Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket

Apr. 16, 2024

Internet advertising revenues reached their highest recorded level of $225 billion between 2022 and 2023 (increasing 7.3% YoY), showing resilience in the face of continuing economic uncertainty. That’s according to the newly released IAB/PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report: Full Year 2023.

Now in its 28th year, this highly-anticipated report is considered the industry benchmark for US advertising revenue across digital media platforms and publishers. It includes actionable insights throughout all digital platforms, from video and audio, to social media, retail media, and more.

https://www.iab.com/insights/internet-advertising-revenue-report-2024/
 

It seems that 2024 could indeed be a significant year for Rakuten Viber. They have introduced an innovative AI-powered feature that summarizes group chats. This feature, leveraging the technology behind ChatGPT, condenses long conversations into bullet points, ensuring that important details are not missed1. It’s designed to enhance decision-making and productivity by providing users with a quick way to catch up on unread messages.

The rollout of this feature began in the U.S., the Philippines, Ukraine, Japan, Bulgaria, and Poland, with more countries expected to follow. This development reflects Rakuten Viber’s commitment to innovation and improving user experience, which could potentially make 2024 a standout year for the company.

https://www.bing.com/...p;adppc=EDGEDSP&PC=EDGEDSP&showconv=1
 

Rakuten and Thailand Sign MoU to Promote Thai Products

May 29, 2024

The Thai Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) collaborates with e-commerce platforms from around the world through the "TOPTHAI" project to increase awareness of Thai products. As the latest partner in this collaboration, Rakuten Ichiba has established the TOPTHAI Store, the first sales page dedicated to Thai products on a Japanese e-commerce website. This report includes a special message from the Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand so keep watching until the end!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zsVm6bFWTo
 

Rakuten Symphony promotes Sagiv Draznin and Subha Shrinivasan to senior architecture and customer delivery roles

May 30, 2024

https://symphony.rakuten.com/blog/...ture-and-customer-delivery-roles
 

 

Rakuten Launches Invite-only Membership Program for Luxury Shopping

Alexandra Pastore

Thu, May 30, 2024

Rakuten is looking to enhance its place in the luxury shopping arena and is launching a paid membership program for luxury shoppers this September.

Called Rakuten+, the program will allow invite-only shoppers to earn 10 percent cash back from participating brands and retailers year-round. The program is meant to be a channel for luxury brands to speak directly to shoppers, and participating designer brands will be able to leverage the higher cash back offers to grow their audiences and inspire repeat purchases.

Dana Marineau, chief marketing officer at Rakuten Rewards, said that as a company whose core audience is Millennial women, Rakuten recognizes the significant role that designer and luxury retail plays for its members. With that in mind, the company has made substantial marketing investments to this audience and aligned itself with top designer brands.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/...launches-invite-only-173000494.html
 

Rakuten's latest twelve months ev/ebidita is 9.8 x  

Rakuten Pay Announces Streamlining Strategy Amid Japan's Point Economy Revolution

May 31, 2024

Rakuten Payment announced its strategy to consolidate its app, Rakuten Pay. The first stage of this strategy is to integrate the Rakuten Pay, Rakuten Point card, and Rakuten Edy apps into one starting December 2024. As Japan's point economy transforms, Rakuten Pay is strengthening its role as the gateway into other Rakuten fintech services. Check out the video for the full details of the strategy and recent achievements of the rapidly growing Rakuten Pay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-t7E3SYv_Y
 

Fireside Chat - Beyond Connectivity: Redefining the Telco | Ft. Rahul Atri

May 31, 2024

At Futurenet World 2024, Rakuten Symphony's Rahul Atri joined GSMA's Jawad Jalal Abbassi for an engaging Fireside Chat titled "Beyond Connectivity - Redefining the Telco." Watch to explore the full discussion and what it means for Rakuten Symphony to redefine an industry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkXLsifZsu8
 

Rakuten Symphony announces Sagiv Dresznan as Chief Architect

May 29, 2024

In his first interview since being appointed as Rakuten Symphony's Chief Architect, Sagiv shares his vision of bringing a cohesive approach between our OSS, RAN and Cloud Business Units and provide the highest quality, most efficient and industry leading solutions to our customers and partners.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n3-4oM4YFk
 

Rakuten Achieves Carbon Neutrality Group-wide in 2023

Tokyo, May 31, 2024 - Rakuten Group, Inc. today announced it achieved carbon neutrality, or net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, from Rakuten Group business operations, including all consolidated subsidiaries, in 2023. To commemorate the achievement, the company launched the Rakuten Green Empowerment website, introducing ways for Rakuten members to live a more environmentally conscious lifestyle through the Rakuten Group’s services.

https://global.rakuten.com/corp/news/press/2024/...&category=corp
 

Departure of Rakuten does not mean a sale, only that they had not take part by the last financial rounds. After my estimates the ownership decreased therefore only from about 45% to about 35%.
Cabify increased its revenues by 30% in 2024 and contemplates a future IPO

Wednesday, May 29, 2024

Cabify increased its gross profit by 40.9% in 2023 to US$ 111.1 million and placed its turnover at just over US$ 899 million, this is 30.7% more than a year ago, according to to know this Wednesday the company itself in its 2023 impact report.

The company maintains the break-even point in terms of gross operating profit (Ebitda) globally, improving the results of 2022.

The mobility company thus recorded the third consecutive year with a growth in the company's business volume above 30%, after registering an increase of 32% in 2022 and 44% in 2021.

https://www.americaeconomia.com/en/...%2520ride-hailing%2520vertical.
 

What's Behind The Outlook Change To Stable Of Rakuten Group Inc.?

Tuesday, June 04, 2024 10:00 AM Singapore

Please join S&P Global Ratings analysts for a live interactive webinar on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, when they will discuss the outlook change to stable for Japan-based Rakuten Group.

https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/4611125/7B59DB44ABFD7DFEC3C09F350EE98FB9
 

Ibero-American company Cabify hit $900 million in gross revenue last year, according to its 2023 Global Impact report.

This is a 30.7% increase in revenue from $688 million in 2022 and marks the third consecutive year where the company increased its total gross revenue by more than 30%.

Cabify was founded in Madrid in 2011 and offers electric cars and e-mopeds in seven countries and more than 40 cities around the world.  

“The goal is to facilitate mobility of people within cities,” Cabify CEO Juan de Antonio said in a press conference held in Madrid today. “This gross revenue becomes a foundation for us to continue growing in a sustainable and profitable way in the future.”

Cabify reached economic profitability in the last quarter of 2019 and again in 2022. In 2023, the company’s gross profit rose to $111.1 million, a 40.9% increase from 2022.

https://zagdaily.com/trends/...ue%2520by%2520more%2520than%252030%25.
 

Dive into Summer Savings with Rakuten Viber's Exciting Summer Sale!

https://momiberlin.com/2024/05/23/...ten-vibers-exciting-summer-sale/
 

Immersive advertising on Rakuten Viber: Loux & FYI Marketing Easter campaign with Viber Gems

Mariia Martyrosian
Global PR & Marketing Innovations Director at Rakuten Viber
May 17, 2024

In collaboration with Rakuten Viber and our partner FYI Marketing House, Greek beverage company Loux , 'celebrated' Easter with an immersive marketing campaign on Rakuten Viber. Loux became the first local brand in Greece to use branded Viber Gems for an Easter celebration.

Viber Gems are special animations activated by specific holiday-related words and phrases in users' conversations. So, this year, as millions of people in Greece sent Easter greetings to each other, phrases like "Happy Easter", "Many Happy Returns", and "Xristos Anesti" activated a branded Loux animation with the Easter basket.

Perfect for holiday marketing, corporate branded Viber Gems offer a unique brand placement opportunity. They increase brand visibility, while staying immersive and creating a pleasant and positive association between the brand and a holiday period full of festive vibes. During the Easter period of 2024 in Greece, 13 million Loux-branded Viber Gems were created within just 5 days, making the brand a part of the nationwide celebrations. This was an excellent way to leverage the new holiday marketing tool, as well as Rakuten Viber’s tremendous presence in Greece, which is one of the company’s key markets.

https://www.forbusiness.viber.com/en/blog/post/...gn-with-viber-gems/


 

Rakuten Viber Heats Up the Season with Summer Sale

Saturday, June 1, 2024

Rakuten Viber is offering its first-ever summer sale on local food, beauty, and fashion finds starting May 24. The sale, in partnership with Globe and Go Negosyo, will run every weekend from May 24 to June 9. Users can support local businesses and snag incredible deals, steals, and surprises from 60 dynamic micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in food, beauty, wellness, and fashion. The sale also provides an exciting opportunity to win a beach getaway.

According to Senior Director for APAC at Rakuten Viber David Tse, the summer sale aims to further support MSMEs by linking them with engaged shoppers on the app. “We’re excited to launch our first-ever summer sale because it’s another way for us to highlight Filipino businesses and help grow their customer base,” says Tse. “We are equally thrilled to offer more incentives for both our dedicated sellers and loyal users by running a special giveaway for each, encouraging more to participate and shop local.”

https://www.trend-hotspot.com/business/...he-season-with-summer-sale/
 

https://www.ultra-domain.jp/rakutenmobile-campaign/
 

Saturday, June 1, 2024

https://en.traicy.com/posts/202406018314/
 

Rakuten Bank CEO Sees BOJ Rate Hike by October Lifting Profit

Japanese financial firm says benefiting from rate increase

Hiroyuki Nagai spoke in interview with Bloomberg Television

Juni 2024

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...-by-october-lifting-profit
 

Rakuten Bank CEO Sees BOJ Rate Hike by October

June 03, 2024

Rakuten Bank expects the Bank of Japan to hike rates again later this year after scrapping its negative interest rate policy in March, in a move that will likely boost profits for the Japanese online financial firm. In an exclusive interview, CEO Hiroyuki Nagai says the weak yen pressuring is likely to force the central bank to raise rates by October at the latest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n5EnUowe2k
 

https://payment.rakuten.co.jp/news/2024060300/
 

These 6 Japanese Companies Could Start Buying Their Own Stock. Investors Should, Too.

Published: April 1, 2024 at 3:13 p.m. ET

https://www.marketwatch.com/articles/...ks-bbc8dea0?mod=mw_quote_news

But I believe, Rakuten must wait two or three years to do that.
 

I am one of the first users of Rakuten Mobile and very happy with recent improvements and its pay for usage fee structure. Definitely recommend to any newcomers or someone who wants to change their carrier to fairer fee provider in Japan.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/...e-activity-7185458782016036864-08EU
 

Rakuten Group Outlook Revised Up To Stable On Liquidity Improvement; BB Rating Affirmed

29-May-2024 | 04:01 EDT

Rakuten Group Inc. is likely to see a moderate recovery in its nonfinancial unit as its mobile business' deficit shrinks and the company reduces capital spending, in our view.

We anticipate funding that can largely cover redemption of approximately ¥545 billion of corporate debt maturing by the end of 2025 to contribute to improved liquidity in the next year or two.

We therefore revised the outlook on our long-term issuer credit rating on Rakuten Group to stable from negative.
We affirmed our BB long-term issuer credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on Rakuten Group and our B issue rating on its subordinated bonds.

https://disclosure.spglobal.com/ratings/en/...ew/type/HTML/id/3186625