by 
SHANGHAI — FedEx Express (FedEx), a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) and one of the world’s largest express transportation company, has been named amongst the Top 20 in the 200 Most Admired Companies in Asia published by The Wall Street Journal Asia. FedEx ranks 20th place among multinational companies in this prestigious annual listing, the highest among all international express companies. This reaffirms its market leader position in the region.
The survey lists the top 200 multinationals operating in Asia along with Asia-headquartered corporations, based on five attributes: company reputation, quality of products and services, management’s long-term vision, innovation, and financial soundness.
Over 2,700 executives and professionals from a wide range of industries across Asia Pacific participated in this online poll.
“We are honored to receive such recognition from executives in the Asia Pacific region,” said David L. Cunningham, Jr., president, FedEx Express Asia Pacific. “The result is testimony to how FedEx has gone above and beyond in delivering service excellence, whatever the environment.”
With more than 14,000 employees serving more than 30 countries and territories in the Asia Pacific region, FedEx continues to expand and enhance its services across the Asia Pacific region:
* Since January, FedEx began its Boeing 777 Freighter (777F) service on routes out of Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Osaka, bringing about significant advantages in the just-in-time supply chain, such as later cut-off times in some cities. No other company in the industry flies these planes non-stop between Asia and the U.S.
* In April, FedEx launched an overnight service from Hong Kong to its European hub in Paris, France.
* In October, FedEx enhanced its connectivity between China and the U.S. with the launch of two new flight services. The first being a new transpacific flight from Beijing, China to Anchorage, Alaska, with a stop-over in Incheon, South Korea; the second is a 777F service in connecting Shenzhen to Memphis.
*FedEx also launched a new flight to and from Hanoi four times a week (Tuesday to Friday) in November, improving the transit time for outbound shipments from Hanoi by one business day.
For more information go to: FedEx
Bolaji, I just read a report expressing concerns “about a return to profligacy” at Infineon from Standard & Poor's Equity analyst James Crawshaw. The analyst likes the company's performance but thinks the management seems ready to return to its old ways. Here are excerpts from the report:
“While we think Infineon has left plenty of upside potential in its fiscal year 2011 guidance and, having jettisoned DRAM and Wireless, is a less risky business than in the past, we are concerned that with EUR2 bln of cash burning a hole in management's pocket a return to profligacy could see history repeat itself. Management is already guiding for a capex hike of 70% in fiscal year 2011 in addition to potential acquisitions.”
Do you see Infineon using its current cash for acquisition and what do you expect of the management now that the company is in much better shape?
It would be interesting to see who acquires Infineon.
Infineon's recent history is still too fresh and too raw for the company to forget the trauma of the last several years. I appreciate James Crawshaw's concern but I suspect Infineon's management is not going to be throwing cash all over the place anytime soon. Their likely strategy would be targeted acquisitions in specific product areas to shore up their portfolio. A large acquisition that would necessitate their borrowing from banks or the equity market is unlikely in my opinion.
SP, Infineon might be a potential acquisition target but I don't see this happening right now. Infineon is still a big company by revenue and capitalization, which means a buyer would have to dig deep to fund the purchase. Few companies in the semiconductor world today has that kind of cash or is able to raise what would be required to buy Infineon.
There are several possibilities, however. A private equity group could orchestrate a leverage buyout of Infineon, similar to deals done with fellow European NXP (former Philips Semiconductor) and Freescale Semiconductor. A more exciting possibility could be for Advanced Technology Investment Co. of Abu Dhabi to make a bid for Infineon, further establishing it as a catalyst and formidable player in the sector. Could this happen? I can't say but the German shareholders in Infineon as well as concerns about Europe's fading clout in the semiconductor market could make this a difficult or near-impossible deal.
Thanks Bolaji for clarifying. If its for sale and in case ATIC buys it, I am sure it would be a big news in the semiconductor industry with Abu Dhabi being central point in discussion.