Walmart unveils mobile pay service, challenging Apple

DEC 10, 201511:48 PM

[WASHINGTON] Walmart on Thursday announced it was launching its own mobile payments service, challenging similar offerings from Apple, Samsung, Google and others.

The world's biggest retailer said it would be adding a feature to its mobile application for Android and iOS handsets to allow consumers to tap and pay at its stores.

It will be introduced at a small number of US stores later this month and rolled out next year across the United States.

"The simplicity and ease of Walmart Pay comes not only from how it works, but also in how it's been built," said Daniel Eckert, a Walmart senior vice president.

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"We made a strategic decision to design Walmart Pay to work with almost any smartphone and accept almost any payment type - even allowing for the integration of other mobile wallets in the future. The result is an innovation that will make the ease of mobile payments a reality for millions of Americans." The move comes following the launch last year of Apple Pay for users of iPhones, and others introduced or ramped up from Samsung, Google and PayPal. US banking group JPMorgan Chase and South Korean electronics group LG also are launching mobile pay applications.

Walmart said some 22 million customers currently use its mobile application, which will be upgraded to include the mobile payment feature.

The new service will connect to the handset camera, which will scan a code displayed at the register to complete the transaction and deliver an electronic receipt.

The mobile payment feature "was built to make shopping faster and easier," said Neil Ashe, head of Walmart Global eCommerce.

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Yum to return US$6.2b to shareholders before China separation

DEC 11, 201512:01 AM

[LOS ANGELES] Yum Brands Inc said it planned to return up to $6.2 billion to shareholders before completing the separation of its China business, which is expected by the end of 2016.

The KFC and Pizza Hut owner, which has been hit by food scandals and marketing missteps in China, said same-restaurant sales in the country fell about 3 per cent in November.

Same-store sales fell 1 per cent at KFC outlets and 9 per cent at Pizza Hut restaurants.

The company said it was targeting earnings per share growth of about 15 per cent annually for Yum China from 2017.

Yum Brands said it would receive a license fee of 3 per cent of system sales for KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell in China, with no initial fees for new units opened in China.

The fee is at the lower end of the 3-3.5 per cent range analysts had expected.

The lower China royalty - compared with the global royalty rate of 4-6 per cent - gives operators in the country some breathing room, analysts said.

The company said it expects 96 per cent of its restaurants to be franchised by the end of 2017, up from 79 per cent at the end of 2014. "This implied rate of 4 per cent company-owned stores should put the company more in line with some of the approaches we have seen taken by some other publicly traded companies that we find favourable," Nomura Securities analyst Mark Kalinowski wrote in a note.

Most US-based fast food chains, including McDonald's Corp and Wendy's Co, are franchising out more restaurants to cut costs.

Yum Brands said it would discuss further details of the planned separation of its China business at its investor conference in Plano, Texas later on Thursday.

The 6,900-restaurant China division accounted for 54 per cent of Yum's overall operating profit in the third quarter.

Yum China's sales at established restaurants have fallen in four of the last five quarters.

Yum Brands said overall earnings per share, excluding special items, would be flat or grow by a low single-digit percentage in the just-concluded fiscal year, as forecast.

REUTERS

    
 

AIG announces management changes

DEC 10, 201510:52 PM

[BENGALURU] Insurer American International Group Plc announced several changes to executive management on Thursday, including new chief financial and chief risk officers.

David Herzog will continue as CFO through the filing of AIG's 2015 10-K annual report, after which Chief Risk Officer Sid Sankaran will take his place, AIG said in a statement.

Last year's 10-K report was filed with the Securities Exchange on Feb 20.

Alessa Quane will replace Sankaran as chief risk officer and continue in the role of chief corporate actuary.

REUTERS

StanChart appoints Mathew to corporate finance position

Standard Chartered Plc, which generates most of its income from emerging markets, appointed Topsy Mathew as corporate finance head for South Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. 

PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

DEC 10, 20158:53 PM

[MUMBAI] Standard Chartered Plc, which generates most of its income from emerging markets, appointed Topsy Mathew as corporate finance head for South Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Mathew, who was mergers and acquisitions head for South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, will retain his position overseeing South Asian M&A, Standard Chartered said in an e-mailed response to questions Thursday. He replaces Saurabh Agrawal, who is leaving the UK bank, people with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.

Agrawal, 46, is leaving just months after being given responsibility in October for the Asean region in addition to his role as South Asia corporate finance head, according to the people. He joined Standard Chartered in 2011 from Bank of America Corp, where he was a managing director and head of India investment banking.

Standard Chartered has seen its expansion in emerging markets like India lead to a surge in bad debts. Chief Executive Officer Bill Winters has announced about 15,000 job cuts since taking over from Peter Sands in June and said the bank will restructure or exit about US$100 billion of assets.

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David Law, who is currently head of corporate finance for Africa and the Middle East, will take on additional responsibility for mergers and acquisitions in that region after Mathew's promotion, according to the bank's statement.

Kunal Pradhan, a Mumbai-based spokesman for Standard Chartered, declined to comment on Agrawal's departure.

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Chinese billionaire Guo Guangchang unreachable, Caixin reports

DEC 10, 20157:31 PM

[SHANGHAI] Chinese billionaire Guo Guangchang, chairman of conglomerate Fosun Group, is unreachable, Caixin magazine reports on its website, citing unidentified people.

The company is "handling" the situation, Fosun International chief executive officer Liang Xinjun said in a mobile text message. Calls to Mr Liang's mobile phone went unanswered.

Fosun Group, which owns Club Mediterranee SA and bought a stake in Cirque du Soleil, owns businesses across insurance, pharmaceuticals and commodities.

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