US$20-B sales in 2012? Possible says San Miguel chief

MANILA, Philippines - Diversifying conglomerate San Miguel Corp. is aiming to increase target sales for all units more than 60% this year, after its president and chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang said its US$20 billion (est PhP860 billion) revenue target will be achieved by end of this year.

“We are ahead to achieve the $20 billion sales. We believe that we may even hit $20 billion revenues per year. We have set internally another target but I will not say how much,” Ang told reporters on May 23.

Originally the company set its $20 billion target revenue for 2015. Last year the conglomerate brought in P535.76 billion (or roughly $12.37 billion based on a 43.31 average exchange rate).

Asked about achieving the ambitious target, Ang said, "We have been buying good companies, that’s why.”

“Madami pa kaming gagawin. Marami pang opportunity sa labas na hinahabol naming at madami pa na opportunities sa Pilipinas. Ngayon ginagaya na kami ng lahat. Habang gumaganda, hinde namin ititigil ito. We will pursue our diversification. (We will be doing more acquisitions. We have a lot of opportunities here and outside the country. Now, others are copying our strategy. We will not stop. We will pursue our diversification strategy),” said Ang.

"Oh, you have not seen anything yet," he quipped.

San Miguel has been diversifying away from its decades-long food and drinks core businesses, and into heavy industries that they expect to bring in higher yields. Their business portfolio now includes mining, energy, power, banking, toll roads, agriculture and other utilities.

San Miguel's recent acquisition was a minority stake in legacy carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL). It also recently disposed its stake in Bank of Commerce for P12 billion. It has expressed interest in key infrastructure and capital intensive projects, including the upcoming NLEx-SLEx connector link project.

“If the timing is good this year, marami pa kaming gagawin (we will do more deals),” said Ang. - Rappler.com

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IBM names female chief executive

26 October 2011 Last updated at 06:41 GMT IBM is seen as a bellwether for the technology sector Technology giant IBM has appointed its first ever female chief executive.

Virginia Rometty, currently a senior vice president, will take over from the current chief executive, Sam Palmisano, in January.

Mr Palmisano, who took the top job in 2002, will step aside whilst remaining chairman of IBM.

Both executives helped steer the company from mainly selling personal computers to selling software and services.

Ms Rometty, 54, is also widely known as Ginni.

"Given Ginni's experience running the largest portion of the business by revenue, she was a logical choice," said Macquarie Securities analyst Brad Zelnick.

She joins a relatively small circle of top female chief executives, including Pepsi's Indra Nooyi, Xerox's Ursula Burns, Kraft Foods' Irene Rosenfeld and DuPont's Ellen Kullman.

Hewlett-Packard - a longtime rival to IBM - recently appointed Meg Whitman as its boss.

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Colombia imprisons ex-spy chief

14 September 2011 Last updated at 18:23 GMT Jorge Noguera always denied any wrongdoing A Colombian court has sentenced former intelligence chief Jorge Noguera to 25 years in prison for collaborating with paramilitary death squads.

He was found guilty of allowing right-wing paramilitaries to infiltrate the intelligence service, and helping them murder an academic activist.

Mr Noguera led Colombia's Administrative Security Department (DAS) from 2002 to 2005.

He was a close ally of the president at the time, Alvaro Uribe.

Noguera always denied any wrongdoing, but he resigned his post in 2005 amid accusations that he was working with paramilitary death squads, including supplying the names of trade unionists and human right workers.

He was made head of DAS by Mr Uribe, who was in office from 2002 to 2010.

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I trusted him. If he committed crimes that hurts me and I offer apologies to the citizens”

End Quote Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Atrocities In response to his conviction, Mr Uribe apologised for having appointed him.

"I trusted him. If he committed crimes that hurts me and I offer apologies to the citizens," Mr Uribe wrote on Twitter.

Paramilitary groups have been blamed for some of the worst atrocities in Colombia's long civil conflict.

They were formed in the 1980s to fight left-wing rebels, but - like their guerrilla enemies - have also been heavily involved in the cocaine trade.

Mr Uribe made the demobilisation of the main paramilitary group - the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC) - one of the cornerstones of his security policy, along with tough action against the guerrillas.

But members of his administration, as well as the Colombian army, have been accused of collaborating with paramilitaries.

Noguera's case is one of a series of scandals to hit the DAS in recent years.

Another former head of the DAS, Maria del Pilar Hurtado, and Mr Uribe's former chief of staff, Bernardo Moreno, are facing trial over allegedly ordering wiretaps of government opponents.

Ms Hurtado is currently in Panama, where she has been granted asylum.

The DAS answers only to the president, but Mr Uribe has repeatedly denied issuing any orders that violated the law or the constitution.

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Cheezburger chief challenges GQ to fashion 'duel'

Cheezburger

Ben Huh, misunderstood fashion icon?

By John Cook, GeekWire

Ben Huh is the CEO of Cheezburger, the company behind hit sites such as I Can Has Cheezburger and Fail Blog. As a result, he's known primarily for "LOLcats" and random moments of disastrous hilarity.

But this week his penchant for ironic, cat-themed T-shirts gave him a different rep — as No. 10 on GQ's list of the 15 worst-dressed men in technology, right up there with the likes of Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg.

"We get it," chided the GQ editors in their blurb on Huh. "Your office chair is a FUF and you sift through zany cat pics for a living, hence the whimsical kitty graphic tees and white-rimmed specs. It's cute. But we can tell you just rolled out of your 1,000-thread count bed sheets and picked out the nearest T-shirt in or around the laundry basket."

But now the mag has a cat fight on its hands. Huh is taking the issue to the people — challenging GQ to what amounts to a fashion duel.

In this lighthearted video message, with his shirt changing every few seconds, Huh says that he will dress in his very best geek duds and then also have GQ dress him in what they deem as cool. Then, in a blind test, the community would vote on who actually has the better fashion sense.

"My theory is that technologists, like me, and geeks, like many of our users, know how to dress," Huh says. "It is that we just really choose not to."

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John Cook of GeekWire can be followed on Twitter or Facebook. Just don't ask what he's wearing.

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Search for new 2014 Games chief

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New al-Qaida chief praises Syrian protesters (AP)

CAIRO – Al-Qaida's new leader praised Syrian protesters seeking to topple the regime of President Bashar Assad while trying to portray the uprising as an Islamic battle against American and Israeli interests.

The video message posted on extremist websites Wednesday is Ayman al-Zawahri's first since al-Qaida named him its new leader in June following the death of Osama bin Laden in a U.S. commando raid in Pakistan.

The Egyptian-born al-Zawahri, who long served as bin Laden's top deputy, directly addressed the Syrian protesters who have risen up against Assad's rule despite a bloody government crackdown. The message appeared to be an attempt to place al-Qaida firmly on the side of the anti-government demonstrators.

"You are an example, explaining lessons to your Arab and Muslim nation in sacrifice, steadfastness and the struggle against oppression," al-Zawahri said of the protesters. "How could you not? You are the sons of the Levant, the front for jihad and martyrdom."

In the past, al-Qaida leaders, including bin Laden himself in a video released after his death, have sought to associate themselves with the uprisings sweeping the Arab world this year, offering guidance on how the protests should be led to serve al-Qaida's extremist version of Islam.

Many experts, however, think the uprisings have shown how out of touch the terror group has become with the aspirations of Arab youth who have been the uprising's main activists. Most seek greater freedom from dictatorial regimes, not the Islamic rule al-Qaida advocates.

And in Syria, activists have said religion has played little role in their uprising to topple Assad.

In the video, Zawahri — dressed in a white robe, large glasses and a turban, with an assault rifle at his side — also warned the Syrian protesters not to believe that President Barack Obama and the United States stand with them.

"Tell America and Obama: ... we are waging a battle of freedom and liberation, freedom from corrupt tyrants and the liberation of the religion of the Muslims," al-Zawahri said.

Al-Zawahri claimed that Washington wants to replace Assad with "a new ruler who follows America, protects Israel's interests and grants the (Muslim) nation a few freedoms."

The U.S. administration has toughened its rhetoric toward Assad's regime, declaring recently that the Syrian leader has lost all legitimacy as a leader.

Al-Zawahri also attacked Assad, calling him "the leader of the criminal gang, descendant of the traitors, biggest of those who spread corruption, head of the executioners, America's partner in the war on Islam in the name of terrorism, and border guard for Israel."

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