SMALL VODAFONE INVESTORS SNUB COMPANY OFFER TO BUY BACK SHARES - Just over one in four small Irish shareholders in Vodafone have availed of an offer by the company to sell their shares for free.
Vodafone, and its share registrar, Computershare, launched a special offer in February to sell shares commission free for anyone holding 50 or fewer shares. Investors with between 51 and 1,000 shares were offered a reduced commission on the transaction. However, in the 10 weeks since it was introduced just over 26% of small Irish shareholders have replied to the offer, says the Irish Times. Of the 103,296 Irish shareholders with fewer than 50 shares - and an average of just 27 shares each - more than 76,000 have not replied. Just 60,831 of the 231,046 Irish investors with between 51 and 1,000 shares - whose average holding is 236 shares - have responded in the 10 weeks to date. Many of these small shareholders originally invested in Telecom Éireann when it first floated, back in 1999. That investment has since seen them invest in both Vodafone and Verizon, and receive some cash back along the way, notably when the Anthony O’Reilly-led Valentia consortium took the company private after selling off its mobile arm. Mostly, the successive transactions have crystallised a loss for the Irish investors.
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SUPERVALU SET FOR GLOBAL EXPANSION AS MUSGRAVE EYES EXPORT MARKETS - The SuperValu brand could start making an appearance on shop shelves around the world, as Cork-based retail group Musgrave plots a targeted internationalisation of its products.
Musgrave chief executive Chris Martin told the Irish Independent that while its plans are at a very early stage, the group is looking at how it might emulate retailers such as UK-based Waitrose, which sells its products to other retailers around the globe. "We believe there is a real opportunity, particularly with our own-brand, that we can create export opportunities," said Mr Martin. "It's early days. We're investigating it." He cited Waitrose as an example of a retailer that exports branded goods around the world. Dunnes Stores, for example, has stocked Waitrose products in the past. Waitrose sells its products in about 60 countries. "The appetite for the sorts of product that we're developing and working with our suppliers on, is unique," said Mr Martin, pointing to hundreds of products that have been launched under its own-brand 'Signature Tastes' label. He said SuperValu's Food Academy initiative - a programme developed in conjunction with Bord Bia and local enterprises offices - has been successful in helping to drive sales at the retailer's stores. The programme supports hundreds of small businesses in developing their products and getting them on shelves.
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INVESTMENT SURGE GIVES US AN EARLY LEAD IN RISE OF THE ROBOTS - Surging investment in artificial intelligence is giving the US an early advantage in the race to dominate a new era of robotics, according to investors and experts in an industry that is set to become one of the most strategically important.
Recent advances in AI, particularly in a technique known as deep learning, have shifted robotics from its core industrial market into areas such as self-driving cars, fuelling debate over the benefits and threats posed by the rise of the robots. As the technology extends its reach beyond factory production lines, the US and China are poised to take the lead from Japan and Germany, which dominate traditional industrial robotics, says the Financial Times. Investment in the sector in the US more than doubled to $587m last year, according to CB Insights, a venture capital research firm. That is helping drive global growth of 17%a year, according to research group IDC, which projects the robot market will almost double from $71 billion to $135 billion by 2019. "The most interesting things are in Silicon Valley or the US," said Dmitry Grishin, a Russian internet entrepreneur and investor who has raised a $100m fund to invest in robot and other hardware start-ups. As low-cost robots move into more consumer and business uses, such as drones, China’s hardware manufacturing expertise will also make it a more significant player, he added.
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FLEXTRONICS STAFF OFFERED 5% PAY RISE OVER TWO YEARS - Siptu has failed to secure the 15% pay increase it was seeking for employees of loss-making logistics firm, Flextronics.
However, in a dispute that went before the Labour Court, it was recommended that workers at the firm receive a 5% pay increase over two years, says the Irish Examiner. The company has a total of 205 staff in its Irish operation and employs 92 workers in Limerick and 96 in Cork, with about 27% of staff members of the union. Most recently filed accounts for Irish Express Cargo Ltd - trading as Flextronics - showed the firm recorded a pre-tax loss of €4.8m in the 12 months to the end of March 2015. Revenues for the year amounted to €15.2m. In the case before the Labour Court, Siptu was seeking a 15% pay increase for employees, 5% from April 2015, 5% from April 2016, and 5% from April 2017. Siptu told the court the firm had granted only one pay increase in the last 10 years, a 2.5% increase in 2012. The company told the court it also offered an increase of 2.5% for the period between July 1, 2015, to June 30, 2016, and this has been applied to all non-union employees and those employees in the union who accepted it.
