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by Colin Brown

Former World Superbike Champion James Toseland is to be the Guest of Honour at the 2011 Sports Awards sponsored by Isle of Man Bank.

James – who lives on the Island – had a successful career in Superbikes before graduating to MotoGP which is the cream of motorcycle racing.  Unfortunately, he injured his right wrist, badly, early last year in a crash while testing at Aragon in Spain.  This ultimately led him to announce his retirement from the sport last September.

Before bowing out of motorcycling James ensured he would go down in history as one of the ‘greats’ by becoming the youngest-ever Superbike World Champion and securing the title for Ducati in 2004.  He said goodbye to World Superbikes after again lifting the World crown in 2007 and moved up to MotoGP.

Geoff Karran, executive chairman of Isle of Man Sport – which hosts the sports awards ceremony – said: ‘We are delighted to have James as our Guest of Honour.  We do try and make sure we attract sportsmen and women from different sports and it is appropriate that at long last we will have a motorcyclist as guest on this most important night for sport.  I am sure James will be an inspiration to all our young sports people and will join us in making this a wonderful celebration of sport – where we can all be proud to be Manx.’

James (31) is an accomplished pianist and singer and, before his motorcycle successes, had considered a professional career in that form of entertainment.  He is now expected to resume the musical side of his life – particularly as he is engaged to singer Katie Melua.

John Lindon, Isle of Man Bank’s Community Investment Manager, said Isle of Man Sport continued to attract the biggest names in their fields to be the official guests of honour.  He added: ‘James will be the first motorcycling star to grace the event.  Given the Island’s reputation, not only as a mecca for motorcyclists but also as a production line for locally-grown talent, I am certain his presence will be eagerly anticipated.

‘James is well known as a very fine musician and it will be interesting to see whether he drops some hints as to the way his music career might develop now he has retired from the motorcycling scene.’

Doncaster-born Toseland announced his retirement in a letter, to his fans, on his website.  He explained that during his first meeting with his consultant after the crash in Spain he was warned that the damage to his wrist could be career-threatening.  Following a further crash at Nurburgring in Germany he returned to the consultant and was given the bad news.

He said: ‘The easiest way to explain it is that I don’t have enough range of movement in my wrist to race professionally and no amount of physiotherapy is going to improve that.  It all led to the verdict that it was no longer safe for me to continue a career in motorcycle racing.  I have to put the safety of the other riders on the track first, as well as thinking about my own.’

The sports awards evening takes place at the Villa Marina on Thursday March 29th with the usual categories and culminating with the presentation of the Sports man and woman of the year trophies.

Said Mr. Karran: ‘Last year was another great year for sport on the Island with the hosting of the Commonwealth Youth Games and more and more successes for our talented athletes.  The panel will have its work cut out to even agree on the nominees for awards in all the categories, let alone finding actual winners.’

- Ends -

In Other Isle of Man News

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Another World Champion to Guest at Sports Awards Ceremony

By Martin de Sa'Pinto and Katharina Bart

ZURICH (Reuters) - Julius Baer (VTX:BAER.VX - News) is prepared to pay a fine to escape an escalating U.S. crackdown on offshore bank accounts after last week's indictment of smaller rival Wegelin raised tension among Swiss private bankers.

"We expect we will probably have to pay a fine, but have the resources to satisfy a solution," Baer Chief Executive Boris Collardi told a news conference as the bank announced 2011 results and a share buyback on Monday.

"We've taken an early, proactive approach with the U.S., taken measures including the U.S. exit in 2009 at our own decision, and have an ongoing constructive dialogue," Collardi said, adding he did not expect the bank to be indicted.

He did not say when a resolution was expected, nor how much Baer might have to pay.

U.S. officials have in recent months been piling pressure on Swiss private banks like Baer whose clients include wealthy Americans with hidden offshore accounts. That culminated in the indictment on Thursday of Wegelin, Switzerland's oldest private bank, which had broken itself up the week before in anticipation in order to protect other parts of the business.

Shares in Julius Baer fell 4.8 percent to 37.05 Swiss francs at 1100 GMT, underperforming a 1.2 percent slide on the European banking sector index (:.SX7P).

Dirk Becker, analyst at Kepler Capital Markets, noted that Baer traded at a significant premium to other banks at 1.7 times book value compared to a sector average of 0.6 times.

"Julius Baer is one of the most defensive in our coverage of European banks, but also not free of problems," he said. "The resolution of the U.S. tax matter could potentially be very expensive."

Larger rival Credit Suisse, which reports 2011 numbers on Thursday, is also caught up in the U.S. investigation. The bank said in November it had taken a 295 million Swiss franc charge against third-quarter earnings in connection with the probe, but noted that the final settlement could exceed that.

Baer financial head Enkelmann said after paying 2011 dividends and buying back shares the bank still has roughly 900 million Swiss francs in excess capital, from which Collardi said any fine would be paid.

SOARING FRANC CRIMPS PROFIT

Baer said 2011 net profit fell 27 percent on the year to 258 million Swiss francs ($280.72 million), hurt by lackluster client trading, restructuring costs and other expenses including a one-off payment to resolve a tax dispute with Germany.

Baer cut its profit margin target and raised its cost income ratio forecast as a soaring Swiss franc kept the bank's mainly franc-based costs high but capped foreign-currency revenues.

"Two-thirds of costs are in Swiss francs, while two-thirds of revenues are in non-Swiss franc currencies," Enkelmann said in a earnings call.

"We can still work on costs, to move out some costs from Switzerland and to better match costs and revenues, but this is not short term and will take some time."

Vontobel analyst Teresa Nielsen said the revised targets suggested that restructuring expenses would come in "higher than previously expected."

In what Nomura analyst Jon Peace called "a show of capital strength," the bank also launched a new share buyback of up to 500 million Swiss francs and announced a special dividend of 0.40 francs per share to its ordinary 0.60 franc dividend, returning a further 200 million francs in total to shareholders.

After losing out to Swiss-Brazilian Bank Safra in an attempt to buy Bank Sarasin (:BSAN.S) late last year, the bank said it continued to hunt for acquisitions in Switzerland as well as in its growth markets.

"The board clearly wants to give priority to the mergers-and-acquisitions market ... The second priority is to return additional capital to shareholders via repurchasing shares," Enkelmann told the news conference.

Clients added 10 billion francs in net new money in 2011, ahead of expectations, balanced by falling investment values and the negative effect of the Swiss franc which kept total assets steady at 170 billion francs. Growth markets like Asia and South America yielded strong inflows, as did Switzerland and Germany.

($1 = 0.9191 Swiss francs)

(Additional reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Emma Thomasson, Hans-Juergen Peters and Sophie Walker)

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Julius Baer ready to pay fine to avert U.S. probe

Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Jiong Shao, regional head of Internet and media at Macquarie Securities, talks about Chinese Internet and advertising companies. Sohu.com Inc. tumbled the most in two years, and an index of Chinese U.S.-traded stocks dropped from a five-month high, as the owner of China’s third-biggest search engine posted an unexpected decline in profit. Shao also discusses Facebook Inc.'s planned initial public offering. He speaks with Susan Li on Bloomberg Television's "First Up." (Source: Bloomberg)

Sohu.com Inc. tumbled the most in two years, and an index of Chinese U.S.-traded stocks dropped from a five-month high, as the owner of China’s third-biggest search engine posted an unexpected decline in profit.

Sohu sank 15 percent in New York, leading a slump in Chinese Internet stocks in the U.S. Changyou.com Inc., Sohu’s online gaming unit, and social-media companies Renren Inc. and Sina Corp. all slid, paring advances spurred last week by Facebook Inc. filing for an initial public offering. The Bloomberg China-US 55 Index of the most-traded Chinese shares in the U.S. dropped 2.1 percent to 104.26 yesterday in New York, the biggest daily decline since Dec. 12.

Fourth-quarter net income for Sohu fell 39 percent to $25 million, compared with the $48.7 million average of seven analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The Beijing-based company also forecast revenue for this quarter that missed analysts’ estimates by as much as $21 million as the slowing Chinese economy translates into less advertising.

Sohu’s stock price dropped “mainly because its first- quarter sales forecast is far below our expectations due to slower growth in advertising revenue,” said Qi Guo, an analyst at ThinkEquity LLC in San Francisco. In a conference call with investors after the release of the results, “Sohu’s management said they’re not optimistic about the outlook for advertising revenue growth. Investors connected it with other Chinese Internet companies relying on advertising,” Guo said.

The iShares FTSE China 25 Index Fund, the biggest Chinese exchange-traded fund in the U.S., snapped a four-day advance, sliding 1.5 percent to $39.87, the most since Jan. 30.

Impairment Charge

Sohu put the drop in net income down a $27.5 million impairment charge canceling out higher revenue from more advertising and game sales. ThinkEquity’s Guo maintained his “hold” recommendation on the stock after the report, while cutting the 12-month price target to $59 from $68. Two other analysts reiterated ratings of “sector perform” or “market perform” yesterday.

Sohu declined 15 percent yesterday, the most since October 2009, to a three-week low of $53.41 in New York trading.

Brand advertising revenue, or revenue from online advertising excluding search-engine pages, is expected to be in the range of $60 million to $63 million, down about 21 percent from the previous three months. That would still constitute an increase of 5 percent to 10 percent from a year earlier, Sohu said in the statement yesterday.

The lower first-quarter forecast “is due to lower revenue from the advertising businesses” and a $7 million increase in costs, Sohu’s Chief Financial Officer Carol Yu said, according to a transcript of the conference call. The first three months of the year is “a slow season” for advertising, she said.

‘Not So Optimistic’

“We are not so optimistic about the macro-economy in 2012,” said Belinda Wang, Sohu’s chief operating officer.

China’s economic expansion would be cut almost in half should Europe’s debt crisis worsen, warranting “significant” fiscal stimulus from the government, the International Monetary Fund said in a report released yesterday by its China office in Beijing. The growth rate may drop as much as 4 percentage points from the Washington-based lender’s current projection, which is for 8.2 percent this year.

Changyou.com Inc., Sohu’s online gaming unit based in Beijing, fell 13 percent to $25.31, the biggest drop since its initial public offering in April 2009 and the second-biggest decliner on the Bloomberg China-US 55 index yesterday. The stock surged 14 percent last week, the most since the five days to Dec. 2.

‘Pressure to Sell’

Shanghai-based Sina, which owns the Twitter-like Weibo service in China, retreated 6.6 percent, the most in a month, to $70.08, after surging 55 percent in the past four weeks.

“There was psychological pressure to sell after the recent gains, especially as there’s still a lot of concerns about the economy,” Chen Liqiu, a strategist at Jianghai Securities Co. in Shanghai, said in a phone interview.

Qihoo 360 Technology Co., a Chinese developer of computer security software, sank 6.1 percent to $17.89, the most in a month, after its products were removed from Apple Inc.’s online store for wireless applications.

Qihoo, based in Beijing, said in a statement e-mailed yesterday that it’s seeking information from Apple about the withdrawal and that people who have previously downloaded its apps should continue to use them as normal.

Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd., a Macau casino operator, slumped 3.4 percent in New York to $11.66, trading at a 2.2 percent discount to its shares in Hong Kong, the most in a week.

Macau Land Grants

The Macau Daily Times reported over the weekend that two of three land grants for the Cotai area of Macau may be approved this year, citing Lands and Public Works Bureau Director Jaime Carion. Casino operators MGM China Holdings Ltd., SJM Holdings Ltd. and Wynn Macau Ltd. have applied for grants, though the bureau may only be able to approve two of the three applications this year, the newspaper said.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was little changed at 1,344.33, ending a three-day rally, on concern Greece won’t be able to agree on the spending cuts necessary to get European Union aid and avert a debt default. The Shanghai Composite Index was steady at 2,331.14, with most stocks on the gauge rising.

Seaspan Corp., a container ship operator based in Hong Kong, jumped 6.6 percent to an eight-month high of $16.65 after the company said it will pay a fourth-quarter dividend this month. Seaspan will pay a dividend of 18.75 cents per common share on Feb. 22 to all shareholders as of Feb. 13, the company said in a statement yesterday.

Chinese consumer prices rose 4 percent in January, compared with a 4.1 percent gain in December, according to the median of 31 economists’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The government data is due to be released on Feb. 9. January exports may drop 1.4 percent from year-ago levels, compared with a 13.4 percent advance the previous month, a separate survey showed. The trade data is scheduled for Feb. 10.

To contact the reporter on this story: Belinda Cao in New York at lcao4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Emma O’Brien at eobrien6@bloomberg.net

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Sohu Leads Internet Stock Slide as Profit Disappoints: China Overnight

05-03-2010 00:07 Real Estate Internet Coaching: http://www.realestatecreditsonline.com Gabrielle Jeans demonstrates real estate online promotion strategies. Become a fan on Facebook http://www.facebook.com Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com http://www.mmtrial.com

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03-02-2012 11:18 Review of the Kogeto DOT an iPhone 4 and 4S accessory that allows you to shoot 360 degree videos! Panoramic video that doesn't stitch the footage together, it records the 360 degree view in one go! It's awesome but over priced! RRP: US $79. More info at http://www.kogeto.com Music http://www.youtube.com Follow me on Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com Add me to your circles on Google+: http://www.gplus.to Subscribe for more videos: youtube.com Thanks for supporting my YouTube channel 😀 AppChat is a technology show produced by Elly. The focus is usually on app reviews, however, AppChat videos range from product reviews to tutorials, looks at "retro" items and more. There are usually new AppChat videos every 1-2 weeks.

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Capture 360 degree video on iPhone 4/4S with Kogeto DOT (Review) - Video