany plant is being moved to a new facility that the company recently opened in Chicago, according to Terri Shapiro, executive director of brand and media relations at Deluxe. She said many of the workers being laid off will be offered severance.
The closure is part of a realignment for Deluxe.
“Deluxe is a company … really going through a change,” she said.
Years ago, the business was primarily a check printer. Now, it offers a range of printing and marketing products, including brand development, search engine optimization and e-mail marketing.
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04.17.2013
The Kruger Corner Brook paper mill received a boost from the Newfoundland government recently, when the provincial cabinet quietly extended a tax exemption until at least 2017, reports The Telegram. The St. John’s newspaper estimates the tax break is worth about $6 million.
According to the paper, in an order in council issued by the provincial cabinet in early March, the government waived the “managed land tax” for a period of five years, from the 2012/13 budget year through to 2016/17.
Natural Resources Minister Tom Marshall told the paper the tax break has been in place since a previous restructuring effort at the mill in 2009, and the government chose to extend it for five years as the mill struggles to remain financially viable.
“If the paper mill goes down, I’m advised that the sawmills will go down as well,” Marshall said. “It’s not just one plant; it’s the whole industry.”
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04.17.2013
Xeikon NV, an innovator in digital color printing technology, announced today that Colorfx, a Des Moines, Iowa-based print and marketing services company, has purchased and installed a Xeikon 8800 digital color press to more cost-effectively print high-volume variable data pieces for its customers.
Colorfx, which specializes in creating and executing multichannel marketing communications and direct marketing programs for its clients, plans to expand its digital print-on-demand services to include more full-color personalized pieces, such as direct mail, brochures and inserts.
"We are continually looking for ways to create more value for our clients and help them grow their business cost-effectively," said Jon Troen, president of Colorfx. "We needed a press that offered the ideal combination of productivity, flexibility and quality, and the Xeikon 8800 was head and shoulders above the competition."
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04.16.2013
Transactional color variable-print volumes are expected to achieve unprecedented growth at an annual rate of 25 percent between 2011 and 2016, according to InfoTrends.1 Print service providers can capture more variable-data print jobs with the new Xerox Color 8250 Production Printer – an economical choice that is versatile enough to meet the demanding needs of this marketplace.
The 8250 follows a long line of transactional devices that have established Xerox as the leader in the variable-print segment.
“The printer fills a sweet spot in our production mix while complementing our Xerox Nuvera® and iGen® presses,” said Alan Olivero, president, Matrix Imaging Systems.
The system is targeted for 800,000 to four million impressions per month and will deliver variable, vibrant color. It eliminates the need for preprinted offset shells – allowing print service providers to offer the additional value of one-pass color on statements and direct mail pieces.
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04.16.2013
First, we would like to thank to the companies who have taken the time to listen to us, those that are currently working with us, and those that have corrected their claims.
Shortly after its beginnings in 2008, Two Sides launched a campaign in the UK to challenge negative environmental claims about print and paper being made by many companies in order to promote electronic statements (ex: e-billing). You’ve all seen them: Go green - Go paperless. Save trees.
Two Sides made this a focused initiative with a strategic approach to get the claims removed or changed. The reasoning behind this is:
•The “go green – go paperless” message is damaging to the print, paper and mail value chain and millions of jobs rely on this value chain.
•Print on paper has unique environmental features that many other products and materials do not.
•The “saving trees” and “go- green” messages create a false impression that forests and trees are a finite resource that is being lost instead of a renewable resource being replenished based on sustainable forest management practices.
•Corporations must follow best practices for environmental marketing. Claims should be based on sound and peer-reviewed scientific evidence (ex: CSR Europe guidelines, UK CAP, US FTC Green Guides and ISO14021)
•The full impact of switching to e-media are often not properly considered and sometimes ignored.
•The life cycle of e-statements is not paperless because many people print e-statements at home or at the office for record-keeping and other uses.
Although the process was time-demanding and required many discussions and exchanges, our success was more than what we had expected. In total, 80% of the companies (27 out of 34) we engaged changed or removed their anti-paper claims, including several large corporations.
In July 2010, we launched the same campaign in the US with a strategic approach and focus to engage the top banks, utilities and telecoms that are currently using similar environmental claims. We looked at over 100 companies and discovered that half of them are using misleading claims. We are now systematically addressing these. The “list” is growing weekly and our database now includes about 250 companies in many different sectors.
Thanks to all of you who have been sending us claims of concern. If you see one, just email it to us at inquiries@twosides.us
Our goal is an 80% success rate in getting claims changed or removed.
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04.16.2013
RCS Libri, Grupo Planeta, Robert Laffont, Univers Poche and De Arebiderspers / A. W. Bruna Publishers have signed with Open Road Integrated Media to have Open Road distribute and market English-language digital editions of their books in English speaking territories. The deals will add a mix of mostly popular and literary fiction titles to Open Road’s international publishing partners program. Open Road CEO Jane Friedman said she expects to start publishing the titles this fall with the program continuing to build into 2014. She said she was “very pleased” with the list Open Road has created with its partners after what were some lengthy negotiations, noting that Open Road wanted to “make sure we are bringing in books that will sell.”
In most cases, Open Road has world English rights and the translations are being done by the company’s partners. While Open Road has published some e-books in translation from Barcelona eBooks—and has deals in place with Mondadori and Place Des Editeurs—the new agreements give Open Road a critical mass of titles. The titles will “become part of what we do here” and initially will be marketed like other Open Road titles, Friedman said, but noted that “we’ll learn what we have to add. . .we’ll be experiment in the truest sense of the word.” All titles will be sold throughout North America and most throughout the English-speaking world.
In its agreement with Italy’s RCS Libri, the program will begin with 20 titles from the romance, erotica, historical fiction, and literary fiction categories from bestselling authors such as Franco Di Mare, Dacia Maraini and Oriana Fallaci. The partnership will continue with backlist from these authors, and will also include a select list of titles from Rizzoli First, a digital first imprint established in late 2012. Under its deal with the Dutch publisher De Arebiderspers / A. W. Bruna Publishers, Open Road will publish 25 titles from its backlist.
In Spain, Open Road will publish about 25 Planeta books of historical fiction, women’s fiction, and literary fiction, including Angeles Caso’s Against the Wind, and Luz Gabas’ Palm Trees in the Snow.
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04.16.2013
The Deloitte Consumer Spending Index ticked down slightly in March, but has remained relatively steady with a reading over 4.0 the past five months. The Index tracks consumer cash flow as an indicator of future consumer spending.
"The drastic ups and downs among factors including wages, home prices and unemployment claims have subsided, delivering more stability to the Index, which remains at a level consistent with real personal consumption growth of around 2 percent at an annual rate," said Patricia Buckley , director, economic policy and analysis, Deloitte Services LP, and author of the monthly Index. "Rising real home prices and small but steady consumer spending increases are among factors suggesting the country may be poised for growth this year, should the economy avoid negative impacts from Europe's financial troubles or the debt ceiling debate this summer."
The Index, which comprises four components — tax burden, initial unemployment claims, real wages and real home prices — fell slightly this month to 4.12 from a reading of 4.37 the previous month.
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04.16.2013
People magazine is best known for its coverage of celebrities, gossip and entertainment, but the brand has begun edging deeper into the general lifestyle category with the introduction of a new editorial project that rolled out last week.
Khaled Hosseini, author of the best-selling novel The Kite Runner, conducted a live Q&A with the People.com audience on Thursday—the chat lasted more than an hour and more than 670 users submitted questions online. More than half the users stayed to participate for over 30 minutes, with another two thirds of users staying for over 20 minutes.
The online event is a far fall from its coverage of Hollywood drama, and shows that People is making an effort to incorporate more literary and lifestyle content.
“We just started a new franchise about a month ago called ‘What We’re Reading,’” says Janice Morris, managing editor for People Digital. “Every Thursday we’ve started posting what the staff book picks are—it’s more of a companion piece to the book picks that are in the issue every week. We have formal reviews in the print issue of what’s new and what’s out, and People.com’s ‘What We’re Reading’ is about what [editors] are looking at on their own nightstands. We’ve started going into books online slowly in that way.”
Morris says that the posts about staff literature choices have been generating engagement from readers in the form of comments, likes and tweets.
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04.16.2013
There are about 300 million people who live in the United States, almost a third, or 78 million, of whom are baby boomers. Now that America’s largest population segment is aging, the Pennsylvania-based Great Valley Publishing Company is rebranding its aging-focused magazine to better reflect the nation’s new demographics.
The publisher’s bimonthly title Aging Well will become Today’s Geriatric Medicine. The first issue will hit with the May/June edition, and the brand’s digital presence has been remade as well with the introduction of TodaysGeriatricMedicine.com
“Now, with older adults representing the largest segment of America’s population, [we] are expanding the scope of coverage to include other health care professionals whose participation figures prominently in the care of older adults, including dietitians, nurses, social workers, physical therapists, and occupational therapists,” a statement from Great Valley Publishing Company says.
Today’s Geriatric Medicine is part of a Great Valley Publishing roster of publications, which includes Today’s Dietitian and Social Work Today. Great Valley also publishes the health information management trade magazine, For The Record, as well as the monthly, Radiology Today.
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04.16.2013
Brent crude fell below $100 a barrel for the first time since July amid signs global economic growth may slow, curbing fuel demand. West Texas Intermediate declined to a four-month low on speculation U.S. supplies rose.
Brent futures slid as much as 2.6 percent to $98 a barrel, while WTI dropped to the lowest intraday price since Dec. 14. Prices fell after German investor confidence declined more than economists forecast in April. U.S. crude stockpiles probably climbed 1.5 million barrels last week to 390.4 million, the highest since July 1990, according to a Bloomberg survey before a government report tomorrow.
“As with many times in the past, oil has been used as the tool to express concerns about the macro economy and we are in the same situation now,” said Amrita Sen, chief oil market analyst at Energy Aspects Ltd., a research company in London, who predicted on April 8 that Brent may soon drop to $100. “Brent has been under pressure due to an improvement in supplies and a lack of demand.”
Brent for June settlement fell as much as $2.63 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, and later recovered to $100.05 at 10:50 a.m. local time.
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04.16.2013
Magazine publishers have found new fans for their content on tablets and e-readers, but will they ever be able to get advertisers to give them the same commitment?
In the three years since consumers got their hands on Apple's first iPads, magazines have been preparing their content for the new tablets and their competitors. Publishers saw in them an opportunity to reverse the practice of devalued subscription prices and upsell advertisers to interactive ads.
While there's been progress on the first front, it’s been hard to sell advertisers on the platform because digital circulation is still relatively small (accounting for less than 3 percent of total circ), and there’s no standard for measuring readership.
The ball got rolling a year ago when MPA—The Association of Magazine Media asked publishers to adopt voluntary guidelines for reporting tablet audience data. They would include data like total number of digital issues sold, readers per issue and time spent reading an issue.
Still, the goal of independently certified metrics was daunting. With all the different devices and measurement firms, the resulting numbers are a hodgepodge that defy easy comparisons. Publishers don't all sell their digital editions to consumers and advertisers the same way, and some of them are still reluctant to give ad buyers all the data they want (particularly if publishers are going to charge them for digital copies) because the numbers are often small. "It’s the lack of consistent measurements that makes it really, really challenging," said Gregg Hano, CEO of digital publishing platform Mag+.
There isn't even complete agreement on the terminology itself, which can lead to some Clintonian discussions of their own. Take downloads: Do you count them when they’ve begun or when they’re completed? And do automatically downloads carry the same weight? Counting reading sessions of an individual issue is another. "If you open our app two weeks after the issue date…What’s the cutoff point?" asked Paul Rossi, evp and managing director of The Economist, Americas.
Another aspect to the struggle, said Robin Steinberg, evp of Mediavest, is that publishers are still invested in viewing tablet editions through their print model, which, unlike the Web, carries a premium CPM. Digital magazines could still be valued as premium because of the functionality and interactivity they let consumers enjoy, but that requires a different business model and metrics, she said.
Luckily, progress is being made. MPA has gotten five analytics companies including Google and Adobe to take previously incomparable tablet reader data and present it in apples-to-apples fashion. The industry's major publishers are slated to participate in the pilot, which is set to start in October. If the pilot goes well, the next step would be to find a third party to audit the data, a challenge unto itself as a research firm would be betting big that the time and resources required to develop a new tool would pay off. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau of Circulations) would like the job, but it's unclear MPA wants to go in that direction.
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04.16.2013
Grainger today reported results for the 2013 first quarter ended March 31, 2013. Sales of $2.3 billion increased 4 percent versus $2.2 billion in the first quarter of 2012. There were 63 selling days in the quarter, one less than in 2012. On a daily basis, sales for the first quarter 2013 increased 6 percent. Net earnings for the quarter increased 13 percent to $212 million versus $188 million in 2012. Earnings per share of $2.94 increased 14 percent versus $2.57 in 2012.
Sales increased 4 percent in the 2013 first quarter reflecting 1 less selling day versus the 2012 first quarter. Sales increased 6 percent on a daily basis and consisted of 3 percentage points from volume, 2 percentage points from price, 1 percentage point from acquisitions and 1 percentage point from higher sales of seasonal products, partially offset by a 1 percentage point reduction from foreign exchange. Daily sales increased 8 percent in January, 6 percent in February and 3 percent in March. Sales in March 2013 were affected by the timing of the Easter Holiday, which reduced daily sales growth by 2 percentage points and also reduced sales growth for the company's reportable business segments. In addition, uncertainty in the United States surrounding sequestration contributed to a decline in sales to the government end market, which represented 15 percent of sales for the U.S. segment.
The company's gross profit margin increased 0.8 percentage points to 45.2 percent versus 44.4 percent in the 2012 first quarter, primarily driven by the United States segment. Company operating expenses in the quarter increased 3 percent including an incremental $22 million in spending to fund the company's growth programs.
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04.15.2013
For calendar year 2012, US Trade publishers’ net revenue grew by 6.2% as compared to calendar year 2011, according to the Association of American Publishers “StatShot” monthly report for December 2012, released today.
The report also showed increases year over year for net revenue in the Trade categories of Adult Fiction/Non-Fiction and Children’s/Young Adults.
In formats, Adult Fiction/Non-Fiction saw growth in eBooks, downloaded audiobooks and paperbacks while Children’s/YA eBooks, hardcover and board books saw increases. The eBook format in the Religious Presses category also grew as compared to 2011.
The StatShot December data was provided by 1193 publishers. The Trade sector of publishing includes Fiction and Non-Fiction for Adults, Children’s and Young Adult books and Religious Presses.
This report also marks the 10th anniversary of AAP’s compilation of Trade publishers’ annual net revenue from eBook sales. Since the extent and categories of publishers reporting data, the definitions of formats and the methodology of the surveys themselves have evolved and sharpened so dramatically over the past decade, the annual results can’t be directly compared. But it’s possible to view them on an anecdotal level.
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04.15.2013
Plaintiff booksellers this week filed an opposition motion urging the court not to dismiss their lawsuit against Amazon and the big six publishers, arguing that there is indeed enough evidence of restraint of trade to keep the case moving forward. The filing comes in response to independent motions filed two weeks ago by Amazon and the big six publishers, in which both defendants asked the court to toss the suit as without merit. But the booksellers say a basic reading of the facts is more than enough to sustain their action.
“Having developed and successfully exploited its Kindle e-book reader, which dominates the e-reader market, Amazon entered into written contracts with the Big Six that facially blessed the use of an Amazon controlled digital rights management technology (“DRM”) on the Big Six’s e-books,” the bookseller motion notes. “The restrictive DRM, in conjunction with the contracts with the Big Six, operates to protect Amazon’s e-reader monopoly. In addition, independent brick-and-mortar bookstores have been foreclosed from effective entry into the e-book market. As a result, consumers of e-books have been deprived of the benefits of choice and of the innovations that would surely have evolved had Amazon’s monopolies been challenged.”
In their motions to dismiss, both Amazon and publishers argued that the booksellers could not show “any actual adverse effect on competition” and that the suit was based on “naked conclusions that Amazon’s use of ‘device specific’ DRM technology harms competition.”
The booksellers, however, reply that Amazon and the publishers are either misreading the complaint, or attempting to “rewrite” it for the court, in order to facilitate a dismissal. In fact, what the publishers deem “implausible,” they state, will be confirmed by contracts and documents once produced. “The big six do not, and cannot, deny that they each entered into agreements with Amazon, and then, with full knowledge of the market and the technology being used and available, renewed those agreements regarding the DRM technology that was to be used on all of the e-books published by the big six and distributed by Amazon,” the booksellers state. “Discovery will reveal that there was indeed a meeting of the minds between the Big Six and Amazon.”
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04.15.2013
U.S. sales of corrugated cardboard packaging picked up in the first quarter of 2013 but are growing slowly, reflecting moderate and inconsistent demand for the consumer products that they contain, industry executives said.
Corrugated manufacturers in Texas, Wisconsin and Philadelphia said orders are growing steadily, particularly from the food & beverage and pharmaceuticals industries, and that demand appears to be stronger than it was in the fourth quarter of 2012.
A trade association reported growing sales in the first two months of the year, followed by a decline in March.
But one production measure of containerboard — the kind of paper used for making corrugated — suggested volatile demand and uncertainty about the strength of the economic recovery.
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04.15.2013
Metsä Wood, part of Metsä Group, will initiate a cost savings programme. The reasons for this are the unsatisfactory development of profitability over the last few years and the declining sales on the main market areas. With the programme, Metsä Wood aims to improve its competitiveness in the future.
Metsä Wood operations will be reorganised by merging the Plywood and Building Products business lines into a Building and Industry business line. The Timber and Upgrades business line will continue to do business in its existing form. Significant synergies will be sought from the combination of operations in the entire organisation.
During the past few years, the market in the UK has developed unfavourably. Operations have been previously adjusted in line with market conditions. The company is proposing to initiate new adaptation measures in all UK Timber and Upgrades business units. These measures could affect in a reduction of up to 150 jobs. At the same time, Metsä Wood will continue its activities to increase sales and to ensure more efficient customer service.
As part of the programme, Metsä Wood plans to divest the Casteljaloux sawmill, upgrading and distribution unit in France. The company has initiated a divestment process with the aim of finding a credible buyer for the unit and to divest the operations within the next two months. If a credible buyer is not found, Metsä Wood will initiate statutory labour negotiations for closing down the unit. These operations currently employ a total of 34 persons.
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04.15.2013
Brent crude fell to its lowest level in nine months and West Texas Intermediate dropped below $90 a barrel, as economic growth eased unexpectedly in China, the world’s second-largest crude consumer.
Brent declined as much as 2.5 percent to its weakest since July 13. China’s gross domestic product in the first quarter rose 7.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. That compares with the 8 percent median forecast in a Bloomberg survey and 7.9 percent in the prior quarter. Nicolas Maduro was elected president of Venezuela, OPEC’s third-biggest oil producer.
This simply confirms the picture of a slowing economy” in China, said Guy Wolf, Global Head of Market Analytics at Marex Spectron Group in London, who predicts Brent may fall as low as $85 this quarter. “Globally, the picture is not healthy.”
Brent for May settlement, which expires today, fell as much as $2.56, or 2.5 percent, to $100.55 a barrel on the London- based ICE Futures Europe exchange, and traded at $100.67 at 11:13 a.m. local time. The more-active June future dropped $2.18 to $100.86 a barrel. The front-month European benchmark grade was at a premium of $12.46 to WTI futures.
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04.15.2013
Initially, the return of Saturday mail might be regarded as good news for some publishers, but the resumption of Saturday service has prompted USPS to explore rate hikes for all periodicals.
On the day the Postal Service announced it had cancelled plans to end Saturday mail, ABM Washington Representative Tom Carpenter and ABM Postal Counsel Jack Widener, as well as other postal stakeholders, met with Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe to discuss the future of the agency.
According to the Postmaster General, given that a postal reform bill still hasn't been passed, USPS felt five-day delivery was one of the agency's only paths to significant savings. Now that new legislative language makes it impossible for the agency to continue its plan, he said, USPS has to seek revenue elsewhere -- possibly in the form of exigent rate increases for all classes of mail and/or an increase for periodicals. While the end of Saturday service only affected a small segment of b-to-b print publishers, a rate hike will likely impact all print magazines.
"His message to us was that he has no other choice but to seek savings from labor costs and increase postal rates," said Carpenter. "Even after all the savings efforts of the last two years, and defaulting for the third year in a row on retiree health benefits, USPS will still be billions in the red at the end of the year."
In the meeting, the Postmaster General discussed increases for "underwater products," that is Postal Service products that have consistently failed to cover their costs, as well increases for all classes of mail. In the Postal Regulatory Commission's latest Annual Compliance Report, seven of the Postal Service's products were deemed "underwater," including periodicals. During fiscal year 2012, periodicals only covered 72 percent of its costs, meaning the “underwater” rate hike could be as much as 28 percent.
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04.15.2013
Ahlstrom, a global high performance fiber-based materials company, has completed the earlier announced EUR 7 million investments at its Stenay plant, France. With the investment, the plant successfully expanded its product portfolio of one-side coated papers for metalized labels and flexible packaging.
The grades produced at Stenay's paper machine 3 span now from 50 to 160 g/m². These coated papers can be used for metalized beer labels and flexible packaging applications such as biscuits, sweets, coffee bags, pharmacy, pet food bag outer liners, tea envelopes, tobacco pouches, as well as bundle wraps for yoghurt pots.
"By lowering the weight of a paper used for metalized labels, flexible packaging and other graphics and industrial applications, Ahlstrom responds to the need for lighter papers to reduce the weight of packaging and labels and consequently lower their environmental footprint," says Daniele Borlatto, EVP, Label and Processing.
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04.15.2013
Pearson has agreed to sell its 50% holding in BDFM in South Africa to Times Media Group (TMG) for an undisclosed sum.
BDFM is the publisher of some of South Africa’s leading business media including Business Day, BDLive, Financial Mail and Summit TV. TMG is Pearson’s existing partner in BDFM, and the sale takes TMG’s ownership of BDFM to 100%.
The transaction supports Pearson’s continued focus on global business news and analysis through the FT Group, and includes a long-term agreement to secure the editorial independence of the titles. The disposal is consistent with Pearson’s strategy of recent years and the sale of Recoletos in Spain, Les Echos in France and FT Deutschland.
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04.15.2013
Gap Inc. today reported that March 2013 net sales increased 7 percent compared with last year.
Net sales for the five-week period ended April 6, 2013 were $1.56 billion compared with net sales of $1.46 billion for the five-week period ended March 31, 2012. Due to the 53rd week in fiscal year 2012, March 2013 comparable sales are compared to the five-week period ended April 7, 2012. On this basis, the company’s comparable sales for March 2013 were down 1 percent compared with an 8 percent increase for March 2012.
Comparable sales by global brand for March 2013 were as follows:
•Gap Global: flat versus positive 7 percent last year
•Banana Republic Global: positive 1 percent versus positive 5 percent last year
•Old Navy Global: negative 2 percent versus positive 11 percent last year
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04.12.2013
Limited Brands, Inc. reported a comparable store sales increase of 3 percent for the five weeks ended April 6, 2013, compared to the five weeks ended April 7, 2012. The company reported net sales of $894.8 million for the five weeks ended April 6, 2013, an increase of 6% compared to net sales of $840.9 million for the five weeks ended March 31, 2012.
The company reported a comparable store sales increase of 3 percent for the nine weeks ended April 6, 2013, compared to the nine weeks ended April 7, 2012. The company reported net sales of $1.607 billion for the nine weeks ended April 6, 2013, compared to sales of $1.495 billion for the nine weeks ended March 31, 2012.
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04.12.2013
Rite Aid Corporation today reported net income for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended March 2, 2013.
For the fourth quarter, the company reported revenues of $6.5 billion, net income of $123.1 million or $0.13 per diluted share and Adjusted EBITDA of $340.3 million or 5.3 percent of revenues.
For the full year, Rite Aid reported revenues of $25.4 billion, net income of $118.1 million or $0.12 per diluted share and Adjusted EBITDA of $1,128.4 million or 4.4 percent of revenues.
Same store sales for the quarter decreased 2.0 percent over the prior-year period, consisting of a 0.3 percent increase in the front end offset by a 3.1 percent decrease in the pharmacy. Pharmacy sales benefited from a 3.0 percent increase in the number of prescriptions filled in same stores, which was more than offset by an approximate 659 basis point negative impact from new generic introductions. Although new generic introductions have a negative impact on sales, they have a positive impact on gross profit. Prescription sales accounted for 66.5 percent of total drugstore sales and third party prescription sales were 96.6 percent of pharmacy sales.
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04.12.2013
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. today reported net earnings of $1.68 per diluted share ($373.9 million) in the fiscal fourth quarter (fourteen weeks) ended March 2, 2013, an increase of approximately 14% versus net earnings of $1.48 per diluted share ($351.0 million) in the same quarter a year ago (thirteen weeks). Net sales for the fiscal fourth quarter (fourteen weeks) of 2012 were approximately $3.401 billion, an increase of approximately 24.5% from net sales of approximately $2.732 billion reported in the fiscal fourth quarter (thirteen weeks) of 2011. Comparable store sales in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2012 increased by approximately 2.5%, compared with an increase of approximately 6.8% in last year's fiscal fourth quarter.
During the fiscal fourth quarter of 2012, the Company repurchased approximately $305 million of its common stock, representing approximately 5.3 million shares. As of March 2, 2013, the remaining balance of the existing share repurchase program authorized in December 2012 was approximately $2.4 billion.
For the fiscal year (fifty-three weeks) ended March 2, 2013, the Company reported net earnings of $4.56 per diluted share ($1.038 billion), an increase of approximately 12% over net earnings of $4.06 per diluted share ($989.5 million) in the corresponding period a year ago (fifty-two weeks). Net sales for fiscal 2012 (fifty-three weeks) were approximately $10.915 billion, an increase of approximately 14.9% from net sales of approximately $9.500 billion in the corresponding period a year ago (fifty-two weeks). Comparable store sales for fiscal 2012 increased by approximately 2.7% compared with an increase of approximately 5.9% last year. Comparable store sales for the fiscal fourth quarter and fiscal year are based on 14 weeks and 53 weeks, respectively, and exclude Cost Plus, Inc. ("World Market") and Linen Holdings.
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04.12.2013
This year is unlikely to go down as a banner one for the advertising industry. According to marketing intelligence company Warc, global ad spending (based on 12 major markets) will only increase 3% in 2013, down a full percentage point from the company’s forecast from November 2012.
Already expected to be less robust than last year (which had the Olympics and a U.S. presidential election going for it to boost spending), further concerns about the global economy (particularly the debt crises in Europe, and economic slowdowns in China and India) as well as domestic spending cuts just coming into effect led to the downgrade, according to Suzy Young, data and journals director, at Warc.
"With few major political or sporting events this year, global advertising spend growth was always expected to be slower than in 2012,” Young says. “The Eurozone debt crisis also continues to depress growth both among member countries and abroad. To offset this, global ad spend will be reliant on a solid performance from the U.S. and strong growth from emerging markets."
Of the 12 major markets Warc forecasts, only Brazil and Japan were not subject to forecast downgrades, compared to the company’s 2013 reports. Though still slower than previously expected, Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) will continue to be the fastest-growing markets, with increases of 9.5%, 12.4%, 7.9% and 9% growth, respectively.
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04.12.2013
Mobile activation in the Top 100 U.S. magazines has dramatically changed from 2011 to 2012. Several compelling patterns have emerged, notably the increasing popularity of issue-wide mobile programs and magazine branded scanning apps, particularly those leveraging augmented reality, image recognition, and invisible watermarking technology. Over the last two years that Nellymoser has tracked the use of print to digital content in magazines, there has been overwhelming growth in mobile activations used in both editorial and advertising content.
This initiative was designed to amass the most comprehensive picture of how mobile is being deployed in the U.S. magazine market. Every page was examined, every mobile enhancement was launched, and the data was collected on both advertising and editorial pages. Nellymoser uses this data for both industry-wide benchmarking and to inform the design and implementation of print to digital experiences.
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04.12.2013
American Forest & Paper Association President and CEO Donna Harman issued the following statement regarding the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) decision to postpone elimination of Saturday delivery.
“We are pleased with today’s announcement that the USPS will delay its plans to eliminate Saturday mail delivery pending further congressional action, as this reduction in service would have been short-sighted and harmful to their ability to serve customers.
“AF&PA and its members will continue to engage with both the Postal Service and Congress as they seek to improve the agency’s financial viability with a more comprehensive legislative solution.”
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04.11.2013
The USPS’s Board of Governors announced this morning their decision to not proceed with a move to five-day delivery of non-parcel mail in August 2013, as previously announced.
This decision was made given the Continuing Resolution recently passed through Congress directing the USPS to maintain six-day delivery for all mail. As a consequence, given the persistent low liquidity of the agency, the Board has directed management to review and consider all available options to reduce costs or increase revenue. This specifically also includes an exigent rate case, as I learned from a USPS officer today.
The Board’s prepared statement noted the following:
The Board continues to support the transition to a new national delivery schedule…It is not possible for the Postal Service to meet significant cost reduction goals without changing its delivery schedule – any rational analysis of our current financial condition and business options leads to this conclusion. Delaying responsible changes to the Postal Service business model only increases the potential that the Postal Service may become a burden to the American taxpayer, which is avoidable.
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04.11.2013
Costco Wholesale Corporation today reported net sales of $9.67 billion for the month of March, the five weeks ended April 7, 2013, an increase of seven percent from $9.07 billion during the similar period last year.
For the thirty-one weeks ended April 7, 2013, the Company reported net sales of $61.02 billion, an increase of eight percent from $56.34 billion during the similar period last year.
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04.10.2013
FEFCO (European Federation of Corrugated Board Manufacturers) is proud to announce that a further decrease of the Carbon Footprint by 4,8% has been achieved over the past three years (from 2009 to 2011), on top of a reduction by 11,7% from 2006 to 2008. During the last three years, the average carbon footprint of Corrugated was reduced from 784kg/t to 746 kg/t. The main reason is a considerable drop in electricity usage, mainly due to the reduction of electricity bought by kraftliner producers.
Pulp and paper mills with kraft cooking, as used by all kraftliner producers, have invested heavily the last 4 to 5 years on the energy conservation side of their processes. New big boilers for bark and other biofuels combined with steam turbines are used for electricity production. The Corrugated industry intensifies the use of recycled fibers for the production of Corrugated Packaging: the input of recycled paper into new corrugated increased from 82% in 2009 to 85% in 2012. The Corrugated Industry and its suppliers continue exploring ways to reduce the environmental impact of their products. Corrugated Packaging proves again to be a sustainable material, which is highly appreciated both by the supply chain and consumers. According to recent studies, consumers prefer paper-based packaging over other material. Corrugated is economical, can be 100% recycled and perfectly protects goods on their entire journey to the consumer.
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04.10.2013
H.I.G. Capital is nearly ready to box up its latest deal.
The Miami firm is in the final stages of wrapping up a deal for Caraustar Industries Inc., which will see the once-bankrupt packaging products maker change hands from Wayzata Investment Partners, said a person close to the transaction.
The deal is expected to close by the end of the month and will include a debt package provided by Credit Suisse Group, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Jefferies Co., the person said.
Jefferies is advising Austell, Ga.-based Caraustar on the transaction.
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04.10.2013
Results of the FPI “State of the Industry Survey” found that nearly 85 percent of foodservice packaging manufacturers in North America expect their sales volume to improve, and almost three quarters expect higher profits in 2013. Respondents were a little less optimistic in Europe, with just over half expecting volumes to increase and about a third anticipating better profits than last year. All the North American raw materials suppliers indicated sales volume growth, but less than half expect higher profits in 2013. It was a similar story for machinery suppliers; two thirds of those respondents predict elevated volume in 2013, with about a third expecting more profit.
In another positive sign for the industry, more than 70 percent of the North American and European manufacturers reported plans to purchase new rather than used machinery in 2013. The two most common reasons for the planned purchases were market share increase and product capability expansion.
When considering growth potential over the next five years, respondents expect strong sales in single-use packaging from grocery stores and quick service restaurant chains; among North American manufacturers, convenience stores topped the list. Grocery stores, fast casual/quick service restaurants, and nursing homes took the lead for largest growth expectancy in foodservice market segments. Many respondents also reported plans to increase manufacturing of paper and plastic foodservice packaging made with recycled material. This is consistent with results from FPI’s “Trends Survey” released late last year.
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04.10.2013
Valassis is unveiling new targeting capabilities through Brand.net, with a service called Geo-Commerce Retail Zone, which uses over 100,000 local targeting zones created by Valassis to reach prospective consumers on their way to retail.
The Geo-Commerce Retail Zones overlay the trading areas of local stores with transactional data, behavioral data, and data from larger retail trade areas to pinpoint areas where relevant advertising can be delivered to high-potential consumers via mobile devices and other advertising channels.
Using the Brand.net zones, grocery, drug and mass retailers can reach consumers who have the highest propensity to be in the market for a specific product as well as living or commuting through local store trading areas. According to Valassis, third-party measurement has shown that over 90% of the ad impressions delivered in the zones hit target audience households.
So far, 2013 has seen a spate of new ad targeting services combining a local focus with national scale. Last week, mobile advertising technology company 4Info announced the launch of a new mobile ad targeting product, AdHaven Bullseye, that has linked 110 million mobile devices to 97 million U.S. households to enable advertisers to deliver ads with precision comparable to both online and direct mail campaigns.
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04.10.2013
Mail-Gard®, a division of IWCO Direct and one of the nation’s leading providers of critical communication recovery solutions, announced it has partnered with Data Management Internationale (DMI) to offer cloud-based document management recovery services including document capture recovery and document management system archiving.
Most companies utilize some type of document management and scanning systems to capture externally generated records such as invoices, applications, claims and other customer information. Recovery of these services is an essential part of a company’s continuity program. Mail-Gard is now positioned as the only provider of print-to-mail recovery services to offer document recovery solutions. The partnership with DMI enhances Mail-Gard’s core offering of ensuring critical business documents are available anytime, anywhere, whether printed and mailed to customers, or used internally for essential business operations.
“The addition of document management system recovery and scanning services is a natural extension to our Critical Communications Recovery platform,” said Jerry Montella, vice president of sales and general manager of Mail-Gard. “This partnership further strengthens our ability to ensure customers stay in compliance and in business by having access to important documents whenever they need them, from any location.”
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04.10.2013
North America's fourth largest producer of towel and tissue paper, Cascades Tissue Group, today announced an extension of its Cascades Moka line with the launch of the first-ever, unbleached, 100 percent recycled, environmentally preferable facial tissue. This new beige-colored facial tissue unique to Cascades—one of the softest of its kind on the market—follows the award-winning, January 2012 launch of the Cascades Moka bathroom tissue, which created a new category of bathroom tissue that quickly sold through its initial inventory and is now a growing category for the company.
Just like its bathroom tissue predecessor, the new Cascades Moka facial tissue is made of a pulp mix composed of 100 percent recycled fiber, 80 percent of which is post-consumer material and—significantly—20 percent recovered corrugated boxes. Its production is also offset with 100 percent Green-e® certified renewable wind electricity and releases a minimum of 30 percent less greenhouse gas (CO2) than what is used in traditional white recycled tissues. Cascades Moka also holds certification with EcoLogo, Green Seal and the Chlorine Free Products Association.
Ultimately, it offers commercial purchasers the highest hygienic qualities and softness while significantly reducing the environmental impact that's commonly associated with manufacturing a single-use product. A detailed life cycle analysis of the pulp mix of the Cascades Moka undertaken by the company revealed a 25 percent reduction in overall environmental impact when compared to the pulp mix used in its traditional Cascades' 100 percent recycled fiber facial tissue.
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04.10.2013
West Texas Intermediate halted a two-day advance as a report showed stockpiles of U.S. crude increased to the highest level since 1981.
Futures slipped as much as 0.5 percent in New York after the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute said inventories gained 5.1 million barrels last week. An Energy Department report today may show supplies advanced 1.5 million barrels to about 391 million, the highest in 22 years, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts. China’s net crude imports slid to the lowest in six months in March, customs data showed.
“The second quarter is the weakest from the perspective of oil global demand,” said Hannes Loacker, an analyst at Raiffeisen Bank International AG in Vienna. Brent crude may drop further, he said. The blend slumped 5.4 percent last week.
WTI for May delivery slid as much as 44 cents to $93.76 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $93.81 at 12:02 p.m. London time.
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04.10.2013
UPM sells the real estate and machinery at Aureskoski further processing mill in Parkano, Finland, to Tammiwood Ltd. The parties have agreed not to disclose the sales price. UPM operations at Aureskoski mill ceased in December 2012. UPM produced interior wood panels at the mill.
Tammiwood’s major shareholder is Tammiston Puu Ltd., a Finnish company specialised in manufacturing garden products. Four employees working at Aureskoski mill will transfer to Tammiwood as permanent employees.
“The sale of Aureskoski site has a positive effect on the economic life in the area. We think that the new owner has a good opportunity to further develop the site,” says Aki Temmes, Director, Business Control, UPM Timber.
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04.10.2013
One of the most well-known speaker manufacturers in the world, the Finnish company Genelec, has chosen UPM's biocomposite as the material for their new high-end speaker model. The speaker enclosure is manufactured from renewable cellulose fibre based UPM ForMi.
"UPM ForMi fulfils our strict quality requirements and environmental criteria. The material is easy to mould and has excellent acoustic features. It does not require grinding or surface treatment, enabling a smarter and more efficient production process. This fits perfectly with our aim of leading the way in both production technology and environmental matters," says Siamäk Naghian, Managing Director at Genelec.
Finding new alternatives for established production materials was a lengthy process for Genelec. One of the key goals was to find a sustainable and environmentally responsible material that would also guarantee pure audio quality.
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04.09.2013
Two Sides, the fast-growing non-profit organization established to promote the responsible production, use and sustainability of print and paper, today announced that NewPage Corporation has joined the organization.
“For a company like NewPage, a business whose products come from the forest, sustainability represents a unique opportunity to make a positive difference for our planet,” says NewPage Vice President of Marketing Steven Devoe. “Joining Two Sides gives us the opportunity to share more broadly how NewPage is contributing to progress in areas from sustainable forestry and reduced greenhouse gas emissions to cleaner manufacturing and recycling. Our Two Sides membership also helps expand our own efforts to correct the many common myths about the sustainability of print and paper.”
“Print and paper have a great environmental story to tell, and Two Sides is pleased to have NewPage join our growing U.S. effort to get the word out to as many people as possible,” says Two Sides President Phil Riebel. “Made from one of the earth’s few truly renewable resources – trees from responsibly managed forests – print and paper is the most recycled commodity in the world. Nearly 68 percent of paper produced in the United States is recovered for recycling. In addition, the demand for responsibly grown wood fiber to make print and paper products provides a long-term financial incentive for private landowners to manage their land sustainably instead of selling it for development – the primary cause of deforestation in the United States,” he says. “And the print, paper and mailing supply chain supports millions of U.S. jobs.”
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04.09.2013
Despite tough year, sales increase 4.3% and Tetra Pak continues to invest to provide customers with the right products at the right price
Tetra Pak®, today announced net sales of €11.16 billion in 2012 - up 4.3 percent from 2011 in comparable terms.
The company’s Packaging Solutions businesses achieved net sales of €9.87 for the year, 4.2 percent higher (comparable terms) than in 2011, with solid growth in South & Southeast Asia, Central & South America, North America, East Europe and Central Asia, and double digit growth in the Middle East and Sub-Sahara Africa.
Sales from Processing Solutions reached €1.29 billion, growing 5.2% year on year (comparable terms), with double-digit growth in North Europe, South & Southeast Asia, Central & South America and Sub-Sahara Africa.
“The economic situation is still tough, with growth slower than before, particularly in China and Brazil, our fastest growing economies. We’ve had to make some tough decisions over the past year to enable us to continue to invest in the development of new products, services and facilities that will enable our customers, retailers and suppliers to thrive in the years to come,” said Tetra Pak President and CEO Dennis Jönsson.
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04.09.2013
AR Metallizing at the brink of creating "smart", disposable metallized paper touch pads. For many consumer goods and beverage companies, labels allowing customers to effectively interact with their brand, are considered the Holy Grail. Similarly, they are seeking solutions to allow their boxed products to communicate with the consumer. With a newly developed application for metallized paper, this ambitious goal might be closer than the industry could have hoped for.
Based on research carried out at Harvard University (researchers Mazzeo, Kalb, Chan, Killian, Bloch and Whitesides) and collaborations with institutes in Portugal and France, a specially developed paper has been demonstrated to yield sufficient capacitive properties to be used as a "touch pad", entirely made of paper. After a straightforward laser etching, followed by connection with cheap electronic interfaces, the paper can be used to detect consumer's "touch" like a smart phone's touch pad. This product, however, is at a fraction of the production cost. Also, by using metallized paper, which is re-pulpable like ordinary paper, it is environmentally friendly. Other advantages in this option include that metallized paper can be easily glued onto surfaces (like a label) or folded or laminated in three-dimensional shapes (like boxes), unlike glass surfaces or thick films.
The researchers and AR Metallizing envisaged and tested prototypes for applications such as: touch sensitive labels, interactive book covers, food labels and boxes, interactive games on cereal boxes, multi-digit disposable code pads on shipping boxes, and even entire paper-based keyboards.
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04.09.2013
A. Schulman, Inc. announced today financial results for the fiscal 2013 second quarter ended February 28, 2013.
"This was the first quarter in quite some time where our Americas and Asia Pacific (APAC) segments could not offset softness in our Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) segment. After several months of relative stability in our European markets, we believe our markets are experiencing another round of weakness as a result of growing economic uncertainties. This is clearly evidenced in the now volatile currency environment. While many of our anticipatory restructuring steps were initiated well in advance of these events, we are considering further SG&A reductions and additional consolidations to better align our capacity with current market demand. We are disappointed in the late-quarter decline in demand in EMEA; however, we are confident in our demonstrated ability to weather such downturns as evidenced by our track record in driving cost savings in excess of $6 million over the last three years," said Joseph M. Gingo, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Although not entirely unexpected, we are also seeing increased global intensity with price competition and are arming our sales teams with effective tools and training to be agile and proactive in the marketplace."
For the fiscal 2013 second quarter, net sales increased 5.3% as a result of contributions from the Company's two recent acquisitions. Combined, these acquisitions added $15 million of incremental net sales to the quarter, a 1.8% improvement in volume, and a favorable impact from foreign currency translation. Volume decreased in the EMEA and APAC segments, which experienced a 1.8% and 1.3% decline, respectively, for the quarter compared with the prior period second quarter.
The Company reported net income for the second quarter of $11.8 million, or $0.40 per diluted share. The translation effect of foreign currency positively impacted net income for the quarter by $0.4 million, or approximately $0.01 per diluted share. The Company recognized a net favorable impact to net income of $7.0 million or $0.24 per diluted share as a result of certain tax related matters, principally associated with the net valuation allowance releases. Adjusted net income was $0.27 per diluted share. The primary driver of the variance between net income and adjusted net income was that the tax related matters only impacted earnings per share.
Net sales for the Americas segment increased by $14.6 million, or 11.2%, to $144.2 million, primarily related to the acquisition of ECM Plastics, Inc. which contributed $9.2 million in the quarter. Volume increased 9.5%; however, gross profit in the Americas decreased 5.9% compared with the prior year. The decline in gross profit was primarily due to an unfavorable mix in the Company's specialty powders product family combined with increased manufacturing costs in anticipation of stronger future demand in Mexico.
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04.09.2013
Cham Paper Group on April 3 said that it is in talks with Delfort Group on a possible collaborative deal in the specialty papers market.
According to Cham Paper, executives from the two specialty paper producers are looking into all strategic options that could further strengthen the market position of both parties.
Specific details of the talks were not disclosed, but Cham said it will issue a statement on the outcome of the project by the end of June 2013 at the latest.
Based in Traun, Austria, Delfort Group produces and distributes specialty papers and has around 1,750 employees at five factories in Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Finland. Similarly to the Cham Paper Group, the family-run company has a widely recognized market position in a range of areas within the specialty papers market.
Founded in 1657, Cham Paper Group is a leading manufacturer of coated specialty papers. At its three locations in Switzerland and Italy, Cham Paper develops and manufactures specialty papers for use in the consumer goods, industrial release and digital imaging sectors.
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04.09.2013
Print advertising is dwindling at consumer magazines. The Publishers Information Bureau released figures showing total magazine ad pages fell 4.9% from 33,673 in the first quarter of 2012 to 32,023 in the first quarter of 2013.
Of 213 titles tracked by the PIB, 107 (50%) experienced ad page declines in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the same period in 2012, with 67 titles (31.5%) experiencing declines of 10% or more, and 26 titles (12.2%) experiencing declines of 20% or more.
Although many categories suffered in the first quarter, women’s interest titles took especially heavy hits, with the lifestyle, domestic, and celebrity categories posting big losses.
In the domestic category, the list of titles experiencing year-over-year declines in the first quarter included Ladies’ Home Journal, down 28.5% to 122 ad pages; Family Circle, down 14.4% to 222; and Better Homes and Gardens, down 11.9% to 249. In women’s lifestyle titles, Woman’s Day was down 11.9% to 240, while Redbook fell 10.7% to 216.
In celebrity and fashion weeklies, OK Weekly was down 22.4% to 263 ad pages; In Touch Weekly was down 21.5% to 127; Life & Style Weekly was down 19.7% to 106; and Star was down 17.7% to 274.
In other categories, significant ad page losses were seen at Forbes, down 19.6% to 266; Food & Wine, down 11.8% to 159; Maxim, down 36% to 53; and New York, down 17.7% to 422.
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04.09.2013
According to a study being released by the Custom Content Council and ContentWise, annual spending on custom content marketing has jumped 9 percent to $44 billion.
According to the report, "Characteristics Study: A Look at the Volume and Type of Content Marketing in America for 2013," marketers are spending 39 percent of their budgets on content marketing campaigns, including print, email, web, video, virtual events, white papers, podcasts and e-zines.
As to be expected, social is a major part of content marketing campaigns, with 81 percent of respondents creating content especially for that platform.
Also according to the study, which is now in its 13th edition, funds are being directed from print vehicles to social and video, with the latter being the fastest growing segment of content marketing. "In this survey, 62 percent of respondents now report using video in their content marketing," says Lori Rosen, executive director of the Custom Content Council. "Branded video is closing in on web and print as one of content marketing's most common forms."
The use of print, however, remains an important segment. According to the study, the average frequency of print vehicles rose to 6 times per year, with the average page count at 30 pages—the most since the survey began. Circulation is also up slightly, to 51,000 per issue, continuing a 4-year trend.
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04.09.2013
Finch Paper will leverage its knowledge of high-speed inkjet technology and color management at two of this Spring’s highly anticipated industry conferences.On April 9-11, Finch Paper will play a prominent role at the Inkjet Summit 2013. The Inkjet Summit is an annual, invitation-only summit designed for industry leaders who want to understand how current and future inkjet production printing technology, software and solutions will impact their business. The Finch Team will present case studies for the book, transactional and direct mail segments during the three-day summit as well as delivering a keynote address with Canon and Ricoh.
On April 16, Finch Digital Application Manager Mary Schilling will give an educational presentation on color management at the annual Xplor International User Conference and Vendor Forum. Schilling leads FIT Color Management and Workflow Services which helps printers optimize their workflow — from design to finishing — to deliver consistent, repeatable color while lowering the total cost of print. Her presentation, “Paper is the First Color,” will examine how paper is a critical color in any print workflow.
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04.09.2013
West Texas Intermediate rose a second day after China reported inflation eased more than forecast last month. U.S. crude stockpiles probably increased to the highest level in 22 years, a Bloomberg survey showed.
Futures gained as much as 0.5 percent in New York after advancing the most in almost two weeks yesterday. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) said it expects supplies at the U.S. delivery hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, to shrink at the end of next month, and pushed back its recommendation for trading the discount on WTI versus Brent. U.S. crude inventories climbed by 1.5 million barrels in the week to April 5 to 390 million, according to a Bloomberg News survey before data from the Energy Department Administration tomorrow.
“Any healthy demand for oil will have to come from Asia or the Middle East,” said Michael Poulsen, an analyst at Global Risk Management in Middelfart, Denmark. “Hopes for a Chinese money bazooka have increased.”
WTI for May delivery advanced as much as 46 cents to $93.82 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and was at $93.70 at 9:15 a.m. London time.
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04.09.2013
Newspapers last year showed their first circulation revenue increase in nine years, with growth attributed to the recent success of paid digital circulation, according to new data compiled by the Newspaper Association of America (NAA).
A 5% overall growth in circulation revenue was the first gain in this category for the newspaper industry since 2003. Within that total, for the companies supplying detailed breakdowns, digital-only circulation revenue grew 275%; print and digital bundled circulation revenue grew 499%.
NAA's projections show that total U.S. newspaper media revenue declined by 2% to $38.6 billion last year from $39.5 billion in 2011. Although advertising revenue slipped 6% last year, circulation revenue grew 5% and new revenue sources not tied to conventional advertising increased by 8%. Those sources included digital agency and marketing activities, e-commerce, event marketing and commercial delivery of products other than newspapers.
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04.09.2013
UPM and Element Power have established a wind power development joint venture company in order to develop wind power production possibilities on a number of sites throughout Finland on land leased from UPM.
“UPM is looking to develop a number of areas that could be suitable for wind power production on our land, and we have now found the right development partner. Element Power will bring world class wind development expertise to the joint venture,” says Matti Oksanen, Director, UPM Energy, New Energy Ventures.
The aim of the joint venture is to develop the best suitable land areas owned by UPM to be ready for wind power production. UPM owns approximately 850,000 hectares of land in Finland.
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