Volvo Cars announces ‘Make in India’ plans. First assembled cars to roll-out this year

  

India- Mumbai, 18^th May 2017: Volvo Cars, the premium carmaker, announced today that it will start vehicle assembly operations in India  in 2017. This positions the company for further growth in the fast-expanding premium car segment in India.

The assembly operations will be located near Bengaluru in southern India and focus on models based on Volvo’s SPA modular vehicle architecture. The first Volvo model to be assembled there is the XC90 premium SUV. Additional models slated for local assembly will be announced at a later stage.

In establishing its assembly operations, Volvo Cars is working together with Volvo Group India - the truck, bus, construction equipment and Penta engines manufacturer, and will make use of Volvo Group India’s existing infrastructure and production licenses near Bengaluru. No further contract and financial details will be disclosed.

“I am pleased that as of this year we will be able to start selling Volvos that are Made in India,” saidHåkan Samuelsson, president and CEO of Volvo Cars. “Starting vehicle assembly in India is an important step for Volvo Cars as we aim to grow our sales in this fast-growing market and double our market share in the luxury segment in coming years.”

"We are delighted to announce the commencement of local assembly unit,” said Tom von Bonsdorff, Managing Director, Volvo Auto India. “It’s a sign of the company’s strong commitment in India. Backed by a robust sales growth, expanding network and an array of new product launches the local assembly will provide us an impetus to garner a sizeable segment share in the medium to long term. Each locally assembled Volvo Car will have same International standards as anywhere else in the world. With our continued efforts we are sure to build a strong foundation for our business in India.”

Volvo’s decision to start assembly in India and market its vehicles as ‘Made in India’ fits well with a similarly named initiative launched by the national government several years ago, which seeks to highlight and promote Indian manufacturing prowess.

While the Indian luxury market is still relatively small, it is forecast to grow rapidly in coming years. Volvo currently has a premium segment share of close to 5 per cent and aims to double this by 2020. Volvo Cars in India have had a robust 32% growth in sales volumes in the past 2 years and the 2017 trend is as per our plan to achieve 2000 cars, this will give us a growth of 25% year-on-year.

Volvo Car Group in 2016

For the 2016 financial year, Volvo Car Group recorded an operating profit of 11,014 MSEK (6,620 MSEK in 2015). Revenue over the period amounted to 180,672 MSEK (164,043 MSEK). For the full year 2016, global sales reached a record 534,332 cars, an increase of 6.2 per cent versus 2015. The record sales and operating profit cleared the way for Volvo Car Group to continue investing in its global transformation plan.

Volvo Auto India

Swedish luxury car company Volvo Auto India (VAI) established its presence in India in 2007 and has since then, worked intensively to market the Swedish brand in this country. Volvo Cars currently markets products through its dealerships in South Delhi, West Delhi, Gurgaon, Ahmedabad, Surat, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Kochi, Vishakhapatnam, Kolkata, Vijayawada and Jaipur. Expanding soon to Lucknow and Pune.

The company sells nine luxury models.

Volvo S60 – A sporty sedan

Volvo S60 Polestar – A Performance Sedan

Volvo S60 Cross Country – All road. All weather sedan

Volvo V40 – Luxury hatchback                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Volvo V40 Cross Country – The adventurous cross country

Volvo XC60 – A technologically advanced luxury SUV, apt for Indian roads

Volvo XC90 – The most awarded 7-Seater Luxury SUV

Volvo XC90 Excellence- India’s first plug-in hybrid SUV

Volvo S90- The premium luxury sedan

Volvo’s Brand Philosophy

‘Designed Around You’ is the brands translation of going an extra mile to understand customers better. This human-centric approach enables Volvo Cars to know the pulse of the customers and gauge what they desire in a product. With this thought, the brand places the customer at the heart of its design. Every Volvo car boasts of cutting-edge technology with engineering that is executed around human values.

SonyLIV launches India’s first Gujarati rom-com web series ‘Kacho Papad Pako Papad’

Adds another regional language to its content catalogue

Mumbai, May 17, 2017 

Younger by a few years or older by a wide age gap? Arranged by the family, the saccharine sweet romance or the clandestine hush-hush affair?

The dilemmas of an average, middle-class joint Gujarati family define the flavour of India’s first ever Gujarati rom-com web series ‘Kacho Papad Pako Papad’ on SonyLIV.

With this show SonyLIV, the digital platform of Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) marks yet another spectacular addition to its regional content catalogue since it introduced the Marathi web series YOLO, earlier this year. By giving viewers a chance to enjoy high quality, relatable entertainment created specifically for them, SonyLIV once again delivers on its brand promise - ‘We LIV to Entertain.’

A rollicking affair that promises to have you in bouts of laughter, this Gujarati web series has the perfect combination of content and actors that ensures you are glued to your screens. Starring acclaimed actors Rupa Divatia, Pratap Sachdeo, and Bhakti Rathod, ‘Kacho Papad Pako Papad’ revolves around the sprightly misadventures of the Maniyar family.

The family has an uncanny ability to make any ordinary issue look like an extra-ordinary challenge. It all begins when their son Vipul brings home a girl who is older than him, to be introduced to the family. However, trouble ensues when a girl who is several years younger, professes her love for their son and her intent to marry him. 

Comments

Uday Sodhi, EVP and Head – Digital Business, Sony Pictures Network Pvt Ltd

“Regional content consumption is growing rapidly and with access to faster internet speeds, this growth will only amplify further. To cater to this emerging demand, we at SonyLIV decided to launch India’s first-ever rom-com Gujarati web-series ‘Kacho Papad Pako Papad’. The show underlines our brand promise of providing the best in entertainment to our viewers, with engaging and relatable content tailor-made to suit their entertainment and language preferences. We hope our viewers enjoy the series, one of the many firsts in our business.” 

Starting May 19th, 2017, the exciting Gujarati web-series will be available on SonyLIV’s web and mobile platforms. Spread across a 12 week duration, with each episode spanning 6 to 8 minutes, a new episode will release every Friday. SonyLIV users also have the option to subscribe to the entire web series, if they want to binge watch the show. 

Link to the web-series: http://bit.ly/2pUTgV9

Eros Now Available on Sony Smart TVs & Blu-ray Players Worldwide

Mumbai, May 17, 2017: Eros International Plc (NYSE: EROS) (“Eros”), a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry, announced today that Eros Now, its cutting-edge digital over-the-top (OTT) South Asian entertainment platform continues to widen its global reach and will now be available across 197 Sony devices, namely all the latest (2016-17) smart TVs and Blue-ray players worldwide.

The compelling and vast repository of Eros Now’s library of films, music, regional content and original shows will offer a rich experience to consumers on multiple Sony devices. Users will also have access to a range of exciting features including offline viewing, thematic curated playlists, music video playlists, regional language filters, video progression and access to a Watch List of titles.

Commenting on the association, Rishika Lulla Singh, CEO, Eros Digital says, “We have always strived to provide our users the best of Indian entertainment with a seamless experience across screens. We are excited that Eros Now will be available on Sony products, one of the world’s most recognized consumer electronics giants, to further our philosophy to be platform agnostic and embracing the very best in technology as we continue to enhance user experience and increase our reach.”

1411 ENTRIES FOR INORBIT MALL’S PINK POWER SEASON 3

~Pink Power Season 3 registration closes with 1411 unique business ideas by Women entrepreneurs. Winners to be announced soon~

Mumbai,16 May 2017 – The third edition of Inorbit Mall’s Pink Power – an initiative to empower women entrepreneurs, just got bigger and better. We have received a remarkable participation of 1411 entries received from 5 locations – Mumbai (Malad and Vashi), Bangalore, Hyderabad and Vadodara. Every year Inorbit mall hosts the Pink Power campaign that gives Women Entrepreneurs an opportunity to submit their business Ideas and grow their business with support of Inorbit and other partners. This season, the campaign is surely nail biting with some of the most promising and unique entries that Inorbit has received. This year maximum number of entries is from categories like Fashion apparel and Handicrafts. The entries will go through a screening process and a panel of expert will be announcing top 15 winners by end of May.    

Inspired by the thought of creating a platform for giving these women an opportunity to turn their dreams to reality, Inorbit mall launched the Pink Power Campaign in 2015. This unique initiative has been recognized at several prestigious award forums like ABBYs EFFIEs and DMA Asia Awards. This year in addition to the free retail space of 9 months at Inorbit, the winners will have the advantage of attending training workshops hosted by Trust for retailers and retail association of India (TRRAIN) and Retail Association of India (RAI). With Central Bank of India being on board for PINK POWER, winners get an opportunity to avail soft loans to augment their business plan. Apart from this, we have an exclusive Online and TV shopping partner Shop CJ who would register the winners business on their website and TV channel.

Commenting on the huge response, Mr. Puneet Varma, Associate Vice President, Marketing, and Corporate Communications, Inorbit malls, said “The Pink Power campaign, has evolved as one of the most unique and successful campaigns. Every year we get some exceptional business ideas, both big and small, that have a lot of potential to grow. With this initiative Inorbit wants to give women an opportunity to realize their dreams and grow their businesses. Out of the 1411 entries, Inorbit shall select 15 winners who will get a free retail space at the mall for 9 months.”

Watch this space for final winners and their unique business propositions. 

The fifth edition of The Edutainment Show is back in Mumbai May 19 – May 20, Sahara Star, Mumbai

Mumbai, 16th May 2017: India’s largest educational exhibition and summit, ‘Edutainment Show’ is back with the power-packed 5th edition. The show will be scheduled in Mumbai on 19th – 20th May 2017 at Hotel Sahara Star. The Edutainment show is organized by Event Capital, a Laqshya Media Group.

The Edutainment Show is curated to offer aspiring students exciting career options in alternative fields such as journalism, PR, advertising, event management, fashion, designing, etc. It provides a platform for students to explore various fields of education covering design, media & communication and participate in informative workshops with media and design stalwarts. It is a one-stop platform for information, education, entertainment and more importantly media convergence.

Deepak Choudhary, Co-Founder & Director, Event Capital, said, “The Edutainment Show has become an annual show every media, communication and design institute in India participates in. With over 3,000 aspirants attending the two-day summit and exhibition for listening to over 100+ leading subject experts and 20+ workshops, the Edutainment Show has become the largest gathering for media, design and communication professionals in India.”

There will be a host of industry experts from media, design and communication industry, who will give students a broadened outlook towards career possibilities in media, communication and design. The Edutainment Show will also hold several panel discussions presided by various industry bigwigs covering a wide range of themes - from fashion designing to product designing, film-making to corporate communication and Brand communication to Radio programming, to name a few. Some of the speakers slotted to speak at this two day event this year are actor Richa Chadda who will moderate a session on “How to follow your passion.”, Casting director Mukesh Chhabra will share his views and experiences in the casting industry, Prof. Mookesh Patel will speak on scope and growth of Design in India; Yash Bhanage, Co-owner of Bombay Canteen, will guide the aspirants on Importance of Mentorship. Photographer Jitu Salvani will be taking a session on photography to name a few. The workshops scheduled for this edition include Bookmaking, Photography, UI/UX Design, Storytelling through Film, Design Portfolio, amongst others.

Every year The Edutainment Show organizes The Edutainment Awards which aims to recognize and felicitate efforts made by educational institutes to impart quality education under multiple disciplines. Conducted in two stages, the Education Awards will be the culmination of a comprehensive assessment and performance review of various key stake holders by a jury comprising of education experts in the media, communication and design space.

For free registration visit Insider.in: https://insider.in/edutainment-show-mumbai/event

NIGELLA LAWSON RETURNS TO DISCOVER WHICH TYPHOO ARE YOU?

Friday 12 May 2017: Nigella Lawson is back on our screens in the latest Typhoo advert, which celebrates the personal tastes and strengths of the nation’s brew, including an insight into exactly how the lady herself likes her tea.

The advert sees Nigella guiding viewers through a series of different and sometimes surprising scenes, discovering how a variety of Typhoo drinkers take their tea.

Starting in the comfort of a kitchen, the scene quickly changes as Nigella enters the tent of two intrepid explores shocked to see her in a bright red dress, casually strolling through their snow-filled tent as she narrates ‘some like it strong’. Next is an unsuspecting London cabbie driver who is so surprised to see Nigella enter his cab he upends an entire sugar sachet into his flask of Typhoo on a rainy London evening. Nigella then quietly strolls through a suburban living room scene, being careful not to be spotted as a young couple disagree over a number of differing tea coloured decorating swatches. She quickly exits and finds herself in John Sumner’s tea shop in 1903, the year Typhoo began perfecting tea.

The advert ends with Nigella in miniature form enjoying a tea party in a doll’s house. Alongside a robot and bunny, she is seen drinking her Typhoo out of a giant mug, on the search for a slice of cake.  

Commenting on the new advert, Nigella Lawson, said: “Everyone has their own idea of the perfect cup of tea and how it should be made; I like my Typhoo strong but with just enough milk that you can taste it. It’s great to celebrate the individual preferences we all have when making our favorite brew in such a fun and creative way with Typhoo, which has always been my everyday tea of choice”.

Somnath Saha, CEO, Typhoo said: “The British love affair with tea is a serious business and we have been perfecting ours since 1903, helping our tea drinkers enjoy their perfect cup of Typhoo. We’re so happy to have Nigella – a genuine Typhoo lover – working with us again. We all know the perfect cup of tea is a very personal thing and everyone’s taste is different. This campaign celebrates those subtle but significant preferences."

The full 30 second advert, featuring Nigella Lawson, will be making its debut on TV screens from Friday 12th May including Take Me Out on Saturday night on ITV.

TWIN WIN FOR INORBIT MALLS AT THE INDIA SHOPPING CENTRE FORUM 2017

~ Inorbit’s Pink Power campaign wins the award for One Great Idea Conceptualized  2017-2018 and Inorbit mall, Malad wins award for best turnaround story in 2016-2017 ~

Mumbai, 15 May 2017: It is raining awards for Inorbit malls. At the recently concluded India Shopping Centre Forum 2017 in Mumbai, Inorbit mall emerged as a big winner. One of the pioneers in the mall business, Inorbit mall bagged two awards at the prestigious retail forum. Inorbit’s Pink Power campaign – an initiative to empower women was awarded as One Great Idea Conceptualized for 2017-2018. Inorbit mall, Malad won for The Best Turnaround Story in 2016-2017.

Commenting on the accolade, Mr. Rajneesh Mahajan, CEO, Inorbit malls said, “It is a proud moment for the entire team of Inorbit mall to receive recognition at the India Shopping Centre Forum. Inorbit always believes in giving every shopper the best shopping experience. It is great that not only our services but also our campaigns like Pink Power have garnered a lot of recognition. We hope to grow with love and support of our consumers.”

Inorbit malls Pink Power campaign, has been recognized at several other platforms like EFFIEs, ABBYs(Goa Fest) and DMA Asia Awards in the past. Inorbit’s Pink Power campaign is an initiative to help women realize their business dreams by offering them a free retail space for a period of 9 months. Since inception of the campaign in the year 2015, Pink Power has fetched remarkable response from women across Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Vadodara.

Inorbit mall, Malad also won an award for The Best Turnaround Story for 2016-2017. The Malad mall has come a long way and through its 13 year old journey it has grown leaps and bounds. The mall has witnessed many changes over a decade, but the year 2016 the mall experienced an unprecedented facelift. The mall rezoned its ground floor to welcome new tenant mix. 14 fresh brands, a swanky looking façade, a complete new circulation for ease of connectivity from parking to food court and the launch of fashion anchor H&M are sure to wow every shopper.

ICAI – EEG 13th Emerging Economies Group meeting was hosted on 08-09 May 2017 in Mumbai.

• 13th Emerging Economies Group meeting was hosted on 08-09 May 2017 in Mumbai. This event was last hosted in India in the year 2011. The EEG is a good technical platform for emerging economies to communicate and exchange views on the development and implementation of IFRS Standards. The IFRS Foundation decided to form the EEG following the G20 urging to increase the participation of emerging economies in the development of IFRS standards by the IASB. Generally, two meetings of EEG are held every year, for which the member countries take turn hosting them.
• This year is important for Accounting Standards Board of ICAI as it has completed 40 years of its existence on April 21, 2017.
• Besides EEG, ICAI is part of various other international bodies such as International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), Asian-Oceanian Standard-Setters Group (AOSSG), International Forum of Accounting Standard Setters (IFASS) etc.
• Agenda topics of EEG meeting included discussion on IFRS 15, Revenue from Contracts with Customers by IASB. Globally, IFRS 15 is proposed to be effective from 1 January 2018. India is expected to implement Ind AS 115 from 1st April, 2018 which will have impact on revenue recognition of almost every company. Also, at the meeting, a paper was presented on High Inflation by the GLASS.
• In the EEG meeting, India presented a paper on ‘Micro-entities: Financial Reporting Challenges’ requesting IASB to consider formulating a new reporting Standard for micro entities similar to micro-entities in UK further simplifying or omitting the complex measurement, recognition and disclosure requirements.The Paper highlighted the following:

1. Concept of SMCs/SMEs/micro entities in India and internationally (U.K, U.S)
2. Accounting Standards including any relaxations given to such entities in India as well as internationally

Challenges faced by SMCs/SMEs/Micro-entities in accounting weree also highlighted in the paper so that IASB may consider formulating new financial reporting Standards for such entities.

• EEG meeting was followed by a half day ICAI – EEG Joint Stakeholders Seminar on ‘Emerging IFRS (Ind AS) Challenges’ held on 9th May whereat discussion on IFRS 9 and IFRS 15 took place. The panellist included distinguished professionals from IASB (London), ICAI, RBI, Accounting Firms and Industry.
• Around 270 professionals were invited to attend ICAI – EEG Joint Stakeholders Seminar Invitees to the Joint Stakeholders’ seminar from the industry, statutory bodies (RBI, SEBI, IRDA etc), renowned accounting and auditing firms.
• As a standard setter of a large emerging economy, ICAI looks forward to contribute to such global forums and take up emerging accounting issues for discussions at international level. Working in tandem with these international bodies gives an opportunity to flag the Indian concerns at global level for timely addressing the same.

Airtel wins Aon Best Employer India Award

 May 12^th, 2017: Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), India’s largest telecommunications services provider, has won the Aon Best Employer India 2017 Award for its innovative people practices.

The Company was recognized for achieving high levels of employee engagement and its well established people practices and leadership intent. Airtel also scored high on employer brand and innovative HR practices, in particular, the use of a chatbot for its campus hiring program.

Srikanth Balachandran, Global Chief Human Resources Officer, Bharti Airtel said, “At Airtel, our people are the core of the organization and we are delighted to receive this recognition from Aon. This is a testament to the innovation we have undertaken on the people front, especially by leveraging technology to build a digital organization. I would like to thank the esteemed jury for recognizing our efforts and considering us worthy of this honour.”  

The Aon Best Employer is a globally renowned platform and the India chapter jury for 2017 comprised of eminent business leaders and academicians including Leo Puri, Managing Director at UTI Asset Management Company; Dr. Omkar Goswami, Founder and Chairman at CERG Advisory; Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO at ICICI Bank; Prof Vasanthi Srinivasan, IIM-Bangalore; and Sanjiv Mehta, CEO & MD at Hindustan Unilever Ltd.

The Aon Best Employers study was first conducted in Asia in 2001. The purpose of the program is to gain insights into companies that are creating real competitive advantage through their people, to explore what makes a workplace of choice and to identify the Best Employers in the region.

Hinduja Media Group conferred with key awards at ‘8th BCS Ratna Awards’

·         Ashok Mansukhani, the National Business Head of Hinduja Media Group was given the Lifetime Achievement Award in the media industry in the individual category

·         Also awarded with the Best MSO to start Prepaid services : IMCL ( in Distribution Platform /MSO category)

Mumbai, May 12, 2017: Mr. Ashok Mansukhani, the National Business Head of Hinduja Media Group was given the Lifetime Achievement Award in the media industry (individual category) at ‘8^th BCS Ratna Awards’ held on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. Hinduja Media Group was also awarded the Best MSO to start Prepaid services: IMCL (In Distribution Platform /MSO category) by the Chief Guest, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Rural Development, Minister of Panchayati Raj and Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

On receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award, Mr. Ashok Mansukhani said, “Our Nxtdgital HITS platform is a unique platform, which is catering to over 700 cities and over 900 micro head ends [COPES) and doing a yeoman service for the Rural India. The Rural and Semi urban India distribution is over 80% in this platform already, as we move we will continue to digitalis the rural cable industry and in this digital satellite cable platform the LCOs become their own owners and continue their entrepreneurship unlike in a classical MSO platform.”

On behalf of the entire Broadcasting & CATV community, Hinduja Media Group and Mr. Ashok Mansukhani were conferred with these awards by the recommendation of the Advisory committee and final selection by the Jury Members from the nominations received.

Henkel reports strong performance in the first quarter

• Sales exceed 5 bn euros for the first time, rising to 5,064 million euros:
  nominal growth +13.6%, organic growth +4.0%

·         Double-digit increase in operating profit*: +13.8% to 854 million euros

·         Further EBIT margin* improvement: +10 basis points to 16.9%

• Excellent growth in earnings per preferred share*: +11.0% to 1.41 euros

Mumbai – “Henkel delivered a strong performance in the first quarter in a highly challenging market environment. The consumer goods markets were characterized by intensifying promotional and pricing pressure. We were able to significantly increase sales and earnings and to further grow adjusted return on sales. For the first time, quarterly sales exceeded 5 billion euros. Adjusted operating profit also reached a new high. All three business units and all regions contributed to the successful development and the high quality of earnings,” said Henkel CEO Hans Van Bylen.

“This strong performance was driven by our leading brands and innovations, our intensified focus on our customers and consumers, the acceleration of our digital activities and our highly committed global team,” Hans Van Bylen added. “We further strengthened our portfolio and signed two compelling acquisitions.”

* Adjusted for one-time charges/gains and restructuring charges.

Commenting on the fiscal year 2017, Hans Van Bylen said: “We expect the overall volatile and uncertain market environment to persist throughout the year. Currency fluctuations are likely to continue and the prices for commodities are expected to increase. We also anticipate promotional and pricing pressure in the consumer goods markets to further increase. Nevertheless, we are committed to continue our successful development.”

In this challenging market environment, Henkel confirmed the outlook for the current fiscal year: “We expect organic sales growth of 2 to 4 percent. We expect our adjusted EBIT margin to increase to more than 17.0 percent and adjusted earnings per preferred share to grow between 7 and 9 percent,” said Hans Van Bylen.

Sales and earnings performance in the first quarter 2017

At 5,064 million euros, sales in the first quarter 2017 reached a new record level and grew nominally by 13.6 percent compared to the prior-year quarter. Positive foreign exchange effects accounted for 1.1 percent of this growth. The contribution from acquisitions and divestments amounted to 8.5 percent, mainly as a result of the acquisition of The Sun Products Corporation. Organic sales, which exclude the impact of foreign exchange effects and acquisitions/divestments, showed a strong increase of 4.0 percent.

Organic sales growth was driven by all business units. The Adhesive Technologies business unit reported a very strong increase in organic sales of 5.5 percent. The Beauty Care business unit posted good organic sales growth of 2.3 percent. The Laundry & Home Care business unit recorded a strong increase in organic sales of 3.0 percent.

The emerging markets again made an above-average contribution to the organic growth of the Group, with a very strong increase in organic sales of 6.7 percent, while the mature marketsregistered good organic sales growth of 2.1 percent.

Henkel reported organic sales growth across all regions: Sales in Western Europe grew by 1.8 percent. Eastern Europe achieved growth of 4.4 percent. In Africa/Middle East, sales grew by 2.2 percent. Sales in the North America region increased by 2.9 percent. Latin America achievedgrowth of 8.2 percent and in the Asia-Pacific region sales grew by 9.1 percent.

Adjusted operating profit (EBIT) improved by 13.8 percent to 854 million euros. All three business units contributed to this positive performance.

Adjusted return on sales (EBIT) rose by 0.1 percentage points to 16.9 percent.

Adjusted earnings per preferred share grew by 11.0 percent from 1.27 euros to 1.41 euros.

Net working capital as a percentage of sales improved by 0.5 percentage points to 4.9 percent.

Effective March 31, 2017, Henkel’s net financial position showed a balance of
-1,961 million euros (December 31, 2016: -2,301 million euros). The change compared to the end of 2016 was mainly due to a positive free cash flow.

Business unit performance

The Adhesive Technologies business unit generated very strong organic sales growth of 5.5 percent in the first quarter. Nominally, sales increased by 7.1 percent to 2,295 million euros.Adjusted operating profit grew by 10.5 percent and reached 415 million euros. Adjusted return on sales recorded a very strong increase to 18.1 percent.

The Beauty Care business unit registered good organic sales growth of 2.3 percent in the first quarter. In nominal terms, sales grew by 6.4 percent to 1,011 million euros. Adjusted operating profit reached 169 million euros, an increase of 7.4 percent compared to the prior-year quarter. Adjusted return on sales recorded a good increase and reached 16.7 percent.

The Laundry & Home Care business unit generated strong organic sales growth of 3.0 percent in the first quarter. Nominally, sales increased by 29.5 percent to 1,726 million euros compared to the prior-year quarter. Adjusted operating profit grew by 22.8 percent to 298 million euros, while adjusted return on sales was at 17.3 percent. The acquisition of The Sun Products Corporation contributed significantly to both sales and operating profit.

Compelling acquisitions further strengthening portfolio

Henkel signed an agreement to acquire the global Darex Packaging Technologies business from GCP Applied Technologies and an agreement to acquire the Mexican hair care company Nattura Laboratorios.

Outlook for 2017 confirmed

Henkel confirms the outlook for the fiscal year 2017. Henkel expects to generate organic sales growth of 2 to 4 percent and anticipates that each business unit will generate organic sales growth within this range. For adjusted return on sales (EBIT), Henkel expects an increase versus the prior year to more than 17.0 percent. Henkel expects an increase in adjusted earnings per preferred share of between 7 and 9 percent.

Wrangler Flags off the True Wanderers from Mumbai

Wrangler, the American denim brand, is back with its nationwide search for the True Wanderer. After five successful seasons, True Wanderer comes to you in a brand-new avatar – bigger, bolder and more exciting than ever before. And this time, no matter what your ride, everyone’s invited.

After five successful seasons of True Wanderer, Wrangler is calling on all adventure and travel enthusiasts. Wrangler has concluded its nationwide search for the top 25 True Wanderers and is sponsoring their trip in India. Kitted out in the best of Wrangler’s Ride Ready range of apparel and flagged off from an exclusive Wrangler store in their city, the True Wanderer finalists will go on a 5-day road trip wearing only products by Wrangler. They can choose to travel by car, bike, foot or any mode of transportation of their choice. While on their journey, they will need to complete travel-related challenges set by Wrangler. Each rider will complete and showcase these challenges in their Wander Diary on wrangler-ap.com/in along with photos and videos.

The Mumbai finalists - Prathamesh Sableand Dhruv Dholakia were flagged off from an exclusive Wrangler store in the city. When speaking of his passion for travel, Prathamesh Sable says,“From mountains to sea, you know your true direction in life.Getting there is an issue. But as they say, don’t waste your time worrying about the ‘how’.Just focus on the vision and allow a resolute purpose to guide you! Be modest to yourself and always treat the experience as serendipity."

When asked to share his #Live2Wander moment, Dhruv Dholakia says “A crazy idea came to my head. To motorcycle across all 29 states of India. So I left my career and home to see the country. It took 16 months but felt like a whole new life. Follow my blog on Facebook ‘ON A BULLET YATRA’.”

Based on votes and the scores of an elite judging panel, the winner of True Wanderer 2017 will win the grand prize of an all-expenses-paid trip to Australia. The runners-up will win trips to Bali and Sikkim.