Vodafone reports its results in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
Vodafone has some large minority stakes, which are not included in its consolidated turnover. In order to provide additional information on the overall scale and growth trends of its business, it publishes "proportionate turnover" figures, and these are included in the tables below. For example, if a business in which it owns a 45% stake has turnover of £10 billion, that equals £4.5 billion of proportionate turnover for Vodafone. Proportionate turnover is not an official accounting measure, and Vodafone's proportionate turnover should not be compared with other companies' statutory turnover.
Vodafone also produces proportionate customer number figures on a similar basis, e.g. if an operator in which it has a 30% stake has 10 million customers that equals 3 million proportionate Vodafone customers.
Year ended TurnoverProfit before Profit for theBasic epsProportionate 31 March £m tax £myear £m (pence) customers (m)
2014 38,346 (5,270) 59,420 42.10 434.0
2013 44,445 3,255 673 0.87 404.0
2012 46,417 9,549 7,003 13.74 446.5
2011 45,884 9,498 7,870 15.20 347.7
2010 44,472 8,674 8,618 16.44 341.1
2009 41,017 4,189 3,080 5.81 302.6
2008 35,478 9,001 6,756 12.56 260
2007 31,104 (2,383) (5,297)(8.94) 206.4
2006* 29,350 (14,835) (21,821) (35.01) 170.6
2005 34,073 7,951 6,518 9.68 154.8
2004 36,492 9,013 6,112 8.70 133.4
*Losses for year to 31 March 2006 reflect write downs of assets, principally in relation to the Mannesmann acquisition. Proportionate turnover includes £7,100 million from discontinued operations.
Criticisms
UK Uncut protestors outside a Vodafone shop in Liverpool.
In September 2010, an investigation by Private Eye magazine revealed certain details of Vodafone's tax avoidance activities. It was reported that Vodafone routed the acquisition of Mannesmann through a Luxembourg subsidiary, set up to avoid paying tax on the deal, and continued to place its profits in Luxembourg. Following a long legal struggle with HMRC (during which a senior HMRC official, John Connors, switched sides to become head of tax at Vodafone), it was eventually agreed that Vodafone would pay £1.25 billion related to the acquisition. Based on Vodafone's accounts, experts have estimated the potential tax bill written off as a result of the negotiations was over £6 billion.
The news of this legal tax avoidance sparked angry protests, beginning in October 2010 and ongoing as of April 2011, outside Vodafone shops across the UK, organised under the banner of UK Uncut. The first protests caused the simultaneous closure of over a dozen stores, including the flagship Oxford Street branch.
In 2011, Private Eye magazine and The Bureau of Investigative Journalism alleged that Vodafone's Swiss branches were run by a single part-time bookkeeper. The report claimed hardly any business was done from there, indicating that the main purpose of the
Zug office was tax avoidance. The report claimed the money was borrowed from the Swiss branch of the Luxembourg company, allowing it to take advantage of Luxembourg’s laws, which exempts foreign branches of companies from tax, and Swiss laws, which almost completely exempt local branches of foreign companies. According to the expose, this would have otherwise generated a British tax bill on a little over £2 billion. It said Vodafone publishes a single, combined set of accounts for its Luxembourg subsidiaries and their Swiss branches. For the one company, profits worth £1.6 billion were taxed at less than one per cent in 2011, and the profits are likely to have been attributed to Switzerland. In its response to these allegations, Vodafone has said the Swiss branch has not been involved in Vodafone’s global financing for a number of years. It is, therefore, irrelevant in respect to global financing arrangements.
Vodafone was also assessed a US$2.5 billion tax over its acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa's Indian assets in 2007, a demand that it contests. In a recent event dated 20 January 2012, the highest Indian court ruled that Vodafone is not liable for taxes and penalties of up to $4.4 billion (£2.8 billion).
Vodafone was implicated in the violent suppression of pro-democracy protests in Egypt's 2011 demonstrations. On 27 January, Vodafone, responsible for much of Egypt's telecommunication infrastructure, shut off all voice and data services for Egyptian citizens and businesses at the request of the Egyptian Government under Hosni Mubarak. The Daily Telegraph of the UK reported, "The Egyptian government’s action is unprecedented in the history of the internet." U.S.-based Internet intelligence firm Renesys stated, "in an action unprecedented in Internet history, the Egyptian government appears to have ordered service providers to shut down all international connections to the Internet."[97] Vodafone Group CEO Vittorio Colao said the company was obliged by law to comply with the instructions of the Egyptian government. In the company’s annual general meeting, on 26 June, the campaign groups Access and FairPensions asked Vodafone to endorse a plan to prevent facing similar demands in the future.
In Australia, particularly towards the end of 2010, Vodafone have been heavily criticised due to allegations of poor customer service and severe technical inadequacies, which earned them their nickname "Vodafail" – a website of the same name still exists. In response, they have developed a "new" network, and now provide a 30-day satisfaction guarantee.
Vodafone UK, like many other operators, has been criticised for holding customers on regular monthly billed contracts liable for almost unlimited roaming costs when their phones
are stolen abroad, despite being seemingly able to terminate costs of pay as you go contracts without issue.
……….
Aircel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the mobile network operator. For the comic book company, see Aircel Comics. For other uses, see Air cell.
Aircel
Type
Joint venture
Industry Telecommunications
Founded In 1999 Founded By ChinnakannanSivasankaran
Headquarters Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Key people Shaiq, COO[1]
AnupVikal, CFO[2]
Products Mobile telephony, wireless broadband services
Revenue US$ 1.159 billion (2012)[3]
Members 7.86 crore [4] (2014)
Parent
Maxis Communications (74%)[5]
Slogan
The joy of a little extra
Website aircel.com
Aircel is an Indian mobile network operator headquartered in Chennai, which offers voice and data services ranging from postpaid and prepaid plans, 2G and 3G services, broadband wireless access (BWA), Long Term Evolution (LTE) to value-added services (VAS). In 2006, Aircel was acquired by Malaysia’s biggest integrated communications service provider Maxis (Maxis Communication Berhard) and is a joint venture with Sindya Securities and Investments Pvt Ltd – Maxis holds 74% equity in the company.[5]
Aircel commenced operations in 1999 by ChinnakannanSivasankaran and today is the leading mobile operator in Tamil Nadu, Assam, Odisha, North-East India and Chennai. It is India's fifth-largest GSM mobile service provider and sixth largest mobile service provider (both GSM and CDMA),[6] with a subscriber base of over 79.62 million. It has a market share of 8% among wireless operators (including GSM, CDMA, and FWP operators) in the country.[7]
Aircel also obtained permission from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to provide international long distance (ILD) and national long distance (NLD) telephony services. It also has the largest service in Tamil Nadu.
Aircel became 5th largest telecom service provider in January 15 after the announcement of telecom minister that public operator BSNL lost so many customers and became 6th largest after Aircel .
Aircel 79.62 million BSNL 78.12 million Tata Docomo 68 million (January 15) Contents
• 1 Timeline and early history
• 2 Core business
o 2.1 3G
o 2.2 4G
o 2.3 Aircel Business Solutions o 2.4 Other business initiatives
• 3 Cost cutting
• 4 Sponsorships and brand ambassadors
• 5 Share-holders
• 6 Controversies and acquisition rumours
• 7 See also
• 8 References
• 9 External links Timeline and early history
Aircel started as a regional player in Tamil Nadu in 1999.[8] Soon, it became the leading operator in Tamil Nadu. At one time, Aircel was the fastest growing operator in India.[8]
Because of this, it attracted foreign investments and Malaysian operator Maxis Communications bought a 74 percent stake in the company in 2005 from its Indian owner ChinnakannanSivasankaran.
In 2010, the company bought 3G and wireless broadband (BWA) spectrum in 13 and 8 circles respectively in the 2010 spectrum auction.[8] It paid US$1.44 billion ( 79.1 billion) for the 3G spectrum and US$0.76 billion ( 49.76 billion) for BWA.[8] Of this, the company raised
$0.88 billion ( 48.3 billion) from Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC and Barclays. It also took a $0.44 billion ( 24.2 billion) one-year bridge loan from HSBC, Punjab National Bank and Axis Bank.[8] The company, as of November 2012, has around 1 million 3G customers. It is yet to launch its LTE network. Aircel expects to launch it in the first quarter of 2013.[9][dated info]
Core business 3G
On 19 May 2010, the 3G spectrum auction in India ended. Aircel paid 65,000 million for spectrum in 13 circles: Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, North East, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (East) &Uttarakhand and West Bengal.[10]
Aircel has introduced new price plans for its consumers and are termed to be the cheapest in the country. Following the key players in 3G, Aircel also slashed its 3G tariff.[11]
4G
On 11 June 2010, the broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum auction in India ended.
Aircelpaid 34380 million for spectrum in eight circles: Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, North East, Orissa, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.[12] It also has 3G spectrum in all these circles.
Aircel has launched 4G services in Tamil Nadu and Jammu & Kashmir in August 2014, becoming the only private telecom operator to offer all the three existing technologies of 2G, 3G and 4G in these markets .[13]
Chinese equipment maker ZTE announced on 30 December 2013, that it had won a contract to deploy a 4G broadband network based on LTE technology for Aircel. The LTE network will be launched in Tamil Nadu, and expand to a few other business critical circles in the first stage.[14][15] On 16 July 2014, it launched 4G services in four circles Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar and Odisha.[16]
Aircel Business Solutions
Aircel Business Solutions (ABS), part of Aircel, sells enterprise solutions such as Multiprotocol Label Switching Virtual Private Networks (MPLS VPNs), Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and managed video services on wireless platforms including WiMAX.
Other business initiatives
Aircel on 27 May 2011 launched the Apple iPhone 4 apart from BhartiAirtel, which is one of the most popular smartphones in the contemporary world.[17]
Telecom operator Aircel announced that its partnership with Wikipedia Foundation to offer free mobile Wikipedia access to its customers. The alliance is aimed at making knowledge available on Wikipedia accessible to all Aircel customers in both rural and urban areas for free. This initiative is a part of the foundation’s Wikipedia Zero Programme to reach mobile internet users around the World[18] But from 2 March 2015, subscribers of Aircel no longer can access Wikipedia Zero.
Cost cutting
As a part of a major re-organization in its operations, the company decided to halt operations in five telecom circles, namely Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala and Punjab.[19] It also decided to cut 600 jobs.[20] This is part of a series of steps to cut costs and thereby make the company more efficient in the highly competitive Indian telecom market. As of November 2012, Aircel has closed down dealerships in Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, UP west and Gujarat. Only online recharge facility is available in these circles. Aircel still continues its operations in Rajasthan and Punjab as of November 2012. It has more than 2.6 million customers in Rajasthan circle and is adding about 140,000 customers per month in this circle. As per the January 2015 subscription data published by TRAI, Aircel had a subscriber base stood at 79 million.[21]
Sponsorships and brand ambassadors
Aircel is one of the sponsors of the Indian Premier League cricket team Chennai Super Kings and I-League side ShillongLajong FC. It is also the major sponsors for the Chennai Open (the only ATP tennis tournament in India) and the Professional Golf Tour of India. Aircel also spearheads the Save the Tiger campaign for protecting India's tigers.
The brand ambassadors of Aircel include the Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Tamil actor Suriya. Aircel is also engaging with Mary Kom, the female boxer, Dhanush, another Tamil actor and Sameera Reddy, a Bollywood actress for their Celebrity Chat series.[22]
It was announced on 22 Oct 2014 that Aircel will be the principal sponsor for Atlético de Kolkata FC of the Indian Super League.
Share-holders
Maxis, Aircel's majority stake holder at that time, raised 11.2 billion (USD 3.36 billion) for its shareholders (UTSB), making it the largest IPO in Malaysia, Southeast Asia and Latin America.[citation needed] Maxis has 74% stake and the remaining 26% is owned by Apollo Hospitals.[citation needed]
Controversies and acquisition rumours
Aircel is being investigated by CBI for alleged irregularities in the Maxis takeover. According to CBI, Aircel's previous owner C. Sivasankaran was forced to sell his stake to Maxis by the then Telecom Minister DayanidhiMaran in 2005. As a result, Maxis did a quid pro quo investment of Rs. 5 billion in a DTH company owned by the Maran family.[23]
There were also rumours in September 2012 that the Russian company Sistema was in talks to acquire Aircel. However, that hasn't been confirmed by either of the companies.[24]
Sistema is the parent company of MTS, which is a CDMA operator in India.
Aircel was one among seven operators to receive notices from the Department of Telecommunications for not meeting radiation norms in their base tower stations in September 2012.[25]
As a part of its cost cutting practices, Aircel started scaling down services in five circles.
However, Aircel also shut down many cell sites[where?] which left many of its customers without coverage. Users had to travel to areas covered by Aircel in order to obtain a porting code.[26]
……….
Pizza Hut
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Pizza hut)
[hide]This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page.
This article's factual accuracy is disputed. (June 2014)
This article contains content that is written like an advertisement. (October 2013)
This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may only interest a specific audience. (July 2014)
This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2013)
The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (October 2013)
Pizza Hut, Inc.
Type
Wholly owned subsidiary
Industry Restaurants
Founded Wichita, Kansas (1958)
Founder Dan and Frank Carney
Headquarters 7100 Corporate Drive Plano, TX 75024, U.S.[1]
Number of locations 11,139 worldwide (as of 2012) Products Italian-American cuisine
pizza • pasta • Buffalo Wings
Number of employees160,000+
Parent
PepsiCo (1977–97)
Yum! Brands (1997–present)
Slogan
The Flavor of NOW
Website order.pizzahut.com/home
Pizza Hut is an American restaurant chain and international franchise, known for pizza and side dishes, it is now corporately known as Pizza Hut, Inc. and is a subsidiary of Yum!
Brands, Inc., the world's largest restaurant company.[2]
In 2012, the company had more than 6,000 Pizza Hut restaurants in the United States, and had more than 5,139 store locations in 94 other countries and territories around the world.[3]
Contents
• 1 Concept
• 2 History
• 3 Products
• 4 Advertising
• 5 Book It!
• 6 Controversy
• 7 See also
• 8 References
• 9 External links Concept
Athens, Ohio: distinctive roof and older white sign used before 1999, typical of U.S. Pizza Hut restaurants
Pizza Hut is split into several different restaurant formats; the original family-style dine-in locations; store front delivery and out locations; and hybrid locations that offer
carry-out, delivery, and dine-in options. Many full-size Pizza Hut locations offer lunch buffet, with
"all-you-can-eat" pizza, salad, bread sticks, and a special pasta. Additionally, Pizza Hut also has a number of other business concepts that are different from the store type; Pizza Hut
"Bistro" locations are "Red Roofs" which offer an expanded menu and slightly more upscale options.
A new, upscale concept was unveiled in 2004, called "Pizza Hut Italian Bistro". Unveiled at fifty locations nationwide, the Bistro is similar to a traditional Pizza Hut, except that new, Italian themed dishes are offered, such as penne pasta, chicken pomodoro, toasted sandwiches and other foods.[4] Instead of black, white, and red, Bistro locations feature a burgundy and tan motif.[5] Pizza Hut Bistros still serve the chain's traditional pizzas and sides as well. In some cases, Pizza Hut has replaced a "Red Roof" location with the new concept. "Pizza Hut Express" and "The Hut" locations are fast food restaurants. They offer a limited menu with many products not found at traditional Pizza Huts. These type of stores are often paired in a colocated location with a sibling brand such as WingStreet, KFC or Taco Bell, and are also found on college campuses, food courts, theme parks, bowling alleys, and in stores such as Target.
Vintage "Red Roof" locations, designed by architect Richard D. Burke, can be found throughout the United States and Canada; several exist in the UK,[citation needed] Australia, and México. In his book Orange Roofs, Golden Arches, Phillip Langdon wrote that the Pizza Hut "Red Roof" architecture "is something of a strange object – considered outside the realm of significant architecture, yet swiftly reflecting shifts in popular taste and unquestionably making an impact on daily life. These buildings rarely show up in architectural journals, yet they have become some of the most numerous and conspicuous in the United States today."[6]
Curbed.com reports, "Despite Pizza Hut's decision to discontinue the form when they made the shift toward delivery, there were still 6,304 'traditional units' standing as of 2004, each with the shingled roofs and trapezoidal windows signifying equal parts suburban comfort and strip-mall anomie." This building style was common in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The name "Red Roof" is somewhat anachronistic now, since many locations have brown roofs.
Dozens of "Red Roofs" have closed or been relocated or rebuilt.[7]
Many "Red Roof" branches have beer if not a full bar, music from a jukebox, and sometimes an arcade. In the mid 1980s, the company moved into other successful formats including delivery or carryout and the fast food "Express" model.
Pizza Hut concepts
Pizza Hut Bistro in Indianapolis, Indiana
Pizza Hut in Islamabad, Pakistan
Pizza Hut in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Pizza Hut in Santiago, Chile
Pizza Hut in Angeles City, Philippines
History
This section requires expansion with: succinct core corporate timeline. (July 2014)
Pizza Hut was founded in 1958 by two Wichita State University students, Frank and Dan Carney, as a single location in Wichita, Kansas.[8] The oldest continuously operating Pizza Hut in the world is in Manhattan, Kansas, in a shopping and tavern district known as Aggieville near Kansas State University. The first Pizza Hut restaurant east of the Mississippi was opened in Athens, Ohio in 1966 by Lawrence Berberick and Gary Meyers.
Pizza Hut's international presence includes Canada and Mexico in North America, India,[9]
[10] Bangladesh,[11][12] United Kingdom, Costa Rica, Ecuador[13] Nicaragua, Pakistan, and its Asian presence includes The Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, and Macau.[citation needed]
Pizza Hut was one of the first American franchises to open in Iraq.[14]
The company recently announced a rebrand in November 2014 to begin on November 19, 2014. The rebrand is the result of an effort to increase sales, which have dropped in the last
two years. The menu will also be expanded to introduce various items such as crust flavors and eleven new specialty pies. Work uniforms for employees will also be refreshed.[15]
Products
Pizza Hut Product logo
Pizza Hut experiments with new products frequently, discontinuing less successful ones. In North America, Pizza Hut has notably sold these: "Stuffed crust" pizza, with the outermost edge wrapped around a cylinder of mozzarella cheese; "Hand-Tossed", more like traditional pizzeria crusts; Thin 'N Crispy, a thin, crisp dough which was Pizza Hut's original style;
Dippin' Strips pizza, a pizza cut into small strips that can be dipped into a number of sauces;
and its largest product, the Bigfoot pizza.
The Stuffed Crust pizza was introduced in March 26, 1995. By the end of the year it had become one of their most popular lines.[16]
There are regional differences in the products and bases sold.[17] The company has localized to Southeast Asia with a baked rice dish called Curry Zazzle.[18][19]
On May 9, 2008, Pizza Hut created and sold in Seattle, Denver, and Dallas, "The Natural", featuring organic ingredients. This was discontinued on October 27, 2009 in the Dallas
On May 9, 2008, Pizza Hut created and sold in Seattle, Denver, and Dallas, "The Natural", featuring organic ingredients. This was discontinued on October 27, 2009 in the Dallas