ACN Newswire
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Esprit Announces Interim Results for the Six Months Ended 30 June 2021

indie
7 minutes

HONG KONG, Aug 25, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - ESPRIT HOLDINGS LIMITED ("Esprit", "the Company" or the "Group;" HKEx: 00330) has today announced its unaudited financial interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2021 (the "Period"). Group revenue for the Period was approximately HK$3,872 million, a marginal decrease of around 5.8% from the six months ended 30 June 2020 (the "Corresponding Period"), primarily resulted from lower revenue in Europe, (approximately 14.4%) due to stringent pandemic related operating restrictions, as well as the Company's temporary exit from Asia Pacific and the closure of several low-performance stores. The reductions were tempered by a stronger performance from the Company's digital operations, which recorded an increase of approximately 17.3%. During the Period, the Esprit website and third-party e-commerce partners continued to trade during lockdown and, as a result, a large portion of the Company's sales were generated online. This business model allowed the Company to mitigate some of the negative impact that the pandemic had on the retail segment.Mr. DALEY Mark David, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "There is no qu...

SeaPRwire
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20 fully-electric public buses with faster charging to be deployed on Singapore roads

aseanpr
4 minutes

SINGAPORE - From Wednesday (Aug 25), commuters travelling from Bedok and Bukit Panjang will be able to catch a ride on the first 20 fully-electric three-door single-deck buses to ply the roads here. These buses will be progressively deployed on routes served by Services 38 and 40 run by SBS Transit from Bedok Interchange, as well as those served by Services 176 and 976 operated by SMRT from Bukit Panjang Interchange, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA). They are the final batch of electric buses to be deployed here out of a fleet of 60 electric buses that were bought by LTA in 2018. This is part of the longer term goal for all of Singapore's 5,800 public buses to be run on cleaner energy by 2040. This includes electric and hybrid buses. The 60 fully-electric buses together are expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by close to 8,000 tonnes a year, the equivalent to that generated by 1,700 cars. The 20 new buses, supplied by ST Engineering Mobility Services, will be charged using faster overhead pantograph chargers installed at Bedok and Bukit Panjang bus interchanges. An apparatus on the top of the bus connects to overhead electrical lines to recharge the batteries. The ot...

SeaPRwire

Goldman Sachs mandates Covid-19 vaccines for its workers and visitors

elean
6 minutes

NEW YORK (NYTIMES) - Goldman Sachs told employees on Tuesday (Aug 24) that it would require anyone who entered the bank's US offices, including clients, to be fully vaccinated starting Sept 7, making it the most prominent Wall Street bank to issue such a broad requirement. The announcement, in a memo obtained by The New York Times, comes a day after the Food and Drug Administration gave full approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, a move that many large corporations had been seeking before making mandates. US President Joe Biden seized on the FDA's approval, urging private businesses to protect their workers through vaccinations. "If you're a business leader, a nonprofit leader, a state or local leader, who has been waiting for full FDA approval to require vaccinations, I call on you now to do that," Mr Biden said on Monday. "Require it." Companies have been consulting with advisers for months about whether to mandate vaccines, but have been wary of employee pushback and potential litigation. The quick spread of the highly contagious Delta variant and prominent first moves by large corporations like Walmart and The Walt Disney Co helped to expedite those talks. Now, the FDA appro...

SeaPRwire

Denso readies war chest to become world’s top car part supplier

elean
4 minutes

TOKYO (BLOOMBERG) - Japan's Denso Corp is gunning for the title of top-selling automotive parts supplier by stoking its electrification push with a bond sale and setting aside hundreds of billions of yen for deals. Denso, the world's No. 2 automotive parts supplier in terms of sales, plans to roughly double revenue from electrified parts to 1 trillion yen (S$12.35 billion) by fiscal 2025. It aims to double that figure again by fiscal 2030, chief financial officer Yasushi Matsui said in an interview. Mr Matsui sees EV parts as a key value generator, capable of pushing Denso above the current top-selling automotive parts maker, Germany's Robert Bosch GmbH. "The arena they'll chase behind us in is electrification," Mr Matsui said. "After all, we've been in that field for a long time." Indeed, Denso entered the EV parts arena earlier than many others, making various components for the world's first mass-produced hybrid passenger car - Toyota Motor's Prius - since the 1990s. Today, it claims roughly one-third of the market for inverters, a critical part that converts currents from batteries in battery-electric and hybrid cars. Denso gets about half of its revenue from Toyota, with the r...

SeaPRwire

22-year-old woman jailed 3 weeks for breaching Covid-19 order to stay home

aseanpr
2 minutes

SINGAPORE - A 22-year-old woman was not allowed to leave home after she was issued a medical certificate (MC) for acute respiratory infection. But Norliana Hazuliani breached the order, claiming that she could not get along with her mother at home. The Singaporean, who was sentenced to three weeks' jail on Monday (Aug 23), did so even though she was electronically tagged and monitored after committing other offences earlier, including theft. She pleaded guilty to one charge of failing to comply with a Covid-19 Stay Order. One more similar charge and another of exposing others to the risk of infection were taken into consideration during sentencing. The court heard that Norliana went to Clementi Polyclinic on Oct 10 last year as she had a cough and a runny nose. She was given an MC for four days and told not to leave home during that period, unless she received a negative Covid-19 swab test result. But she left home on the very day the MC was issued. She was out for nearly 12 hours between Oct 10 and Oct 11 last year. She took public transport and private-hire cars to visit six areas near public housing flats in Jurong, Clementi, Sengkang and Bedok. Norliana received a negative Covi...

SeaPRwire

US offers to host Apec meeting in 2023: Kamala Harris

aseanpr
5 minutes

SINGAPORE - The United States has offered to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) in 2023, recognising the large and dynamic market of South-east Asia and its importance to America. America's economic outlook is a critical part of advancing an optimistic vision of its partnership with the region, said US Vice-President Kamala Harris on Tuesday (Aug 24). In a policy speech hosted by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and the US Embassy in Singapore at Gardens by the Bay, Ms Harris said the US economy is growing faster than it has in nearly 40 years, and wages and employment rates in the country are rising. "We believe that our growth should not stop at the water's edge, but it can and will also benefit our partners. Our economy shares so much with South-east Asia, from supply chains to a steady flow of two-way trade," she said, noting that collectively, South-east Asian nations represent the US' fourth-largest export market, and trade with the region supports more than 600,000 American jobs. She said the world is now more interconnected and interdependent, and nations must be more willing to take on challenges and create opportunities together. The US' partnership...

ACN Newswire
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Comtel Rebrands to Quess Singapore with Focus on Local Job Creation in the City

indie
4 minutes

Singapore, Aug 24, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Quess Corp, one of the world's leading Business Service Providers, today announced that Comtel Solutions, the leading tech talent solutions Company in Singapore, and an affiliate of Quess Corp, has now become Quess Singapore and will operate as fully owned Singaore entity. An affiliate of Quess Corp Limited, Comtel has been in business for over a decade and has expanded across the Asia Pacific and several industry verticals and sectors such as Banking, Hi-Tech Manufacturing, Telecommunication, Logistics, and Healthcare Industries. The company which partners with global market leaders, including Fortune 100 companies for services, solutions and focussed executive searches for technology staff, has been a part of Quess Group for five years and will continue to maintain its industry leading status in Staff augmentation in Singapore.Since the beginning of the pandemic, Quess Corp has been tirelessly working with a mission to help hire skilled and productive workers who are equipped to meet the dynamic market requirements of their clients across sectors. Quess has made significant investments in technology across the hire to r...

ACN Newswire
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Seedo Corp. Appoints Avi Stern from Wix.Com to Board of Directors

indie
4 minutes

Tel Aviv, Israel, Aug 24, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Seedo Corp. (saffron-tech.ag) (OTC: SEDO), an Agtech company that is developing the protocols to grow saffron using vertical farming technology, today announced the appointment of Avi Stern to its board of directors as an Independent Director. Stern currently serves as the Vice President of Finance at Wix.com, a leading cloud-based website development platform with millions of users worldwide. Avi Stern"We are pleased to welcome Avi Stern to our board as an Independent Director," says Dr.Gil Feiler, Chairman Seedo Corp. "Avi is coming from one of largest market cap Israeli companies and is a recognized leader whose extensive knowledge in regulatory oversight, business development and finance management will be instrumental as we execute on our vision of delivering a reliable, large-scale and premium supply of saffron to the market and preparing for a proposed up-listing to the NASDAQ capital market.""Seedo Corp. is quickly advancing its presence in the Agtech industry, and I am delighted to join the board of directors as Independent Director during a time of great success and continued momentum," says Avi Stern. "I...

ACN Newswire
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NextPlay Technologies Enters into Agreement to Acquire AI-Powered Video Game Development Technology from Fighter Base Publishing, Inc.

indie
7 minutes

SUNRISE, FL, Aug 23, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - via NewMediaWire - NextPlay Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: NXTP), a digital business ecosystem for digital advertisers, consumers, video gamers and travelers, today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire from Fighter Base Publishing, Inc. (FBP), the assets and AI-powered video game development platform of FBP's wholly-owned division, Make It Games(TM).Make It Games (MIG) enables developers to create video games powered by artificial intelligence (AI). Its technology supports the training of virtual characters to be more lifelike in appearance and behavior. Proprietary AI animation tools help program game or film characters to fully animate themselves, saving as much as 70 percent of the typical time and cost of animation.Fighter Base Publishing was founded by Mark Vange, NextPlay's recently appointed chief technology officer. Formerly a chief technology officer at Electronic Arts, Vange has authored over 41 granted patents in the US for innovative technologies that have defined the industry. This acquisition by NextPlay will include pending patents that cover Make it Games' proprietary AI game development te...

SeaPRwire

Is YouTube a success?

elean
4 minutes

(NYTIMES) - This question will sound ridiculous, but it isn't: Is YouTube a success? Please hold your boos. It's hard to imagine the Internet without YouTube. Buying the video site in its relative infancy was one of the smartest things Google ever did. But after nearly 15 years of being part of Google, the most successful money machine in Internet history, it's still not clear YouTube has fulfilled its financial potential both for itself and everyone involved in its vast digital economy. Two data points: The money that YouTube keeps from selling advertisements - its main source of income - was about US$11.2 billion (S$15.3 billion) in the past year, not much more than the ad revenue of ViacomCBS, a mid-tier American TV company that owns the CBS television network. Twitter, which is not so hot at money, pulls in roughly double the ad sales on average from each of its users compared with YouTube. No one should feel bad about YouTube. Yes, it's fine. But it says something about the vitality of the Internet that YouTube is probably the most vibrant economy online and it's still hard to call it an unqualified financial winner. And if YouTube isn't winning, its masses of video creators a...

SeaPRwire

S’pore doctor who worked in Afghanistan for 18 years worries for friends there

aseanpr
4 minutes

SINGAPORE - In March last year, Dr Wee Teck Young left Afghanistan for Singapore after almost 18 years in the country. But he has continued to stay in touch with friends there, and of the 40 people he has been messaging regularly since the Taleban retook Kabul last Sunday, only a few have dared to leave their homes. "So many people there are petrified. They are afraid that someone will kill them, or kill their family," said Dr Wee on Wednesday. The 52-year-old doctor moved to the Bamiyan province in Afghanistan in 2004 to provide healthcare and other volunteer work for an international public health non-governmental organisation. He moved to Kabul about seven years later. Dr Wee became such a part of the local community that they named him Hakim, which means local doctor. Dr Wee, who is single, came back here when the pandemic began, to be closer to his parents and because the outbreak of the disease in Kabul made it unsafe to remain. But not a day goes by that he does not think of the friends he left behind. He tries to provide them emotional support through voice and video calls on secure channels. "At least with the Internet, we get to stay connected," he said. One of his friend...

SeaPRwire

Students’ artwork on display at exhibition to mark National Day

aseanpr
3 minutes

SINGAPORE - The creative works of more than 400 schoolchildren have been put up at the National Museum of Singapore to commemorate National Day through stories of the Covid-19 pandemic and the country's history. This is a selection from some 120,000 entries submitted by the public and 170 schools, with pledges and wishes for the nation, to go into a digital time capsule that is on display. Gallery organiser Our Heart For Singapore (OHFSG) had asked contributors to write and draw about their experiences during the pandemic, or after speaking to seniors in the community about the challenges they have faced over the years. Members of the public can visit the exhibition - which comprises a photo wall and a display of selected entries - for free. Using their mobile devices, visitors can register to take part in a roughly 45-minute challenge that encourages them to browse through the exhibition to finish tasks. Many students submitted drawings of their favourite local delicacies, locations, or their impressions of Singapore in the past based on the experiences of seniors they spoke to. Inez Chai, a Secondary 2 student from CHIJ St Nicholas Girls' School, said her grandmother told her abo...

SeaPRwire

Singapore High Commissioner to the UK rebuts Economist article on race relations in Singapore

aseanpr
3 minutes

SINGAPORE - An Economist article on race relations and racial harmony in Singapore has drawn a rebuttal from Mr Lim Thuan Kuan, Singapore's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. In a letter published on the magazine's website, Mr Lim stated that readers of the article titled Imperfect Harmony would not have guessed that Singapore was born as an independent country precisely because its leaders refused to countenance a political arrangement based on the dominance of one race. He added that, having separated from Malay-majority Malaysia in 1965, the easiest path for founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and his colleagues would have been to base their political legitimacy on the Chinese majority in Singapore. "Rather, against the odds and with great courage, they insisted on building a multiracial polity." Mr Lim was responding to the article published on July 31, which said that Chinese chauvinism has deep roots in Singapore, and characterised tensions between the races here as having "simmered for decades". The Economist wrote that minorities here are marginalised, that successive Prime Ministers having been Chinese, and that Chinese privilege continues to be sustained. "The gove...

JCN Newswire
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Fujitsu Global Survey Demonstrates Priorities in the Post-pandemic World

ruth
5 minutes

TOKYO, Aug 20, 2021 - (JCN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Fujitsu today released its Fujitsu Future Insights Global Digital Transformation Survey Report 2021, highlighting the results of a survey drawing on the insights and experiences of 1,200 CxOs and decision-makers in 9 countries (1). The fifth iteration of this survey examines how organizations responded to the changes that the pandemic caused and business leaders' perceptions around priorities in the post-pandemic world. The survey results revealed the factors that contributed to an effective pandemic response, identifying essential organizational capabilities and important insights in designing successful businesses after the pandemic.BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed the ways in which we live and work. While many people and organizations were forced to change their previous ways, various responses to the pandemic have yielded many different results. Moreover, as the digitalization of business progresses, organizations must increasingly accelerate their own digital transformation initiatives. Against this backdrop, Fujitsu conducted a survey to deliver new insights into how business leaders responded t...

SeaPRwire

Landscape workers to see annual wages rise by 6.3% on average under Progressive Wage Model

aseanpr
6 minutes

SINGAPORE - Landscape maintenance workers will see their minimum basic wages rise by 6.3 per cent a year on average, over six years, after proposals by a tripartite committee on the landscape industry wage ladder were accepted by the Government on Friday (Aug 20). The wage increases will take effect over six years from July 1, 2023, and benefit more than 3,000 Singaporean and permanent resident landscape workers across 358 companies. They are also more than double the 3 per cent annual wage increases previously recommended in 2018 under the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) for the industry, that were subject to review. This means a landscape worker, who currently earns a base wage of $1,550, would see this increase to $1,650 next July, after a $100 pay hike announced in 2018 . With the latest increases, the same worker's base wage will rise to $1,750 in 2023 and reach $2,385 in 2028. The PWM is a ladder that sets out minimum pay and training requirements for workers at different skill levels. It is part of efforts to ensure that wages of Singapore workers increase along with the skills, productivity and job responsibilities of employees in the sector. The new set of wage increases were...

SeaPRwire

Chip crisis worsened by Delta variant threatens to cut auto output by 7.1 million cars

elean
4 minutes

SOUTHFIELD, MICHIGAN (BLOOMBERG, REUTERS) - The global shortage of semiconductors will cut worldwide auto production by as many as 7.1 million vehicles this year, and pandemic-related supply disruptions will hobble the industry well into next year, IHS Markit said. The lack of chips will not stabilise until the second quarter of next year, with recovery coming in the second half, IHS said in a report on Thursday (Aug 19). The grim outlook is further proof that the chip crisis is far from over. And the research firm's forecast does not include the latest cuts from Toyota Motor, which plans to briefly pause output at 14 plants next month and slash production for September by 40 per cent. "The situation is still fraught with challenges," IHS analysts Mark Fulthorpe and Phil Amsrud wrote in their report. "We are also seeing additional volatility due to Covid-19 lockdown measures in Malaysia where many back-end chip packaging and testing operations are performed." Low vaccination rates and rising infection rates in South-east Asia are prompting shutdowns of plants assembling all types of semiconductors, IHS said. It now sees the chip crisis reducing global auto production by 6.3 million...

SeaPRwire

MOM reviewing advisory on Covid-19 vaccination for workers; aim is for more to be vaccinated

aseanpr
2 minutes

SINGAPORE - Covid-19 vaccination guidelines for workers are being reviewed, with the aim to get more people protected against the coronavirus. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) told The Straits Times that it is reviewing an advisory issued last month, which states that employers may make vaccination a requirement for staff in higher-risk settings. MOM said on Thursday (Aug 19) that it is finalising the updated advisory which will be issued soon. "In light of the (Covid-19) multi-ministry task force announcements on the vaccinate or regular test regime in selected sectors, the tripartite partners are reviewing the advisory, with a view to further drive up vaccination rates so that our workplaces remain safe," said a spokesman. MOM was responding to queries following budget carrier Jetstar Asia's announcement that it will require all staff to be vaccinated by Oct 1. Under the earlier advisory released on July 2, MOM, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) had said that employers should not make Covid-19 vaccination mandatory for staff. They may, however, make vaccination a requirement at the point of recruitment or advertisement ...

SeaPRwire

Proceedings begin against TOC chief editor Terry Xu for contempt of court over blog post

aseanpr
3 minutes

SINGAPORE - Proceedings have started against Terry Xu, the chief editor of sociopolitical website The Online Citizen (TOC), for contempt of court. They come after TOC published a post which questioned the justice system here. The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) told The Straits Times on Thursday (Aug 19) that its application for the proceedings was made on Aug 11, in response to a blog post TOC published on Jan 27. In the TOC post, titled Open Letter To Singapore's Chief Justice Concerning Omissions In "Opening Of Legal Year 2021" Speech, a writer named Julie O'Connor had questioned how equitable the justice system in Singapore is. Ms O'Connor addressed her post to Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon and made references to his speech at a ceremony to mark the opening of the 2021 legal year. She referred to several cases from last year, such as the case of Ms Parti Liyani, the former domestic worker who was acquitted of theft. She also mentioned Mr Li Shengwu, who has been fined for contempt of court, as well as Ms Lee Suet Fern, who has been found guilty of misconduct in her handling of Mr Lee Kuan Yew's will. "It is the AGC's position that the article impugned the integrity of the Sin...

ACN Newswire
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Why Ohires is Growing in a Highly Competitive HR Market

indie
2 minutes

KIEV, UA & DUBAI, Aug 19, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Ohires is an international recruitment company that has long stood out for its systematic and forward-thinking approach to development. A wide range of the human resource needs of startups is met through the preparation of employees for both remote work and relocation. In addition, Ohires offers the opportunity to save up to 50% of wage bills, a significant amount for customers who intend to cross the break-even point as soon as possible.Ohires helps companies grow by recruiting and organizing their employees to work effectively. What is especially impressive is that Ohires has tailor-made solutions for clients in any industry. If the client is in the finance industry, Ohires is ready to offer a variety of IT options to supplement its business. Thanks to Ohires' ability to select from a wide range of IT specialists, the client gets exactly the right solution to improve its performance. After all, it's not a secret that the efforts of a single web developer for a banking application could save thousands of working hours of office employees.Using Ohires services can bring benefits to businesses in any sector. Med...

SeaPRwire

SoftBank-backed Karrot becomes $3.7 billion Korea unicorn

elean
5 minutes

SEOUL (BLOOMBERG) - The start-up behind local-marketplace app Karrot has raised US$162 million (S$220 million) from investors, including DST Global, joining a growing list of unicorns in South Korea that are eyeing global expansion as growth at home plateaus in the wake of a pandemic-driven boom. Danggeun Market's Karrot scored funds at a US$2.7 billion valuation from new investors, including Yuri Milner's outfit and Aspex Management. Existing investors like Altos Ventures and Goodwater Capital also participated, according to co-founder Gary Kim. The firm is backed by a venture arm of Masayoshi Son's SoftBank Group and the new round makes it one of the largest start-ups in Korea. Asia's fourth-largest economy has been minting unicorns and self-made billionaires at a faster rate than ever this year, breaking away from the family-controlled conglomerates, or chaebols, that have traditionally led its economy. Like other Korean start-ups such as Coupang and Krafton, Karrot is preparing to expand internationally in search of a bigger market. "Not many of us imagined that BTS could become a world superstar," Mr Kim said, invoking the South Korean pop sensation during an interview at a ne...