2010 Week 29

l 梅鐸 要買英付費電視一哥 【經濟日報╱編譯吳柏賢／綜合外電】2010.06.16

為強化數位新聞事業的獲利能力並鞏固電視事業，新聞公司（News Corp）已向英國最大付費電視業者英國天空廣播公司（BSkyB）提出收購案，並宣布收購電子書科技公司Skiff與投資線上付費業者「新聞線上」（Journalism Online）。消息人士指出，新聞公司提出的非正式收購提議，欲以每股700 便士、總價78億英鎊（115億美元）的現金買下BSkyB的61%股權，價碼高於上周所提的每股675便士。若達成協議，將創該媒體集團數年來最大的收購金額。新聞公司目前已擁有BSkyB39%股權。目前雙方尚未就收購價取得共識。BSkyB的獨立董事接受摩根士丹利（Morgan Stanley）與瑞銀（UBS）的建議，表示將接受每股超過800便士的價格，但由於預期可能遭遇監管當局阻礙，雙方同意合作取得監管當局首肯再進入正式協商。這項收購案顯示新聞公司有意強化旗下最賺錢的事業。新聞公司近年來不遺餘力地發展高畫質電視等新世代電視服務，分析師表示，新聞集團若成功收購BSkyB的其餘股權，將可受惠於BSkyB所費不貲的投資。

BSkyB的電視部門自1989年推出以來，以轉播英超足球聯賽為事業重心，電視、網路與手機等服務的收視戶約977萬，成功躋身歐洲媒體巨擘之列，但近年來呈現虧損；BSkyB的市值約為105億英鎊（155億美元）。此外，新聞公司向赫斯特（Hearst）收購Skiff與投資「新聞線上」，顯示該集團意圖強化網路付費新聞事業，並將影音資訊全面深入快速成長的平板電腦與手機等裝置。SKiff為平板電腦與手機等行動裝置提供出版品的後製工程，如數位格式的轉換與提供廣告的方式等。Skiff的數位出版系統也給予數位出版商較多的出版品外觀與商業模式主控權，號稱比蘋果與亞馬遜（Amazon）對出版商更友善。新聞公司並未透露收購Skiff與投資新聞線上的條件。消息人士指出，新聞公司將不同於赫斯特的做法，不會將Skiff獨立經營，而將把Skiff併入旗下公司，並指出Google 也有意收購Skiff，但Google發言人拒絕回應。

20100711: BSY有虧損嗎？

l How Wal-Mart Creates Working Capital 07/09/10

Wal-Mart (WMT) is by far the largest retailer in the world with more than $400 billion in store revenues in 2009, far ahead of competitors like Costco (COST), Target (TGT) and Best Buy(BBY). Retail and consumer goods manufacturers realize significant sales through Wal-Mart's retail channel. This gives Wal-Mart leverage to influence and push suppliers to sell at cheaper prices. Wal-Mart, with its power over suppliers and strong credit quality, can thus efficiently manage its working capital. Below we briefly discuss the components of Wal-Mart's working capital, and how they together add value to the company.

Rotating Inventory

Wal-Mart had an inventory of close to $34.5 billion at the end of 2008 and around $33 billion at the end of 2009. With annual sales of more than $400 billion in 2009, the company is rotating about its entire inventory almost every month. The purpose of keeping inventory low is to reduce overhead costs related to inventory management as well as reduce the risk of inventory obsolescence (leading to markdowns).

obsolescence :[͵ɑbsəˋlɛsəns] 陳舊過時

Freeing Up Cash For Investments

Wal-Mart currently maintains accounts payable of close to $30 billion, while its accounts receivables are close to $4 billion. Accounts payable is the amount that Wal-Mart is yet to pay to its suppliers for the inventory it has purchased, while accounts receivable is the sales revenue that Wal-Mart is yet to collect from its customers.
Wal-Mart has been able to maintain the wide difference between payables and receivables because of its influence over the suppliers and the brand image that it has built over the years. Higher payables balances allow Wal-Mart to hold significant cash that it can invest in its own business or that can earn interest. Wal-Mart can earn more than $2 million per day based on earning a modest 3% annualized return on $30 billion of cash yet to be paid to its suppliers.

Leverage Over Suppliers

Wal-Mart's accounts payable grew from around $29 billion at the end of 2008 to around $30.5 billion at the end of 2009. During the same period, its inventory balance declined from about $34.5 billion to $33 billion. The company maintains this trend will continue going forward and expects its payables to grow faster than its inventory. Such a scenario will reduce net working capital for Wal-Mart and free up additional cash for investment.
We have conservatively estimated that Wal-Mart's net working capital (as a percentage of Wal-Mart's revenues) remain flat. However, you can modify our forecast below to see how Wal-Mart's stock could be positively impacted if its net working capital (as % of revenues) were to decrease over time as a result of Wal-Mart's ability to grow its payables faster than its inventory. Code for chart of Wal-Mart's Net Working Capital as % of Revenues: