Louis Vuitton owner faces maximum fine in luxury row

By Astrid Wendlandt and Pascale Denis

PARIS (Reuters) - A battle between French luxury handbag makers spilled out into the public eye on Friday with market regulators seeking the maximum fine for Louis Vuitton owner LVMH for failing to disclose moves to build a stake in rival Hermes .

The row centres around deals, first disclosed in late 2010, by LVMH owner and France's wealthiest man Bernard Arnault that have left the firm with a roughly one fifth stake in its biggest rival, the producer of the iconic Kelly and Birkin handbags.

Arnault, who has built LVMH by steadily acquiring other brands over the last decade, says he is happy to remain a long-term shareholder while some industry observers say he may be playing a long game in the hope of someday convincing Hermes' family owners to sell out.

Hermes owners have fought tooth and nail against Arnault, however, since discovering LVMH had built up an initial 14 percent stake.

Regulator AMF said on Friday that LVMH's dealings regarding its stake building in Hermes were opaque and represented grave misconduct which could even be regarded as "fraudulent behaviour".

LVMH, which now owns 22.6 percent of Hermes, surprised the stock market in October 2010 when it announced it had a 14 percent stake, gained partly via derivatives that allowed it to not declare its holding.

The AMF said LVMH should have disclosed in its accounts the size of its exposure to Hermes shares through equity derivatives acquired in 2008 as well as the fact it had a Hermes stake of just under 5 percent acquired in 2001 and 2002.

In France, companies are required to disclose when they take a stake worth more than 5, 10 and 15 percent of a another company's capital if the target is listed on the stock market.

Hermes is also challenging LVMH's stake building in a separate court procedure. The AMF finding will not have any impact on the court case, but still represents a boost to Hermes' case.

The amount of the fine, 10 million euros, is small change for a group whose market value is around 70 billion euros but the regulator's decision is a public relations setback for Arnault, who owns some 60 luxury brands.

HERMES ATTRACTION

Arnault owns Louis Vuitton, the world's biggest luxury brand in terms of revenues, together with a string of fine wine and spirits makers including Hennessy cognac and Moet & Chandon champagne.

He has built the group into a global powerhouse in the space of 15 years by acquiring brands including Guerlain and Chateau d'Yquem. Hermes' own spectacular growth into a brand worth over 3 billion euros in annual sales has wetted his appetite.

The hearing revealed that the world's biggest luxury group had as early as 2007 and 2008 mandated Lazard and Rothschild bankers to look into the possibility of acquiring control of Hermes and strike an alliance with some family shareholders.

Since making public its Hermes holding, LVMH has consistently denied seeking control of Hermes and denied any wrongdoing in terms of financial disclosure and transparency.

Hermes is controlled by three families, the Puech, the Dumas and Guerrand who together represent more than 75 descendents of Emile Hermes who founded the company in 1837 as a harness and saddle maker.

They responded to LVMH's stake build-up by creating a holding that controls 51 percent of the company though the AMF's inquiry also disclosed that the biggest Hermes family shareholder Nicolas Puech had sold some of his shares to LMVH.

That puts into question Hermes' public assertion that the family was united in the battle against LVMH.

Earlier on Friday, the AMF said it would look into LVMH's call for the judicial process to be made invalid but it would not halt the process. The AMF's sanctions committee is due to respond within a matter of weeks to the regulator's findings and proposed fine.

(Reporting by Astrid Wendlandt and Pascale Denis; Editing by Christian Plumb and Patrick Graham)

Rupee gains in lacklustre trade; share rally helps

By Swati Bhat 

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee gained in a lacklustre trading session on Monday, aided by hefty gains in domestic shares and the dollar's broad losses against major currencies.

Trading was muted as U.K. and U.S. markets were closed for a public holiday.

January-March quarter economic growth data due on Friday will be the key trigger for the week, with investors eyeing whether the economy gained any traction after the government's reform measures and the rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Concern over the wide current account deficit has been a key factor pressuring the rupee this year, even as foreign investors have pumped in nearly $20 billion into debt and equities so far in 2013.

"Market was dull due to the holidays. There were no specific flows in the market as such. I expect the USD/INR to hold in a 55.40 to 56.00 range during the week," said Vikas Babu Chittiprolu, a senior foreign exchange dealer with Andhra Bank.

"The GDP data will be the next key trigger to watch out for," he added.

The partially convertible rupee closed at 55.5675/5775 per dollar compared to 55.63/64 on Friday. The unit moved in a range of 55.52 to 55.78 during the session with dollar demand from oil firms, weighing on the unit in early trade.

Shares rose more than 1.5 percent to mark their second consecutive session of gains as Reliance Industries Ltd surged after a significant gas discovery, while Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd rose ahead of its quarterly earnings.

Meanwhile, the yen rose on Monday, hovering near its highest in more than two weeks against the dollar, as another drop in Japanese shares continued to encourage investors to unwind dollar hedge positions.

The index of the dollar against six major currencies was down 0.2 percent.

In the offshore non-deliverable forwards, the one-month contract was at 55.93 while the three-month was at 56.48.

In the currency futures market, the most-traded near-month dollar/rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange, the MCX-SX and the United Stock Exchange all closed at 55.61 with a total traded volume of $5.15 billion.

(Editing by Sunil Nair)

LEGO apologizes for ‘street harassment’ sticker

By Ben Silverman | Plugged In

Most of us think of LEGO as one of the family-friendliest companies on the planet, but one eagle-eyed dad spied a not-so-friendly product in the company’s catalog.

As reported on The Consumerist, the saga began when journalist Josh Stearns noticed a curious set of LEGO construction worker stickers while shopping for his son. The problem? That would be the creepy, catcalling construction worker labeled “Hey Babe!”

Stearns was rightfully outraged, as street harassment is a serious problem and certainly not the kind of issue you’d expect to be addressed in your kid’s LEGO toy box. Other sites picked up on the offending sticker as well (Amazon’s LEGO sticker product page has some terrific tongue-in-cheek reviews), eventually warranting an unsatisfying corporate response from the Denmark company itself.

“To communicate the LEGO experience to children we typically use humor and we are sorry that you were unhappy with the way a minifigure was portrayed here,” it read.

LEGO also pointed out that the stickers were produced via a partnership with another company and were discontinued in 2010, adding that the orignal manufacturer went out of business in 2012. In other words, they couldn’t pull the offending stickers off the market.

But after another series of emails from Stearns, LEGO’s Outgoing Licensing head Andrea Ryder finally took responsibility for the sticker.

“I am truly sorry that you had a negative experience with one of our products…the product is no longer available and we would not approve such a product again.”

It’s just the latest LEGO controversy involving gender stereotypes. Last year the company made waves with its girl-targeted ‘LEGO Friends’ line, which some accused of reinforcing sexual stereotypes with its pink blocks and girly themes. It was a big sales hit, however, and wound up so divisive that it managed to simultaneously earn nominations as both the Worst Toy of the Year and the Best Toy of the Year. Remember when they were just fun little bricks?

Dubai second airport to open for passengers in October

Provided by Geo News

DUBAI: Dubai World Central, the emirate's second airport, is to open for passenger flights from October 26 with two carriers operating, following repeated delays, Dubai Airports said Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia's nasair will operate over 50 flights a week between Dubai and destinations in the kingdom, while Hungary-headquartered budget Wizz Air is to fly non-stop routes from Central and Eastern Europe, the airport operator said.

Dubai World Central, launched at the height of Dubai's rapid economic growth, is touted to become the world's largest airport when completed, with an annual capacity of 160 million passenger.

But it began operations for cargo only in 2010, with the date for passenger operations pushed back.

Dubai International, the emirate's main airport, is already the busiest in the region and was the world's second busiest hub for international passengers in February, handling 4.8 million.

The airport, a popular stop on routes between Europe and Asia and Australasia, handled 57.68 million passengers in 2012, up 13.2 percent from the previous year.

Dubai's DP World posts 21% profit surge in 2012

By AFP | AFP

Dubai ports operator DP World said Wednesday it posted 21 percent surge in net profits in 2012 as the world's third-largest operator unloaded low-return assets and focused on profitable markets.

Net profit attributable to shareholders increased to $555 million in 2012 from $459 million registered in 2011, the company said in a statement.

Income was up five percent to $3.12 billion driven by strong growth in the Middle East, Europe and Africa, while the consolidated throughput of handled containers dropped one percent to 27.1 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit).

"This year, we have continued to actively manage our portfolio to maximum advantage, divesting non-core or low return assets," said DP World Chairman Sultan bin Sulaymen.

"This has enabled us to move capital into those markets where we see more profitable returns whilst strengthening our capital base."

DP World said this month it was selling its stakes in two Hong Kong container terminals and a logistics centre for $742 million.

The company, which operates more than 60 terminals across six continents, said its gross debt has dropped to $2.9 billion as a result of improved cash generation.

In August, DP World said it managed to reduce its debt to $4.7 billion mainly due to the repayment of a $3 billion syndicated loan facility in April.

Top Ten World’s Youngest Billionaires 2013 | Youngest Billionaires of 2013

World’s Youngest Billionaires 2013: Gone are the days when only the fat and aged people used to be the wealthiest – when only years-long experiences helped people make fortunes. Now a days, healthy people are among the wealthiest as well. In this era, when everything is fast and instant, money making is gaining speed as well – with the right set of ideas, of course.

Now, there are more young wealthy people than ever before. Exploiting expertise and ideas on technology and social media, billions have been a matter of only a few years for some of the youngest billionaires of the world.  Every year, the world has another [or more] younger billionaires in the list of billionaires.

Top Ten Best Colleges / Universities of United States of America

In the year 2013, the world has a total of 1,426 billionaires that include billionaires from all the businesses, age and geographical locations. Out of these 1,426 billionaires, 29 are the ones under 40 years old. Surprisingly, ten out of these 29 youngest billionaires are from technology sector. Even more surprisingly, four of these ten billionaires are from Facebook alone. Moreover, 11 youngest billionaires are from United States of America.

Today, in this article we give you top ten youngest billionaires of 2013 who are healthy and wealthy.

World’s Youngest Billionaires 2013

So, here we go with the list of top ten world’s youngest billionaires 2013.

1. Dustin Moskovitz

Age: 28

Net Worth: $3.8 billion

Country: United States of America

2. Mark Zuckerberg 

Age: 28

Net Worth: $13.3 billion

Country: United States of America

3. Albert von Thurn und Taxis

Age: 29

Net Worth: $1.5 billion

Country: Germany

4.  Scott Duncan

Age: 30

Net Worth: $5.1 billion

Country: United States of America

5.  Eduardo Saverin

Age: 30

Net Worth: $2.2 billion

Country: Brazil

6. Huiyan Yang

Age: 31

Net Worth: $5.7 billion

Country: China

7. Fahd Hariri

Age: 32

Net Worth: $1.35 billion

Country:  Lebanon

8. Marie Besnier Beauvalot

Age: 32

Net Worth: $1.5 billion

Country: France

9. Sean Parker

Age: 33

Net Worth: $2 billion

Country: United States of America

10. Ayman Hariri

Age: 34

Net Worth: $1.35 billion

Country: Lebanon

Courtesy: This article was first published on Forbes

BlackBerry shares dive on reports of muted U.S. debut for Z10

By Euan Rocha | Reuters 

TORONTO (Reuters) - Shares of BlackBerry fell nearly 8 percent on Friday after reports of a flat response to the launch of its new Z10 smartphone in the vitally important U.S. market.

The well-reviewed device, whose success is essential if BlackBerry is to reestablish itself as a power in the smartphone industry, finally hit U.S. store shelves early on Friday, nearly two months after being formally unveiled.

Several analysts and media reports found the debut lackluster.

"This morning we visited and called stores to survey early demand for the Blackberry Z10," said Hudson Square Research analyst Daniel Ernst. "We found no lines, no signage announcing the launch, and clerks told us they had very few pre-orders."

The uninspiring turnout hurt BlackBerry shares, which ended the day down 7.7 percent at $14.91 on the Nasdaq. The Canadian company's Toronto-listed shares fell 8 percent to close at C$15.19.

Many analysts argue that the Z10's performance in the hyper-competitive U.S. market could well decide whether BlackBerry can turnaround its faded fortunes.

BlackBerry, which is already selling the new touch-screen smartphone in about 25 countries, aims to make the Z10's new operating system the clear No. 3 platform in the market, a realistic but still difficult challenge, analysts say.

"I think the U.S. will be a challenge for BlackBerry more so than some of the countries where they have already launched," said Morningstar analyst Brian Colello.

"The momentum for iPhone and Android is too strong here. I still think they can win over some enterprise users, but the U.S. is a country where BlackBerry's brand has been greatly diminished."

BlackBerry once ruled the U.S. smartphone market, but it has fallen badly in recent years as devices powered by Apple's iOS and Google's Android operating systems dominate sales both in North America and overseas.

BlackBerry's new BB10 operating system will now slug it out with Microsoft's Windows 8 platform to secure the No. 3 spot in the market.

By most accounts BlackBerry has a tough fight ahead. It not only has to win back the hearts and minds of consumers, but the timing is hardly ideal, with the Samsung Galaxy S4, expected to go on sale by the end of April, generating a lot of buzz.

"We believe BlackBerry's launch in the strategically important U.S. market will run into intense competition," said Raymond James analyst Steven Li in a note to clients on Friday.

Despite the buzz around other devices, some still expect the Z10 to do well in the United States.

Best Buy's head of mobile sales, Scott Anderson, said the retailer has been able to gauge demand for the Z10 based on sales at Best Buy stores in Canada.

"We have fairly consistently increased the allocation of it to our stores as it has got more and more buzz. Even though we aren't releasing any numbers, we do put this in the realm of a serious iconic launch," he said, adding that BlackBerry has a window of opportunity over the next month before the new HTC and Samsung smartphones hit store shelves in the United States.

U.S. DELAY

The company was forced to delay the Z10's launch in the U.S. market because testing by telecommunications carriers there took longer than expected.

"We've been working very intensely for the last two months with the carriers and partners to ensure the retail experience will be great for customers," BlackBerry Chief Marketing Officer Frank Boulben said in an interview with Reuters.

The launch, though, appeared to be low-key at AT&T stores in New York, where there was no sign of posters or other marketing to highlight the launch day. An AT&T sales associate at one of its stores said the store had sold several of the devices early in the day.

The device went on sale at AT&T Inc stores across the country early on Friday, while Verizon Inc is set to begin selling the device in its stores on March 28.

Carriers in the United States allowed customers to pre-order or pre-register for the devices earlier this month.

"Relative to the population, we are on the same trajectory as we were in Canada with respect to pre-registration, and as you know we've had a very solid performance in Canada during the first six weeks," Boulben said.

BlackBerry has yet to release hard numbers on initial sales of the Z10 in major markets such as Britain and Canada, where it went on sales soon after the introduction.

The company is expected to provide a first reading on the Z10's popularity when it releases its quarterly results on March 28. BlackBerry's shares surged last week, however, after it said one of its partners had placed an order for 1 million BlackBerry 10 smartphones, the largest single purchase order in the company's history.

The BlackBerry Q10 model, which has a traditional physical keyboard that's likely to appeal to professionals who are heavy email users, is expected to go on sale next month. It won't reach U.S. store shelves until May or June. The company also plans to launch lower-end versions of the devices this year.

"I really expect a great start from the Z10 in the United States and that will be amplified by the Q10," Boulben said.

(Reporting by Euan Rocha and SInead Carew; Editing by Frank McGurty, Peter Galloway and Nick Zieminski)