Japan Airlines files for bankruptcy protection - Corporate Lessons

Another classic example for the corporate world or any organization showing that nothing is too big when it comes to failure. Currently JAL is valued at a value less than the price of a new Jumbo Jet. Its a corporate lesson for all executives/directors who just waste corporate resources on glamor and pleasure rather than focusing on business growth or cost reduction in adapting new economic challenges.

Details of the JAL bankruptcy and the subsequent plans goes as follows.

Japan Airlines (JAL), Asia's biggest air carrier, has filed for bankruptcy protection, in one of the country's biggest corporate failures.

Some 15,600 jobs are expected to be cut. All board members have also voted to resign, according to Japanese media.

A state-backed turnaround organisation has said it plans to inject about 300bn yen ($3.3bn; £2bn) into JAL.

Japan's government says flights will continue as normal as the airline begins restructuring.

Its reorganisation will take place under the supervision of the state-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation (ETIC).

As well as reducing its headcount, JAL will have to replace some of the older, less fuel-efficient planes in its fleet and reduce the number of routes it flies.

Shares in JAL have fallen to an all-time low, valuing the firm at just $150m - less than the price of a new jumbo jet.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange said shares in the carrier would be delisted on 20 February.

Along with other major global airlines, JAL has been hit hard by falling passenger numbers during the global economic downturn. The carrier has debts of $25.6bn.

Investors to lose out

"Basically this shows that nothing is too big to fail, that America's GM and Japan's JAL were in the same situation," said Koichi Ogawa from Daiwa SB Investments.

"What this has shown is that the nation won't just take total care of a company, that they've now said they'll let badly-run companies fail."

A third of JAL's workforce face the prospect of losing their jobs, the BBC's Roland Buerk in Tokyo says.

While the turnaround plan backed by the government will see the airline continue to fly, investors in the company are likely to lose most of their money.

But JAL's competitors would only see a limited impact from its bankruptcy filing, Kazuyuki Terao, chief investment officer at RCM Japan, said.

"If consumers shift to other carriers, it might have a positive impact but it is also not likely because for consumers, utility is important - which will not change after bankruptcy."

Support

Meanwhile, US carrier Delta Air Lines has issued a statement of support for JAL.

Delta wants JAL to leave the OneWorld Alliance and join its SkyTeam partnership.

"Delta and SkyTeam fully support Japan Airlines and stand ready to provide assistance and support in any way possible.

"Delta fully expects that JAL, with the support of ETIC, will be successful in its restructuring and return the airline to a position of prominence."

Kraft in Desperate Attempt to Take Over Cadbury

 

US giant Kraft Foods today launched a hostile £9.8 billion takeover bid for Cadbury, which the British confectioner rejected as 'derisory'.

The cash and stocks offer matches the terms of Kraft's original bid in September. However, changes to currency and stock market values since then means the new bid is worth £9.8 billion, less than the original offer of £10.2 billion.

'The repetition of a proposal which is now of less value and lower than the current Cadbury share price does not make it any more attractive,' Cadbury chairman Roger Carr said.

Kraft chairman and chief executive Irene Rosenfeld said in her company's bid statement that the US giant was 'convinced of the strategic merits for both companies of combining Kraft Foods and Cadbury.''As a result, the Board has emphatically rejected this derisory offer and has strengthened its resolve to ensure the true value of Cadbury is fully understood by all,' he added.

'We believe that our proposal offers the best immediate and long-term value for Cadbury's shareholders and for the company itself compared with any other option currently available, including Cadbury remaining independent,' she added.

The formal bid is worth 300 pence in cash and 0.2589 new Kraft Foods shares per Cadbury share.

Kraft had until this afternoon to launch a formal bid or walk away for six months under British takeover rules.

Kraft Foods is the world's second biggest snacks group after Nestle, while Cadbury - led by American chief executive Todd Stitzer - is the second largest confectionery company behind Mars.

A tie-up between Kraft and Cadbury would merge leading Kraft brands Oreo biscuits and Maxwell House coffee with Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate and Trident chewing gum.

Cadbury last month stepped up its defence against a takeover by Kraft by upgrading its full-year sales forecast after a third-quarter rise. In reaction to a 7% gain in third-quarter sales, Cadbury upgraded its 2009 revenue forecast to the middle of its 4-6% range from the previous lower-end forecast.

A stronger sales outlook makes a takeover of Cadbury less attractive to its shareholders, who are likely to judge that the company is profitable enough without being merged with a bigger company

Sony Ericsson's Android-Based Xperia X3 May Launch Early Next Month

BY: Ed Hardy, Brighthand.com Editor

PUBLISHED: 10/28/2009

Sony Ericsson has put a "teaser" page on its website promising a big announcement on November 3. This could be the day it's going to formally unveil the Xperia X3, this company's first smartphone running Google's Android OS.

The teaser is, of course, very vague:

We're looking forward to November 3rd.
We think you should be too.

Still, the biggest announcement Sony Ericsson could be planning for that day is the unveiling of the X3. This very high-end model has appeared in numerous rumors going back to this summer, so the launch could finally be getting close.

An Overview of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X3
The name "X3" hasn't been 100% confirmed. Some reports say it may have been changed to "X10" or the " Infinity". In any case, the code-name is definitely "Rachael".

According to unconfirmed reports, this smartphone will have a tablet shape dominated by a 4-inch, 800-by-400-pixel touchscreen.

It will reportedly run the Android OS on a 1 GHz processor Snapdragon processor. Rather than use Google's standard user interface, Sony Ericsson has created a proprietary one for this device that emphasizes social networking (see here).

One of the highlights of the X3 will apparently be its 8 MPx camera with flash and support for VGA (640 x 480 pixels) video recording at 30 fps. This will offer face and smile detection, as well as image stabilization.

It will allegedly be a quad-band (850/900/1800/1900) GSM phone with dual-band (900/2100) 3G: 10 Mbps HSDPA and 2 Mbps HSUPA. Bluetooth 2.1 and Wi-Fi g will also be included.

In addition, it will have a GPS receiver and a microSDHC memory card slot.

Pricing for the Sony Ericsson Xperia X3 is not yet known.

JAL’s Banks Said to Reject Restructuring Plan

Creditors of Japan Airlines have rejected the struggling carrier’s restructuring plan and are pushing for a cut in debt waivers and details of theuse of state funds, Reuters reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.
Shares in Asia’s biggest airline by revenue jumped nearly 12 percent on Monday after losing more than a quarter of their value last week. The jump followed reports that the carrier had resumed talks with Delta Air Lines and AMR’s American Airlines over a possible capital infusion and that it was gearing up to release a revised restructuring plan.

JAL’s benchmark spreads in the credit derivatives market were at extreme levels, suggesting market players were bracing for a debt restructuring that could be deemed a “credit event” — leading to a payout on the insurance-type contracts offering protection against such restructurings.

The airline, under the supervision of a government-appointed task force, has reportedly asked banks for 300 billion yen ($3.3 billion) in debt waivers and debt-for-equity swaps.

Creditors rejected that plan on Sunday and requested a new one with less debt forgiveness as well as clarity on how the airline will cut pension obligations and how much the state will provide in capital and loans, according to Reuters, which cited a source with knowledge of the meeting.

A JAL spokesman declined to comment on whether its creditors had rejected the plan, the news service said.

JAL shares ended up 11.9 percent at 113 yen, while the Nikkei average eased 0.2 percent. More than 118 million JAL shares changed hands, 11 times the daily average this year.

“Investors are just buying back the stock after it was oversold last week,” Takahiko Kishi, an analyst covering JAL at Mizuho Investors Securities, told Reuters.

JAL is headed for its second straight annual loss, weighed down by $15 billion in debt and a bloated cost base that makes it less efficient than rival All Nippon Airways.

JAL’s largest creditor is the state-owned Development Bank of Japan with 230 billion yen in loans outstanding as of March 31.

Other lenders include a unit of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group , with 57 billion yen in loans, a unit of the Mizuho Financial Group, with 53 billion yen, and a unit ofSumitomo Mitsui Financial, with 37 billion yen.

JAL has been restructuring under state supervision since it received a 100 billion yen government-guaranteed loan in June.

It put forward a plan last month that included axing 6,800 jobs and 50 routes and a 30 percent cut in operating costs, but was forced back to the drawing board after the government said the steps were not enough.

The latest plan, which would increase the job cuts to around 10,000, has not satisfied creditors who feel they are being asked to carry too much of the burden while the plan does not clearly address the state’s plans for injecting public funds.

It also fails to offer a viable plan for reducing pension payouts to retirees, Reuters said, citing the source. Creditors expect a revised turnaround plan as early as this week, the news service said.

WaveSecure Release on Android!

A Singapore company, tenCube, has announced the release of their WaveSecure mobile security application for the Android platform.  Already available in S60 and Windows versions, the app promises to be a complete device and data security app.

The app is in beta so the developers are looking for some help in putting together a great product.  If security apps are your thing, then we suggest you check it out. According to their blog, WaveSecure offers the following features:

§ Lock your phone remotely to prevent unauthorized access to your phone

§ Track your phone’s location and the SIM changes in your phone (even if your phone is not with you!)

§ Backup your contacts, SMS, media and call logs

§ Restore your contacts and SMS

§ Remotely wipe your data on your phone and memory card

If you want to find the app in the Android Market, you need to search for ‘wsandroid‘ or ‘wavesecure’

Written by - Chua Zi Yong

Srilankan Dilantha Malagamuwa - Porsche Carrera Cup Asia

Even the popularity and the market penetration of luxury sports cars is very much at a primary stage in the south Asian country Srilanka naturally due to the factors such as size of the economy, economy growth rate, taxation policies, high inflation etc it is quite remarkable and and exceptional achievement for a Srilankan motorsport professional to complete at one of the highest motor sports competition of the region namely Porsche carrera Asia cup and the Aston Martin Asia cup. These 2 events are considered to be one of the premiere events of the region apart from few F1 events hosted in Asian circuits, GP2 and A1 GP.

Considering the huge commercial burden and resources required in such an event it is more remarkable for Dilantha to carry the Srilankan livery in his car.

Here are some highlights from his race in the Singtel Singapore Street Circuit Race in September 2009 which was run as a support race to th main event Formula 1.

FIA reveals qualifying changes for 2010

Formula One's governing body has today released a new set of sporting and technical regulations for the 2010 season, including a revised qualifying format to adapt to the 6 extra cars that will be competing next year.

The new system mostly remains the same as the current qualifying format, although the first and second sessions will eliminate 8 cars each time, rather than 5 as is currently the case. Hence, Q3 will be run with the remaining 10 cars to decide the top 10 grid positions for the Grand Prix.

Apart from this, it was also confirmed that the cars will run with low fuel quantities during each session. This year the cars are still required to drive Q3 with race fuel on board, but since refueling will be banned as of 2010 this rule has been scrapped.