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	<title>AIM Group &#187; Africa</title>
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		<title>Mubawab receives $850,000 to develop classifieds portal for Middle East and North Africa</title>
		<link>http://aimgroup.com/2012/03/07/mubawab-receives-850000-to-develop-classifieds-portal-for-middle-east-and-north-africa/</link>
		<comments>http://aimgroup.com/2012/03/07/mubawab-receives-850000-to-develop-classifieds-portal-for-middle-east-and-north-africa/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Mar 2012 22:05:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AIMGroup</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[World news releases]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://figgynewton.com/aim/?p=23000</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
    Published March 7, 2012 Mubawab receives $850,000 to develop leading classifieds portal for Middle East and North Africa; hits 600,000 unique visits milestone. 8 March 2012 – Barcelona, Spain – Mubawab, the classifieds startup for the Middle East and North Africa region announced today that it has received $850,000 in funding from Grupo Intercom, Spain’s leading [...]]]></description>
	
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<div>Published March 7, 2012</div>
<div>
<p><em>Mubawab receives $850,000 to develop leading classifieds portal for Middle East and North Africa; hits 600,000 unique visits milestone.</em></p>
<p>8 March 2012 – Barcelona, Spain – Mubawab, the classifieds startup for the Middle East and North Africa region announced today that it has received $850,000 in funding from Grupo Intercom, Spain’s leading web consortium, and international angel investors.</p>
<p>Mubawab (http://www.mubawab.com/), operating 17 local country websites across the Middle East and North Africa, announced today that it has received $850,000 in funding from Grupo Intercom, Spain’s leading web consortium, as well as from international business angels, to develop the leading classifieds portal for the region. Well-known web brands emerging from Spain that Grupo Intercom has previously backed, include Softonic, eMagister, InfoJobs and BuyVIP.</p>
<p>Kevin Gormand, Mubawab CEO, comments: “We’re delighted to have the backing of such esteemed investors, and the team is totally committed to building Mubawab into a household brand across the region in the coming months.”</p>
<p>Mubawab’s aim is to make it easier for people across the Middle East and North Africa to find everyday things online – from real estate to cars, jobs and household items.</p>
<p>Reflecting positive take-up by its target audience, the company also announced today that it is now serving 600,000 visitors per month and generating several thousand user-posted classified ads each day – after just 14 months of company operations. Mubawab’s content comes from users, as well as through feeds and partnerships with local businesses and portals.</p>
<p>Despite its rapid growth, Mubawab also faces unique challenges specific to the Middle Eastern market. Shadi el-Hajj, Mubawab CTO, explains: “The Arab online market is still young but with the popularity of social networking and mobile telephony, it’s maturing faster than the underlying economic infrastructure. For example, many countries in the region don’t have reliable street addresses but yet demand for location-based services is emerging. This often creates the need to really think outside the box with the technical solutions we go for.”</p>
<p>ABOUT MUBAWAB</p>
<p>Mubawab is an online classifieds website for the Middle East and North Africa, allowing users to browse and post free ads for real estate, cars, jobs and everyday stuff. Mubawab means “classified ad” in Arabic and was founded in 2011. For more information and the full list of country websites operated by Mubawab, please visit<a title="Mubawab.com" href="http://www.mubawab.com/">http://www.mubawab.com/ </a>.</p>
<p>PRESS CONTACT</p>
<p>For more information, media materials or access to management, please contact:</p>
<p>Tom Dibaja<br />
+34 696 025 284 (GMT hours)<br />
tom@mubawab.com</p>
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		<title>Schibsted ASA (SCH) – Interim Financial Statement Q3 2011</title>
		<link>http://aimgroup.com/2012/01/10/schibsted-asa-sch-interim-financial-statement-q3-2011/</link>
		<comments>http://aimgroup.com/2012/01/10/schibsted-asa-sch-interim-financial-statement-q3-2011/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:28:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AIMGroup</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Norway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[World news releases]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://figgynewton.com/aim/?p=23171</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
    Published January 11, 2012 /Published: 07:00 CET 11-11-2011 /Thomson Reuters /Source: Schibsted /XOSL: SCH /ISIN: NO0003028904 / *Schibsted ASA (SCH) – Interim Financial Statement Q3 2011* *Today Schibsted ASA (SCH) released its Q3 2011 report, which shows operating revenues of NOK 3.4 billion, underlying an increase of 5 per cent compared to the same period in [...]]]></description>
	
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<div>Published January 11, 2012</div>
<div>
<p>/Published: 07:00 CET 11-11-2011 /Thomson Reuters /Source: Schibsted /XOSL: SCH /ISIN: NO0003028904 / *Schibsted ASA (SCH) – Interim Financial Statement Q3 2011*</p>
<p>*Today Schibsted ASA (SCH) released its Q3 2011 report, which shows operating revenues of NOK 3.4 billion, underlying an increase of 5 per cent compared to the same period in 2010. Advertising revenues contributed with a growth of 9 per cent. EBITDA in Q3 was NOK 531 million, compared to NOK 567 million in the same period in 2010.*</p>
<p>- Q3 2011 was a satisfactory quarter for Schibsted Media Group. Our Online Classifieds business continues to show good revenue and earnings growth in spite of higher in-vestment in rolling out business operations in new markets. Our Media Houses are showing slightly weaker earnings compared with very good results in Q3 last year, but they are still showing good overall margins, the structural decline of single copy sold newspapers taken into consideration. The new marketplaces we are launching online in Scandinavia are performing well, in particular thanks to good help from the strong online positions of our media houses and online classifieds businesses, CEO Rolv Erik Ryssdal says.</p>
<p>- In recent months, unrest in the world economy has had an impact on the performance of our most important advertising markets. Schibsted experienced a slight decline in the advertising revenues from print newspapers in Q3. The structural shift in the direction of digital media continues. We are continuing our efforts to reinforce our editorial and commercial products in combination with tight cost control. This work is even more important now in these uncertain times. In Q3 we announced measures that will entail an annual reduction in our costs in the range of NOK 190-210 million, Rolv Erik Ryssdal says.</p>
<p>- The established Online Classifieds businesses Finn, Blocket and Leboncoin continue to grow. Schibsted’s international expansion in the Online Classifieds area continues. Our Brazilian version of the Blocket concept is well underway. In Italy, Austria and Malaysia we are nearing the end of the investment phase and will soon be entering a profitable phase as market leaders, says CEO Rolv Erik Ryssdal.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>*Highlights in Q3 2011*</p>
<p>(Figures in brackets refer to the corresponding period in 2010.)</p>
<p>*Revenue growth and high margins in Q3*</p>
<p>* Underlying growth in operating revenues of 5 per cent. * Group EBITDA was NOK 531 million in Q3 2011 (NOK 567 million). * Adjusted for increased investments in Online Classifieds, EBITDA was NOK 575 million. * Advertising revenues rose underlying 9 per cent, driven primarily by an improvement in online operations. * Net interest-bearing debt remained stable compared to Q2 2011.</p>
<p>*Good earnings and online growth in media houses*</p>
<p>* Media Houses Scandinavia achieved underlying reve-nue growth of 1 per cent in Q3. The EBITDA margin was 13 per cent, which is considered to be a good result given the structural decline of single copy newspapers. * Declining circulation for single-copy sales newspapers partly compensated for by price increases and cost cuts. * Cost reductions with an annual effect of NOK 190-210 million for the Scandinavian newspaper operations de-cided. Effects to be realised during 2012 -2014, primarily in 2012. * Good revenue and earnings improvement for the online operations in the media houses. Online consumer services related to e-commerce and personal finance in Sweden showed particularly good growth. Corresponding concepts are being established in Norway.</p>
<p>*Strong growth and high margins for Online Classifieds*</p>
<p>* Underlying operating revenue growth of 18 per cent for Online Classifieds. * EBITDA growth of 33 per cent for established Schibsted Classified Media operations. * Stronger focus on growth in new markets for Schibsted Classified Media. Blocket concept introduced in additional new countries in Q3 2011, including Brazil. * Growth initiatives had an impact of NOK 117 million on the Q3 EBITDA. This is NOK 44 million more than in Q3 2010, primarily as a result of increased marketing. * Leboncoin.fr continues to show growth in traffic and revenues and is one of Europe’s largest online classifieds businesses. * Acquisition of the online classifieds market leader in Ireland DoneDeal.ie. * Subito.it in Italy and Willhaben.at in Austria have rein-forced their positions as market leaders, and break even is expected in Q4 2011.</p>
<p><a href="http://aimgroup.com/world/files/2012/01/schibsted_Q3_2011_rev.png"><img title="schibsted_Q3_2011_rev" src="http://aimgroup.com/world/files/2012/01/schibsted_Q3_2011_rev.png" alt="Schibsted Q3 2011 revenue" width="661" height="321" /></a></p>
<p>Schibsted invites to an *analyst and press conference* at Apotekergaten 10, Oslo, 11. november 201109.00 CET. The presentation will be transmitted live as a webcast on schibsted.com/ir.</p>
<p>A *conference call* with Q&amp;A linked to the Q3 2011 results will take place 11 November 2011 at 14:00 CET. Please dial in at the following numbers:</p>
<p>International: +44 (0)20 7136 2055</p>
<p>From Norway: 800 56053</p>
<p>Conference code: 4086001</p>
<p>//</p>
<p>/Contact person: /Trond Berger, CFO. Tel: +47 916 86 695</p>
<p>Oslo, 11 November 2011 SCHIBSTED ASA</p>
<p>Jo Christian Steigedal VP Investor Relations</p>
<p>This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.</p>
<p>3rd Quarter 2011 <a href="http://hugin.info/131/R/1563077/484466.pdf">http://hugin.info/131/R/1563077/484466.pdf</a> Presentation of 3rd Quarter 2011<a href="http://hugin.info/131/R/1563077/484467.pdf">http://hugin.info/131/R/1563077/484467.pdf</a> Financials and analytical info Q3 2011<a href="http://hugin.info/131/R/1563077/484468.xls">http://hugin.info/131/R/1563077/484468.xls</a></p>
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		<item>
		<title>Naspers focuses effort on classifieds in Africa</title>
		<link>http://aimgroup.com/2011/10/25/naspers-focuses-effort-on-classifieds-in-africa/</link>
		<comments>http://aimgroup.com/2011/10/25/naspers-focuses-effort-on-classifieds-in-africa/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Oct 2011 21:58:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AIMGroup</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[World news releases]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://figgynewton.com/aim/?p=23514</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
    Published October 25, 2011 Press release – On 24 October 2011 MIH Internet (Sub-Saharan Africa) advised that, following a strategic review of its investment priorities, it will be closing down the Kalahari Kenya and Kalahari Nigeria operations with immediate effect. MIH launched online retail services in Kenya and Nigeria under the Kalahari brand in October 2009 and January 2010, respectively. [...]]]></description>
	
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<div>Published October 25, 2011</div>
<div>
<p>Press release – On 24 October 2011 MIH Internet (Sub-Saharan Africa) advised that, following a strategic review of its investment priorities, it will be closing down the <a href="http://www.kalahari.co.ke/" target="_blank">Kalahari Kenya</a> and <a href="http://www.kalahari.com.ng/" target="_blank">Kalahari Nigeria</a> operations with immediate effect.</p>
<p>MIH launched online retail services in Kenya and Nigeria under the Kalahari brand in October 2009 and January 2010, respectively. This was pioneering work which carried considerable risk. As the performance of the service has been below expectation since launch and reaching profitability was not a reasonable near-term prospect, a decision was made to refocus efforts on other group businesses within the region. Specifically, our Dealfish and Mocality sites will continue to operate.</p>
<p>Contact details:</p>
<p>Stefan Magdalinski , GM, E-Commerce, Sub-Saharan Africa MIH Internet</p>
</div>
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