| Switzerland : Swatch Group: closing of existing share repurchase ... | | Posted Thursday, November 23, 2006 1:13:00 PM by Blog57 Team | | Under the completed share repurchase program, which ran from March 24, 2006 to November 22, 2006, 704'000 bearer shares with a nominal value of CHF2.25 each, and 3'430'000 registered shares with a nominal value of CHF 0.45 each have been repurchased by Swatch Group. The shares were repurchased after deduction of the Swiss federal withholding tax. The intended use of the shares repurchased, will be determined at a later date. Herewith, and without time limitation, Swatch Group retains the full range of possibilities for the use of the repurchased shares (e.g. capital reduction, acquisitions, equity-linked transactions, employee participation or resale). .... | |
| |
| | | Nigeria: 2006 MTN Half Marathon - Naca Joins Nike and Swatch As Partners | | Posted Sunday, November 12, 2006 7:26:22 PM by Blog57 Team | | The National Action Committee against AIDS (NACA) has joined the train of corporate bodies and government partners collaborating with Nigeria's Foremost Telephony Service Provider, MTN to put the fight against the scourge of HIV/AIDS on the front burner of National discourse through the 2006 Lagos International Half Marathon which is dedicated to the fight against the scourge under the theme "Move ahead Run against AIDS" and billed for Lagos on December 2, 2006. Making the disclosure, Kola Oyeyemi, Senior Manager, Masterbrands, MTN applauded the decision of Nigeria 's premier anti-AIDS establishment to join MTN in stemming the ominous tide of HIV/ AIDS, adding that it is indicative of the public acknowledgment of the role of sports in the fight against the pandemic. .... | |
| |
| | | Amtrak passengers see enhanced security | | Posted Wednesday, November 08, 2006 7:21:03 PM by Blog57 Team | | DEPEW, N.Y. A federal pilot program brings increased security to the Amtrak station in Depew in western New York. Dozens of Amtrak passengers were sniffed' for explosives residue yesterday before they boarded trains at the Depew rail station. Transportation Security Administration officers, armed with four Sabre 4000 portable detection units, screened random passengers. In the 30-second screenings, T-S-A officers wipe down passengers' carry-on luggage with a special cloth to collect any traces of explosives. The cloth swatch is fed into a hand-held detection device for analysis. The Sabre 4000 units are on loan from T-S-A headquarters to the Buffalo region through the end of the month. They're similar in size and shape to a hand-held vacuum cleaner. The T-S-A also has brought in two dog teams as part of the explosives-detection program.... | |
| |
| | | Bookshelf: House Beautiful how-tos | | Posted Sunday, November 05, 2006 3:49:00 AM by Blog57 Team | | House Beautiful magazine puts its expert advice together in two new better-living books - "House Beautiful Color Workshop" and "House Beautiful Storage Workshop" (Sterling Publishing Co, $32.95 each). Both are packed with photos, the best idea-starters. Color Workshop gives a step-by-step tutorial on choosing a color scheme and seeing it through - including assembling a swatch board, choosing complementary colors and working with pattern. And Storage Workshop tackles general and specific-room issues as well as working with personal style. The neat-and-tidy as well as the collectors will find solutions to storage problems. Joy Kraft .... | |
| |
| | | Assessing the flood damage | | Posted Wednesday, November 01, 2006 11:36:59 AM by Blog57 Team | | In a joint press conference held at the Calcasieu Parish Emergency Operations Center yesterday, the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and the Office of Emergency Preparedness (OEP) announced that a 20 -member team of representatives from FEMA, the Governor's Office of Homeland Security, Red Cross, and OEP are in the Parish to collect information and a damage assessment of the recent rain event October 25th through the 27th.Working in cooperation with the Calcasieu Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, the team's main objective is to help provide information to the federal government in the hope of getting a federal disaster declaration. .... | |
| |
| | | ASIAN POP / See you in the funny pages | | Posted Saturday, October 28, 2006 11:32:59 AM by Blog57 Team | | It may come as a surprise to you that one of the most powerful and entertaining works of literature to be published this year is a comic book. But it shouldn't. Jeff Yang talks to Gene Yang, creator of "American Born Chinese," the first comic book to be nominated for the greatest honor in American literature. Gene Yang has had a pretty crazy couple months. Yang teaches and does database management for a Catholic high school in Oakland. And because his school is in the midst of switching systems, he's spent endless hours coding and testing custom forms, printing out sample reports, and providing ongoing status updates to the administration. "This is the database that handles grading, class schedules, transcripts, progress reports, everything," says Yang. "It all had to be moved over to the new system, so it's a huge amount of work.... | |
| |
| | | UPDATE: Swatch 1st Half Net Profit +24% To CHF330 Million, Upbeat ... | | Posted Friday, October 27, 2006 1:26:55 PM by Blog57 Team | | (This updates an item that ran at 0522 GMT, with comment from analysts, additional detail, background and a fresh share price.) By Goran Mijuk Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES ZURICH -(Dow Jones)- Swatch Group AG (UHR.VX), the world largest watch maker in terms of sales, said Thursday that first-half net profit rose 24% and that strong demand for luxury timepieces should continue through the second half and boost full-year earnings. Swatch also said it was considering takeovers if opportunities arise. The Biel, Switzerland-based company said net profit for the six months ended June 30 jumped to CHF330 million from CHF267 million the year-ago half, as positive currency effects and gains at its Electronic Systems unit also helped the bottom line. The figure was ahead of analysts' estimates of CHF283.8 million.... | |
| |
| | | Swatch Group declines to comment on Swatch growth | | Posted Tuesday, October 24, 2006 7:18:30 PM by Blog57 Team | | ZURICH, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Swatch Group , owner of the Swatch watch brand, declined to comment on the unit's current sales growth after a magazine published comments from an interview held two months ago that said growth was running at up to 16 percent. The bi-weekly Swiss magazine "Bilanz" on Tuesday quoted Swatch Group Chairman Nicolas Hayek as saying that the Swatch brand, known for its colourful plastic watches, saw current sales growth of as much as 16 percent. A spokeswoman for the group said later that the interview was conducted in August and the growth rate was relevant in that period. "The interview was done in mid-August and the comment relates to that point in time," the spokeswoman said, declining to comment on current growth rates at the brand. In the interview Hayek said that Swatch sales growth was boosted by strong demand in Asia.... | |
| |
| | | Michelle Wie's Agent, Ross Berlin, Leaves Golfer to Rejoin Tour | | Posted Saturday, October 21, 2006 7:12:39 AM by Blog57 Team | | Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Ross Berlin, who has represented teenage golfer Michelle Wie since she turned professional last year, has left the William Morris Agency to rejoin the U.S. PGA Tour. Greg Nared, who handled Tiger Woods's business affairs for the first eight years of his career during a 15-year stint with Nike Inc., joined William Morris and will now represent Wie, the two companies said. Berlin is the latest person to part with Wie, a 17-year-old Hawaiian who has yet to win an LPGA event or advance to weekend play in a top-line men's tournament, including four events this year. She fired her caddie, Greg Johnston, in August, and has since used two different caddies. Nared, a former basketball player at the University of Maryland, was instrumental in Nike's recruitment of Wie.... | |
| |
| | | Beds, bars and art | | Posted Tuesday, October 17, 2006 11:22:58 PM by Blog57 Team | | You won't have to travel to San Francisco or Las Vegas for a drink from a bed inside a top-of-the-line, furnished club anymore. At Second and North Sierra streets, 210 North will bring upscale drinking to Reno when it opens Oct. 26. "This place is going to be a lot of stimulus for the senses," said Jill Gianoli, co-owner of 210 North. The space, previously leased by Eddie's Fabulous 50s and Reno Live, has been gutted, and several millions of dollars has been invested to remodel, redecorate and buy state of the art sound equipment, Gianoli said. "It's nothing like what was here before," Gianoli said. Gianoli, who formerly ran the BuBinga Nightclub in the Eldorado, joined with Rob Stone to open the club. Stone worked as the entertainment director for the Eldorado for 26 years.... | |
| |
| |
|
|
