Mobilink upgrades JWS vocational centre

KARACHI: Mobilink has upgraded Jinnah Welfare Society’s (JWS) vocational centre by setting up a stitching and sewing facility, said a press release on Wednesday.

The facility upgraded with 12 sewing machines was inaugurated by Mobilink’s CSR team in a ceremony in JWS, Talagang.

20 Pakistani brands to attend BD denim expo

KARACHI: Denim Expert Limited, a Bangladesh-Netherlands joint venture, is organising a two-day ‘Bangladesh Denim Expo’ in Dhaka on November 11-12, 2014, according to a press release.

More than 20 famous brands from Pakistan are expected to attend.

“The aim of the expo is to showcase denim brands to the global market and to make Bangladesh denim expo a ‘one-stop sourcing platform’ for denim,” the release added.

Sony forecasts $2bn loss as smartphones lag

TOKYO: Sony expects its annual loss to swell to $2 billion and has canceled dividends for the first time in more than half a century after writing down the value of its troubled smartphone business.

Citing intense competition, especially from Chinese rivals, Sony said Wednesday it anticipates a net loss of 230bn yen ($2.15bn) for the fiscal year that ends March 31, 2015. Its previous forecast was for a 50bn yen ($466 million) net loss.

For the first time since going public in 1958, the Japanese electronics and entertainment conglomerate canceled dividend payments for the half- and full-year. “This is the very first time we ever eliminated a dividend,” said Sony’s president Kazuo Hirai.

“For more than 50 years we always paid a dividend. The entire management takes this very seriously.”

The company plans to cut staff in its mobile communications business by about 15 per cent, or roughly 1,000 people, Hirai said. Details of that plan are to be announced later.

Published in Dawn, September 18th , 2014