Corporate Bits | Sands Macao offers boxed meals to taxi drivers

Sands Macao celebrated its 12th anniversary yesterday with one of its annual traditions – providing complimentary boxed lunches for the city’s taxi drivers.
Over 120 meal packs were offered to taxi drivers arriving at the hotel yesterday. The packs featured “double-boiled pork rib soup with Chinese herbs, poached chicken la princess with ginger dip and braised slices of sea whelk and fish maw with black mushroom,” according to a statement issued by Sands China.
Sands Macao has been expressing its appreciation for the region’s fleet of cab drivers as part of its anniversary celebrations since the opening of the hotel and entertainment complex in 2004.

burberry announces cost-cutting plans as revenue falls

Luxury clothes maker Burberry has announced wide-ranging cost-cutting plans after reporting a drop in earnings due in part to weak sales in Asia.
The company said yesterday it planned at least 100 million pounds (USD144 million) in cost-cutting by the fiscal year 2019.
The move comes as it reported that net income dropped to 310 million pounds in the first quarter, from 336 million pounds in the year-earlier period. Revenue fell to 2.51 billion pounds from 2.52 billion pounds, with a poor performance in Hong Kong and Macau.
Luxury goods makers are struggling with the slowdown in the global economy and falling demand from high-end consumers in China.
CEO Christopher Bailey said the brand remains strong despite the “challenging environment” that is expected to continue in the luxury sector. The company did not provide details of its cost-cutting plans, indicating it aims to “reduce complexity and simplify processes” to fuel future growth.
Richard Hunter, research chief at Wilson King Investment Management, said “the ambitious cost-cutting program will be aligned with an attempt to boost productivity, but in the meantime metrics such as earnings per share and profits have moved in the wrong direction.”
He said it is not clear when Asian consumers will start spending freely on luxury items again.