Daily BPO news alert 18/05/2006
BPO Business Intelligence
GENERAL
Fujitsu to Invest $20Mn, Hire 2,500 in
India by 2008
According to media reports, Fujitsu Consulting, a
subsidiary of Japan-headquartered Fujitsu, is expected to invest about USD 20
million and hire about 2,500 people for its Indian operations by 2008. The
company plans to invest the amount to set up a new center as well as expand the
existing centers. The new center will focus on technologies such as Oracle
and SAP. The company plans to have further investments in India when the new
center starts its operations for the European and Japanese
markets.
Source: Globalsourcingnow.com
17/05/06
ACS Tops
Industry Listing for Most Announced BPO and IT Outsourcing Contracts in
2005
Affiliated Computer Services, Inc., a premier provider of business
process outsourcing and information technology solutions, has announced that it
heads a list compiled by Gartner, of the top 10 outsourcing vendors in terms of
business process outsourcing (BPO) or information technology (IT) outsourcing
contracts announced in 2005. ACS leads the list with 41 announced deals,
followed by IBM with 39, CSC with 27, EDS with 24 and Accenture with 18. The
analyst firm also reported that corporate BPO and IT outsourcing is happening
with more and more frequency among the largest global companies. Prior to 2001,
only 31 percent of the top-100 companies in the world had awarded at least one
BPO or IT contract to an outside vendor, compared to 53 percent of the top-100
global companies since 2001. Source:
Yahoo Finance 17/05/2006
PUBLIC
SECTOR
Cabinet committee list reveals PM's priorities
The new
list of cabinet committees was drawn up following the recent cabinet reshuffle.
Among the 15 to be chaired by the prime minister are NHS reform, schools policy,
and energy and the environment which is likely to play an important role in
forming government policy on nuclear power. Blair also chairs committees on
asylum and immigration, Iraq, NHS reform, public service reform and on
regulation and bureaucracy. Deputy prime minister John Prescott will chair nine
committees, four of them sub-committees, and will be deputy chairman of a
further seven. He was previously chairman of five in total. They will include
committees covering areas formerly the remit of Office of the Deputy Prime
Minister, including housing and planning, local and regional development, as
well as the committee on animal rights activists and a newly-created committee
to examine the Post Office network. Source: epolitix.com 17/05/2006
Charity
Commission launches call centre and info database for
enquiries
Yesterday the first calls were made toCharity Commission Direct - the
charity regulator's co-ordinated one-stop shop for charity enquiries. This
service, based in Liverpool, is the culmination of the change of focus and
direction delivered by the Commission's strategic review. All new enquiries to
the Commission via any channel, whether by phone, email, post or fax, will come
directly to a single point - Charity Commission Direct. Source: publictechnology.net
17/05/2006
FINANCIAL
SERVICES
Aviva sells 50% stake in Lex Vehicle Leasing to
HBOS
UK-based insurance group Aviva is to sell its 50% stake in Lex Vehicle
Leasing (LVL) to HBOS, its existing 50:50 joint venture partner in the business,
for GBP226.8 million. Aviva acquired its 50% stake in LVL as part of its
acquisition of RAC last year. Under the terms of the LVL joint venture
agreement, the change of control of RAC provided HBOS with the right to acquire
Aviva's 50% interest in LVL. As announced by Aviva on October 11, 2005, HBOS
chose to exercise this right. The sale of LVL is expected to complete by May 31,
2006. HBOS will then take full ownership of this market-leading vehicle leasing
business, which currently manages 175,000 vehicles. Source: Datamonitor
17/05/06
PRIVATE
SECTOR
HP 2Q ’06 Revenue Reaches $22.6Bn, Up 5%
HP has
reported revenues of USD 22.6 billion for 2Q 2006, an increase of 5 percent over
the previous year’s figures. The company’s net income for the quarter
increased 51 percent over the 2Q 2005 figures to reach USD 1.5 billion.
Its operating margin for 2Q 2006 was 7.3 percent as compared to 5.4 percent in
2Q 2005. The company’s revenues from its services division registered a 2
percent year-on-year decline to reach USD 3.9 billion, while operating profit at
the division was USD 345 million. The 2Q 2006 revenues from managed
services increased 2 percent year-on-year. The company’s revenue from its
software division was USD 330 million, an increase of 20 percent over 2Q
2005. The company forecasts its 3Q 2006 revenues to be about USD 21.75 billion
and FY 2006 revenues to be about USD 91 billion. Source: Globalsourcingnow.com 17/05/06
Berkshire
Hathaway invests in Tesco
Billionaire US investor Warren Buffett has put his
faith in UK grocery giant Tesco by buying a GBP200 million stake in the company
through his Berkshire Hathaway investment group. The stake consists of 57.6
million shares in the supermarket, representing almost 1% of the company.
Details of the investment were revealed in a US regulatory filing, although
Tesco officials have made no comments on the news. Warren Buffett, the world's
second richest man after Bill Gates, is usually associated with US blue chip
companies such as Coca-Cola, where he recently stepped down from the board of
directors in order to devote more time to his investments. The choice of Tesco
as a departure from US companies will be seen as a stamp of approval for the UK
supermarket chain. Source:
Datamonitor 17/05/06
Boots to
move 100 IT jobs back in-house
High street health and beauty retailer
Boots is set to bring 100 IT jobs back in-house after renegotiating a £710m
technology outsourcing contract with IBM. The company initially signed the
10-year deal back in 2002, with the aim of saving £130m by overhauling its IT
infrastructure. But Boots announced its intention to renegotiate the deal with
IBM earlier this year, less than halfway through the contract, because much of
the IT renewal programme is now complete. A spokesman for Boots said the company
is now discussing the final details of moving 100 of the 500 IT jobs back
in-house with IBM. Source:
PersonnelToday.com 17/05/2006
UTILITIES
EU raids power company offices in
antitrust crackdown
In a significant change of gear in its attitude
towards competition law in the energy sector, EU officials raided the offices of
20 utility firms across six member states on May 16 in a bid to gather evidence
of anti-competitive practices. Companies in Italy, Belgium, France, Austria and
Germany were among those to face surprise inspections from teams representing
the EU. Among the leading European energy firms affected were Gaz de France,
Germany's RWE and the Belgian utility Distrigas, which the European Commission
revealed on May 16 is already facing charges on antitrust grounds. However the
EU has so far not named the other companies involved. The raids "were based on
suspicions of anti-competitive behavior, indulging in restrictive market
practices or abuse of a dominant position," the commission's spokesman Jonathan
Todd told reporters. Source:
Datamonitor 17/05/06
NORTH
AMERICA
Westar Energy Shareholders Re-Elect Three Directors
Westar
Energy, Inc. shareholders re-elected three members of the company's Board of
Directors at the 2006 Westar Energy Annual Meeting of Shareholders conducted in
Wichita today. Directors R.A. Edwards and Sandra A.J. Lawrence and Chairman of
the Board Charles Q. Chandler IV were re-elected to three-year terms.
Shareholders also ratified the appointment of Deloitte & Touche LLP as
Westar Energy's independent auditor for 2006. Westar Energy, Inc. (NYSE: WR) is
the largest electric utility in Kansas, providing electric service to about
660,000 customers in the state. Westar Energy has nearly 6,000 megawatts of
electric generation capacity and operates and coordinates approximately 33,000
miles of electric distribution and transmission lines. Source: Energy Central 15/05/2006
Regards
Anish
Agarwal
Business Intelligence
Mob:
09811801202