>>> US Early premarket gappers

Early premarket gappers

Gapping up: CHTP +44.4%, UCTT +20.6%, CRDS +11.6%, HST +8.7%, COLM +7.1%, HL +6.4%, ORIG +5.5%, HSTM +4.6%, CF +4.6%, PRAN +4%, NPSP +2.8%, NBR +2.6%, USU +1.9%, ADI +1.5%, HLF +1.5%, URRE +1.4%, ISIS +1.2%, GG +1.1%, MDBX +0.7%

Gapping down: LZB -9.3%, TS -4.7%, ZIXI -4.7%, KAR -3.9%, OAKS -3.7%, PBPB -3.6%, TSEM -2.6%, CYH -1.9%, KMP -1.7%, PNRA -1.4%, RIO -0.7%

(BFW) *OMV CFO RULES OUT CAPITAL INCREASE TO FUND INVESTMENTS

 BN 02/19 10:13 *OMV CFO RULES OUT CAPITAL INCREASE TO FUND INVESTMENTS
 BN 02/19 09:51 *OMV E&P CHIEF JAAP HUIJSKES COMMENTS IN VIENNA
 BN 02/19 09:50 *OMV CURRENTLY PRODUCES 70% OF USUAL LIBYA OUTPUT: HUIJSKES
 BN 02/19 09:40 *OMV CFO DAVID DAVIES COMMENTS AT PRESS BRIEFING IN VIENNA
 BN 02/19 09:40 *OMV MAY MISS PRODUCTION GUIDANCE IF LIBYA FALLS OUT COMPLETELY
*OMV CFO RULES OUT CAPITAL INCREASE TO FUND INVESTMENTS
2014-02-19 10:14:46.569 GMT

--BENJAMIN DOW

-0- Feb/19/2014 10:14 GMT

WWD : Schiaparelli to Sell by Appointment Only

Schiaparelli to Sell by Appointment Only

PARIS — Signaling a hyper-exclusive business strategy, Schiaparelli is to sell its first collection of high-end ready-to-wear exclusively at a by-appointment boutique in Paris — and editors will discover it at the same time as customers.

Dubbed “prêt-à-couture,” the range of clothes and a few accessories is to be unveiled in June for the fall 2014 season at a 2,500-square-foot space within Schiaparelli’s headquarters at 21 Place Vendôme here.

“It is in our own luxury. When clients will come here, they will feel it is a truly special moment in a couture house, something intimate, exclusive and precious,” said Camilla Schiavone, general manager of Schiaparelli, which presented a couture collection in January, the latest step in reviving a storied brand that had been dormant for decades.

Italian designer Marco Zanini is creative director of Schiaparelli, which is owned by Diego Della Valle, head of Tod’s Group.

RELATED STORY: Schiaparelli's Marco Zanini — The New Maverick >>

Schiavone noted the debut rtw, tentatively scheduled for a presentation during Paris Fashion Week later this month, would only be shown to the press when the merchandise reaches the store.

“The idea is to be in line with the real season,” Schiavone explained. “It is our way to define the pace of a couture house today. We started with haute couture in January with the spring-summer season that was available to order immediately. Now we will start with prêt-à-couture — again available immediately.”

The private boutique will be in the historic home of Schiaparelli, a building that also houses its couture salons, studio, atelier and offices.

Prices of the rtw and accessories have yet to be finalized, with Schiavone suggesting Schiaparelli would pursue an at-its-own-pace development, dovetailing with the founder’s provocative ethos.

“Our independence and irreverence make us willing to follow a schedule that makes sense, not rushing anything, following and respecting seasons and clients, presenting projects when they are ready, taking the necessary time to develop collections, etc.,” she said.

Born in Rome in 1890, Elsa Schiaparelli was seen as a key rival of Gabrielle Chanel, known for designs heavily influenced by surrealist art, such as her Shoe hat and Lobster dress. She closed her Paris house in 1954 and died in 1973.

Della Valle bought the trademarks and archives of the late couturier in May 2006 via a personal holding and has been reviving it slowly, last year tapping couturier Christian Lacroix to do a one-off tribute range for exhibition only.

WWD : Ralph Lauren Taps Valérie Hermann to Head Luxe Division

NEW YORK — Ralph Lauren is aggressively looking to accelerate growth in the luxury segment of his $7 billion empire.

To that end, he has hired Valérie Hermann, former president and chief executive officer of Reed Krakoff, as president of Ralph Lauren Luxury Collections, a new post. Hermann will report directly to Lauren, chairman and ceo of Ralph Lauren Corp. She begins April 7.

“The company keeps growing, and the luxury part of the business has grown to a point where we felt it deserves its own focus. My goal is building luxury in its truest sense,” Lauren said in an exclusive interview. He said the Ricky bag has become an important business; Ralph Lauren timepieces and fine jewelry (in a joint venture with Compagnie Financière Richemont) are growing, and women’s and men’s luxury apparel under Black Label, Purple Label and Collection is expanding.

Hermann’s role will be an extensive one, giving her oversight of Black Label, Purple Label, fine jewelry, eyewear, timepieces, handbags, RRL and fragrance. “Anything that has to do with luxury, she will be the president of,” said Lauren. Her mandate is to leverage the strength of these brands and spearhead the strategy, merchandising, distribution and overall expansion of the global luxury businesses. Each of the division presidents of these categories will report into Hermann.

“This [luxury] is one unit. It’s my company. It’s one family. Now we’ve really defined where we’re going, and how it’s going to be,” said Lauren.

Hermann, who has a strong luxury background, joined Krakoff in April 2011 to head up the nascent company. Prior to that, she was ceo of Yves Saint Laurent in Paris. She joined YSL in 2005 from LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, where she had served as president of John Galliano and director of women’s ready-to-wear at Dior. Before that, she was president and ceo of Jacques Fath. Hermann began her career at the Comité Colbert, the Paris-based luxury goods trade association.

“I have always admired the extraordinary aura of the Ralph Lauren brand. It globally exemplifies the essence of elegance and appeal and stands for everything we admire about America, defining the standards for luxury and an inimitable way of life that the world immediately recognizes,” said Hermann.

“She has an amazing reputation,” said Lauren. “I’ve spoken to different people, and her name came up and they raved about her. We talked, and at that time, she was with Reed Krakoff. We had this long conversation about where’s she’s going and what she wanted to do.

“Picking a new president for me is an important role,” continued Lauren.

Hermann will join the Office of the Chairman, which also includes Jackwyn Nemerov, president and chief operating officer; Christopher Peterson, executive vice president and chief administrative officer, and Roger Farah, executive vice chairman.

Lauren stressed Nemerov’s role is not diminished by Hermann’s appointment. “She [Nemerov] has a tremendous amount of people reporting to her. She’s always been involved with everything — Lauren, Polo, all of it. This [luxury] has not been her expertise. Has she done luxury, per se? No. She was very much a part of picking Valérie,” said Lauren. “We all work together. It’s a team effort.”

Nemerov retains global operational responsibility for the entire company, and responsibility for wholesale, retail, supply chain and manufacturing, as well as overseeing such areas as Lauren, Polo, home, e-commerce, Denim & Supply and Club Monaco.

Asked whether there was a void he was trying to fill by bringing in someone with Hermann’s taste level, he said, “No. It has to do with business. I have a business here that I can build....I think it has so much more growth and potential, and it really needs its own thinking.”

The designer’s luxury merchandise, which covers a broad price range, can range from $12,000 for a Collection black leather and silk gown to $16,000 for a Collection blue taffeta gown, up to $35,000 for a women’s crocodile jacket. A crocodile version of the Ricky bag retails for $22,500, and jewelry and timepieces can retail for more than $100,000.

Luxury represents about 75 percent of Ralph Lauren’s store at the Rhinelander Mansion at Madison Avenue and 72nd Street, which is entirely men’s wear. The women’s store across the street focuses on Ralph Lauren’s luxury offerings, such as Collection, Black Label, handbags, fine jewelry, footwear and accessories.

Lauren said that when the new 35,000-square-foot Polo flagship at 711 Fifth Avenue opens in September, it will house Polo women’s (recently renamed from Blue Label) and men’s products and will, in essence, signify the dividing line between Polo and his luxury businesses.

In Lauren’s opinion, luxury apparel and accessories are sold, nurtured and developed in different ways. “People who come out of luxury businesses think differently about product, and how they see it and service it. Different things go into building a luxury company,” said the designer, such as the way one builds a retail business.

He recalled that when he was first thinking of going public, he asked a Wall Street executive, “What’s a luxury brand?” Lauren told the man that he thought he was a luxury brand, while the Wall Streeter said luxury brands are those that do handbags. “In my opinion, it’s not that. It’s the taste level, it’s the voice, it’s the quality and it’s the vision. It’s the consumer who sees you as a luxury brand,” said Lauren.

Lauren acknowledged that luxury might not be the first thing that people think of when they think of Ralph Lauren.

“I’ve always stood for quality. If you ask what Ralph Lauren is, I would say quality and beautiful product. They [consumers] won’t say he makes beautiful handbags, but I think now they’re beginning to say, ‘I’m wearing the Ricky bag,’ or ‘I went and bought his jewelry or his watches,’” said Lauren. He said Purple Label in men’s is all hand-made in Italy, and “the quality is the ultimate...Polo makes beautiful suits and the wealthiest men wear Polo.”

The luxury customer, although she may shop online, still prefers the full service she gets shopping in a boutique, said Lauren.

“Some sales are done online, but a big part of luxury is going to be the experience of shopping and working in a specialized atmosphere. It’s walking in and seeing the world around you and service,” said Lauren.

The ceo said the goal is to open more Ralph Lauren luxury stores in the future, in China and throughout Europe. The company plans to open a 20,000-square-foot dual-gender Ralph Lauren store at Lee Gardens, an exclusive luxury shopping mall in Hong Kong, in late fall.

“The bulk of our business has been Polo and all the products, but the growth is in luxury,” said Lauren.

(BFW) TeliaSonera May Seek to Acquire Jazztel or Ono, Berenberg Says

+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

TeliaSonera May Seek to Acquire Jazztel or Ono, Berenberg Says 2014-02-19 09:02:27.651 GMT

By Sam Chambers Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- TeliaSonera’s Spanish unit Yoigo appears particularly poorly positioned and risks becoming deeply marginalized, Berenberg says. * Berenberg: One way of offsetting risk would be to buy Jazztel or Ono from “under the noses” of its rivals, and then become a potential target for Vodafone or Orange * Yoigo could seek to form JV with Orange, before attempting to acquire Jazztel * Telia could also seek to sell Yoigo to Vodafone or Orange; may fetch EU1.6b for the unit * Rates Telia hold with PT of SEK42 * NOTE: Orange said to eye Spain Acquisition with Jazztel among targets * NOTE: Vodafone is said to approach ONO for potential acquisition * NOTE: Telia halted the proposed sale of Yoigo in April 2013 after failing to attract suitable offers

For Related News and Information: First Word scrolling panel: FIRST<GO> First Word newswire: NH BFW<GO>

--Editor: James Cone

To contact the reporter on this story: Sam Chambers in London at +44-20-7673-2021 or schambers7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Ludden at +44-20-7673-2645 or jludden@bloomberg.net

(Manager.de) production problems in the BMW i3


The carmaker BMW is far much less electric vehicles than planned. The Board intends to continue investing in the carbon production - and thus solve supply problems.

Hamburg - The production of the i3 run sluggishly on, the manager magazine reports in its new issue (Release date: February 21). Even before a good month they had almost 50 percent located behind the plan, report Leipzig responsible.

Especially with the carbon parts there is further a very high error rate. In addition, suppliers report that BMW Show Charttake yet only just over half the amount actually ordered from.
BMW sold the scooter since November 2013. The i3 is the first car with a body made ​​of the lightweight material carbon. To ensure the supply, BMW had in advance together with the industrial group SGL Carbon Show Chart built up its own supply chain.

In order to solve the supply problems with carbon, will now also invest at least 100 million euros in the production of carbon parts BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer.

The Group currently produces an average of 70 i3 per day. "We are dealing with a completely new type of automobile production. One or the other initial problem is as normal," said project manager Ulrich Kranz.

BMW have deliberately chosen a very flat start-up curve. So far, have ordered an i3 for Group Information 11,000 customers. Prospective report of waiting until September.

RTR - EU regulator objects to current Telefonica, KPN deal

(Reuters) - The European Union antitrust regulator objects to Telefonica's proposed 8.6 billion euro ($11.83 billion) bid for KPN's German unit in its current form, two people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The deal, which will reduce the number of mobile providers in Europe's biggest market from four to three, is crucial for the European telecoms industry, which is keen to build up scale via consolidation and better compete with bigger U.S. peers.

The European Commission's objection to the deal as it stands would likely lead to the offer of concessions from the German unit of Spain's Telefonica.

The Commission, the EU's executive body, opened an in-depth investigation into the deal in December last year, saying it was concerned the takeover would reduce competition in Europe's largest economy and lead to higher prices for consumers.

"The next step is a statement of objections to the companies," said one of the people, referring to a Commission document which sets out the regulator's demands in order for the deal to be approved.

A third source said the Commission will likely send the document to the companies next week.

Commission spokesman for competition policy, Antoine Colombani, declined to comment. Telefonica Deutschland spokesman Albert Fetsch and KPN also declined to comment.

Companies typically offer concessions to allay regulatory concerns.

Hutchison Whampoa secured EU approval two years ago to buy Orange's Austrian unit after promising to help new operators enter the market there.