20
finanCial voice
Asian Voice - Saturday 7th August 2010
£3bn of UK tax refunds in a mess at HM Revenue and Customs Households may have to wait for up to 4 years due to a huge backlog disaster. Of these, nine million records are under investigation to look for any undercharges or overcharges. The National Audit Office has laid bare the situation in a damning report and also warned that clearing the huge backlog remains a very significant.
UK taxman owes billions of pounds to households, but an extraordinary logjam at the HM Revenue and Customs is likely to delay the refunds for up to 4 years. More than 18 million tax records involving 15.4 million people remain unresolved as a merger of databases resulted into a
The Government is thought to owe taxpayers more than £3billion in overpayments. But at the same time, £1.4billion is yet to be collected in underpaid bills. The NAO warns that the backlog of overpayments will not be resolved for another four years.
Volvo is now a Chinese auto major Geely Holdings group’s acquisition is complete Volvo, the Swedish auto major is now a Chinese company, though it will continue the independent identity and remain headquartered at Gothenburg in Sweden. Regulators in the European Union, the US and China approved the takeover deal by Geely Holdings Group recently and that followed a ceremony in London, where Ford delivered the entire Volvo assets to the Chinese company. According to Li Shufu, Chairman of Geely Group and Volvo Car Corporation, both the companies will con-
Li Shufu
tinue to go ahead with their independent identities; it will be a brotherhood relationship between the two. The Chinese company completed the deal for a consideration of US$ 1.8 billion. Li Shufu also said
restoring Volvo’s position in the global luxury auto market is his aim. “Volvo should enjoy a much better position in the global market given its quality, technology, research and development abilities and its brand value,” he added. He also said Volvo management will have the autonomy to execute its own business plan. As part of its business plans, Volvo will strengthen its presence in Europe and North America while also taking advantage of growth opportunities in China.
Leadership Matters
Remember Not to Forget A short time ago I wrote about Tony Hayward, the now ‘ex-CEO’ of BP, and how his comments had hurt the company. The true extent of the damage was made apparent only last week when it was announced that he would be stepping down from his position, no doubt with a nudge from the Board. In addition to the point about thinking before speaking, this episode also highlighted another more subtle pitfall that leaders are susceptible to suffering – ‘memory loss’. Leaders get to the top because of their ability, dedication and skill (and in some cases, their contacts). On their way up the ladder, while they learn many things, they are also prone to forget just as much. Many leaders lose sight of basic concepts of successful leadership such as employee engagement or communication. It may seem far fetched, but looking back at some of the mistakes made by leaders, the cause can often be a small oversight on their part – as Tony
AR Rahman collaborates with Lebara for exclusive ringtone Celebrities Join Musical Legend to Celebrate the First Play of the Official Lebara Tune self. The announcement was made by CEO Ratheesh Yoganathan and AR Rahman at the Lebara VIP after party at the IndigO2, following the maestro’s hugely successful concert at the O2. Amongst the guests who walked the ‘Lebara Blue Carpet’ to join in the celebrations were Laila Rouass (Footballers Wives, Strictly Come Dancing), Nitin Ganatra (Eastenders), Nina Wadia (Eastenders), Himesh Patel (Eastenders), Bollywood star Dalip Tahil (Bombay Dreams, Evita), Ray Panthaki (It’s A Wonderful Afterlife) Jan Uddin (Shank) and Kiss FM’s DJ Neev. Lebara has partnered with leading mobile music and technology provider, IMImobile, to offer customers an impressive portfolio of music to UK audiences that includes more than 40,000 ringtones and
Lebara, the global leader in providing high quality, low-cost international mobile services, launched its new mobile portal, Lebara Music at a starstudded celebrity bash with musical legend, AR Rahman and a host of celebrities. The event took place on Saturday 24th July 2010, following the Lebara Jai Ho AR Rahman: ‘The Journey Home’ Tour 2010. Lebara Music adds a new layer of personalisation to the company’s recently launched mobile portal, which currently provides regional news for the Nigerian, Indian, Pakistani, Arabic, Filipino and Polish communities. Lebara also announced an exciting three-year collaboration with Oscar-winning composer, AR Rahman, which kicked off with the release of the official ‘Lebara Tune’, an exclusive ringtone composed by the legend him-
%" #(' % & (' ( ! ' ! & #
!2534)(
$
,
)'($" &' *$& $&
'
&/)
(
over two million full tracks from Universal Music UK, EMI, Warner, Sony Music, Ministry of Sound and [PIAS]. The exclusive AR Rahman composition is the latest addition to a rich selection of wellknown regional artists that includes Piolo Pascual (Phillipines), 2Face Ibidia (Nigeria), Atif Aslam (Pakistan), Iwona Wegrowska (Poland), as well as songs from major Bollywood movies including Raavan, 3Idiots, Khatta Meetha and Kites to name but a few. In addition, the partnership with AR Rahman will allow customers access to over 150 songs and tones of the artist’s greatest hits including Tere Bina, Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha and the global smash hit Jai Ho! from the Oscar-laden movie Slumdog Millionaire. The ‘Lebara Tune’ will
%
" "
be available to Lebara customers as a free ringtone for a limited period, downloadable via http://uk.lebara.mobi (the mobile portal). It is also available via iTunes for a small fee. All proceeds from this will go to The AR Rahman Foundation, which provides world class, state-of-the-art infrastructure and education to underprivileged children in India. Talking about the Lebara Tune, AR Rahman said: “I’m proud to be working with Lebara and hope customers enjoy it. I look forward to creating more music for the company over the next three years.” This year Lebara has solidified its presence in the music space with its exclusive sponsorship of the UK Asian Music Awards and the prestigious MOBO Awards, as well as sponsorship of Rahman’s UK Tour.
$12.(6-() ! $12.(6-()
7
"
7 ! "
By Amit Patel
revealed that Winston Churchill had his dentures made to a specific design so as to preserve his lisp because he felt that should this lisp be lost, people may become discomforted by the change in his voice and this could in turn change the mood of the country! This may seem farfetched, but it illustrates how good leaders recognise and utilise their strengths to achieve their aims. “Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.” We learn just as much about ourselves as we forget; which is why it is important to remember not to forget. (Amit Patel has over 15 years experience in the field of Leadership and Human Resource Management).
A chilly winter helped British Gas with cool profits heating as also an addition of 223,000 new customers this year. The company had cut gas prices in February 2010, helping in bringing the new customers. Profits for British Gas would not be better in the second half, as rising wholesale gas prices squeeze margins through the rest of 2010. Pressure will build for a hike in household bills if the upward trend persists.
British Gas, the largest energy firm in UK pocketed cool profits, thanks to the chilly winter that the country experienced earlier this year. In fact, the company recorded almost double profits as compared to a year before. The residential arm of British Gas saw their profits going up to £585 mn, a rise of 98 per cent over the same period a year ago. Shivering cold led to households using more
Adani Enterprises bags OZ coal mines deal with Linc Energy utive Peter Bond. The deal comprises A$500 million in cash and royalty @ A$2 per tonne for the first 20 years. More Indian investments are likely to follow into Australia, as forecasts say India would be facing acute shortage of coal. Earlier, Linc tried to sell of the Theresa coal tenements in Queensland to Chinese firms, but that fell through.
In one of the biggest Indian investments in Australian coal mines sector, Gujarat based Adani Enterprises has signed a deal with Linc Energy for their Galilee coal tenement. The deal is worth A$2.7 billion. Adani Enterprises has already secured the approval of the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) for the deal according Linc Chief exec-
$& !! ,$)&
#
#
Hayward will tell you. Why do leaders make such mistakes? There are many stories about business people and politicians who came from humble beginnings only to forget where they came from or how they got there. Power can indeed be heady intoxication. Not wishing to upset any political sentiments I will not name the Gujarati politician who, when refused a ministerial portfolio, dumped his party, joined the opposition and fought against the very policies he himself stood for a few days earlier - obviously a man of ‘many’ principles. He simply, or rather conveniently, ‘forgot’ what got he stood for. It is one thing to get to the top, it is another to actually stay there. Success brings with it many things; new friends, new possessions, new status; ‘rewards’ which can easily make a person forget some of their more basic abilities. Yet to disregard these simple skills can be critical. How critical? A recent BBC web article
$)& &
& $#
'
#( $)#'!$* )' # '' , $)#'!$* ! ' +
!
$#(
(
&
!).
2&0',
**-')
%($# $# $#
#
$& '(
!). /&-. 3&.)3 *-234*.-+,4)5 0)4 666 *-234*.-+,4)5 0)4
(