Brands Flash

Proctor and Gamble touch top end of expectations

Proctor & Gamble has reported a 27% increase in sales and 33% increase in net earnings as the company continues on the strength of last year’s merger with Gillette and a continued improvement in margins. Net sales topped both analysts’ and the company’s expectations, rising from US$14.79 billion in the first quarter of last year, to reach US$18.79 billion this year.
Source: www.cosmeticsdesign-europe.com, 01 November 2006

FAW-Toyota Motor aims to nearly triple sales in China by 2010

FAW-Toyota Motor Co, a joint venture between Toyota Motor Corp and First Automotive Works, China's largest vehicle maker, aims to nearly triple annual sales on the domestic market by 2010, a company executive said. FAW-Toyota will sell more than 600,000 vehicles annually on the domestic market by 2010, said Dong Haiyang, vice president of FAW Toyota Motor Sales Co Ltd. For the January-September period, it sold 162,000 units, up from about 100,000 a year earlier.
Source: www.forbes.com, 31 October 2006

Siemens invests around €80 million in lab in China

Siemens Corporate Technology celebrated the official opening of its "Siemens Corporate Technology China" research center in Beijing. Siemens intends to invest around €80 million by 2010 in the two Chinese locations Beijing and Shanghai. With over 31,000 employees, Siemens is one of the largest employers among foreign-owned enterprises in China.
Source: www.home.nestor.minsk, 31 October 2006

Siemens expands in the Middle East

Siemens has inaugurated its new regional company for Oman formed as a joint venture with Waleed Associates. The formation of the regional company comes at a time when the Omani market is poised for a major expansion drive and the Middle East region is undergoing a major expansion in infrastructure. Siemens’ key strength is in helping nations build infrastructure by providing a complete range of technology.
Source: www.tradearabia.com, 31 October 2006

L’Oréal acquires The Body Shop and expands it to China and Brazil

LOréal paid a total of £652m to secure a controlling stake in what is probably the best recognised player in the naturals market – The Body Shop. The company's acquisition of the Body Shop was approved by EU authorities in June of this year. L'Oréal CEO Jean-Paul Agon has already announced a comprehensive plan to further internationalise the Body Shop that is likely to take in emerging markets such as China and Brazil.
Source: www.cosmeticsdesign, 24 October, 2006

L’Oréal continues expansion into natural & organic cosmetics

The world's leading cosmetic player has further expanded its position in the naturals market with the acquisition of French Laboratoire Sanoflore. It will become a part of L'Oréal's Active Cosmetics Division – currently the company's fastest growing business area. In the company's most recent third quarter results the division's sales growth was 12.4%. Sales of natural & organic cosmetics are projected to surpass the €1 billion mark for the first time this year, according to market research provider Organic Monitor.
Source: www.cosmeticsdesign, 24 October, 2006

61% of India's top 100 companies run SAP

61% of India's top 100 companies featured in the August 2006 "ET 500" - a listing of India's top corporates published by The Economic Times, run SAP. SAP is achieving broad based growth in India and has become the first enterprise software solutions vendor to cross the 1000 customer mark in India. Today SAP has over 1130 customers in India from across large, medium and small enterprises spread across over 2500 installations.
Source: www.indiaprwire.com, 06 November 2006

SAP Arabia and Al Fahim Enterprises roll out SAP for Retail

SAP Arabia and Al Fahim Enterprises today announced the preliminary rollout of the ‘SAP for Retail’ solution portfolio. SAP will support Al Fahim Enterprises' aggressive regional growth and manage its profitability. The SAP deployment is one of the largest retail implementations in the region. The new application will initially be rolled out across the group's companies in the UAE. The retail industry has grown significantly in the region and is tipped to be one of the fastest growing sectors.
Source: www.aeminfo.com, 05 November 2006

Citigroup acquires top credit card provider in Central America - GFU

Citigroup is significantly expanding its consumer franchise and credit card business in Latin America through the acquisition of Grupo Financiero Uno (GFU). GFU is the top credit card provider in Central America and boasts a total of 1.1 million credit card accounts, US$1.2 billion in credit card receivables and US$1.3 billion in deposits in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.
Source: www.latinbusinesschronicle.com, 30 October 2006

Citigroup wins bid for China's Guangdong Development Bank

Citigroup has won the bid for Guangdong Development Bank, the official Shanghai Securities News reported, citing an unidentified source. The source said Citigroup and the Chinese lender will sign a final agreement soon. Citigroup and its unit Associates First Capital will take a combined stake of no more than 25% in the Bank, in compliance with China's regulations, the source said.
Source: www.forbes.com, 31 October 2006

Nestlé reportedly to open luxury coffee shop in Brazil

Nestlé SA has picked Sao Paulo, Brazil, for its first store in Latin America dedicated to selling its Nespresso brand coffee and gourmet coffee makers, business daily Valor Economica reported Monday. The first shop will be in Jardins, a wealthy Sao Paulo neighbourhood, Nestlé's Brazil foodservice director, Jurg Blaser, told the newspaper. Nestlé has similar boutiques in Geneva, Zurich, Vienna, Paris and Moscow. Sao Paulo was chosen because of its high concentration of wealth. Coffee consumption has been steadily on the rise in Brazil according to industry figures.
Source: www.marketwatch.com, 06 November 2006

Strong performance for Pepsi in international markets

A strong performance in international markets has helped PepsiCo report a 73% increase in third quarter earnings per share to US$0.88, compared to the same period last year.
Source: www.just-drinks.com, 13 October 2006

Sachin as Canon’s brand ambassador

Canon has appointed Sachin Tendulkar as its corporate brand ambassador to mark its tenth anniversary year in India. Signing a three-year contract with the cricketer, the digital imaging company expects to `Indianise’ its brand through the association.
Source: www.piranhadailynews.com, 7 November 2006

DaimlerChrysler to set up plant in India

DaimlerChrysler is in the advanced stages of arranging land for a manufacturing unit near Pune. “We want to have our own plant to enhance our long-term plans in India”," Suhas Kadlaskar, director corporate affairs and finance DaimlerChrysler, said at the launch of the new generation Mercedes E-class models Classic and Elegance in the Indian market.
Source: www.domain-b.com, 6 November 2006