Rechercher dans la communauté
Affichage des résultats pour les étiquettes 'world'.
-
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Canada+last+known+Great+dies/2583337/story.html#ixzz0fx2D0x3D
-
Worldcolor: curieuse transaction François Pouliot / Général, 782 mots Après deux tentatives avortées de R.R. Donneley, c’est finalement Quad/Graphics qui met la main sur Worldcolor. Cette transaction est-elle vraiment équitable pour les actionnaires de Worldcolor? Et quel avenir pour les 1 500 salariés des imprimeries québécoises? En mai, Donneley avait d’abord offert 1,4 G$ pour Worldcolor (autour de 9,50$ par action). En août, l’offre avait été majorée à 1,6 G$ (11$ par action). Il est actuellement difficile de dire combien offre Quad/Graphics. L’acquisition est payée en actions. Au terme de la transaction, on parle d’actionnaires ordinaires qui auront 40% de Quad/Graphics, mais on ne sait pas trop combien vaudront ces actions puisque Quad n’est pas encore cotée. Moins bon que l’offre de Donnelley? Reuters et le Wall Street Journal citent des sources et parlent d’un prix attendu de 1,3-1,4 G$. C’est moins que ce qu’offrait Donnelley. Attention cependant. La transaction avec Quad/Graphics offrira des synergies de 225 M$ sur un BAIIA actuel combiné de 647 M$. Ca semble à première vue assez intéressant pour les actionnaires en terme de création de valeur future. On ne sait si Donnelley, qui ne payait qu’un tiers en actions (le reste comptant) pouvait offrir de telles synergies. Conséquemment, on ne peut trop dire si le levier de création de valeur à long terme aurait été aussi intéressant avec Donnelley. Mais il est aussi possible que les synergies promises par Quad soient en partie mangées par un marché de l’imprimerie en recul dans les prochains trimestres. Si tel doit être le cas, la portion au comptant de l’offre de Donnelley aurait été plus intéressante. Là où vraiment la transaction est curieuse Cette transaction est cependant surtout curieuse dans ceci : le BAIIA de Worldcolor est à peu près le même que celui de Quad (315 M c. 332 M$), mais les actionnaires de World ne reçoivent que 40% de la nouvelle compagnie. Au plan mathématique, quelque chose cloche. La proportion devrait plutôt être autour de 50-50, ce qui donnerait plus d’argent aux actionnaires de World. À noter que les prévisions de croissance du BAIIA de World pour l’an prochain par les deux maisons qui suivent le titre (RBC et TD) étaient assez importantes (352 et 380 M$ attendus). De trois choses l’une. Ou bien la rentabilité de Wolrd était sur le point de fortement diminuer (et la crédibilité de la direction est en jeu). Ou bien celle de Quad est sur le point d’exploser. Ou bien encore, c’est un peu des deux. Mais on peut se demander pourquoi plus de précisions n’ont pas été apportées à la conférence téléphonique. En attendant, on se gratte l’occiput. La fin du siège social Le siège social montréalais disparaîtra et la question est maintenant de savoir combien des 200 emplois qui y sont rattachés seront maintenus dans ce qu’on pourrait qualifier d’unité régionale administrative. La réponse est : pas beaucoup. Et l’on peut se demander si la véritable unité régionale ne sera pas plutôt basée à Toronto. Déjà Worldcolor avait annoncé il y a quelques jours son intention de consolider ses activités dans la région de Toronto. Il est douteux que l’on consolide ses activités dans une région et que l’on laisse sa principale place d’affaires dans une autre. Des usines sont elles à risque de fermer au Québec? Après celle de Bromont il y a quelques jours, d’autres usines sont-elles à risque de fermeture au Québec? Il en reste cinq au Québec, qui emploient 1500 salariés. Il faut ici dire que l’on est un peu estomaqué par la différence de marges bénéficiaires (BAIIA) entre les deux sociétés : 17,6% chez Quad, 9,7% chez World. Difficile de ne pas avoir une petite inquiétude. Si des imprimeries doivent fermer pour générer les synergies (et l’on serait étonné que ce ne soit pas dans le plan de match), ce n’est à première vue pas celles de Quad. On ne connaît pas la situation individuelle de chacune des imprimeries. On sait cependant que Quad a 11 usines aux États-Unis, et n’en a aucune au Canada. Le Canada et le Québec sont des marchés qui ne peuvent être exclusivement desservis par l’Oncle Sam. On serait donc plus inquiet pour les 35 usines de World aux États-Unis que pour les québécoises. Ce qui ne veut néanmoins pas dire qu’il y a absence totale de danger. -
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/montreals-bagels-square-off-against-new-yorks/
-
Selon le Daily telegraph Montreal: 9ième position Montreal, Canada. Clean, welcoming and refreshingly multicultural, Montreal is happy enough year-round. Come July, though, it's downright hilarious. Just For Laughs takes over the city in summer, packing venues with the best in both Anglo, and Francophone comedy. It's one of the biggest comedy gatherings in the world and shows sell out fast, but if you can't get a ticket, head to the city's Latin Quarter, which is abuzz every night with street performers, parading puppets and fireworks. merci au blog "Montréalités urbaines" d'où j'ai vu cette nouvelle
-
(Courtesy of Luxist) List (Promo) So if any of you want to take your better half on a nice romantic getaway
-
The French President replaces the English-language channel
un sujet a posté ErickMontreal dans L'actualité
The French President replaces the English-language channel The French President plans to replace the English-language channel with a new, purely French-speaking network, France Monde French President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced the killing off of the English-language news channel France 24, barely a year after it first hit the airwaves. The president announced on Tuesday that it would be replaced by a new, purely French-speaking network, France Monde. The new creation is to be a combination of French-speaking broadcaster TV5, Radio France Internationale and France 24, and is expected to be set up at some point later this year. According to Sarkozy, it should be no problem to include subtitles in English, Spanish and Arabic, to present a "French vision." The announcement sounded the death knoll for the pet project of his predecessor Jacques Chirac. France 24 was launched in December 2006 and broadcasts around the world in French, English and Arabic. The aim of the 24-hour news channel had been to offer a French alternative to global news channels like BBC World and CNN. However, on Tuesday, Sarkozy said he was not comfortable with a French channel that broadcast in other languages. "With taxpayers' money, I am not prepared to broadcast a channel that does not speak French," Sarkozy told a press conference. The main journalists union, the SNJ-CGT, reacted with fury to Sarkozy's announcement that French government would stop funding France 24's foreign language programming. The union's secretary general, Jean-Francois Tealdi, told Agence France Presse that the president was "confusing the mission of France 24 and RFI, which was to cover world events with a different vision from that of the Anglo-Saxon approach, and the mission of TV5 Monde, which is to provide a space for the French-speaking world." An English-speaking member of the France 24 staff told AFP that "everyone is sad and shocked" by the news. The journalist said that if the English and Arabic speaking service disappeared, it would "give France an image of being behind the times." Provided by Spiegel Online—Read the latest from Europe's largest newsmagazine -
MONOCLE has Montreal in 19th place as most liveable place in the World to live. You need a subscription to read it online. I read it at a magazine shop. We are in good company! http://www.monocle.com/sections/affairs/Magazine-Articles/19-Montreal/
-
Source: The Gazette New city guide puts Montreal on the geotourism map By MONIQUE BEAUDIN, The Gazette, June 16, 2009 It's a tourist map with a difference. Along with the usual destinations, such as Little Italy and Mount Royal, you'll find more unusual ones, like a series of "green" alleyways in the Plateau Mont Royal and a boutique that makes clothes from recycled materials. Unveiled yesterday by Mayor Gérald Tremblay, the new map promotes geotourism - that is, tourism that protects and preserves the geographic character of a destination, such as its heritage, culture, environment and well-being of its residents. The map was the brainchild of the U.S.-based National Geographic Society, with whom Montreal was the first city in the world to sign an agreement in 2007 promising to adhere to 13 principles of geotourism. "You live in a magnificent and sophisticated city," said Jonathan Tourtellot, the director of National Geographic's Centre for Sustainable Destinations in Washington, D.C. "Tourists should leave here knowing they have visited a city that is unique in Canada, unique in North America, unique in the world. That's geotourism." Creating the map - the first of its kind in the world for a city - took months of consultation with conservation and community groups, as well as the input of residents, who suggested more than 400 locations that scream out "Mont-real." Some that made the cut include Habitat 67, Promenade Bellerive in Montreal's Mercier district and Le Cartet in Old Montreal where visitors can "break bread at communal tables with real-life Montrealers." The map encourages people to visit the city by bicycle, métro or on foot saying "this is one city where you can see almost everything without setting foot in a car." Historical information includes the fact that St. Laurent Blvd. was "reputed for risqué nightlife during the city's heyday as an inland seaport." Other areas with similar geotourism maps include Norway and the Mexican state of Baja California. You can check it out online at www.montrealgeo.com
-
All this hate for the automobile and yet nobody seems to pay attention to the much worse culprits! -
Bon, je vais m'amuser un peu ici et y placer des vidéos d'archive sur Montréal. Merci surtout à l'ONF et youtube Victoria Bridge, 8th wonder of the world. http://www.nfb.ca/film/victoria_bridge_the_8th_wonder
-
R.R. Donnelley veut acheter Quebecor World Publié le 13 mai 2009 à 08h07 | Mis à jour à 08h10 La Presse Canadienne Chicago L'imprimeur américain R.R. Donnelley & Sons (RRD) veut acquérir son concurrent québécois en difficulté Quebecor World (T.IQW) pour un montant global de 1,35 milliard de dollars US en espèces et en actions. Dans un communiqué de presse émis mardi, l'entreprise, dont le siège est à Chicago, dans l'État de l'Illinois, a rendu publique une lettre d'intention qu'elle a fait parvenir cette semaine aux dirigeants de Quebecor World. R.R. Donnelley y explique qu'elle estime, après étude du dossier, que son offre est plus intéressante pour les créanciers et les prêteurs de Quebecor World que les plans et déclaration d'information modifiés soumis récemment dans le cadre de sa restructuration, tant aux États-Unis qu'au Canada. Quebecor World s'est placée sous la protection des tribunaux en janvier 2008, alors que ses dettes étaient supérieures à 1 milliard de dollars US. Le tribunal américain de la faillite doit évaluer vendredi les nouveaux documents devant servir de base aux fins du vote éventuel des créanciers de Quebecor World aux États-Unis, alors qu'au Canada, la Cour supérieure du Québec devrait entendre jeudi la motion de l'entreprise visant à obtenir l'autorisation de tenir une assemblée de ses créanciers canadiens. Quebecor World estime que, si tout se passe comme prévu, elle pourrait se libérer de la protection contre ses créanciers avec un bilan solide d'ici la mi-juillet. Dans ce contexte, R.R. Donnelley, qui s'était déjà montrée intéressée en avril 2008 à acquérir Quebecor World, dit être prête à réaliser la transaction qu'elle propose le plus rapidement possible. Elle assure que sa proposition ne nécessite aucune condition de financement et qu'elle n'est pas non plus conditionnelle à un vote d'actionnaires. La proposition de Donnelley comprend une partie en espèces d'environ 700 millions de dollars US, plus un montant de 257 millions de dollars US correspondant aux liquidités estimées de Quebecor World au 30 juin prochain, plus 30 millions d'actions de R.R. Donnelley représentant environ 15 pour cent des actions émises et en circulation de la compagnie et ayant une valeur d'environ 394,2 millions de dollars US sur la base du cours du titre à la clôture des marchés le 11 mai dernier, soit lundi.
-
Analysis of Flickr photos could lead to online travel books
un sujet a posté ErickMontreal dans L'actualité
Analysis of Flickr photos could lead to online travel books Representative images for the top landmark in each of the top 20 North American cities. All parts of the figure, including images, textual labels and the map itself, were produced automatically from the researchers' geo-tagged photos. April 28th, 2009 By Paul Redfern Cornell scientists have downloaded and analyzed nearly 35 million Flickr photos taken by more than 300,000 photographers from around the globe, using a supercomputer at the Cornell Center for Advanced Computing (CAC). Their research, which was presented at the International World Wide Web Conference in Madrid, April 20-24, provides a new and practical way to automatically organize, label and summarize large-scale collections of digital images. The scalability of the method allows for mining information latent in very large sets of images, raising the intriguing possibility of an online travel guidebook that could automatically identify the best sites to visit on a vacation, as judged by the collective wisdom of the world's photographers. The research also generated statistics on the world's most photographed cities and landmarks, gleaned from the analysis of the multi-terabyte photo collection: • The top 25 most photographed cities in the Flickr data are (in order): New York City, London, San Francisco, Paris, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Seattle, Rome, Amsterdam, Boston, Barcelona, San Diego, Berlin, Las Vegas, Florence, Toronto, Milan, Vancouver, Madrid, Venice, Philadelphia, Austin, Dublin, Portland. • The top seven most photographed landmarks are (in order): Eiffel Tower, Paris; Trafalgar Square, London; Tate Modern museum, London; Big Ben, London; Notre Dame, Paris; The Eye, London; the Empire State Building, New York City. Interestingly, the Apple Store in midtown Manhattan was the fifth-most photographed place in New York City -- and the 28th-most photographed place in the world. The researchers developed techniques to identify places that people find interesting to photograph, showing results for thousands of locations at both city and landmark scales. "We developed classification methods for characterizing these locations from visual, textual and temporal features," said Daniel Huttenlocher, the John P. and Rilla Neafsey Professor of Computing, Information Science and Business and Stephen H. Weiss fellow. "These methods reveal that both visual and temporal features improve the ability to estimate the location of a photo compared to using just textual tags." As the creation of digital data accelerates, said CAC director David Lifka, "supercomputers and high-performance storage systems will be essential in order to quickly store, archive, preserve and retrieve large-scale data collections." The research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and by funding from Google, Yahoo! and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The CAC is supported by Cornell, the NSF, the Department of Defense, the Department of Agriculture and members of its corporate program. http://www.cs.cornell.edu/~dph/paper...omap-www09.pdf . -
Hilton is launching a New Brand DENIZEN Hotels and Montreal is on the list for a new concept hotel!!!! See the web site: http://www.denizenhotels.com/ press on Heart See also the following article: Hilton unveils new brand: Denizen Hotels Mar 10, 2009 Beverly Hills, Calif.--Hilton Hotels Corp. announced today the addition of Denizen Hotels, a global lifestyle brand, to the Hilton Family of Brands. Appearing throughout the world in international social epicenters, Denizen Hotels will cater to globally-conscious modern travelers of the world. “We are thrilled to welcome Denizen Hotels into our portfolio of brands,” said Christopher J. Nassetta, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hilton Hotels Corporation. “While we continue to operate in a challenging macro economic environment, the addition of Denizen Hotels demonstrates our commitment to continuing to invest in our long-term growth. Denizen Hotels, a lifestyle brand that will attract business and leisure travelers across cultures and generations and has an authenticity that will appeal to today’s sensibilities, will be highlighted by exceptional design and service at an accessible price point. This new brand rounds out our Luxury & Lifestyle portfolio, which includes the Waldorf Astoria, the Waldorf Astoria Collection and Conrad Hotels & Resorts.” Denizen Hotels will target corporate and leisure guests and creates an international intersection between business and pleasure with an environment that redefines how guests stay and how they play. Each hotel will offer both substance and style, creating a technology-rich, smart-in-design living environment, focusing on connecting emotionally with guests. From innovative check-in experiences to in-room curated comfort, Denizen Hotels will harness design and technology inspiration to provide a transformative guest experience for the world citizen. During a unique unveiling at the International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) in Berlin, a reconstructed vision of the brand experience will be presented to attendees within a shipping container. Designed to allow visitors to walk in and experience the space, this bold presentation embodies the eclecticism and global design language of the brand, expressed with the green thread of sustainability – one of the core values of the brand. “The term denizen literally means ‘citizen of the world,’” said Ross Klein, Global Head Luxury & Lifestyle Brands, Hilton Hotels Corporation. “We created this new brand in homage to guests who desire and deserve the best hotel experiences, both on an emotional and functional level. We are excited to introduce this new concept and look forward to welcoming the denizens of the world to our properties.” Denizen Hotels will offer a global voice with a local accent – cultivating a community for guests to connect within each unique location. In addition, Denizen Hotels will benefit from being a part of Hilton’s global infrastructure that supports a worldwide network of more than 3,200 hotels and 545,000 rooms in 77 countries. Highlighting local expertise, and blending with a solid support network, Denizen properties will provide an exceptional and practical experience at accessible prices in urban, non-urban and resort destinations. Social, interactive spaces will be at the heart of the Denizen Hotels brand, welcoming guests and providing exclusive hubs for relaxation and inspiration. From communal style society restaurant tables for the epicurean explorers to rejuvenation zones which will provide a personal technology-rich haven before or after check-in, Denizen Hotels creates a living community, anticipating guest needs and desires in and outside of their rooms and suites. Harnessing the diversity of world renowned architects and interior designers such as Charles Allem, Clodagh and David Rockwell to shape and envision each space, Denizen Hotels’internal and external spaces will reflect the influence and eclecticism of world class international design. Denizen Hotels is primarily aimed at the globally-conscious modern traveler. With developments planned in cosmopolitan, urban cities as well as resort destinations, Denizen Hotels provides for everything from an inspiring urban weekend getaway to a rejuvenating retreat or smart business trip in destinations across the globe. Denizen Hotels will range from unique, select experiences to larger destination resorts, creating a unified yet eclectic brand with the assurance of the Hilton brand reputation. Active development negotiations are currently underway for resorts and destinations in key cities throughout the globe; including, but not limited to Abu Dhabi, Austin, Beverly Hills (California), Buenos Aires, Cancun, Hollywood (California), Istanbul, Jerusalem, Las Vegas, London, Los Cabos, Miami, Montreal, Mumbai, New York City, Panama City and Washington D.C. “Hilton Hotels’ Luxury and Lifestyle brands have heralded a return to the authenticity of Conrad Hilton’s original vision, as realized in the 1950s,” added Ross Klein. “We listened to the comments and needs of our Hilton loyalists and are excited to introduce Denizen Hotels as our latest addition to these complementary, best-in-class brands.” For additional information on Denizen Hotels, please visit http://www.denizenhotels.com.
-
http://web.worldbaseballclassic.com/index.jsp Anyone following it? Canada plays the United States on Saturday and beat the New York Yankees 6-0 in exhibition.
-
City has designs on becoming fashion centre $2.4 million for clothing industry. Quebec, Montreal launch 3-year plan to promote local couturiers The GazetteMarch 4, 2009 Retail sales are declining and people are thinking twice before spending money to renew their wardrobe. But as far as Quebec's minister of economic development is concerned, support for the province's clothing industry never goes out of fashion. "It's clear that consumers are slowing their spending because they don't know what's going to happen to them," Raymond Bachand told reporters yesterday as the Quebec government and the city of Montreal announced plans to promote this city as a centre of fashion design. "But there are still 92 per cent of Quebecers who are at work," he noted. "This is the best timing because what we're doing ... is focusing on our designers, helping our designers ... getting buyers from around the world to come to this fashion show, getting our designers to go elsewhere in the world ... branding Montreal as a city of creation and design and putting it on the world market. "This is not a one-shot deal. ... This a long-term vision of building Montreal. ... We always have to keep in mind where we want to be in 18 months, where we want to be in two years." Bachand and Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay met with reporters during the first full day of Montreal Fashion Week to announce a three-year plan to promote internationally this city's fashion and design industry and the people working in it. During Fashion Week's kickoff Monday night, the province announced a $1.1-million investment in three local fashion enterprises in addition to the $82 million over three years earmarked in 2007 to bolster the industry. Tremblay, who this week confirmed the economic downturn has compelled the city to trim $100 million in costs, shared Bachand's opinion that the $2.4-million set aside for the plan would be money well spent. "Everyone's talking about stimulus in the economic situation we're going through," Tremblay said. "We want to encourage Montrealers, Quebecers and Canadians to buy local, to encourage our local designers, the ones that are known and the ones that are less known. "We want to make sure we have better recognition around the world. ... We don't want to copy what is happening in other cities or by being Paris, London or New York. "We want to be different." The local fashion industry employs about 50,000 people and accounts for more than 80 per cent of the exports by Quebec's clothing industry. © Copyright © The Montreal Gazette
-
Montreal has a hot brand City should plug culture: minister By LYNN MOORE, The GazetteFebruary 21, 2009 Montreal should be "branding" itself as a major cultural and creative capital using institutions such as the Canadiens, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Montreal International Jazz Festival, Quebec's minister of economic development told a gathering of business leaders. The global finance crises has exasperated setbacks such as the loss of the Grand Prix Formula 1 racing event while continuing job and production cuts by major companies have shaken citizens and business leaders alike, Raymond Bachand told a Metropolitan Montreal Chamber of Commerce luncheon. "I want to tell you that the solutions (to shaken confidence and setbacks) are staring us in the face ... and are under our feet, if only we would see them," Bachand said. Bachand's reference to the Canadiens as a "one of the best-known trademarks in the world" prompted a wave of laughter from the audience. A front-page article in yesterday's La Presse linked three Canadiens players with one of the suspects arrested last week in a police operation targeting organized crime. "When one journalist makes a mistake, we don't condemn all media (outlets). And just because one player makes a mistake, we don't forget about 100 years of history," Bachand said. lmoore@thegazette.canwest.com © Copyright © The Montreal Gazette
-
Mon père perd donc son emploi, avec 33 ans d'ancienneté à la poubelle.
-
Financial crisis bringing global economy to standstill: IMF By Veronica Smith WASHINGTON (AFP) – The International Monetary Fund slashed its economic growth forecasts Wednesday, predicting the severe financial crisis would brake global growth to the slowest pace in six decades. "World growth is projected to fall to 0.5 percent in 2009, its lowest rate since World War II," the IMF said in a sharp 1.75-point downward revision of November forecasts. "The world economy is facing a deep recession" under continued financial stress, it warned. The advanced economies were expected to contract by 2.0 percent, their first annual contraction in the post-war period and far more than the negative 0.3 percent the IMF estimated less than three months ago. "Despite wide-ranging policy actions, financial strains remain acute, pulling down the real economy," the 185-nation institution said, warning its projections were made in a "highly uncertain outlook."
-
(Courtesy of Gadling) Read more by clicking the link.
-
Démissions en bloc au conseil de Quebecor World 17 décembre 2008 - 09h27 LaPresseAffaires.com Pierre Karl Péladeau a démissionné du conseil de Quebecor World. Quebecor World (IQW) a annoncé mercredi que Pierre Karl Péladeau, Erik Péladeau (vice-président du conseil), Jean Neveu et Jean La Couture (président du comité de vérification) ont démissionné de son conseil d'administration. Selon le communiqué de Quebecor World, les quatre administrateurs ont jugé «que suite aux demande présentées par Quebecor et ses filiales dans le cadre du processus de restructuration de Quebecor World, qui s'est placée sous la protection du tribunal, que leur démission est souhaitable». Alain Rhéaume, l'administrateur principal, a été nommé en tant que nouveau président du comité de vérification de la Société et siège maintenant au comité de restructuration. André Caillé a été nommé à titre de membre du comité de vérification. M. Caillé demeure président du conseil de restructuration qui est toujours composé de M. Rhéaume, Michèle Desjardins et Jacques Mallette. Quebecor World ne croit pas que ces démissions auront un impact sur son objectif qui est de sortir de la protection contre les créanciers en tant qu'entreprise solide au sein de notre industrie. En janvier 2008, l'imprimeur s'est mis à l'abri de ses créanciers et Quebecor a par la suite rompu progressivement ses liens avec lui. Lors des derniers mois, Quebecor avait décidé de se distancer de sa filiale de l’imprimerie. Quebecor avait notamment fait connaître sa décision de retirer à Quebecor World le droit d'utiliser la raison sociale «Quebecor», dans le but «d'éliminer toute confusion dans l'esprit des gens». Cet automne, l'imprimeur a déménagé son siège social hors de l'édifice qui abrite celui de Quebecor.
-
L'imprimeur en difficultés a annoncé que Pierre Karl Péladeau, Erik Péladeau (vice-président du conseil), Jean Neveu et Jean La Couture (président du comité de vérification) ont démissionné du conseil. Pour en lire plus...
-
L'imprimerie québécoise a annoncé que Pierre Karl Péladeau, Érik Péladeau, Jean Neveu et Jean La Couture ont démissionné de son conseil d'administration. Pour en lire plus... -
Quebec companies getting pummeled By Paul Delean December 12, 2008 Quebec’s economy supposedly is weathering current financial turbulence better than other parts of the country, but you’d never know it from the stock listings. Several publicly traded Quebec-based companies that used to have significant share valuations have plummeted below, or near, the dreaded dollar mark, in some cases becoming penny stocks. The 2008 Dollarama portfolio includes familiar names like AbitibiBowater, Quebecor World, Mega Brands, Garda World, Shermag, Hart Stores and Bikini Village. What happens from here is anybody’s guess. Once stocks start descending to these levels, getting back to past peaks really isn’t the issue anymore. Survival is. Institutional investors are leery. Several actually have a rule against buying shares priced below $5. “What matters are a corporation’s fundamentals, not the stock price. But often, they’re really bad when a company’s stock goes way down in price, and leave you wondering if it’s worth anything at all,” said Benj Gallander, co-author of information newsletter Contra The Heard, who’s been investing in out-of-favour stocks for 15 years with partner Ben Stadelmann. While takeovers are always a possibility, Gallander said companies that really get beaten up usually are not prime targets. “Companies are more likely to buy companies that are going really well, at ridiculous prices, than the ones that are struggling,” he said. What’s making this downturn especially challenging is the tightness of credit, Gallander said. Cash-strapped companies in need of fresh funds are having a harder time with lenders, and investors have cooled to new stock issues. “It used to be a lot easier (for companies) to go to the well and get cash. These days, the competition for funds is so fierce, and not as many people are willing to invest. Investors are more selective. They want to see clean balance sheets, and preferably dividends and distributions, not a lot of debt and a history of losses. Ongoing losses are very dangerous if you don’t have the cash to support it.” Montreal portfolio manager Sebastian van Berkom of van Berkom & Associates, a small-cap specialist, said there are decent stocks in the dollar range, but there are also an awful lot of highly speculative ones. “If someone had the intestinal fortitude to put together the best of these Dollarama stocks into a diversified portfolio of maybe 50-70 names, you’d probably end up doing pretty well. Ten per cent would go bust, 10 per cent would be 10 baggers (grow by tenfold), and the other 80 per cent would do better than the overall market,” he said. But since even the largest and strongest global companies have been battered by this year’s downdraft in equity markets, investors are understandably gravitating to those names, some now at prices unseen in decades. “In this kind of environment, why speculate at the low end when you can buy quality companies at the lowest price they’ve traded at in years? You don’t need to speculate, so why take the risk? That’s why some of the fallen angels have come down so much,” van Berkom said. Some of the deeply discounted companies undoubtedly won’t survive their current woes, Gallander said. The biotech sector, constantly in need of cash tranfusions, is especially vulnerable. “They may have great products in the pipeline,” he said, “but who’ll finance them?” While there is potential upside in some of the names, he considers it a bit early to start bargain-hunting. “I’d be wary of redeploying cash at this point. Even if you pay more (for stocks) in a year, there could be less downside risk if the economy’s in better shape. Personally, I don’t see things coming back for years. There’ll be lots of bargains for a long time.” Here’ are some of the downtrodden, and the challenges they face. AbitibiBowater Inc.: A $35 stock in 2007, AbitibiBowater is now trading around 50 cents. The heavily-indebted newsprint manufacturer recently reported a third-quarter loss of $302 million ($5.23 a share) on flat revenue. Demand is plunging around the world as the newspaper industry contracts in the face of competition from the internet In the U.S. alone, it’s fallen 20 per cent this year. Gallander is one of its unhappy shareholders; his purchase price, prior to the merger with Bowater, was $56.24. “We looked at getting out a few times, didn’t, and got absolutely killed,” he said. “At the current price, there’s huge potential upside, or the possibility in six months that it could be worthless.” Garda World: Investors did not take kindly to the global security firm’s surprise second-quarter loss of $1 million (3 cents a share) and revenue decline of 5.5 per cent. After years of rapid growth by acquisition, Garda – which reports third-quarter results Monday – is talking about selling off part of its business to repay its sizable debt. At about $1.20 a share (down from $26.40 in 2006), “it’s extremely speculative,” van Berkom said. “Rather than offering to buy parts of the business now, competitors may wait to see if it survives and then buy.” Mega Brands: The Montreal-based toy company had a prosperous business until it took over Rose Art Industries of Livingston, N.J., in a $350-million deal in 2005. Since then, it’s taken a huge hit from lawsuits and recalls of the Magnetix toy line it acquired in the Rose Art deal and the stock has plunged from $29.74 a share in 2006 to about 50 cents this week. The company lost $122 million in the third quarter (after writing down $150 million for “goodwill impairment”), just had its credit rating downgraded by Moody’s (which described 2009 prospects as “grim”) and now has to cope with a sharp decline in consumer spending for its peak selling season. Revenue has nonetheless held up relatively well so far, Gallander said, so this one could still be a turnaround candidate. Hart Stores: The smallish department store chain keeps adding to its 89-store Hart and Bargain Giant network in eastern Canada, but same-store sales have been slipping as consumers retrench. Profit in the last quarter was $757,000, down from $1.7 million the previous year. The stock’s dropped even more, closing this week around $1, down from $6.55 in 2006. But Gallander, who bought in at $3.46, still likes the company, which pays a dividend of 10 cents a year. “They’re facing a slowdown, which could hurt the bottom line and the distribution, but so’s everyone else. Few companies can be resilient in this kind of economy.” Groupe Bikini Village: All that remains of the former Boutiques San Francisco and Les Ailes de La Mode empire is 59 swimsuit stores generating quarterly sales of about $13 million and net earnings of less than $1 million. “Our company has come through some challenging times,” president Yves Simard said earlier this year, “and today, we are a stronger company for it.” You wouldn’t know it from the price of the 172 million outstanding shares. Friday, it was 3 cents. The 2008 range has been 10 to 2.5 cents. Boutiques San Francisco was a $32 stock in 2000. Kangaroo Media: It’s had plenty of media coverage for its handheld audio/video devices that allow spectators at NASCAR and Formula One auto races to follow and hear the action more closely, but only one profitable quarter since it went public four years ago. The company generated $2.2 million in sales and rentals in its most recent quarter, but lost $3.4 million (10 cents a share). Loss of Montreal’s Grand Prix race in 2009 won’t help. Shares got as high as $8.19 in 2006 but traded at 5 cents yesterday.. Victhom Human Bionics: Outstanding technology – a prosthetic leg that remarkably replicates human movement – but no significant sales yet spells trouble for the Quebec City company. It had revenue of $531,997 in its most recent quarter, most of it royalty advances, but a net loss of $3.3 million. Investors are losing patience. The stock, which traded at $2 in 2004, has tumbled to 3 cents. Quebecor World: One of the world’s largest commercial printers, it entered creditor protection in Canada and the U.S. last January and seems unlikely to emerge. It lost $63.6 million (35 cents a share) in the most recent quarter on revenue of $1 billion, which pushed the total loss after nine months to $289 million. The stock, as high as $46.09 in 2002, traded yesterday at 4 cents. Unless you buy for a nickel in the hope of getting out at 7 or 8 cents a share, this is probably one to avoid, said Gallander, who prefers to steer clear of companies in creditor protection. Shermag: Asian imports, a contracting U.S. housing market and rapid appreciation of the Canadian dollar pulled the rug out from under the Sherbrooke-based furniture maker, which experienced a 40-per-cent drop in sales in the past year, has lost money for the last 11 quarters and entered creditor protection in May. (It was extended this week to April). A $16 stock in 2003, it was down to 7 cents yesterday. “We looked at Shermag closely before (credit protection), but backed off. They’re good operators, but the way things are now in their business, they just can’t compete,” Gallander said. Railpower Technologies: The manufacturer of hydrid railway locomotives and cranes has a lot of expenses and not many customers, and the economic slowdown won’t help. It lost $7.1 million in the most recent quarter on sales of just $2.9 million. A $6.69 stock in 2005, it traded at 14 cents this week. Mitec Telecom: Revenue has been rising for the designer and manufacturer of components for the wireless telecommunications industry, but it’s still having trouble turning a profit. Through the first half of its current fiscal year, sales grew 63 per cent to $25 million, for a net loss of $1.1 million. The company, which went public in 1996 at $6.50 a share, traded yesterday at 6 cents. Management is doing a commendable job of trying to turn around the company, said Gallander, who has owned the stock for several years. “They seem to be doing the right things, but they’re not out of the woods yet. In normal times, they’d be doing better than now. But the telecom sector, too, will be hit.” pdelean@thegazette.canwest.com © Copyright © The Montreal Gazette
-
Article intéressant tiré de Forbes sur l'immobilisme qui frappe l'occident
un sujet a posté WestAust dans L'actualité
Can We Afford Liberalism Now? Paul Johnson 10.29.08, 6:00 PM ET Forbes Magazine dated November 17, 2008 The financial crisis, detonated by greed and recklessness on Wall Street and in the City of London, is for the West a deep, self-inflicted wound. The beneficiary won't be Russia, which, with its fragile, energy-based economy, is likely to suffer more than we shall; it will be India and China. They will move into any power vacuum left by the collapse of Western self-confidence. If we seriously wish to repair the damage, we need to accept that this is fundamentally a moral crisis, not a financial one. It is the product of the self-indulgence and complacency born of our ultraliberal societies, which have substituted such pseudo-religions as political correctness and saving the planet for genuine distinctions between right and wrong and the cultivation of real virtues. India and China are progress-loving yet morally old-fashioned societies. They cannot afford liberalism. Their vast populations have only recently begun to emerge from subsistence living. Their strength is in the close, hard-working family unit in which parents train their children to work diligently at school and go to university when possible so they can acquire real and useful qualifications to then go out into the world as professional men and women determined to reach the top. I am impressed at the rapid headway Indians (benefiting from their knowledge of spoken and written English) are making in all the advanced sectors of the global employment market--science, technology, medicine, communications, the law, engineering and mining. They are ousting Westerners from top jobs, and rightly so. They are better qualified, more highly motivated and more reliable and honest. They have the old-style work ethic that we, in many cases, have lost. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was sneered at for stressing the Victorian virtues of industry and thrift. But she was right. These emergent Asian professionals have precisely those virtues, which is why they're moving forward and will eventually conquer the world--not by force but by hard work, intelligence and skill. Equally impressive is the sheer physical power of the Chinese workforce. Anyone who goes to Beijing or Shanghai can't help but notice the astonishing speed at which buildings are rising. There is nothing new in this. It was once the West that taught the world how to change its skylines through fast and furious efforts. One of the first examples was the Eiffel Tower, designed by engineering genius Gustave Eiffel (who also created the Statue of Liberty's internal structure). It was the centerpiece of the Paris Exposition of 1889. Using the principles of prefabrication, the 150 to 300 workers on the site put it up in only 26 months. Another example is the Empire State Building, which officially opened on May 1, 1931. Masterpiece of the firm of Shreve, Lamb & Harmon, the Empire State Building was completed in only one year and 45 days, a testament to business efficiency and the determination of the dedicated workforce. We couldn't match those time frames today, despite the advances in technology, because the advances have been outstripped by an even more rapid growth in complex and idiotic planning procedures, bureaucracy, myopic trade unionism and restrictive legislation. Wake-Up Call In London today, for example, residents are infuriated and visitors horrified by the way in which the main sewer and water lines are being replaced over much of the city. The work is agonizingly slow. Contractors claim they are paralyzed by the laws (especially so-called health and safety regulations) that now govern work practices. Depending on the type of activity, these regulations can lower productivity by 15% to 25%. They don't save lives or prevent injuries; they provide lucrative jobs for bureaucrats and fit in well with the ideas of union officials on how things should be run. They are a typical by-product of a liberal society. In an earlier age New York City would have defied the terrorists who brought down the World Trade Center by speedily rebuilding what they destroyed. What's happened instead is a sad and revealing story. In August China pulled off a propaganda triumph with its staging of the Summer Olympic Games, which involved huge construction projects--all completed on time. London is currently preparing for the 2012 games. All indications, so far, are that this is going to be an embarrassing and hugely expensive fiasco. I don't know whether this year's financial catastrophe will shock the politicians and people of the West into a new seriousness. There's certainly no sign of it yet. I had to laugh when a Chinese visitor recently said to me: "I see you're going back to the windmill in Britain. We Chinese cannot afford that." That comment puts things in a nutshell: We are traveling along the high road to incompetence and poverty, led by a farcical coalition of fashionably liberal academics on the make, assorted eco-crackpots and media wiseacres. This strain of liberalism is highly infectious. The Indians and Chinese have yet to be infected. They're still healthy, hard at work and going places, full speed ahead. Paul Johnson, eminent British historian and author; Lee Kuan Yew, minister mentor of Singapore; Ernesto Zedillo, director, Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, former president of Mexico; and David Malpass, chief economist for Bear Stearns Co., Inc., rotate in writing this column. To see past Current Events columns, visit our Web site at http://www.forbes.com/currentevents. -
La décision de Quebecor World d'acheter une nouvelle presse pour l'impression d'encarts publicitaires a fait sortir de leurs gonds les dirigeants de Quebecor. Pour en lire plus...
