China Chery sales to hit 1 million by 2010: media

DaimlerChrysler AG's partner in China, Chery Automobile Co., said its annual sales would rise to a million automobiles by 2010 from just over 305,000 last year, Xinhua news agency said on Sunday.

"In 2007, Chery will produce its one millionth automobile and will reach annual sales of 1 million autos by 2010," Yin Tongyao, Chery's chief executive was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

The company's car sales climbed 61 percent to 305,236 in 2006, following a 118 percent sales jump in 2005, Xinhua had said earlier.

China has set a goal of promoting exports from its fast-growing auto industry into developed markets, including the United States.

Late last year, the company, based in Anhui province, signed a deal with DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group to build small cars under the Chrysler brand for export to global markets.

Chery's exports rose 178 percent to 50,000 cars last year.

In October, Chery signed a memorandum of understanding with Italy's Fiat Auto to supply the Italian maker with 100,000 gasoline engines for cars produced both in China and abroad.

Chery executives have said the company was considering an initial public offering to raise money to fund its expansion.

Chery planned an IPO in 2008, possibly choosing a simultaneous listing in both the mainland A-share market and the Hong Kong market, Xinhua has said.

(US$=7.8 yuan) [via]

Maritime Union Leaders Convicted

Two national maritime union leaders accused of spending organizational funds on personal luxuries, including a bachelor party, have been convicted of corruption charges.

Brothers Michael and Robert McKay were found guilty Friday of racketeering conspiracy and several lesser charges stemming from their time as president and secretary-treasurer, respectively, of American Maritime Officers.

In addition to the racketeering charge, which carries a possible 20-year sentence, Michael McKay, 59, and Robert McKay, 56, were convicted of mail fraud and record-keeping offenses. Robert McKay, 56, was also convicted of embezzlement.

Prosecutors said the brothers used the union to pay for personal luxuries such as a bachelor party and repairs for a dive boat.

Defense attorneys said they were shocked that the jury reached a verdict after only one day of deliberations. Robert McKay's lawyer Fred Haddad said he would ask U.S. District Judge James Cohn to order a new trial.

The McKays remain free on bail until their sentencing March 29.

During the trial, Robert McKay was voted out of office. Michael McKay was narrowly re-elected president. Labor laws prohibit convicted felons from holding union office.

The union has 4,000 members.

eBay Fees Increase; Finditt Auctions Offers Free Auction Listings in Response

For a limited time Finditt Auctions is offering members the ability to list their products at no cost. In response to the rise in listing rates and seller fees on eBay, Finditt Auctions is providing an environment that promotes seller participation not seller exploitation.

As sellers drive the traffic to online auction sites, Finditt Auctions recognizes the importance of providing the necessary tools to market and merchandise their products. By offering free auction listings Finditt Auctions enables sellers to price their items in a manner that attracts customers and maintains profitability.

To register and begin selling your products on Finditt Auctions go to:

http://auctions.finditt.com/register.php

Finditt Auctions offers several marketing options to further enhance the visibility of a seller’s products. Options that include Featured Spots on the home page and category listing, highlighting and bolding auction listings, buy-it-now offers, and multiple picture uploads are among the ways to create product awareness.

Seller’s can even create and maintain a free online auction store on Finditt Auctions. Unlike eBay and other online auction sites there are no monthly fees for your store on Finditt Auctions. A free store on Finditt Auctions enables a seller to direct customers to one spot where all of their products are located. This allows a seller’s clients to easily shop and purchase multiple items.

Start selling your products today on the online auction site that offers you the most comprehensive services available to achieve your goals, Finditt Auctions.

http://auctions.finditt.com/index.php

Google Stock Boom Boosts Calif. Coffers

Someday, this era may simply be known as The Google Years. California, whose budget revenue slides up and down like a yo-yo with changes in capital gains and stock options, is once again counting on outsized income tax filings from a handful of tech executives to help balance its budget.

For this wave, California can largely thank Google Inc.

After cashing in more than 9 million shares valued at $3.7 billion last year, 16 Google insiders will owe the Golden State as much as $380 million in taxes - enough to cover the salaries of more than 3,000 state workers.

Taxes paid by Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page account for nearly half the amount. There is virtually no way for them or other California billionaires to escape a 9.3 percent state capital gains tax or a recent voter-approved 1 percent tax on the wealthy to underwrite the state's mental health programs.

"On behalf of a grateful state, I'll be happy to wash their windows or mow their lawn," said H.D. Palmer, spokesman for California's Department of Finance.

In the often slippery world of state finance, the wildly successful Google has had an unusually tangible effect on California's budget. It has become the face of an extraordinary two-year resurgence in state capital gains and stock-options revenue, much of which can be traced back to the tech sector.

Mega-sized tax filings from Google executives began flowing into state coffers in earnest in 2006, two years after the company went public. The receipts helped fuel a multibillion dollar tax windfall last spring that allowed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to pour money into roads, classrooms and other popular programs, pleasing political enemies and helping smooth his path to re-election.

Schwarzenegger's good fortune, it turns out, did not end there.

As Google's stock topped $500 in 2006, company executives continued to sell hundreds of thousands of shares each month, according to an analysis of insider transaction data provided to The Associated Press by research firm Thomson Financial.

The analysis makes clear that California will reap big benefits from a rebounded tech economy for the budget year that will begin in July. The revenue even might allow Schwarzenegger to avoid painful cuts to a budget that ballooned 11 percent last year, to $131.4 billion.

Google insiders are on pace to pay a cumulative $1 billion by 2008 in state income tax since the company went public. Combined, that's about 1 percent of the state's annual general fund budget.

Although the company is helping push capital gains revenue above historical averages, state finance experts say they are not overly concerned that the latest tech boost is another bubble ready to burst and wreak havoc with the state budget.

According to the state's latest figures, capital gains and stock options accounted for nearly 14 cents of every tax dollar collected in California in the fiscal year that ended last summer. Similar numbers are expected this year. That's nearly double the percentage two years ago, following the dot-com bust.

But that's still less than the heady days of the Internet boom in 2000, when capital gains and stock options accounted for a whopping 40 percent of all personal income in California and a quarter of the state's tax revenue.

Nonetheless, state officials say they are closely monitoring the income.

"I admit, I've been looking at those insider trading sheets almost daily. It's amazing; day after day, millions and millions of shares," said Brad Williams, senior fiscal forecaster for the state's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office. "It's not all attributable to one company, but Google is a big sign that we're going to see capital gains again this year and that the budget won't be as bad as it could be."

Last month, the analyst's office released its fiscal outlook for the budget year beginning in July. It predicted capital gains and stock options would help lift California's current-year bank balance $1 billion above earlier forecasts.

California also will receive a bounce from the 2006 stock sales of other leading high-tech CEOs.

That includes nearly $17 million from the sale of shares by Oracle Corp. Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison and nearly $10 million from shares sold by Cisco Systems Inc. Cisco Chief Executive John Chambers, according to figures provided by Thomson Financial.

The state also will receive about $3.5 million in unexpected tax revenue from a million shares of Hewlett-Packard Co. stock that company insiders sold during the spying scandal that rocked the computer and printer maker last year.

The news, however, is not all good for the state.

California faces a $5.5 billion budget gap in the next fiscal year, and billions in revenue the state is counting on could evaporate overnight with a drop in the stock market.

Economists say California's increasing dependence on tech stocks underscores the state's unusually high reliance on such volatile revenue sources. It also exacerbates the state's structural budget imbalance by providing bursts of money that lawmakers have been eager to spend on new or expanded programs, rather than setting it aside in reserves.

That money can dry up in down years and leave the state facing massive spending deficits.

Lawmakers drove up state spending nearly 40 percent during three years of the dot-com boom, a spree that has left the state's spending needs perched above its revenue. The state has largely balanced its budget since then with a combination of borrowing, cuts and deferred payments.

Schwarzenegger has opened a reserve fund and with the help of Google ensured the state has $3.1 billion to put toward next year's shortfall. But fiscal watchdogs point out that the governor also has allowed many costly state programs to grow, and the tech windfall is masking a drop in tax revenue from a depressed housing market.

Last week, Schwarzenegger bet that by spending more he might help prevent another tech bust. Schwarzenegger proposed spending $95 million to pump up biomedical, nanotech and other research programs at California universities.

"It's money that has a very direct impact on this state. It's where you're going to find the next Oracle, next Google or next eBay," said Palmer, the finance spokesman. "It's not only about being on the cutting edge of nano, bio or what have you, but about job creation in the state and the revenue the state takes in. The benefits are pretty obvious."[via]

Biltmore Estate Grows by Building Brand

Merely running America's largest home - a 1890s French Renaissance-style, 250-room chateau in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina - wasn't enough.

Over the past 50 years or so, those trusted with George Vanderbilt's palatial Biltmore Estate have added a winery, a luxury hotel, five restaurants, a dozen shops and a network of retailers that sell their collection of home and garden products. Biltmore is now a successful national brand, a private company with $130 million in annual revenue and growing sales.

'What's fun is that we haven't always promoted ourselves,' said Jerry Douglas, senior vice president of marketing and sales at The Biltmore Company. 'Over the years, the Biltmore name and all things associated with Biltmore have become more recognized.'

At the same time, the estate welcomed more than 1 million visitors in 2006 for the first time in its history. That's quite a feat, especially at a time when historic homes nationwide are being shuttered and even sold after neglect by their owners and wear from tourist visits.

Preservationists say the upkeep of some of America's most prestigious houses has become an expensive chore. To help with the costs of cost of repairs, maintenance and staffing, several are being offered up for private purchase, including Colonial Williamsburg's Carter's Grove.

But by building a brand, Biltmore is different. Along with making the estate a tourist spot, Biltmore developed its own food, home decor, furnishings, plants and building products, and sells them at its gift shops and through 3,000 retail locations.

All of it ties to the estate and the elegant lifestyle of a family once among the wealthiest in the world.

'It's nice how you can take a part of your visit home with you,' said Pat Peacher of Clarksville, Tenn., who recently visited the estate with her family and left with a portrait of the Biltmore, Christmas ornaments, some dip mixes and a blackberry drink mix.

The shops also sell Biltmore-inspired cookware, china, cookbooks, and books and DVDs cataloguing historical events.

'They started with an asset and then the question became what do they need to do with it,' said J. Myrick Howard, president of Preservation North Carolina. 'They have been extremely remarkable in achieving what they've done.'

Once a self-sufficient 125,000-acre estate, Biltmore opened Christmas Eve in 1895 as the private residence of George and Edith Vanderbilt. Then, its farms yielded fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy products. The forest produced firewood and a 300-acre nursery offered plants for sale.

But after George Vanderbilt's death in 1914, Edith sold a majority of the estate's land and a couple of the Biltmore's businesses. Edith later remarried and moved on, but the Vanderbilt's daughter, Cornelia - who had married John Francis Amherst Cecil - continued to live at Biltmore.

Today, Vanderbilt's grandson, William A.V. Cecil, owns Biltmore Estate. His son, William A.V. Cecil Jr., is the estate's chief executive.

In 1930, the Cecil family opened Biltmore House to the public. The house closed during World War II, but reopened in 1945. By 1960, the estate was a bit lackluster, and Cecil Sr. left a banking career in New York City to join his brother in managing Biltmore, which the two men had inherited.

Cecil Sr. started restoring the house, which the family stopped using as a private residence in 1958, and maintained its public tours, while looking at the same time to diversify the business.

During the oil crisis of the 1970s, Cecil Sr. worried the business - which started turning a profit in 1968 - would suffer as tourists decided they couldn't drive to the estate.

And so, by 1979, he had remodeled the estate's dairy barn for use as one of the state's first modern wineries. Now, Biltmore's very own Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Syrah - among other varieties - is sold in 12 states and the District of Columbia.

The Biltmore Company has also gotten into the lodging business, opening the high-end Inn on Biltmore Estate in 2001, with 213 rooms designed to resemble the Biltmore House.

And last year, the Cottage on Biltmore Estate was opened to anyone interested in a more private, luxurious experience. Originally the 1896 residence of the Biltmore Estate gardener, the Cottage houses up to four adults and includes a personal chef, a butler and admission to the estate. The cost: $2,800 a night.

As the company evolves, customers seem to be following it right along. In the 2006 fiscal year, ticket sales at the estate were up 8 percent, revenue at the inn jumped 12 percent and the wine company increased revenue by 24 percent.

'Biltmore For Your Home' brands also doubled their revenue, building on partnerships with companies such as Anderson Hardwood Floors, Belk and Magnussen Home.

Industry experts believe the company and its lines can continue their growth.

'The beauty of the Biltmore is that all their products and distribution channels make sense,' said Jim Dettore, president and chief executive of Brand Institute Inc., a brand identity consulting firm in Miami. 'You can continue to extend the brand out just as long as the initial brand plays a part in the new brand.'

Howard agreed, adding, 'There's a line that you could certainly go over, like if they started selling Biltmore trinkets made in China. They haven't gone over that line.'

Biltmore leaders don't plan to.

'As long as we are family owned, I don't see us getting too big and losing sense of our original purpose,' Douglas said. 'There's a place for us in a lot more places where we're not.

'Thirty years ago you would have thought all this was impossible. Today, we're thinking of what's next.'

Biltmore Estate: http://www.biltmore.com

British Airways reaches pension deal with unions

British Airways Plc (BAY.L: Quote) has reached an agreement with its four main trade unions on a package of reforms to tackle its 2.1 billion pound ($4.1 billion) pension deficit, the airline confirmed on Saturday.

The deal, struck late on Friday, will be recommended by the unions to the workforce to end months of negotiations and should lift the threat of industrial action at the airline.

BA has agreed to make a one-off contribution of 800 million pounds into the pension fund subject to acceptance of benefit changes.

The airline said together with a one-off employee saving of 400 million pounds and changes to future benefits, the New Airways Pension Scheme (NAPS) pension deficit will be reduced by more than half to 900 million pounds.

Its annual contributions will be around 280 million pounds for the next decade.

"Together with the NAPS trustees and staff, we have found a shared solution that helps secure the pensions of our 33,500 NAPS members and removes a major blocker to future investment in British Airways," BA Chief Executive Willie Walsh said in an emailed statement.

"This brings the NAPS deficit and ongoing contributions to a level which is affordable by British Airways and effectively tackles one of the most fundamental issues we face," Walsh said.

Further details of the proposed pension arrangements will be released following communications to employees on Monday, BA said.

It agreed a funding plan to clear the NAPS deficit with the pension scheme trustees in 2006, subject to members accepting changes to future benefits.

BA said in November it had agreed to make a one-off injection of 800 million pounds and pay up to 50 million pounds a year for three years to tackle its pension deficit, but still had to negotiate the deal with unions.

The airline last year proposed raising the retirement age of its 2,500 pilots to 60 from 55 and raise the retirement age for other staff to 65. [via]

Mediacom May Lose 22 Sinclair Stations

Some football fans who pay for cable television in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, will need to make special arrangements to catch Sunday's NFL playoff game between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets. Ditto for devotees of "Grey's Anatomy" in St. Louis who want to catch Thursday night's hotly anticipated new episode.

The culprit? A financial stalemate between cable operator Mediacom Communications Corp. and Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. (SBGI), the owner of the CBS affiliate in Cedar Rapids and the ABC affiliate in St. Louis.

Because Sinclair did not extend its retransmission consent to Mediacom past midnight Friday, Mediacom will not carry those stations and 20 others owned or programmed by Sinclair unless Sinclair agrees to binding arbitration of a dispute over how much Mediacom should pay for the right to include the stations in its cable package.

Late Friday, Mediacom said in e-mailed statement that Sinclair "has refused to extend Mediacom's right to carry the Sinclair broadcast stations and directed Mediacom to pull the stations from the channel lineup as of midnight tonight." Mediacom also said it would provide content from other programmers on the channels previously occupied by the Sinclair stations.

A 1 a.m. EST Saturday, KDSM-TV in Des Moines, Iowa, a Fox affiliate that is a Sinclair station, went to a blank screen, then broadcast alternative programming. However, in Birmingham, Ala., WDBB-TV, a CW affiliate, was still broadcasting that network's shows.

Essentially, Sinclair argues that it provides some of the most popular shows on television and should be compensated accordingly. Mediacom contends that Sinclair is nothing more than a middleman for programming generated by the major broadcast networks, unlike cable channels that produce original programming.

"Sinclair made the case that they want to get paid like cable networks. They certainly don't behave like cable networks," Mediacom Chairman and Chief Executive Rocco B. Commisso said Friday in a conference call.

Barry Faber, vice president and general counsel of Hunt Valley, Md.-based Sinclair, said Sinclair was asking for a fraction of what Mediacom pays for cable channels that appeal only to niche audiences.

"If they were taking off Animal Planet, I don't think this would be quite the big issue that it is," Faber said. "The reason it's a big issue is that people care about our television stations because they're popular."

The Federal Communications Commission's media bureau on Thursday rejected Mediacom's complaint alleging that Sinclair didn't negotiate in good faith as the companies tried to agree on the value of Sinclair stations that reach Mediacom customers in 13 states.

The panel "strongly encouraged" the parties to submit to binding arbitration while noting that it does not have the authority to require them to do so.

If the dispute went into arbitration, Mediacom would continue to carry the Sinclair stations until a decision is reached, Commisso said.

"We offered binding arbitration to Sinclair and are still awaiting their response," he said.

But Faber said Mediacom had not been specific about how it wanted the case to be handled if it went to arbitration.

"The suggestion of doing binding arbitration is a much more complicated decision than I think Mediacom would lead people to believe, because there are an awful lot of parameters that would need to be established," Faber said.

Commisso alleges that Sinclair has made "outrageously escalating demands" and is trying to charge Mediacom significantly more than it charges larger cable operators for carrying its stations. He did not specify the financial terms of Sinclair's offer but said the rates it has proposed to Mediacom are "100 percent to 500 percent" higher than what it has offered other companies.

Faber said he wouldn't base negotiations with Mediacom on his deals with other companies.

"Every negotiation is different. It's impossible in many ways to compare one to the other," Faber said. "We think we're offering them a tremendous deal."

Middletown, N.Y.-based Mediacom is the nation's eighth-largest cable company, with about 1.3 million subscribers. By comparison, the largest cable provider, Comcast Corp. (CMCSA), has 24 million subscribers, according to the National Cable and Telecommunications Association.

The dispute affects more than 800,000 Mediacom cable subscribers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia and Wisconsin.

The Sinclair stations include six Fox affiliates, four ABC affiliates, four CW affiliates, one CBS affiliate, one NBC affiliate and six affiliates of MyNetworkTV - the network formed by News Corp. (NWS) for stations left out when the WB and UPN networks merged to create CW.

Sinclair has warned Mediacom customers that the dispute could mean they might not able to see their favorite programs and is urging them to switch to satellite providers. The company is offering rebates for Mediacom subscribers who sign up for DirecTV.

"We think people who care about our programming will continue to find ways to watch it," Faber said. "We don't think that people are going to change what they want to do because two businesses can't come to an agreement." [via]