Veniturile companiei s-au cifrat în primele trei luni la 1,6 miliarde dolari, în scădere cu 13% comparativ cu aceeaşi perioadă a anului anterior. "Ne-am confruntat în primul trimestru cu probleme pe segmentul de publicitate online , însă suntem încrezători că Yahoo! va fi bine poziţionată când afacerile din acest sector îşi vor reveni", a declarat, într-un comunicat, directorul executiv al companiei, Carol Bartz.
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Yahoo renunţă la 5% din angajaţi
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Numarul creditelor acordate a crescut, dupa reducerea dobanzilor
Astfel, cererea a crescut din martie si cu 20%, mai ales ca apartamentele si casele si-au injumatatit preturile, in anumite cazuri. Chiar daca inca sunt cu mult peste cele de anul trecut, dobanzile la credite au devenit ceva mai suportabile in ultima perioada. Astfel, pentru un credit ipotecar in euro variaza intre 9 si 15%. In schimb, pentru imprumuturile in lei, dobanzile sunt mai mari: intre 11 si 30%. Cel putin cinci banci au redus dobanzile in ultima perioada si, cel mai probabil, urmeaza si altele, mai ales ca in aproximativ doua saptamani, vor intra in conturile BNR si banii de la FMI.
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2.100 de euro, salariul mediu al sefilor din banci si asigurari
La polul opus, managerii din turism au raportat in octombrie un salariu mediu brut lunar de 500 de euro. Acesta este singurul studiu oficial de pe piata despre salariile managerilor care lucreaza cu date colectate de la 22.000 de unitati economico-sociale. In general, studiile salariale sunt realizate de firme de consultanta in HR, care cer mii de euro pentru varianta integrala a studiului. In topul castigurilor la nivel executiv se afla si managerii din IT&C – cu 1.750 de euro pe luna, urmati de cei din administratia publica – 1.410 euro si cei din sanatate – 1.313 euro.
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Crestere de -4,1% pentru PIB si de 5,9% pentru inflatie
Cifrele sunt foarte apropiate de indicatorii pe care este fundamentata rectificarea bugetara operata recent de Guvern, in urma acordului de finantare externa cu FMI si UE (crestere economica negativa de 4%, inflatie de 5,8% si un deficit de cont curent de 7,5% din Produsul Intern Brut (PIB).
Pentru 2010, FMI se asteapta la imbunatatirea principalilor indicatori comparativ cu 2009, astfel ca anticipeaza crestere economica zero, reducerea deficitului de cont curent la 6,5% din PIB si o inflatie de 3,9%.
Mai multe despre prognozele FMI pentru Romania, cititi aici
Aflati aici ce pareri au oamenii de afaceri despre strategia de viitor a Romaniei. -
BitDefender: 300.000 de licente vandute in T1
"In acest an, piata de antivirus din Romania se va ridica la aproximativ 8-9 milioane de euro", a declarat Razvan Valceanu, Country Manager din cadrul BitDefender Romania. "Piata este in crestere din cauza faptului ca amernintarile sunt in crestere, lucru care face ca antivirusul sa fie necesar chiar daca business-ul are trei calculatoare sau mai multe", a completat acesta.
In cadrul companiei ponderea de clienti corporate este de 60%, in timp ce cea a clientilor de retail este de 40%. "Fata de celelalte birouri BitDefender din lume, Romania este tara care a vandut mereu cel mai bine produsele corporate", a declarat Razvan Valceanu.
In momentul de fata pierderile din cauza phising-ului se ridica lunar, in Romania la cateva zeci de mii de euro, potrivit lui Valceanu.
in ce priveste numarul de angajati, in acest moment, in biroul din Romania se gasesc 15 angajati iar la nivel global sunt in jur de 500-600. In acest an, la nivel global numarul de angajati BitDefender va creste cu 15%-20%, conform spuselor lui Valceanu.
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30% dintre romanii vor consuma mai multa ciocolata premium in 2009
10% dintre cei chestionati isi vor reduce consumul pentru a cumpara ciocolata premium, deci va avea loc o migrare catre un brand mai scump. 60% dintre cumparatorii premium vor cumpara la fel ca in 2008, fara nici o legatura cu criza. Foarte interesant este faptul ca nici unul dintre cei chestionati n-au declarat ca vor migra catre un brand mai ieftin.
„Este evident ca sectorul mainstream isi va pierde din consumatori in favoarea sectorului premium. Lucrul acesta este explicabil, intrucat gusturile consumatorilor de ciocolata din Romania au inceput sa se rafineze. Piata de ciocolata a fost si este, momentan, dominata de produsele care au in componenta lor lapte si mult zahar. In principiu, acestea sunt produse preferate de copii. Piata matura de ciocolata a inceput sa migreze accelerat spre produse cu mai putin zahar si mai multa cacao”, explica aceasta tendinta domnul Narcis Costache, Country Manager Wawel Romania.
In ceea ce priveste statusul social al respondentilor, proprietarii de companii isi vor mentine, in procent de 50 %, stilul de consum in 2008. Pe de alta parte, alte 50 de procente isi vor creste consumul de ciocolata premium cu 10%.
20 % dintre cei cu functii de conducere isi vor creste consumul de ciocolata in 2009 cu 5%, 20% cu 10%, iar 60% dintre acestia vor consuma aceeasi cantitate ca in 2008.
Managerii de companii vor ramane, in procent de 80 %, la aceeasi cantitate de ciocolata consumata ca si anul trecut. 10% dintre acestia isi vor creste consumul cu 15% in 2009, iar 10% isi vor reduce consumul si se vor orienta catre o marca mai scumpa.Referindu-se la aceasta tendinta, oficialul Wawel Romania declara: „Dupa cum se poate observa din studiu, exista un segment cu venituri mari si medii spre mari, segment ce va ramane la acelasi consum de ciocolata sau va migra catre un brand mai scump. Este evident faptul ca nu mai conteaza atat cantitatea, cat calitatea produselor consumate. In cazul celor cu venituri mari, nu se pune problema reducerii consumului de ciocolata din cauza preturilor. In cazul celor cu venituri medii, chiar daca acest lucru poate fi posibil si consumul de ciocolata se reduce, preferinta ramane totusi pentru produsele de tip premium”.
Persoanele din mediul de cercetare si specialistii au declarat, in procent de 100 %, ca isi vor reduce consumul pentru a cumpara o marca mai scumpa. In mediul de consultanta (avocati, consultanti financiari etc.), opiniile sunt divizate: astfel, 50% dintre ei isi vor reduce consumul pentru a cumpara o marca mai scumpa si implicit superioara calitativ, restul de 50% urmand sa ramana la aceeasi cantitate consumata ca si in 2008.Din mediul tehnic, 100% dintre respondenti vor cumpara aceeasi cantitate ca si in 2008 si, de asemenea, 100% din cei care lucreaza in domeniul de comunicare si consultanta vor cumpara aceeasi cantitate ca si in 2008.
Respondentii din domeniul productiei au declarat, in procent de 50%, ca isi vor reduce consumul dar vor alege o marca mai scumpa, iar 50% vor ramane la acelasi consum ca si anul trecut.
Nu in ultimul rand, persoanele chestionate ce lucreaza in domeniul vanzarilor au spus, in totalitate, ca vor ramane la acelasi consum din 2008.Rezultatele in functie de gen releva o atitudine constanta a femeilor, independent de criza. Astfel, 80% dintre femei vor cumpara aceeasi cantitate de cicolata premium ca si in 2008. 20 % isi vor creste consumul cu 10%.
In schimb, cazul barbatilor este un pic diferit. 50% dintre ei vor consuma aceeasi cantitate ca si anul trecut, in timp ce 30% isi vor creste consumul cu 10%; nu in ultimul rand, 20% din ei vor cumpara o cantitate redusa de ciocolata, dar vor migra catre o marca mai scumpa.
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The rise and fall of a broker
Everyone knows Petru Prunea, 63, to be an authoritative leader and a man with a strong personality. His employees at Broker know it best, as they had ended up smoking in the bathrooms of the company’s headquarters on 119, Calea Motilor in Cluj- Napoca, like high-school kids, after he had banned smoking on the premises.
However, the company he founded and has run since 1994 was shaken by the biggest scandal on the capital market after 2000 at the beginning of the year, after the head of the Deva office of Broker was found to have defrauded customers by almost one million euros. An extensive probe of the National Securities Commission, the supervisory authority of the capital market, followed and found problems at other branches, too, leading to the harshest penalties on the Stock Exchange thus far: total fines worth 843,000 RON (200,000 euros) for the company and 22 of its employees and a five-year suspension for Prunea from the capital market. How did Petru Prunea, who developed one of the biggest businesses on the capital market, with about 10,000 customers and 15,000 shareholders, end up being held responsible for such serious wrongdoings? Those who have worked with him say that everything stemmed from his wish to control everything and from not having delegated part of the responsibilities as the firm was growing.
”If Mr. Prunea had the inspiration to work more closely with the members of the board of directors in making decisions, maybe things wouldn’t have got where they are now,” says Anton Ionescu, 68, Broker’s third shareholder, who controls 4.16% in the company. He took over as chairman of Broker in March, after a ‘coup-de-palace’ whereby he and other members of the Board of Directors, who in turn were significant shareholders of the firm, ousted Prunea from the helm.
”Prunea regarded himself as the undisputed owner of the firm; he wanted to control everything and maybe this is what caused what happened to him. There wasn’t any trouble at first, the trouble started as the company was growing. When you already have hundreds of employees, very much money and the power is in the hands of only one man, trouble begins,” Ionescu explains. He says he joined Broker as a shareholder in 2005, after having concluded his political career as a deputy, which included a short stint as Transports Minister of the Radu Vasile Cabinet in 1998.
”I had known Petru Prunea for many years, as we were co-workers when I was the dean of the constructions faculty (of the Technical University of Cluj – i.e.). I was happy with the idea of working together, because he was one of the first people to have taken the step from socialism to the capitalist economy and founded this brokerage firm,” Ionescu recalls his first meeting with Broker.
”People change, they no longer communicate, no longer work with others like they used to, and show sides of their personality that may have not been visible in the beginning,” says Ioan Cartis, 73, the principal shareholder of Broker, with 8.22%.
Petru Prunea says he has always taken shareholder opinions into account, when they showed common sense, but believes he is the only member of the board capable of running Broker, given his expertise with the capital market, after the fourteen years of almost constant growth of the firm he has run.
A day before CNVM’s verdict, Prunea said he was thinking of stepping down as chief executive of Broker, and even sell his shares, after having been ousted as chairman by the other board members, two of which had been brought into the company by him. Now, he is determined to stick with Broker, even though he says CNVM’s penalties against it and against him could prove fatal for the firm.
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Some thrive in crisis
Small prices to some degree marginalized Romanian cosmetic products, which consumers with increasingly high incomes were not very keen on buying. In 2009, price should be their trump card, according to Elena Cremenescu, founder of Elmiplant producer, now held by Greek group Sarantis. Cremenescu hopes this crisis will open up new opportunities on the market, referring mainly to the fact that, under the pressure of the devaluation of the Romanian currency, multinationals will increase prices in RON, and this will turn some of the customers towards cosmetics manufactured in Romania, which are cheaper.
Elmiplant has a crisis strategy ready, whose main points entail launching new products (for skincare and bodycare). This year’s launches will boost the group’s products from 80 to over 100, following a half a million-euro investment. Elmiplant’s founder expects a 25-30% turnover increase in 2009, in line with the trend that has already been apparent in January and February. ”It seems a lot, but we are relying for this on all the products we will relaunch and on the advertising budget set aside, of 15% of the turnover,” explains Elena Cremenescu.
Another Romanian player which is expecting growth, but of 10% (to 2.75 million euros), is Gerocossen, whose shareholders however admit that their profit margins now amount to 13%, as opposed to 20-25% last year. The largest Romanian cosmetics producer, Farmec, has a more conservative approach, expecting a 5% turnover rise, from 24.4 million euros last year, in the context of the economic crisis. Mariana Sinitaru, marketing specialist of the company, says the cosmetics industry is less exposed to the effects of the crisis, because consumers are not willing to give up daily care, even though a change in consumer behaviour will be noticeable, in that consumers will migrate to more affordable products.
According to information provided to BUSINESS Magazin by representatives of the producer, Farmec preserved its growth rate last year, reaching comfortable growth rates: 30.3% for cleansing products, 25.7% for face care products and 9% for body care products.
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Small-sized plans
Companies in the apparel and footwear industry believe they will compete on a market whose value will revert somewhere close to the level of 2006. High rents for shops and the consumer spending slowdown, as a result of the crisis, are the main problems those in the field are facing, especially the brands that do not have adequate financial backing. The market had been growing by at least 15% every year since 2006, reaching two billion euros last year. Now, however, such growth has become impossible to attain.
”Because of the current economic situation I do not think we will be able to talk about aggressive expansion any longer,” says Adrian Cazu, manager of the footwear and leather accessories store chain Benvenuti, who is contemplating a halt of the development plan and a 20% personnel cutback. ”There will be relocations of stores, changes in the tenant mix in shopping centres, new stores of international retailers that have not been present or have been poorly represented thus far will probably open, but the horizontal development boom in Romania is coming to an end,” Cazu believes. His company, which has 300 employees, manages 34 stores, 31 of which are Benvenuti-branded, two are Enzo Bertini and one is Oxus-branded.
The expansion map has been set aside, with just a few markings on it: the only stores that will open this year will be those for which a contract has already been signed with mall developers and as such cannot be cancelled. ”What I can say for certain is that we will open our eighth store in Buzau next month,” says Mihai Sindrilaru, chief executive of New Yorker Romania apparel chain. ”We are ready to launch two or three more by the end of the year, but we do not know what the developers are doing, if the projects announced will be completed. The projects were postponed for next year – maybe until the next instalment of the financing, and some were dropped.” Sindrilaru, whose expansion plan in 2007 when the retailer entered Romania was remarkably aggressive – 50 stores by 2012, believes that chains like New Yorker, which have arrived in the last two years, are willing to open but can no longer find adequate retail space.
Read more about fashion and real estate trends in the ”Piata Imobiliara: Iesirea din criza” (Real estate market: The exit from crisis) catalogue, published by BUSINESS Magazin, which comes out this month.
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Pygmalion in business
When George Bernard Shaw was writing ”Pygmalion”, he wouldn’t have dreamed that his character would serve as a model for the business world a century later. Shaw’s story is simple at fi rst sight – Eliza Doolittle is a London fl ower girl with no education, who becomes the object of Henry Higgins’s bet, of turning her into a high-class lady after a few intensive lessons in English speaking and several sessions of image change. Aside from movies and stories, the Pygmalion model is now also employed in the business world. Using a few of Higgins’ tricks, image consultants claim they can actually boost a company’s turnover. Whilst on Western markets image consulting for companies is no longer a novelty, it has only this year gained more prominence in Romania, after the job had been previously performed by the PR department or by the manager’s personal advisers.
Mihaela Berciu and Dana Sota are two of the names that have become involved in image consulting for business. The two have started out more or less the same – with a book. Mihaela Berciu released ”Tinuta pentru succes” (Dress For Success), and Dana Sota ”Frumusetea se invata” (Beauty is Something You Learn) and they have set out to use their showbiz experience to add more glamour to businesspeople. The difference is that Berciu provides image consulting services, while Sota has focused on the beauty area. ”Image consultants fall into three categories – showbiz, business and political. I think in the business world, image is all the more important since it has to be coherent and very rigorous. I felt this service was particularly needed in the business world,” says Mihaela Berciu. Now, she is a consultant at Qualians, where she organises image seminars upon request.
The seminar, called Executive Presence, takes one day (from 9 to 5), teaches participants basic rules regarding image, how style should be adapted to each career level, and the appropriate style for a business meeting. Dana Sota was also attracted by the unexplored potential of the business world and adapted her message to the fast forward pace of the business world. As a beauty consultant, Dana Sota debuted with a ”trial” workshop, which was attended by 10 women interested in image. ”I started out by explaining the importance of constant skin care, how much can damaged hair or undyed roots can say about the woman in question, how important it is to apply foundation, mascara and lip gloss before leaving for the offi ce. However, for the next few meetings, there will also be stylists, who will show what is suited to each participant, based on their physiognomy, workplace, and basically personalised advice.”