Stock of the biotech company Arena Pharmaceutical Inc ( NASDAQ: ARNA ) soared on friday as its anti obesity drug. Stock Jumped more than 75 % to $6.39.
See below the News Release:
Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ARNA) (ARNA)’s weight- loss pill gained the backing of an advisory panel, putting two obesity drugs in line for U.S. approval almost two years after regulators rejected them as too risky.
Food and Drug Administration advisers voted 18-4 yesterday that the benefits of Arena’s pill, known as lorcaserin, outweigh the risks. The FDA is scheduled to decide by June 27 on lorcaserin, and doesn’t have to follow the panel’s advice.
Arena, based in San Diego, is competing with Mountain View, California-based Vivus Inc. (VVUS) (VVUS) and Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. (OREX) (OREX), based in La Jolla, California, to introduce the first weight- loss drug since Roche Holding AG’s (ROG) Xenical in 1999. The FDA previously turned down all three drugs. Panel members raised concerns that lorcaserin provides a modest benefit while potentially raising heart risks.
“It’s time to approve this drug,” said Peter Gross, a panel member and chairman of the Hackensack Physician-Hospital Alliance in New Jersey. “We do not put our head in the sand.”
Arena more than doubled in early trading to $7.70 as of 7:28 a.m. New York time. Trading had been halted during the panel’s meeting. The company gained 7 percent May 9 to close at $3.66 in New York.
Panel members suggested that if lorcaserin gains approval, Arena should do follow-up studies on how it affects the heart. The FDA advisers made the same suggestion for a post-market study of Vivus’s pill Qnexa after backing it 20-2 in February. The agency is scheduled to decide on Qnexa by July 17.
Obesity Epidemic
More than 78 million U.S. adults are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Obesity raises the risks of diabetes, heart attacks and stroke, and costs the U.S. economy an estimated $147 billion a year in medical expenses and lost productivity, according to the CDC.
“The advisory committee’s positive vote supports our belief in lorcaserin as a potential new treatment option,” Jack Lief, Arena’s president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. Arena has licensed lorcaserin to Tokyo-based Eisai Co. (4523) to sell in the U.S.
In failing to approve lorcaserin in October 2010, the agency said people didn’t lose enough weight on the medicine to justify the risk of developing cancer associated with the drug. The company resubmitted its application to the FDA for review in January with new data.
New analysis allayed cancer concerns, Abraham Thomas, chairman of the panel and head of the endocrinology and diabetes division at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, said after voting in support of the pill.
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| Arena Pharmaceuticals |
See below the News Release:
Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ARNA) (ARNA)’s weight- loss pill gained the backing of an advisory panel, putting two obesity drugs in line for U.S. approval almost two years after regulators rejected them as too risky.
Food and Drug Administration advisers voted 18-4 yesterday that the benefits of Arena’s pill, known as lorcaserin, outweigh the risks. The FDA is scheduled to decide by June 27 on lorcaserin, and doesn’t have to follow the panel’s advice.
Arena, based in San Diego, is competing with Mountain View, California-based Vivus Inc. (VVUS) (VVUS) and Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. (OREX) (OREX), based in La Jolla, California, to introduce the first weight- loss drug since Roche Holding AG’s (ROG) Xenical in 1999. The FDA previously turned down all three drugs. Panel members raised concerns that lorcaserin provides a modest benefit while potentially raising heart risks.
“It’s time to approve this drug,” said Peter Gross, a panel member and chairman of the Hackensack Physician-Hospital Alliance in New Jersey. “We do not put our head in the sand.”
Arena more than doubled in early trading to $7.70 as of 7:28 a.m. New York time. Trading had been halted during the panel’s meeting. The company gained 7 percent May 9 to close at $3.66 in New York.
Panel members suggested that if lorcaserin gains approval, Arena should do follow-up studies on how it affects the heart. The FDA advisers made the same suggestion for a post-market study of Vivus’s pill Qnexa after backing it 20-2 in February. The agency is scheduled to decide on Qnexa by July 17.
Obesity Epidemic
More than 78 million U.S. adults are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Obesity raises the risks of diabetes, heart attacks and stroke, and costs the U.S. economy an estimated $147 billion a year in medical expenses and lost productivity, according to the CDC.
“The advisory committee’s positive vote supports our belief in lorcaserin as a potential new treatment option,” Jack Lief, Arena’s president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. Arena has licensed lorcaserin to Tokyo-based Eisai Co. (4523) to sell in the U.S.
In failing to approve lorcaserin in October 2010, the agency said people didn’t lose enough weight on the medicine to justify the risk of developing cancer associated with the drug. The company resubmitted its application to the FDA for review in January with new data.
New analysis allayed cancer concerns, Abraham Thomas, chairman of the panel and head of the endocrinology and diabetes division at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, said after voting in support of the pill.
Cancer Risks
An FDA staff report May 8 determined the risks of cancer may be smaller than thought. An agency review of the potential for humans developing brain tumors seen in rats tested with lorcaserin found the risk is negligible, agency staff said in the report. They also determined benign breast tumors in rats were more common than malignant ones at all dose levels.
Lorcaserin affects an area of the brain that controls appetite and metabolism, according to Arena. It works in a similar way to fenfluramine, part of the fen-phen appetite- suppression drug combination pulled from pharmacies 15 years ago when it was linked to heart-valve abnormalities.
Some panel members suggested the FDA require lorcaserin to include a risk management plan that possibly screens patients for abnormalities before starting treatments and warns patients about the potential of developing a valve abnormality.
Study Results
Patients who tested Arena’s treatment in three studies lost about 3 percent more of their body weight than those who took a placebo, according to FDA staff. People who took part in trials on Vivus’s Qnexa lost 6.7 percent and 8.9 percent more of their body weight on mid and high doses compared to those who used a placebo, FDA staff said in a Feb. 20 report on the drug.
Panel members who voted against lorcaserin questioned whether the weight loss was enough.
“Weight loss is clinically discernible with lorcaserin but I’m not sure it’s clinically meaningful,” said Sanjay Kaul, a panel member and professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Like Arena’s lorcaserin, the FDA declined to approve Vivus’s Qnexa in October 2010. Orexigen won a panel’s backing in December 2010 before the agency declined to approve the company’s drug, Contrave. Orexigen, developing Contrave with Osaka, Japan-based Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. (4502), agreed in September to conduct a two-year study of the medicine’s heart risks.
With the country's economy in bad shape and the rest of Europe just managing to stay out of recession, a Spanish company in Valencia has courted controversy by offering professional course in prostitution which it says 'guarantees a job offer on graduation'.
"For just €100, students will be taught the history of the world's oldest profession, how to use erotic toys and the most popular positions contained within the Kama Sutra," the Daily Mail reported.
Promotional flyers of the programme flooded the university campus in the coastal city of Valencia.
Though Valencia falls in Catalonia, the part of Spain which is more liberal than the Castillan and Basque regions, The venture has still attracted much criticism. Many in the predominantly Catholic country feel that it is the wrong way to tempt cash-strapped and out-of-work Spaniards.
But the firm said that it will make the trade safer and ensure that 'qualified' sex workers do not have run-ins with the law.
The propreitor of the business said that 95 people, from the age of 19 to 45 years, had signed up for the one-week course, which takes up two hours each day.
"For just €100, students will be taught the history of the world's oldest profession, how to use erotic toys and the most popular positions contained within the Kama Sutra," the Daily Mail reported.
Promotional flyers of the programme flooded the university campus in the coastal city of Valencia.
Though Valencia falls in Catalonia, the part of Spain which is more liberal than the Castillan and Basque regions, The venture has still attracted much criticism. Many in the predominantly Catholic country feel that it is the wrong way to tempt cash-strapped and out-of-work Spaniards.
But the firm said that it will make the trade safer and ensure that 'qualified' sex workers do not have run-ins with the law.
The propreitor of the business said that 95 people, from the age of 19 to 45 years, had signed up for the one-week course, which takes up two hours each day.
Panasonic Posts Further Losses On TV Sales
Via Panasonic: Panasonic has announced its latest set of results, posting a net loss of $5.49 billion in the first quarter of the year--ten times the losses the company faced in the same months last year. In large part, this is a fallout of stalling sales on televisions, down to 15.5 million this year, Panasonic estimates. Japan's slipping Yen is also to blame. Japan's Sony is also having a rough patch as a result of TV sales, and as Bloomberg points out, the fact that neither company has a hit electronics product as Google, Apple, Samsung and the rest diversify, doesn't help either. Now, with rumors that today's electronics titans are coming out with televisions as well--Google has a TV in the works with LG, and of course, there's Apple's long-rumored television too--things are looking all the grimmer for Panasonic and Sony, unless they reinvent themselves.
On Games: Rovio Plans Amazing Alex, Minecraft Breaks Sales Records
Via YLE, Joystiq. Rovio is following up its smash hit Angry Birds with a second game called Amazing Alex. Rovio CEO Michael Hed first introduced Amazing Alex on Finnish TV Yle. Angry Birds had a billion downloaders breaking stuff in Angry Birds, but this second Rovio creation will focus on making stuff--Amazing Alex will have an educational theme as its protagonist, Alex, likes to build things. Meanwhile, in other gaming news, Minecraft for Xbox 360 debuted yesterday, and broke sales records for Xbox Live Arcade games, Microsoft revealed. According to one estimate by the game's creator, the company sold 400,000 games in 24 hours, and earned back the cash Microsoft spent on development in the first hour of sales, numbers which were seconded by a blogger on the Xbox development team.
Facebook Tests Paid Posts
Via Stuff.co.nz: Facebook is testing a new pay-and-promote system among Facebook users, charging a small fee to give users better viewing time for their posts. A screenshot grabbed by New Zealand site stuff.co.nz shows that for $2.00 (paid via PayPal or a favorite credit card) users can "Highlight an important post," and "Make sure friends see this." A spokesperson for Facebook confirmed to Stuff.co.nz that Facebook was testing this feature in three different ways--offering it for free, for a fixed fee, or at staggered rates. As Stuff points out, this could be one of the ways Facebook is thinking of making money from its enormous user base.
To better compete with Google, Microsoft has revealed a new makeover for its Bing search engine site. Designed to combat "search overload" the new Bing results page feature a new sidebar function that lists relevant posts from a user's Facebook and Twitter contacts as they search for keywords. The algorithm even intelligently suggests people who may have an opinon on the search words using information gleaned from their "Liking" habits. The revamp will hopefully bring more traffic to Bing and thus bump up Microsoft's income from advertising partners--to help offset Microsoft's online losses. The new design will roll out across the U.S. over the next several weeks, and then to other territories.
The Federal Trade Commission has approached both Google and Twitter concerning Facebook's $1 billion deal to purchase social photo-sharer company Instagram. According to a source speaking to Reuters it's not known exactly what details the FTC is curious about, but it was rumored that both these other companies and possibly others were interested in bidding for Instagram--itself growing at a swift rate and thus rapidly increasing in value--which caused Facebook's CEO to move very swiftly and conclude the deal in private without his board's full knowledge. Facebook still plans to conclude the Instagram purchase in the second quarter but first it has to complete its complex IPO, scheduled for next week.
The second episode of Aamir Khan's much talked about television show Satyamev Jayate is likely to deal with the abuse of children, according to sources. Given the huge positive feedback generated by the pilot episode that tackled the contentious subject of female foeticide both in rural and urban India, the second episode is likely to be even more explosive in form and content.
According to the sources, Aamir has been working with a string of NGOs working with children abused sexually either at home or outside, often by people they trust. So there are indications that Aamir intends to drop a bigger bomb on May 13 at 11 AM during his show on Star Plus.
If that is indeed the case, then Aamir would stir up a hornet's nest as statistics have shown in the past that sexual abuse of children is rampant in Indian metros, with the abuser often known to the child.
A survey conducted in 2007 by the Women and Child Development Ministry and the NGO Prayas in association with Unicef and Save the Children across 13 states and with a sample size of 12,447, found that 53.22% of children reported having faced one or more forms of sexual abuse. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Assam and Delhi had reported the highest percentage of such incidents at that time.
In 50% of the cases, the abusers were known to the child or were in a position of trust and responsibility and most children did not report the matter to anyone. The aim of the study was to develop a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon of child abuse, with a view to facilitate the formulation of appropriate policies and programmes meant to effectively curb and control the problem of child abuse in India.
The National Study on Child Abuse is one of the largest empirical in-country studies of its kind in the world. This study also complements the UN Secretary General's Global Study on Violence against Children 2006.
In the first episode, Aamir talked about the killing of unborn girls, an alarming reality not just in the far-flung cow belts but also in urban Indian households. Aamir said it involves the collusion of families, doctors and a social structure that encourages the desire for a boy child - at any cost. The result has been the death of over 3 crore unborn girls since independence and a generation of young men, many amongst whom will find it very tough to get a life partner.
He also set up an SMS poll: "Do you want the Rajasthan government to set up a fast-track court to process the cases arising out of the sting operation on doctors performing female foeticide, carried out by Meena Sharma and Sripal Shaktawat? SMS Y for Yes or N for No, and send to 5782711."
The feedback has been overwhelming. Three days after the show was aired, the Madhya Pradesh Health Department suspended the licences of 65 Medical Termination of Pregnancy centres for not submitting their reports on the prescribed form. Meanwhile, Aamir met Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to appeal to him to take action in old cases of female foeticide in his state.
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| Satyamev Jayate |
If that is indeed the case, then Aamir would stir up a hornet's nest as statistics have shown in the past that sexual abuse of children is rampant in Indian metros, with the abuser often known to the child.
A survey conducted in 2007 by the Women and Child Development Ministry and the NGO Prayas in association with Unicef and Save the Children across 13 states and with a sample size of 12,447, found that 53.22% of children reported having faced one or more forms of sexual abuse. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Assam and Delhi had reported the highest percentage of such incidents at that time.
In 50% of the cases, the abusers were known to the child or were in a position of trust and responsibility and most children did not report the matter to anyone. The aim of the study was to develop a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon of child abuse, with a view to facilitate the formulation of appropriate policies and programmes meant to effectively curb and control the problem of child abuse in India.
The National Study on Child Abuse is one of the largest empirical in-country studies of its kind in the world. This study also complements the UN Secretary General's Global Study on Violence against Children 2006.
In the first episode, Aamir talked about the killing of unborn girls, an alarming reality not just in the far-flung cow belts but also in urban Indian households. Aamir said it involves the collusion of families, doctors and a social structure that encourages the desire for a boy child - at any cost. The result has been the death of over 3 crore unborn girls since independence and a generation of young men, many amongst whom will find it very tough to get a life partner.
He also set up an SMS poll: "Do you want the Rajasthan government to set up a fast-track court to process the cases arising out of the sting operation on doctors performing female foeticide, carried out by Meena Sharma and Sripal Shaktawat? SMS Y for Yes or N for No, and send to 5782711."
The feedback has been overwhelming. Three days after the show was aired, the Madhya Pradesh Health Department suspended the licences of 65 Medical Termination of Pregnancy centres for not submitting their reports on the prescribed form. Meanwhile, Aamir met Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to appeal to him to take action in old cases of female foeticide in his state.
Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court Arun Mishra has given an in-principle nod to set up a fast track court for expediting trial in cases of female foeticide.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot met the Chief Justice over the matter on Wednesday night, official sources said on Friday.
Strongly taking up the issue on his show 'Satyamev Jayate,' actor Aamir Khan had met Gehlot on Wednesday evening requesting him to establish the fast track court to decide cases which were pending in various courts.
Gehlot had assured action in this regard and said that he would speak to the Chief Justice to bring all such cases under one court so that they are heard as soon as possible.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot met the Chief Justice over the matter on Wednesday night, official sources said on Friday.
Strongly taking up the issue on his show 'Satyamev Jayate,' actor Aamir Khan had met Gehlot on Wednesday evening requesting him to establish the fast track court to decide cases which were pending in various courts.
Gehlot had assured action in this regard and said that he would speak to the Chief Justice to bring all such cases under one court so that they are heard as soon as possible.
More Viewers than IPL and Soaps
Aamir Khan's debut on the small screen, Satyamev Jayate, which has captured the imagination of a large number of people and has been a constant talking point across the social networking platforms, has earned a rating of 3.8 in the three Metros of Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai on Star Plus, according to TAM data released by the channel. That is higher than the IPL 5 ratings (based on the released figures after first 16 matches) which stood at 3.65 at the end of April.
That way, Aamir's show has garnered higher points than even the popular Hindi soap, 'Bade Achche Lagte Hai' which has garnered a 3.54 average rating. The serial had reached a 4 point rating following the 'bold' episode that was broadcast but TVRs have steadily dropped in the last few weeks to average out near the 3.5 mark.
However, other soaps like 'Uttaran', 'Balika Vadhu' all garnered higher-than-5 ratings when they opened, only to slump down and average between 3 and 3.5. So, whether Satyamev Jayate can sustain the good start remains to be seen.
Across six metros, including Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, the average TVR of Satyamev Jayate stood at 2.9.
The debut episode scored maximum in Delhi (5.9 TVR), followed by Mumbai (3.1 TVR) while Kolkata touched 1.8 TVR.
In Mumbai, the show (dubbed in Marathi) on Star Pravah garnered 2.2 TVR. On Star Jalsha, the leading Bengali entertainment channel, the show just managed 0.52 TVR.
On ETV in Telugu (Hyderabad), the show got 0.88 TVR, while from the same metro city the show clocked 1.1 TVR on Star Plus.
In Tamil on Star Vijay (Chennai) it fetched 0.68 TVR. In Bangalore, where it was not dubbed in Kannada, Star Plus managed 1.3 TVR.
Aamir Khan's debut on the small screen, Satyamev Jayate, which has captured the imagination of a large number of people and has been a constant talking point across the social networking platforms, has earned a rating of 3.8 in the three Metros of Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai on Star Plus, according to TAM data released by the channel. That is higher than the IPL 5 ratings (based on the released figures after first 16 matches) which stood at 3.65 at the end of April.
That way, Aamir's show has garnered higher points than even the popular Hindi soap, 'Bade Achche Lagte Hai' which has garnered a 3.54 average rating. The serial had reached a 4 point rating following the 'bold' episode that was broadcast but TVRs have steadily dropped in the last few weeks to average out near the 3.5 mark.
However, other soaps like 'Uttaran', 'Balika Vadhu' all garnered higher-than-5 ratings when they opened, only to slump down and average between 3 and 3.5. So, whether Satyamev Jayate can sustain the good start remains to be seen.
Across six metros, including Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, the average TVR of Satyamev Jayate stood at 2.9.
The debut episode scored maximum in Delhi (5.9 TVR), followed by Mumbai (3.1 TVR) while Kolkata touched 1.8 TVR.
In Mumbai, the show (dubbed in Marathi) on Star Pravah garnered 2.2 TVR. On Star Jalsha, the leading Bengali entertainment channel, the show just managed 0.52 TVR.
On ETV in Telugu (Hyderabad), the show got 0.88 TVR, while from the same metro city the show clocked 1.1 TVR on Star Plus.
In Tamil on Star Vijay (Chennai) it fetched 0.68 TVR. In Bangalore, where it was not dubbed in Kannada, Star Plus managed 1.3 TVR.
The news came on thursday evening that JP Morgan announced $2 billion derivative trading loss as hedging bets went wrong. The news weigh down the sentiment on Dow Jones futures and banking stocks who were winner in Thursday's trading session plunged more than 2 % while JP Morgan stock is down more than 7 % in pre market trading. How it will impact today's market action?
Financial Sector will push stocks lower on Friday and weakness along with sentiment may drag down S &P below 1350 critical level. Whether markets will recover at the end of the day or not that will be a question mark, but if S&P closes below 1350 then next week it may see more weakness and lead a sell off in Global Markets.
Another alarming condition is whether financial institutions are really healthy enough to whether next crisis, as European contagion might spread?
Baidu has announced that it is planning to enter in to Smartphone business by developing a mobile operating system. After Google's android success, Baidu will be the second search engine company to develop mobile OS. The question is whether it can deliver something robust and better than android OS? Read more
Baidu, China's largest search engine, will launch a new smartphone partnership next week, that will see the smartphone use an upgraded version of its mobile operating system, a senior company executive said on Friday.
| Baidu Inc |
"We have a few partnerships coming up and will announce it in a week," Wang Jing, Baidu's vice president of engineering and head of mobile, told Reuters.
Wang said the firm was in talks with "global" handset manufacturers to make smartphones with Baidu's mobile operating system, for the Chinese market.
Wang also said Baidu was moving towards becoming a platform company that offered products across a spectrum of devices, from being a products company.
The focus on cloud computing comes as more people access the Internet from their mobile phones rather than desktop, putting pressure on Internet companies, such as Google and Facebook, to develop robust mobile platforms from which people can still use their services.
Last year, Baidu launched its mobile platform, Yi, in China to compete with Google's Android mobile operating system and Apple's iOS.
At the end of 2011, China had 356 million mobile Internet users, government statistics showed.
As the state of Maharashtra reels under a severe drought, one is seeing a strange occurrence in the district of Thane. The farmers in its villages are resorting to polygamy, so that there are more hands to fill and carry water from wells that are over two hours from their villages.
One such family, where the farmer and his three wives have lived happily for over 30 years now. The family said it was a practical solution to the acute water problem the village had been facing for decades.
For the farmers, more wives meant more hands to carry water, because it takes at least four hours for a single person to carry two pots of water from the only well near the village.
One of the women inside the house said, "One lady takes care of the house and two of us go to fill water. We make two trips a day so getting water takes up all our time."
The farmer (name withheld) himself said, "Water is available only for one month after the monsoon. For the rest of the year we have to walk four-five hours to get water."
They are not alone. Even though having multiple wives is illegal, it is a trend followed by many in their village.
What is worse is that the Bhatsa resevoir that supplies water to Mumbai, is barely 5 km from their village.
The villagers have threatened to damage the pipeline carrying water to Mumbai on May 12, if their demands for a separate pipeline for their village are not met with.
One such family, where the farmer and his three wives have lived happily for over 30 years now. The family said it was a practical solution to the acute water problem the village had been facing for decades.
For the farmers, more wives meant more hands to carry water, because it takes at least four hours for a single person to carry two pots of water from the only well near the village.
One of the women inside the house said, "One lady takes care of the house and two of us go to fill water. We make two trips a day so getting water takes up all our time."
The farmer (name withheld) himself said, "Water is available only for one month after the monsoon. For the rest of the year we have to walk four-five hours to get water."
They are not alone. Even though having multiple wives is illegal, it is a trend followed by many in their village.
What is worse is that the Bhatsa resevoir that supplies water to Mumbai, is barely 5 km from their village.
The villagers have threatened to damage the pipeline carrying water to Mumbai on May 12, if their demands for a separate pipeline for their village are not met with.
Sony Corp fell to the lowest level in Tokyo trading since 1980, when the Walkman was new and before it introduced the first compact-disc player, after forecasting profit that lagged behind analyst estimates.
| Sony Corp |
Sony said it may lose about 80 billion yen selling TVs, a ninth straight year of losses in that business.
The maker of Bravia televisions said yesterday net income may total 30 billion yen ($376 million) in the year started April 1, its first profit in five years. That compared with the 61.4 billion-yen average of 18 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sony said it may lose about 80 billion yen selling televisions, a ninth straight year of losses in that business.
“Though Sony’s forecasting growth in revenue and return to profit, it’s still hard to find something that can trigger the stock to rise,” Shiro Mikoshiba, an analyst at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Tokyo with a neutral rating on the shares, said in a report today. “There are uncertainties in demand for TVs, smartphones and digital cameras.”
Sony, which introduced the Walkman portable cassette player in 1979 and the first CD player in 1982, said sales may be 7.4 trillion yen in the current fiscal year.
The Tokyo-based electronics maker, which lost 856 billion yen combined in the past four years, predicted an operating profit of 180 billion yen.
Kazuo Hirai, 51, who took over as chief executive officer last month, is eliminating about 10,000 jobs, or 6 percent of the workforce, at Japan’s largest electronics exporter after losing customers to Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) and Apple Inc. (AAPL) Hirai is turning to mobile devices, games and digital imaging to revive Sony.
Sony predicts selling 17.5 million TVs this year, down from 19.6 million last year, the company said yesterday. Sales of its PlayStation game consoles may drop to 16 million units from 18 million.The world’s No. 3 TV maker has lost about 700 billion yen in the business during the past eight years while losing market share to Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung and Seoul-based LG Electronics Co., both of which make money selling sets. Sony plans to make the business profitable by March 2014.TV ShipmentsGlobal TV shipments last year fell for the first time in six years because of excessive inventory in the U.S. and Europe and the end of Japanese government subsidies for purchases, according to DisplaySearch, part of NPD Group. Shipments fell 0.3 percent to 247.7 million units, the researcher said.“We expect Sony to miss its guidance because projections for the TV unit and the game unit look excessive,” Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Securities Co. in Tokyo, said in his report today. “The hurdle for Sony to attain its targets for selling game players will be significantly high” given sluggish demand in Japan, the U.S. and Europe.Takashi Watanabe, a Tokyo-based analyst at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., lowered his operating profit forecast for Sony to 140 billion yen from 152.4 billion yen, saying in a report today that Sony’s targets for profit growth in digital cameras, games, batteries and smartphones are “optimistic.”Sony is projecting sales volume of smartphones and portable game players to surge this fiscal year. Smartphone sales will probably rise to 33.3 million units from 22.5 million, the company said yesterday. Handheld players including PlayStation Vita may more than double to 16 million units from 6.8 million, Sony said.Sony is increasing its offerings in the game business. The company began selling the PlayStation Vita in December to lure consumers increasingly turning to iPhones and iPads for entertainment. The Vita was the first major overhaul of the handheld since the PlayStation Portable went on sale in 2004.
Sony predicts selling 17.5 million TVs this year, down from 19.6 million last year, the company said yesterday. Sales of its PlayStation game consoles may drop to 16 million units from 18 million.The world’s No. 3 TV maker has lost about 700 billion yen in the business during the past eight years while losing market share to Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung and Seoul-based LG Electronics Co., both of which make money selling sets. Sony plans to make the business profitable by March 2014.TV ShipmentsGlobal TV shipments last year fell for the first time in six years because of excessive inventory in the U.S. and Europe and the end of Japanese government subsidies for purchases, according to DisplaySearch, part of NPD Group. Shipments fell 0.3 percent to 247.7 million units, the researcher said.“We expect Sony to miss its guidance because projections for the TV unit and the game unit look excessive,” Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Securities Co. in Tokyo, said in his report today. “The hurdle for Sony to attain its targets for selling game players will be significantly high” given sluggish demand in Japan, the U.S. and Europe.Takashi Watanabe, a Tokyo-based analyst at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., lowered his operating profit forecast for Sony to 140 billion yen from 152.4 billion yen, saying in a report today that Sony’s targets for profit growth in digital cameras, games, batteries and smartphones are “optimistic.”Sony is projecting sales volume of smartphones and portable game players to surge this fiscal year. Smartphone sales will probably rise to 33.3 million units from 22.5 million, the company said yesterday. Handheld players including PlayStation Vita may more than double to 16 million units from 6.8 million, Sony said.Sony is increasing its offerings in the game business. The company began selling the PlayStation Vita in December to lure consumers increasingly turning to iPhones and iPads for entertainment. The Vita was the first major overhaul of the handheld since the PlayStation Portable went on sale in 2004.
Facebook Inc. (FB)’s initial public offering has so far generated lower-than-expected demand from institutional investors who are concerned about the company’s growth prospects, people with knowledge of the matter said.
| Facebook Inc |
Facebook executives have another week to market the IPO, scheduled to price on May 17, and underwriters are stepping up efforts to drum up interest from large shareholders, one person said. Underscoring concerns that growth may taper for the world’s biggest social network, 79 percent of respondents in the Bloomberg Global Poll of 1,253 investors, analysts and traders who are Bloomberg subscribers said Facebook doesn’t deserve a valuation at $96 billion, the high end of its projected range.
“Expectations on Facebook are way too high,” said Mitsuo Shimizu, a market analyst at Tokyo-based Iwai Cosmo Securities Co. “Given its fundamentals, the company doesn’t look anywhere cheap in valuation.”
Lackluster interest from institutional investors at this stage could compel the company to rely more on buying from retail investors, from whom demand remains robust, people said. The company could still elicit enough demand to sell shares at or above the high end of a projected range, people said.
Slackening Growth
Institutional investors tend to hold shares longer than retail investors, lessening a stock’s volatility.
Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg plans to raise as much as $11.8 billion through the IPO, the biggest in history for an Internet company.
The Menlo Park, California-based company is seeking a market value of as much as $96 billion, and is offering 337.4 million shares at $28 to $35 each. The shares will be listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol FB. Morgan Stanley (MS), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) are leading the sale.
Facebook is offering 180 million shares, while existing owners such as Accel Partners, Goldman Sachs and Digital Sky Technologies are offering 157.4 million shares. Zuckerberg is offering 30.2 million of his 533.8 million shares, and may control 57.3 percent of the voting power of Facebook’s capital stock outstanding after the offering, regulatory filings show.
Jonathan Thaw, a spokesman for Facebook, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Facebook, co-founded by Zuckerberg in 2004 in a Harvard University dorm room, seeks a valuation at 24 times revenue, compared with 5 times for Google Inc., according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Already the company’s growth has shown signs of slackening. Sales climbed 88 percent to $3.71 billion last year. According to researcher EMarketer Inc., revenue may increase 64 percent to $6.1 billion this year. That would be the third straight year of slowing growth.
Read Why one should sell Facebook instead of buying it?
Read Why one should sell Facebook instead of buying it?
