Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Canada's Forest Industry Hiring Again

The forestry sector is hiring again.
Pulp and paper companies expect to boost their work force by 60,000 over the next seven years, a significant turnaround for an industry that not so long ago was a basket case, laying off workers by the tens of thousands as mills shut down across the country.

IP Finalizes Transaction with Grupo Orsa, Brazil

International Paper Finalizes Transaction with Grupo Orsa in Brazil: International Paper and Brazilian corrugated packaging producer Jari Celulose, Embalagens e Papel S.A., a Grupo Orsa company, have finalized the formation of Orsa International Paper Embalagens S.A. The new entity, in which IP will hold a 75 percent stake, includes three containerboard mills and four box plants, which make up Jari's former industrial packaging assets.

Quad/Graphics Sells Plant

An investment group is paying nearly $4.4 million for the former Quad/Graphics printing plant in Depew, with plans to subdivide the massive facility for a collection of manufacturing and distribution tenants.
The sale of the 850,000-square-foot plant on George Urban Boulevard to partners Frank J. Campofelice and Peter G. Wilson closed Monday, said Guy J. Agostinelli, the buyers' attorney, and Richard Schechter, senior director with Pyramid Brokerage Co., which marketed the property.

Hearst Has Record-Breaking March

After a strong showing in September, Hearst Magazines is looking to clean up again with its March issues on the strength of fashion, retail, luxury and beauty ads. With much to crow about, the company got a jump on its rivals in putting out its numbers for the March issue, which, along with September, are fashion magazines' biggest of the year.
Elle, Marie Claire, Bazaar, Cosmo all boosted ad pages.

Forecast: U.S. Newspaper Ad Revenues to Fall

Forecast: U.S. Newspaper Ad Revenues, Print/Digital: U.S. newspaper print ad revenues are expected to drop significantly in the coming years, slipping from $19.14 billion in 2012 to $16.4 billion in 2016. Digital revenues, which include all digital platforms, are expected to rise slightly to $4 billion in 2016, from $3.4 billion in 2012 -- thus not covering losses from print.

Prometheus Global Names CEO

Yahoo’s former interim-CEO Ross Levinsohn (pictured) may have been passed over for Marissa Mayer this summer, but he is now back in an executive driver’s seat—this time as CEO of Prometheus Global Media, publisher of Adweek, The Hollywood Reporter, Back Stage and Billboard, among others.  In an additional change-up that comes with the new CEO, the company has been renamed Guggenheim Digital Media (GDM), according to an announcement posted on Adweek.

WSJ Launches New Magazine

Whether it’s taking stock of one’s own wealth or gawking at others,’ people’s interest in money seems limitless. So says The Wall Street Journal, which is giving personal finance the glossy treatment with a new magazine insert, WSJ. Money.
WSJ. Money is a spinoff of WSJ. Magazine, the newspaper’s luxury lifestyle insert. The title is slated to make its debut March 9 and publish four times this year. It’ll be distributed in the Journal’s weekend edition in the U.S., which has a circulation of 2.3 million. The goal is for 50 pages per issue, including 30 edit and 20 ad pages.

BtoB Launches Online Edition

BtoB, the Crain Communications Inc. magazine focusing on business-to-business marketing and advertising, is increasing its publication frequency with the launch today of its twice-monthly BtoB Online Edition, a full-content digital publication.

Deloitte: Top 250 Retailers Hit $4 Trillion in Revenues

The revenues of the world's 250 largest retailers topped $4 trillion* in fiscal year 2011 (encompassing companies' fiscal years ended through June 2012), according to the 2013 Global Powers of Retailing  report from Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL), in conjunction with STORES Media. This is a 5 percent year-on-year increase in retail revenue despite the global economic downturn. Additionally, according to the report retail revenue rose significantly for companies based in emerging markets in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia Pacific (excluding Japan).

Kantar Reports 2012 FSI Growth

Kantar Media reports that more than 274 billion Free Standing Insert (FSI) coupons were distributed in 2012 which represents a 0.8 percent increase in activity versus 2011.  FSI pages increased 1.4 percent overall with the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) and Franchise sectors increasing 2.4 percent and 10.2 percent respectively, offsetting an 8.0 percent decline in the Direct Response sector.  FSI coupon support for new products within the CPG sector increased 23.2 percent versus 2011 while retailer FSI promotion pages also increased 5.2 percent.

Scholastic Releases Biannual Report

In the fourth edition of the Kids & Family Reading Report™ , a national survey released today by Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL), the global children’s publishing, education and media company, and the Harrison Group, a leading marketing and strategic research consulting firm, found kids age 6-17 and their parents share their views on reading in the increasingly digital landscape and the influences that impact kids’ reading frequency and attitudes toward reading.

Decline in Printed Books Slowed

As the e-book market has exploded, fueled in large part by the popularity of e-book readers like the Kindle and tablets like the iPad, predictions regarding the so-called "death of print" have only gained steam. But a new report from Neilsen Bookscan indicates that while e-book sales are on the rise, the decline in print sales have actually slowed down, a sign that mainstream readers may not be finished with the print book format just yet.
According to Neilsen Bookscan data analyzed by Publishers Weekly, sales of print books in 2012 declined by nine percent, approximately the same rate at which print sales declined in the previous two years. This new data indicates that, despite the increasing popularity of tablets and e-readers, the decline in print book sales versus e-books has stabilized to some degree.

USPS to Accelerate Restructuring, Cost Reduction, No Help from Congress

USPS: Management to Accelerate Steps to Restructure Operations and Reduce Costs: The Postal Service Board of Governors met last week to discuss a wide range of accelerated cost cutting and revenue generating measures in the face of an unprecedented set of financial challenges, heightened by the inability of Congress to pass comprehensive postal legislation.  Citing the fact that the Postal Service cannot wait indefinitely for legislation, the USPS Board of Governors has directed management to accelerate the restructure of Postal Service operations to further reduce cost.
Postal Delay in Congress Hastens Risk of Mail Stoppage
The U.S. Postal Service, set to run out of operating cash in October, still can’t get Congress to act with any urgency to help solve its problems. Competing Senate and House proposals to help resolve Postal Service finances expired when the old Congress left Jan. 3, and a senator who led the push for a postal overhaul retired. The post office now must persuade lawmakers focused on broader fights on the deficit and spending to pass a law to let the agency cut costs and plug losses.