text:
|Major League Baseball
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Saturday, April 6th (All times eastern)
Kansas City Royals (2-2) at Philadelphia Phillies (1-3), 7:05 p.m.
Probable Starting Pitchers: Kansas City - Luis Mendoza (0-0, 0.00) Philadelphia - John Lannan (0-0, 0.00)
(Sports Network) - John Lannan makes his Philadelphia Phillies debut on Saturday when they continue a three-game interleague series against the Kansas City Royals at Citizens Bank Park.
Lannan signed a 1-year, $2.5 million deal this offseason with the Phillies after appearing in just six games a year ago for the Washington Nationals. However, he made the most of his opportunities, going 4-1 with a 4.13 ERA.
While he spent most of last year in the minors, the southpaw had made 134 starts for the Nationals since 2007, going 42-52 with a 4.01 ERA. This, though, will be his first appearance against the Royals.
Kansas City will pin its hopes on righty Luiz Mendoza, who followed up an MVP Award in the Caribbean Series with a terrific spring that saw him nab the team's No. 5 starter job from Bruce Chen.
Mendoza was 8-10 last season with a 4.23 ERA in 30 games (25 starts).
In Friday's opener, Chris Getz and Alex Gordon each hit bases-clearing triples as Kansas City scored 13 runs over the final five innings to take a 13-4 win.
Getz and Gordon had three hits apiece for the Royals, who recorded 19 hits. Eric Hosmer went 4-for-5 with three RBI and a pair of runs scored, Alcides Escobar hit a solo homer and knocked in two runs and Lorenzo Cain finished with two RBI and a run scored.
"We've been struggling offensively," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "We were really on a tear all spring long, we swung the bats really, really well. You knew it was a matter of time before we broke out and did some damage with our bats. Luckily for us, it was today."
Wade Davis allowed four runs on nine hits over four innings in his Royals debut. Chen (1-0) tossed a scoreless inning of relief to pick up the win.
Erik Kratz and Domonic Brown hit solo homers for the Phillies, while Ryan Howard knocked in a pair of runs.
Philadelphia starter Kyle Kendrick (0-1) allowed five runs on eight hits over 5 2/3 innings to take the loss. The bullpen -- Jeremy Horst, Chad Durbin and Raul Valdes -- combined to give up eight runs on 11 hits.
Kansas City last visited Citizens Bank Park back in 2004 when the Phils took two of three.
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text:
Research Output for Prof Ferdinand Gul
Note: The 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 publications have not been audited.
Jump to: Publications | Grants and Consultancies | HDR completions
Prof Ferdinand Gul may be from another institution or only recently joined Deakin University.
2002 External
Hutchinson, Marion and Gul, Ferdinand A.* (2002) Investment opportunities and leverage: some Australian evidence on the role of board monitoring and director equity ownership, Managerial finance, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 19-36, Emerald Group Publishing Ltd., Bingley, England [C1]
ERA journal ID: 19584 – Scopus EID: Not tagged
DRO entry for this publication
Hutchinson, Marion and Gul, Ferdinand* (2002) Investment opportunity set, corporate governance practices and firm performance, The 25th Annual Congress of the European Accounting Association 2002, pp. 1-27, European Accounting Association, Denmark [L1]
DRO entry for this publication
1997 External
Hutchinson, M. and Gul, F.* (1997) The Interactive Effects of Extroversion/Introversion Traits and Collectivism/Individualism Cultural Beliefs on Student Group Learning Preference, Journal of Accounting Education, vol. 0, no. 0, pp. 95-107, Permagon (Elselvier Science Inc), New York [C1]
ERA journal ID: Not matching ERA journal list
no DRO entry yet for this publication
1994 External
Gul, Ferdinand* and Subramaniam, Nava* (1994) Audit committees, gifts and discounts, and familiarity as factors affecting internal auditors' professional objectivity, The review of business studies, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 89-99, Premier Publishing, Fresno, California [C1.1]
ERA journal ID: 19162 – Scopus EID: Not tagged
DRO entry for this publication
1992 External
Gul, Ferdinand*, Huang, Allen* and Subramaniam, Nava* (1992) Cognitive style as a factor in accounting students' perceptions of career choice factors, Psychological reports, vol. 71, no. 3, pp. 1275-1281, Ammons Scientific, Missoula, Mont. [C1.1]
ERA journal ID: 6595 – Scopus EID: 2-s2.0-0027025822
Citation counts: Scopus - 3
DRO entry for this publication
Grants and Consultancies
No grants and/or consultancies found or audited – the 2014 HERDC financial return has not been completed or loaded as yet.
Higher Degree by Research Completions supervised by Prof Ferdinand Gul
No completions found or audited.
- Legend:
- * Not a member of Deakin University at time of output.
DRO to publications collection last synchronised: Wednesday 27th May 2015 10:04pm

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Cheap SFJ to Toulouse flights
Popular Flights from Sondre Stromfjord, Greenland
Top Sondre Stromfjord Flights to US Destinations
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Popular Flights from Toulouse, France
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SFJ to TLS Route Map
Sondre Stromfjord to Toulouse Flights, Stats and Airplanes
Route information for flights from Kangerlussuaq to Blagnac.
2,487.80 miles
TLS - Blagnac Airlines
Browse the most popular airlines servicing the Toulouse (TLS) airport. Visit their flights pages to learn more about the most popular routes these carriers fly.


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23-year-old man, a waiter by profession has been arrested by Mumbai police for sending death threats to Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit. The man threatened the diva via mobile phone. The man by the name Praveen Kumar Pradhan threatened to kill the actress and her children. He was arrested by poli...read more
Madhuri Dixit Nene News
The seventh season of the dance celebrity show, 'Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa' finally ends and the new season has already got its winner. Ashish Sharma has lifted the winner trophy beating finalists, Shakti Mohan, Mouni Roy and Karan Tacker. Sharma though not a professional dancer, consistently pe...read more
Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan is all set to return to the USA after 10 years to entertain the fans through a series of concerts across various cities. This time SRK is not alone. He is taking the entire cast and also the director of his upcoming Diwali release 'Happy New Year'. The inte...read more
The Sooraj Barjatya directed 'Hum Aapke Hain Kaun' came out in 1994. It starred Salman Khan and Madhuri Dixit in the lead roles along with a supporting cast of Anupam Kher, Mohnish Bahl, Renuka Shahane, Reema Lagoo and Alok Nath. The film dealt with marriage and the relationship between the membe...read more
In the upcoming episodes of 'Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa', Madhuri Dixit will be seen shaking legs with popular Nickelodeon toons Motu Patlu. In the long successful career, Madhuri has danced with many top notch actors and dancers...read more
It has been proven that television shows are very effective medium for promoting upcoming films. Every notable recent star of Bollywood has made one or more TV appearances before the release of their respective films. The trend continued on last Monday, 1st July when Vidya Balan made an appearanc...read more
The Madhya Pradesh government has recently launched several initiatives to help different sections of the society. It is also using noted celebrities to strengthen the related campaign and to attract more attention from the general public. Few days ago Aamir Khan was in MP to launch the first eve...read more
When it comes to health, Madhuri Dixit does not make any compromise. She makes sure that her two sons, Arin and Raayan brush their teeth twice a day. She is a strict mother when it comes to health and never let them to go...read more
The dancing reality show, 'Jhalak Dikhla Jaa' has gained huge popularity with the Indian audience because of its talented performers and celebrity judges including Madhuri Dixit. The panel of distinguished judges comprising of Karan Johar and Remo in addition to Madhuri has now been joined by Mak...read more
Last Monday evening saw the official launch of Bollywood legend Dilip Kumar's autobiography, 'The Substance And The Shadow'. The event, held at the Grand Hyatt, Santa Cruz, Mumbai, was attended by a who's who of Bollywood. The actor himself was present along with icons and stars like Amitabh Bach...read more


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ROHRER Pages (100+)
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ROHRER Mentions
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Age 66 of Burnsville Charlie Rohrer died peacefully on Saturday morning, October 26, 2013, at his home surrounded by his four daughters and wife of 43 years, Donna Rohrer. Charlie was born on February 3, 1947, in Owatonna, MN to Clint and Helen Rohrer. He graduated from Owatonna High School in 1965. He completed his undergraduate degree at the
University of Minnesota
in two years which was followed by his doctorate from the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry with high distinction. He went on to receive his Orthodontic Specialty Certificate and Master of Science Degree at the University of Minnesota Orthodontic Residency Program. In 1973 he opened his practices in Burnsville and St. Paul and treated thousands of patients in the communities he so loved. Charlie married the love of his life, Donna Black, on December 27, 1969. Charlie and Donna were blessed with four daughters, Angie (Mike) Zagorski, Sara (Josh) Tuchscherer, Kirsti (Zack) Wenner, and Kaaryn (David) Cooper. Charlie and Donna have been residents of Burnsville and Apple Valley since 1973 and faithful and active members of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church for over forty years. Charlie practiced his faith daily in his personal and professional life. During his 38 years practicing orthodontics he was tremendously proud to have treated entire families and often multiple generations. Many of his patients became valued life-long friends. Charlie treated thousands of healthy and beautiful smiles. He took great pleasure seeing his patients in the community and reminding everyone to keep wearing those retainers! Charlie is survived by his wife, children, and eight grandchildren, Mia and Max Zagorski, Sam and Eli Tuchscherer, Evelyn and Hazel Wenner, and Isla and Wyatt Cooper. Charlie also leaves behind his sister, Betsy Pegelow and her children, Dr. Michelle Price, Dr. Michael (Shara) Pegelow, and Kathryn Paul. In addition, he is survived by his sister-in-law, Dianne (Patrick) Stewart and their children, Kari (Scott) Campbell, Jill (Lance) Glosemeyer, and Jeff (Nikki) Stewart; his brother-in-law, Richard "Deaner" Black; and Jennie King and her children, Chad King, Gina (Jamie) Johnson, and Aaron King; extended family and countless friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, mother and father-in-law, and brother-in-law, Dr. Charles Pegelow. A visitation and celebration of life service will be held on Tuesday, October 29 at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville, MN. The visitation will be held from 5 - 7 p.m. The celebration of life will begin immediately thereafter. White funeral home Burnsville 962- 894-5080
Published in Pioneer Press on Oct. 27, 2013
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"Dear Donna and family....We were so, so sorry to hear of the passing of Dr. Rohrer. Really shocked, to..."
- Ann Parries
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- Chris Leifeld
"I found out about Dr. Rohrer's passing when I brought my kids in for a long over due retainer..."
- Kristy Andresen
"Dr. Rohrer was the best. I was very sorry to hear about his passing. He installed my braces when I was..."
- Eric Spieler
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NeoGroupe manufactures software applications for small - to - medium scale Businesses, Radio and Television Broadcasters since 2002.
Using modern development tools, our applications embed intuitive functionality. Users do really like our products. This is why we have been selected by a variety of Customers ranging from Top Talk Shows to Public Organizations worldwide. NeoGroupe's applications enhance the workflow between individuals in a business environment.
TVA Nouvelles debuts live Talk Show
Click to download in FLV format (39.31MB)
Denis Lévesque explains in this french language video, how he started open phones years ago. He also shows what technology now helps him on his new show on TVA Nouvelles in Montréal - Québec: NeoScreener.
Must-Have solutions!


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Brian Puhl's Weblog
These postings are provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confer no rights...WHEW...glad we got that over with, let's get to the good stuff now...
Random babblings and such...
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Blog Post:
ADFS Certificate Maintenance - v1
Brian Puhl
Over the past several weeks, we've celebrated the 1 year anniversary of our ADFS deployment. I say it this way, because the only reason I know this, is that the certificates on the servers keep expiring, and things would break unexpectedly. Yeah, yeah, yeah...I could have, would have, and SHOULD have...
25 May 2006
Blog Post:
Identity and Access Webcast Series
Brian Puhl
Here's some info on some upcoming webcasts... This first series is for the "Technical Decision Makers", but I'll post the "IT Pro" series when they get announced. -Brian -------------- Microsoft offers a broad range of technologies and products to enable a customer's identity and access infrastructure...
31 Oct 2006
Blog Post:
ADFS and Liability Continued...
Brian Puhl
hmm...let's see...I wrote a blog, Pam left a comment, I replied to her comment with another blog, and so (if you haven't seen it yet) Pam posted her own blog entry here ... This is actually kind of fun! You should read (all of) her posts anyways, but to save some screen flipping here's the meat of...
3 Oct 2006
Blog Post:
Comment on ADFS Liability
Brian Puhl
My favorite Calgary-ian Pam left the following comment on my last blog post: Hm. In a perfect world, there would need to be a contractual component to any and all technical federations, and those contractual components should go through review by the privacy officer, and also by the admin team...
21 Sep 2006
Blog Post:
ADFS Documentation
Brian Puhl
Wouldn't it be cool if there was a blog where someone was posting documentation about ADFS? Well looky here - apparently this has been around for a while, but since I just recently discovered it I thought I'd share... http://blogs.technet.com/adfs_documentation/
21 Oct 2006
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ADFS and Domain Admins (or anyone else for that matter)
Brian Puhl
I spend a lot of time answering questions or making comments in e-mails that would make good blog posts. So it may seem a bit cheesy (at least it does to me), but it's turning out that reposting these e-mails seems like an easy way to do this...so here's another one...hope you don't mind (again, some...
18 Sep 2006
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- Shopping Bag ( 0 items )
From the Publisher"Lush Life is a book as beautiful and intelligent as its subject. David Hajdu has brought all my dear memories of Billy Strayhorn to life." —Lena Horne
"A portrait that is both full and convincing . . . It is a mark of excellence of this biography that it leaves one wanting nothing so much as to listen to the music." —Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World
"Hajdu invests his biography of Strayhorn with the kind of sensitivity and clarity which is the mark of his subject's best work." —The New Yorker


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Seven wrestlers at Fred T. Foard will be trying to make history beginning today at the NCHSAA Individual State Wrestling Tournament and complete the comeback of the Tiger's wrestling program.
Among those headed to Greensboro on Thursday are Caleb Griffin, Jeremy Fredell, Jacob Harper, Hayden Albert, Dillon Johnson, Zack Edwards and Cole Schanilec.
Each will have a chance to become the first-ever state wrestling champion in Fred T. Foard history.


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NBC to break even, not lose money on Olympics
From a formal accounting perspective, the treatment of the Olympics is more complicated, as NBC made the deal with the International Olympic Committee before the Comcast bought the controlling stake in NBCUniversal early last year. Some of the loss was eliminated when Comcast absorbed NBCUniversal through what is known as purchase accounting.
Comcast Chief Financial Officer Michael Angelakis said on the call that the end result would be that the company will post a small gain from the event in the current quarter. That doesn't mean the games will be profitable. Rather, it reverses the losses previously accounted for.
NBC lost money on the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, but previous games were profitable, if not wildly so. It has broadcast every Summer Olympics since 1988.
Last year, NBC outbid Fox and ESPN to gain the rights for four more Olympics, paying $4.38 billion through 2020.
The Associated Press


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Real news. Real funny.
Real news. Real funny.
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Ever since the first big revelations about the National Security Agency five months ago, Dianne Feinstein has been in overdrive to defend the surveillance state. As chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, she generates an abundance of fog, weasel words, anti-whistleblower slander and bogus notions of reform — while methodically stabbing civil liberties in the back.
Feinstein's powerful service to Big Brother, reaching new heights in recent months, is just getting started. She's hard at work to muddy all the waters of public discourse she can — striving to protect the NSA from real legislative remedies while serving as a key political enabler for President Obama's shameless abuse of the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments.
Last Sunday, on CBS, when Feinstein told "Face the Nation" viewers that Edward Snowden has done "enormous disservice to our country," it was one of her more restrained smears. In June, when Snowden first went public as a whistleblower, Feinstein quickly declared that he had committed "an act of treason." Since then, she has refused to tone down the claim.… Read the rest


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Indianapolis International Airport
Indianapolis Airport Authority (IAA)
7800 Col. H. Weir Cook Memorial Drive, Suite 100
Indianapolis Indiana 46241United States
(317) 487-7243
Editor's Review
Travelers passing through Indianapolis International Airport's new terminal might find it so cushy, they won't want to leave.
The 40-gate terminal opened with a bevy of post-9/11 security features, plus a wealth of shopping and dining--great news for the 8.1 million passengers who visit the airport each year. The Indy 500 Grill displays race memorabilia throughout the restaurant. Shopping highlights include Vera Bradley, Brooks Brothers, Brookstone and Cultural Crossroads, a museum gift store that sells merchandise from eight local stops, including the Art Center and zoo. If you'd rather not add loot to your luggage, check out the $3.9 million in artwork scattered throughout the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified building. And since many shops are located before security, you don't even need a ticket to see them.


text:
Looking for a particular picture
Theres a very informal lounge/snack bar at our club. We used to sit and relax, putting our feet up on the small blocks some use as coffee tables. Now it has been banned and we want to make fun of this.
Can someone please help me find pictures of pro players leaning back and putting their feet up? I tried Google Images; no luck.
Did kick up a storm back home though...
Thank you, Seventeen.
Not that I find anything wrong with this picture, but I still dont get why she was blamed for it instead of whoever took the photo and/or posted it. Also, the flag may look much closer to her feet than it actually is due to the telephoto lens compression effect.
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April 1, 2011
Alexis Mattera
It's not long into April Fools' Day but we've already encountered lots of fake educational news. First, it was revealed that GWU President Steven Schnapps' fist pumping was responsible for the destruction in a campus residence hall. Next, Bryn Mawr announced it had partnered with Bithnian University of Science and Technology to take its alien research to the next level. And lastly, college acceptance rates plummeted at universities across the country. Oh wait, that last one wasn't a joke at all.
The New York Times' The Choice blog recently published a table of admissions statistics from 32 selective U.S. colleges and the data show a drop in acceptance rates across the board. Not surprisingly, the lowest acceptance rates were at Harvard (6.2 percent, an all-time low for the Ivy), Columbia (6.9 percent), Stanford (7.1 percent), Yale (7.4 percent) and Princeton (8.4 percent) but what's interesting is that this year, records were broken for applications received. The schools' explanations for the limited fat envelopes sent out? They just had far too many outstanding applicants.
There are many factors to consider – for example, high school seniors are applying to more schools than ever before to ensure they have at least one place to attend college – but nothing takes the sting out of "We regret to inform you..." topping a decision letter. Applicants, how have you fared in the admissions race? Were you rejected or waitlisted at a school you considered a safety? Did you score admission at your first-choice school? Are any of you still waiting to learn your higher education fates? Have you already sent in a deposit or are you still securing enough financial aid to pay for school?
March 15, 2011
Advice to heed today: Don't leave your house if a soothsayer warns you not to, don't run through the Tufts quad sans clothing and don't study for the GRE using last year's study guides.
Beginning on August 1st, graduate students to-be will make the acquaintance of the new Graduate Record Examination (aka the GRE). For those unfamiliar, the GRE is currently computer-adaptive and adjusts the difficulty of each successive problem based on the answer given to the previous question; the new version allows students to skip questions and return to them later (the computer just modifies the difficulty of the next part at the end instead), which prevents test-takers from losing time and could ultimately lead to a better overall score. As for the content, the writing section will include two pre-selected essay prompts that will require "more focused" responses, the math section will swap out a number of geometry problems for real-world data interpretation (bonus: an on-screen calculator will be accessible) and the verbal section will feature more reading comprehension but no more antonyms and analogies. GRE scoring will range from 130 to 170 rather than 200 to 800 per section but the cost of taking the test will hold steady at $160. There will also be changes to the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), but those won't take place until June 2012.
What do you think of the changes to the GRE? For those who have taken the current version, which format appeals more to you? For those who are preparing, do you think you'll fair better, worse or the same when these changes debut?
March 16, 2011
This past Saturday, one-third of high school students taking the SAT opened their writing sections and were met with a prompt that even the most extensive prep courses couldn't have prepared them for. The topic? Reality television and its impact on its viewers.
While the prompt didn't ask test-takers to cite specific shows or characters (as a New York Daily News headline suggests), SAT owner the College Board has been called culturally insensitive because the question assumes all students have a television, watch reality television and watch enough reality television to distinguish between them. Angela Garcia, executive director of the SAT program, responded that all essay prompts are pretested with students and then reviewed "to ensure that they are easily understood and that each student has an opportunity to respond, and is wide-ranging enough for a student to demonstrate their writing skills." Still, students, parents and school officials are equal parts distraught and confused, anxiously awaiting to see how answers to this question will impact scores.
Standardized testing – whether it's about changes to existing exams or the decision to make submitting scores optional – is a hot topic as of late and now, we want to hear from you. Did you receive the reality prompt? How did you respond? Do you think you would have fared better if you were given a different prompt? Do you think the SAT (or standardized testing in general) is an accurate measure of a student's worth?
June 26, 2013
Whether you're putting pen to paper, live tweeting campus events or blogging until the wee hours of the morning, one thing is certain: Sharing information is your passion. And you know what? It's ours, too, so let's join forces through Scholarships.com's virtual intern program!
Over the last 15 years, Scholarships.com has been a go-to site not only for high schoolers in search of financial aid but for college students living away from home for the first time, trying to balance limited money for food and fun, and adjusting to postsecondary academic expectations. We have plenty of information on those topics and more but we want to hear from you about what's going on at the campus you call home for the majority of the year. From parties to politics, from housing to hazing, and from class registration to commencement exercises, let us know what's trending at your school and your musings could be featured regularly on our blog.
April 12, 2011
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Thanks a lot, They: A new study shows that college students are taking those words to heart when it comes to citations rather than actually deciphering the meaning of the subject they've been tasked to write about.
The Citation Project, presented by Rebecca Moore Howard (associate professor of writing and rhetoric at Syracuse University) and Sandra Jamieson (professor of English, director of composition and department chair at Drew University) at the annual Conference on College Composition and Communication, analyzed research 164 papers written in first-year composition courses at 15 colleges in 12 states and divided the 1,832 citations into four categories: exact copying, patchwriting, paraphrasing and summary. Unfortunately, the type of sourcing that reflects the most comprehension – summary – represented only 9 percent of the citations in the study. "That's the stunning part, I think: 91 percent are citations to material that isn't composing," said Jamieson. "They don't digest the ideas in the material cited and put it in their own words."
The explanations for these practices are vast – writing for efficiency as opposed to understanding, finding increasing difficulty of separating legitimate from illegitimate information on the Internet and not knowing what exactly goes into forming a proper citation – and there's much more to Howard and Jamieson's research here but the sad truth is that students are just not "getting" the material. Have any of your papers contained the offenses they detail? Given the statistics, it's likely they have...but why?
April 15, 2011
By this time of year, most high school seniors know where they will and will not be heading for the Fall 2011 term but others are stuck in college admissions purgatory as one name on a very long waitlist. While some are doing what the term suggests and waiting for these schools to decide their fates, others – like Harvard hopeful Grace Oberhofer – are refusing to sit idly by: The Washington State resident took matters into her own hands, logged on to YouTube and pled for acceptance to the school...in song.
Though the Tacoma School of the Arts senior has already received acceptance letters from six schools (Duke, Brandeis, Oberlin, Tufts, Tulane and Sarah Lawrence), Oberhofer has her heart set on spending the next four years in Harvard's hallowed halls. She elected to make her case for admission on YouTube, where she performed an original song expressing her love for the school. Oberhofer's not relying on comic relief alone to earn her the fat envelope; she supplemented the video with a serious letter. Smart move.
The video, which has amassed more than 36,000 views, proves Oberhofer is capable of composing a catchy tune with some pretty amusing lyrics but the jury's still out on whether the video will help or harm her chances of admission. Waitlists are especially formidable this year; would you take that extra step to stand out if it meant getting in?
April 25, 2011
International campuses are becoming somewhat of a trend lately – NYU, Yale and Vanderbilt all have plans in the works – but the faculty at one well-known school is questioning its proposed overseas operation.
Duke University approved the first round of development for a comprehensive campus in Kunshan, China nearly a year and a half ago but educators voiced their concerns to President Richard Brodhead at a recent academic council meeting. Though the school already has an overseas presence (Duke partnered with the National University of Singapore to create a graduate medical program in 2005), faculty members said now that the campus is actually under construction, they feel they've been left out of the loop on matters including cost, academic freedom, Internet access and faculty involvement and buy-in. Craig Henriquez, chairman of Duke's academic council, believes faculty members are just as apprehensive about the Kunshan campus as they would be about anything unfamiliar. "In the beginning I think most people saw it as just simply an idea," he said. "But now that it's all coming together, I think you're starting to see a level of anxiety that comes with any new venture."
To be clear, there have been some major changes to the initial proposal (check out Inside Higher Ed's article for specifics) but Provost Peter Lange says that since "nobody has ever launched something like this before," the school has to be "cautious and careful, but we also have to take some risks in order to learn what is possible." Do you agree with the administration or side with the faculty on this matter? Would you be interested in attending Duke's Kunshan campus given the controversy?
April 26, 2011
If you are attending college, you probably need some form of financial aid to pay for tuition, room and board, books and other living expenses. Next year, it's likely you'll need a little bit more.
The Columbus Dispatch recently reported the number of students in the U.S. who have filed forms for federal financial aid for the 2011-2012 academic year has increased by about 1 million from last year. At Ohio State alone, requests are up about 10,600 from two years ago - a 22-percent jump, says financial aid director Diane Stemper. Ohio University's Sondra Williams reports a similar trend with a 12-percent increase in federal financial aid applications. The reasons for the increased need aren't surprising. "Many people who used to have the resources to send their children to college have lost their jobs or been downsized," Stemper said, adding lower home and stock values and rising food and gas prices are also culprits.
Though more students are getting the aid they require – OSU has seen an increase in Pell Grant recipients enrolled and OU has more students receiving subsidized loans – the financial relief may be short-lived: Governor John Kasich's state budget proposal has public universities in Ohio could increasing tuition by up to 3.5 percent. Current undergraduate and graduate students, do you need more financial aid now than you did when you first enrolled? High schoolers and incoming freshman, how do you plan to pay for school?
April 27, 2011
What does it take to earn a high school diploma? At most schools, going to class and earning passing grades for four years is enough but in Oregon, students may have to do a little more legwork to have that valuable piece of paper in their possession.
The Oregon House of Representatives approved a bill that would require high school students to complete one of three additional steps before they can turn their tassels from right to left. Though its main focus is to increase college applications and enrollment rates, the bill – sponsored by Rep. Tobias Read – says students can fulfill the requirements by submitting an enlistment application to the military or attending an orientation session for an apprenticeship or training program as well as applying to a postsecondary institution. "This bill does not intend to tell anyone what choice is right for them," Read told The Oregonian. "It merely aims to prompt the consideration of those options and encourage students to think about what's important to them."
Read does have supporters – after all, the bill passed 33 to 26 and has moved on to the Oregon State Senate – but also numerous detractors, like Rep. Mike Schaufler. "This is not about education," Schaufler said. "It's just one more piece of paper. It's one more hoop we're making people jump through to get the diploma they have already earned."
Whose corner are you in – Read's or Schaufler's?
April 28, 2011
With the royal wedding set to happen in less than one day's time, many people's minds are filled with thoughts of excess, grandeur and all things sparkly. But instead of waking up at an ungodly hour to toast the new bride and groom with sapphire-hued Kate-tinis, the Louisiana Board of Regents has a rather opposite plan: cut more than 100 academic degree programs statewide.
The Regents labeled the programs averaging fewer than eight bachelor's degree graduates, five master's degree graduates or three doctoral graduates in the past three years as low-completers and terminated 109 programs directly, while 189 will be consolidated or shaped into new programs. Southern University, LSU, the University of Louisiana and Southeastern Louisiana University recorded the most degrees lost and no public historically black colleges will offer a bachelor's degree in a foreign language once the programs are phased out; a small sliver of positive news for students is that eliminated programs will remain in place until currently-enrolled upperclassmen graduate.
Though Karen Denby, Regents associate commissioner for academic affairs, said the colleges will be more efficient with class sizes, faculty loads and graduation rates as a result of the cuts, some administrators – like Mike Gargano, LSU System vice president of student and academic support – are still wary about the motivation behind the changes...and we'd assume students are as well. To our Louisiana readers, does this announcement impact your intended major or career path?
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Operator: Good day ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the First Quarter 2013 The Cooper Companies' Inc. Earnings Conference Call. My name is Cheverly, and I will be your conference operator for today.
At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later we will be conducting a question-and-answer session. Today's event is being recorded for replay purposes.
I would now like to turn the conference over to your host for today, Ms. Kim Duncan, Senior Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Kim Duncan - Senior Director, IR: Good afternoon, and welcome to The Cooper Companies' first quarter 2011 earnings conference call. I'm Kim Duncan, Senior Director of Investor Relations, and joining me on today's call are Bob Weiss, Chief Executive Officer; Greg Matz, Chief Financial Officer, and Al White, Chief Strategic Officer.
Before we get started, I'd like to remind you that this conference call contains forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including all revenue and earnings per share guidance, and other statements regarding anticipated results of operations, market conditions, and integration of any acquisitions.
Forward-looking statements depend on assumptions, data or methods that may be incorrect or imprecise, and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Events that could cause our actual results and future actions of the Company to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements are set forth under the caption, 'Forward-Looking Statements,' in today's earnings release, and are described in our SEC filings, including business section of Cooper's Annual Report on Form 10-K. These are publicly available and on request from the Company's Investor Relations department.
Now, before I turn the call over to Bob, let me comment on the agenda for the call. Bob will begin by providing some highlights on the quarter, followed by Greg, who will then discuss first quarter financial results. We will keep the formal presentation to roughly 30 minutes, then open the call for questions. We expect the call to last approximately one hour.
We request that anyone asking questions please limit yourself to one question. Should you have any additional questions, please call our Investor line at 925-460-3663 or email email@example.com. As a reminder, this call is being webcast and a copy of the earnings release is available through the Investor Relations section of the Cooper Companies' website.
With that, I'll turn the call over to Bob for his opening remarks.
Robert S. Weiss - President and CEO: Thank you, Kim. Good afternoon and evening to everyone. Another solid quarter, with a good start to the New Year topline growth of 16%, 11% in organic constant currency, GAAP earnings per was $1.50, up 34%, which includes $14 million of business interruption. Non-GAAP EPS was $1.23, up $0.11 or 10% and our free cash flow was $19.2 million for the quarter and that brings our trailing 12 months free cash flow to $226 million.
Some highlights and key events; during the quarter, we successfully amended CIBA Alcon royalty agreement giving updated guidance factoring in investments and some foreign exchange or the yen if you will through December 21, 2012. We also successfully concluded our business interruption insurance process receiving another $14 million in payments. While the stock market sputtered to begin the New Year, we effected the repurchase of 450,000 of our own shares using $44 million of cash.
Our Origio acquisition got off to a good start with revenues of $20 million for 24% growth. Our silicone hydrogel family including the recent relaunch of our two-week Avaira Toric is humming up 38% in constant currency and now accounts for 40% of our CDI revenue. Our balance sheet even after the $44 million buyback remains strong with debt to cap of 15%.
On sales, our silicone hydrogel family continues to drive results. During Q1, our silicone hydrogel family continued to drive our top line and bottom line results. Silicone hydrogel revenues were $120 million. Our silicone hydrogel family grew 38% in constant currency. The family now encompasses 40% of CVI revenues. The roll out of Biofinity Toric into Japan and the expected halo effect on the Biofinity Sphere overall Biofinity in Japan more than tripled.
The re-launch of Avaira Toric is having the expected halo effect on the Avaira family of two week silicone hydrogel lenses. Overall Avaira is up over 50% in constant currency worldwide. We continued our confirmatory roll out of our single use silicone (indiscernible). We believe several years down the road as cost come down and prices to the consumer get lowered that silicone hydrogel in the one day modality will become more than what it is today which is a niche.
In fact, as you will notice from our revised guidance on free cash flow, we have reduced forecasted free cash flow reflecting our accelerated plans in this arena. We have now moved from confirmatory phase and are taking steps to accommodate a global roll out already in multiple continents. I might add that capital expenditures in 2013, 2014 is not expected to lower our five year objective of 1.3 billion in free cash flow.
Geographically, foreign exchange headwinds continue affecting our CooperVision results, impacting the top-line by 2% in the quarter. Excluding foreign exchange, CooperVision constant currency growth was 14%. Last year it was the euro, this year it's the yen. It's over $200 million in revenues in Japan. This is obviously having an impact, not only on revenues, but also on our gross profit percent and operating margin percent. Even with this nuisance, our results are solid.
Recently, we have put up solid constant currency growth in all locales. America is up 18%, EMEA up 7% constant currency, Asia-Pac 17% and overall as I indicated 14%. Our growth drivers are in Americas trading up to Biofinity, including the halo effect on Biofinity Multifocal with the entire family doing well. Also well off of a small base Proclear 1Day and the Avaira Toric and family are significant distributors.
EMEA right now, currency is neutral, driving our 7% growth in the region is the entire Biofinity family and Proclear 1 Days, while single use silicon is still only a small contributor.
Asia-Pac, our foreign exchange took its toll on a GAAP revenue basis, which was up 10%. Our constant currency growth and revenue was up 17%. The drivers here the Biofinity family, especially with the halo effect of Biofinity Toric; the Proclear 1 Day as well as single use Torics.
Looking at the soft contact lens market. In the fourth quarter of 2012, it was up 5% in constant currency while CooperVision was up 10%. For the calendar year, the soft contact lens market, now $7.3 billion worldwide was up 5% also in constant currency. CooperVision was up 11% on the strength of Biofinity and the Proclear 1 Day product.
The calendar quarter market growth was sponsored by the 1 Day market; multifocals and torics, while CLI or Contact Lens Institute has now stopped reporting the growth of silicone hydrogel material; mostly likely the trade-up material remains solid growth material.
CooperVision was up 38% in constant currency in the first quarter of '13, and at CooperVision silicone hydrogel now represents 40% of our revenue. The soft contact lens market continues to be a trade-up market. This includes, the premium products; silicone hydrogel lenses, torics and multifocals. A trade-up of silicone hydrogel is in the 20% to 40% range, and importantly, a trade-up to the 1 Day disposable expands patient revenue by 400% to 600%. Even more importantly, the 1 Day Avaira generates 300% to 500% more profit.
Also, it's important to understand that torics and multifocals have a long way to go in capturing the market opportunity, especially outside the United States. Geographically, the strength of the Americas; up 5%; and Asia-Pac, up 6%, during the final quarter of 2012 carried a weak EMEA which was only up 2%. Overall, the market was up 5% for the quarter at the midpoint of our 4% to 6% expectations.
CooperSurgical, our women's healthcare franchise trend in $78 million in revenue on the strength of more than $20 million of revenue contributed by Origio. The surgical was up 37%. We were very pleased with the Origio revenue of $20 million which was up 24% over the comparable prior period. I might add, if we were to have owned the Origio business at the beginning of the prior year, our constant currency growth at Cooper would have been 12%, while our women's healthcare growth would have grown at 7%.
Beside from idea for Fertility if you will which now accounts for 30% of CooperSurgical revenue, our surgical procedures continue to perform near double-digit growth. Overall, surgical now accounts for 20% of Cooper, with a solid gross margin and operating margins and very little CapEx requirements that translates to outstanding cash flow. While we have a fair amount of work to do in further leveraging our most recent acquisition, we will continue to focus on our other things to buy that either fit the gyn office setting IVS or surgical procedures.
Look at guidance. We updated our guidance in late December, following the amendment to our CIBA Alcon royalty agreement. Now the exact change has not been disclosed for contractual and competitive reasons, our revised guidance reflected several factors, the revised royalty, certain investment decisions and the impact of foreign exchange most notably the yen through December 20. Yen which was at 84 on December 20 has continued to soften and is now at 93 Yen to the dollar.
Within excess of $200 million in sales in Japan this 11% further drop is a considerable headwind impacting revenue, gross profit percentages, as well as operating margins.
Our new guidance reflects the strength and progress of our product portfolio, market share gains, favorable impact of our buyback of 460,000 shares of stock and the favorable Q1 results. We are pleased to take up the bottom of our revenue and EPS ranges in spite of foreign exchange challenges, we, like many other global companies, are currently experiencing.
On strategy, we are continuing with our successful strategy which I've frequently articulated in the past. We believe it is solid and it has delivered results. CooperSurgical is putting up outstanding results and is leveraging its infrastructure. This franchise was built as a solid understanding of the value of critical mass in a women's healthcare market, targeting the OB/GYNs. We follow the professional wherever they go; office, surgery center, hospital or IVF centers. Although the call points are different for each, the leverage is considerable.
CooperSurgical's Q1 '13 gross profit was 64%, operating margins were 19%, and due to minimal CapEx requirements, CooperSurgical is a significant contributor to free cash flow. We are dedicated to this strategy and will continue tuck-in acquisitions as well as acquisitions outside the U.S. to leverage the CooperSurgical structure and products.
CooperVision's strategy is much more complicated, reflecting the fact that it's global in nature also. In the $7.3 billion soft contact lens industry, because of the uniqueness of our manufacturing platform and product portfolio, we are the only participants that can aggressively promote silicone hydrogel and non-silicone hydrogel; that is the Proclear family. We can emphasize branded and non-branded products. No, private label does not mean lower operating margins.
We actively promote and specialize in custom lenses with a high gross profit percent, of course. Support all modalities that the eye care professional promotes; one-day, two-week, as well as monthly lenses and we support all types of lenses; spheres, Torics and multifocals.
With close to 30% share in the high growth specialty lens categories, torics and multifocal, it is acknowledged by eye care professionals that we are pretty good at specialty contact lenses.
Few would challenge why the success of Biofinity Toric or astigmatism. Put a great design together with a great material and great things can happen. We have seen similar successes for the same reason with Biofinity multifocal, which hit the market in the middle of calendar year 2011.
On the capacity front, with the exception of Avaira Toric, we are ahead of plan to deliver considerable more products where we had been previously supply constrained. The Biofinity family, Proclear 1 Day, our 1 Day torics are all in good capacity shape. Our newest challenge will be to ramp up 1 Day silicone hydrogel as yet a niche market.
On pricing, we like the rest of the soft contact lens industry have a trade-up strategy. Our new wears and existing wears are targeted for silicone hydrogel lenses, the Proclear family and the 1 Day and single-use lenses. Each creates more revenue per wear. A 1 Day modality, for example, results in a four to six times more revenue per wear.
While this strategy sacrifices the gross margin percent, it generally creates three to five times more profit per wearer. Of course this strategy competes head on with the lens care space since we are shifting the wearer resources from lens care to contact lenses only.
Competing for lens care dollars is more of a problem for some of our competitors. In my opinion, we continue to be the most focused Company in the industry lacking many of the distractions that some of our competitors are now going through. I might add with Biofinity, Avaira and Proclear we have a lot to talk about with eye care professionals all around the world.
As we look down the road over the next several years, we expect to continue improving operating margins and delivering above average shareholder returns. We expect to continue to average double digit earnings per share growth while investing in geographic expansion and new product development.
In today's market, we have a solid product portfolio to leverage in all modalities, multiple materials, all lens types, and we retain our expertise to emphasize customized lenses for the 10% to 20% of those lens wearers requiring other than the standard lens sizes and/or designs. We have a lot of work to do before we come anywhere close to having exploited our number one contact lens family, Biofinity. This is particularly true when it comes to geographic expansion and fully developing the Biofinity family of Torics and Multifocals around the world.
The same applies to Avaira, where the Avaira Sphere has anxiously awaited the re-launch of Avaira Toric. The combination will put us in a much better position to exploit the U.S. two-week space owned by Johnson & Johnson and to also exploit our private label strategy more aggressively with this family. While we already have pretty respectable gross margins and operating margins, from a cost perspective.
We have considerable upside yet to be fully developed. Upside includes the complete elimination of the silicon hydrogel royalty, with the expiration of patents in September 2014 in the United States and March 2016 in the rest of the world. The reduction of our manufacturing costs volume among other things, improving molding cycle times, increasing capacity utilization, and improving yields in general, each of these are key goals to us.
Also, given the considerable amount of free cash flow we generate, we will continue to look for tuck-in acquisitions and geographic expansion opportunities like Origio in our two businesses. The key requirements however is that they must exceed our minimum investment hurdle rates. They must achieve over time hurdle rate that exceeds 10%. Additionally, the markets for women's healthcare and soft contact lenses are much less developed outside the United States.
We generated considerable amount of cash flow offshore, due in part to our level of manufacturing outside the United States. As such we will continue to aggressively invest in global expansion opportunities with over 95% of the people on the planet outside the U.S. We believe we will find opportunities to invest in other countries for decades to come, thereby retaining our low effective tax rate indefinitely.
Finally, we again demonstrated we are opportunistically willing to go into the market and buy our stock at certain times.
In summary, before I turn it over to Greg, let me say how pleased I am with our ongoing progress. We continue to outperform the marketplace growing 1.5 to 2 times ex, respectable market growth. Our top line growth in the skittish global economy remains solid and I am very pleased at our double-digit organic constant currency growth during this last quarter. Our family of products; Biofinity, Avaira, 1 Day single-use silicone hydrogel, Proclear 1 Day, as well as now our IVF family where we are number one in the world, all offer promising growth going forward.
We continue to execute well and continue to invest in geographic expansion and the new product pipeline, and yes, R&D spending increased 20% over the prior quarter of last year. While we are still early in our expansion programs in each of the BRIC countries and there are challenges in each of them, I am very pleased with the progress we have made to-date.
Our women's healthcare franchise has become more global with the Origio acquisition. We remain keenly focused on delivering (and) improving results, mindful of our desire to invest and leverage prudently, thereby delivering respectable total shareholder return.
Lastly, as always, a reminder that at Cooper our number one asset is our employees. To them a big thank you for consistently delivering great results.
With that, I'll turn it over to Greg.
Gregory W. Matz - VP and CFO: Thanks Bob, and good afternoon, everyone. Bob has given you a pretty thorough review of the market and our revenue picture. Let me start with gross margins.
Looking at gross margins in Q1, the consolidated GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins were 63.3% compared with 64.5% for GAAP and non-GAAP in Q1 last year. As compared to the prior year, which was our highest gross margin quarter in 2012, we did see some headwinds due to the impact of the yen on our revenue and the related direct impact on gross margins. In addition, Avaira's successfully relaunching and as we've discussed in prior quarter Avaira does have a lower than the company average gross margin.
Finally, we also a mix impact due to Origio which we acquired in July 2012. Despite these headwinds we continue to favorable margins well above 60% due to strong products like Biofinity, increased manufacturing efficiencies and as of January 1 a reduced CIBA royalty. We believe our full year gross marign will be in the range of 64% to 65%.
CooperVision on a GAAP and non-GAAP reported a gross margin of 63.1% versus 64% for GAAP and non-GAAP in Q1 last year. As I just mentioned CooperVision's gross margin was negatively impacted by the weakening of the Yen, as well the success of Avaira, as it relaunches into the market.
We remain excited about Avaira as it opens up 2 weeks silicon market especially in the U.S. which we were not addressing effectively last year at this time. Somewhere into Q4 CooperSurgical had a gross margin of 64.1% which compares to Q1 '12 of 67.2%. Excluding Origio gross margin would have been 66.5%.
Now looking at operating expenses; SG&A in Q1 on a GAAP basis, SG&A expenses increased by 14% from Q1 last year to $150.7 million and were 40% of revenue similar to the prior year. Excluding Origio SG&A would have grown 7% and would have been 39% of revenue.
In the base business we continue to see some spending on marketing sales headcount, numerous marketing projects and product launches around the world, including ongoing geographic expansion efforts, as well as expenses to relaunch additional Avaira Toric fitting sets.
Now touching on the medical device excise tax, the rules have recently been finalized whereas in Q4 we assumed this costs would be in cost of goods sold. We have now determined that the majority of the tax will be in SG&A with a very de minimis amount in cost of goods sold for imported intercompany sales of finished goods. As you know, this tax only impacts CSI. In the quarter, we had $230,000 SG&A.
Now, looking at R&D, in Q1, R&D increased by approximately 20% year-over-year to $13.7 million or up about $2.2 million of which Origio makes up 50% of the increase. R&D was 3.6% of revenue, up from 3.5% in Q1 '12 and the same as the prior quarter. The non-Origio spending increase is mainly attributable to spending a new product development in clinicals. As we've discussed in the prior quarter, we would expect that R&D excluding Origio will continue to grow slightly faster than sales during the fiscal year.
Now looking at depreciation and amortization in Q1, depreciation was $24.1 million, up $3.9 million or 19% year-over-year and amortization was $7.4 million, up $1.8 million or 33% year-over-year, for a total of $31.5 million. Origio amortization for the quarter was approximately $2 million.
Moving to operating margins, for Q1 consolidated GAAP operating income and margin were $68.8 million, or 18.1% of revenue, versus $61.7 million or 18.9% of revenue in Q1 '12. This represents an 11% increase in operating income over Q1 '12, on a non-GAAP basis which excludes the Origio acquisition related cost of approximately $600,000, operating income and margin were $69.4 million or 18.3% of revenue versus the 18.9% in the prior year.
This reduction in operating margin is attributable to the year-over-year decrease in gross margins I mentioned, partially offset by improvement in SG&A. Interest expense was $2.6 million for the quarter, down 30% year-over-year. We expect to finish the year with interest expense in the $10 million to $11 million range.
Included in the line item gain on insurance proceeds is $14.1 million of insurance proceeds for business interruption related to the October 28, 2011 incident we've discussed before in which a pipe ruptured in our fire suppression sprinkler system causing water and fire retardant foam damage to one of our manufacturing buildings in the U.K. We have completed the business interruption claims process and are now – and not expecting any additional payments.
Looking at the effective tax rate; in Q1, the GAAP and non-GAAP effective tax rate was 7.5% and 9.2%, respectively versus Q1 '12 GAAP and non-GAAP effective tax rate of 7%. In the prior year, our rate was favorably impacted by a settlement with the IRS, which resulted in the release of certain reserves.
In the current quarter, we had a favorable impact due to the R&D tax credit being retroactively enacted as well as favorable impacts and the business interruption gain and the CIBA royalty settlement. As we've discussed before, ETR continues to be below the U.S. statutory rate as the majority of our income is earned in foreign jurisdictions with lower taxes.
For the full year the GAAP effective tax rate is expected to be in the range of 7.5% to 9.5%. The non-GAAP effective tax rate is now expected to be in the range of 10% to 11%. I will mention on a quarterly basis, this rate does fluctuate and our Q2 rate tends to be higher than the average rate for the year.
Those following stock-option comp, Q1 was $9.4 million. EPS as Bob mentioned, our earnings per share for Q1 on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis was $1.50 and $1.23, respectively versus $1.12 on a GAAP and a non-GAAP basis Q1 '12. Earnings per share was up 34% and 10% on a GAAP and a non-GAAP basis respectively versus the prior year.
Briefly touching on the share buyback program as the end of the first quarter we had purchased an additional 460,000 shares of the Company's common stock for 44.4 million at an average price of $96.34 per share. There is still 184.5 million available under this program. We estimate that this will have a $0.04 to $0.05 impact on our full-year non-GAAP EPS.
I wanted to touch on FX. FX impact, during Q1 we saw dramatic fluctuations in key currencies. The impact on Q1 was relatively small and around the negative $0.03 year-over-year. However, given the move in the yen and the recent moves in the euro and the pound the impact for Q2 through Q4 assuming today's rates will be estimated negatively 24 million on revenue. Although we have offsets from our overseas operations and eventually from lower-cost pound-based inventory, this will amount to approximately $0.22 impact on EPS. As indicated in our guidance, we plan to hurdle this but it is definitely a headwind.
Looking at balance sheet and liquidity, in Q1 we had cash provided by operations of $47.6 million and capital expenditures of $29.3 million, insurance recovery of about 600,000 and excluding Origio acquisition related costs of 300,000 resulted in a $19.2 million of free cash flow.
Total debt increased within the quarter by $34.3 million to $408 million due to 44.4 million of share repurchases. Debt as a percent of total capitalization is now 15%. This leaves us with approximately $624 million of total credit available at January 31st.
Inventories increased by $5.2 million to $325.4 million from last quarter. For the quarter, we're seeing months on hand at seven months, down from a months on hand of 7.1 months last year, and up from 6.7 months last quarter. Accounts receivable continues to be closely monitored, with DSOs at 58 days, downs from 59 days last year.
With that, let me turn it back to Kim for the Q&A session.
Kim Duncan - Senior Director, IR: Operator, we're ready to take some questions.
Operator: Jeff Johnson, Robert W. Baird.
Jeff Johnson - Robert W. Baird: Greg, I guess I wanted to touch first on margins, or I guess my one question touch on margins here. I was hoping you could quantify, I guess, first, in the quarter what maybe some of the Avaira relaunch cost? What that impact was on a dollar basis? I think you broke that out last quarter, so if you could break that out again in this quarter? And then, as I look at your gross margin guidance for the year, it goes up 50 basis points, but you're taking the med device tax out of there moving that into SG&A, and obviously with the renegotiation on the royalty, it seems to me like your kind of core gross margin now expectations are maybe 50 basis points to 100 basis points lighter than they had been. Is that accurate? And I didn't hear an operating margin guidance for the year.
Gregory W. Matz - VP and CFO: First off on the Avaira, we had about $2.4 million worth of relaunch cost, but that was in OpEx SG&A and not in the gross margin. The gross margin hit was really around the fact that the average gross margin for Avaira is less than our average for the Company in gross margin. So that's where you get the gross margin impact. Again, the yen was a big impact also. You were talking about, let's say, the gross margin percent for the year. Just going back to – let me just (drew blank) hit on the – let me come back to that, Jeff. On the operating margin, the guideline is going to be 21% to 22% for an operating margin.
Jeff Johnson - Robert W. Baird: Yeah, the question had been on gross margin. I think prior to today you were guiding 63.5% to 64.5%. That's now 64% to 65%. So you've brought that up 50 basis points, but you've also moved medical device tax out of there which was probably going to be about 30 basis points. So net, guidance hasn't really changed yet with the renegotiated royalty. It felt like there should be maybe 100 basis points upside to your prior guidance. So, why is the core gross margin outlook coming down? And I am assuming that must be yen – is the main explanation?
Robert S. Weiss - President and CEO: Jeff, let me just kind of jump on one thing. We are – you may detect that we're a little evasive in the area of putting too fine of a pencil on all of the components of gross margin, and we're not going to leave ourselves into a mode where we're be specific on the royalty as a default. So, there is a package there. It includes the yen. It's having a profound impact on the total package as well as the weighting of Avaira, as well as in the total scheme of things. Obviously, Origio has some impact in the overall mix also. But relative to giving a lot of fine details other than what the range is going to be, we're probably going to steer clear of a good amount of that. And that's really competitive as well as contract that we're steering clear.
Operator: Larry Keusch, Raymond James.
Larry Keusch - Raymond James: Greg or Bob I wanted to touch on the revised free cash flow guidance and I know Bob in your prepared comments you referenced the fact that you are accelerating the move forward with these single-use silicone hydrogel. So, if you could just tell us exactly what you're planning there and how you're thinking about CapEx now for the year because I assume that's really the differential in the free cash flow guidance?
Robert S. Weiss - President and CEO: I'll say we had in our prior guidance I think we were in the neighborhood of $120 million to $150 million of estimate of CapEx. We're now moving more into the mode the $200 million to $250 million range of CapEx and that includes a lot of things to do with silicone hydrogel in general, as well as to bring forward of our plans on our single-use silicone hydrogel facilities, as well as equipment obviously. That is nothing more than saying we're really happy with the progress and how the product is been in the market, particularly in Europe where we started that we're bringing forward those plans to aggressively move into that market recognizing that probably in the two to three year time horizon it's going to turn out of – move from a niche market into something more than that and quite frankly, we'll be there to not only participate, but to support that trend. So, it's a pretty big number, it is what I would view as a lot of two year upfront spending, meaning there's a fair amount of equipment involved in getting to that point where you can have a robust product line and then it tails off fairly rapidly after that two year period and that's why I indicated we expect, by the end of five years to have our cash back. We're not coming off of that $1.3 billion targeted free cash flow number.
Larry Keusch - Raymond James: Bob would you just be willing to talk a little bit about where you're targeting these launch sites and your target about coming into the U.S. and what does the FDA pathway look like there?
Robert S. Weiss - President and CEO: Well, we're expecting a fairly routine pass within the next few years into the U.S. We're expecting from the point of view of facility expansion that's mainly going to be at our two primary facilities in Puerto Rico and the U.K., both, and now we will – the market has taken hold a lot more outside the U.S. At the end of the day, it really is today, a Japanese market, it is not a U.S. market quite frankly. J&J has done minimal in the U.S. market with TruEye and their focus has really been much more outside the U.S. than particularly in Japan, and so we see it that way initially. So they're in the sense of urgency to the U.S. market is still I think muted as far as how fast you have to get there.
Operator: Larry Biegelsen, Wells Fargo.
Larry Biegelsen - Wells Fargo: A couple here, legal cost and SG&A related to the CIBA agreement anything one-time. Also Bob, Americas was 8% and growth in CooperVision in Q1 versus 3% last quarter and 11% in the third quarter. Can you talk about the large acceleration this quarter?
Robert S. Weiss - President and CEO: Legal costs have tailed off considerably from the fourth quarter where of course it was the large amount of activity, so I would say, really was on those matters really sub $1 million being spent. It's not the, if you will, the catalyst of any of the OpEx ratios per se. Relative to the Americas, Americas is considerably more robust if you look at it from the point view of the fiscal quarter mindful of the fact that we have easier comps this year over last year in the Americas, because of some of what we talked about in the fourth quarter regarding the pipeline, so in the fourth quarter of 2011, so the comps are somewhat easier and therefore when you look at the calendar quarter, it doesn't show it meaning the calendar quarter for CooperVision was 5% in the United States and 7% in the Americas and then it jumps way up in the fiscal quarter to where you see the 18% for the Americas growth. So that explains really the year-over-year comp on a fiscal quarter basis.
Operator: Joanne Wuensch, BMO.
Joanne Wuensch - BMO: The decision to accelerate the one day lens. What was the thought process behind that?
Robert S. Weiss - President and CEO: I guess two fold; one is reactionary, meaning we know our competitors have announced large capital projects, two of them have. One in Ireland and one in Georgia, and so maybe a little speculative on what they are working but we have pretty good idea what we think they are working on. Two is the product is – we are pleased with the results of the product and good to go and you can assume that that means we are also pleased with our learning curve thus far in making the product. So, directionally we are happy with where we are going from a cost of goods point of view. Not that where we need to get, but clearly have made some pretty good progress and enough progress to take the next step.
Joanne Wuensch - BMO: And can you comment on Avaira. I mean, you had two or three quarters here over re-launch where you are in that process and where uptake is?
Robert S. Weiss - President and CEO: What was your second question?
Joanne Wuensch - BMO: Where uptake is. In theory the Toric Avaira should be pulling through Sphere Avaira. I am curious is that actually playing up?
Robert S. Weiss - President and CEO: Yeah, Avaira as in my comments I mentioned that there is a halo effect that Avaira Toric is nicely pulling the Sphere, and that's the family of products so I didn't get into breaking out the Toric versus the Sphere but suffice it to say the Toric couldn't do it alone but the family of products was north of 50% growth year-over-year – for the quarter. So, we are happy with that and really there still is a capacity limitation that there will be for essentially most of this calendar year that deals with Avaira Toric and therefore there is some limitations that we want to make sure we don't get too far or get ahead of ourselves on that.
Operator: Kim Gailun, JPMorgan.
Kimberly Gailun - JPMorgan: So, two questions. I think the first is on the top-line. Just curious on the strong revenue performance were there any meaningful inventory shifts in the channel in the quarter or any stocking, I guess, or any of the new products that you launched?
Robert S. Weiss - President and CEO: Answer, no.
Operator: Steve Willoughby, Cleveland Research.
Steve Willoughby - Cleveland Research: My question is on the share repurchase. I know that some quarters you're buying shares, some quarters you aren't. Are you expected to be buying shares each of the quarters over the rest of the year?
Robert S. Weiss - President and CEO: I was careful to use the words that our strategy is opportunistic. We don't define if and when on purpose, obviously. But as much as anything it is not pre-programmed where we have to go out and do something one way or the other, it's opportunistic.
Operator: Chris Cooley, Stephens.
Chris Cooley - Stephens: Bob or Greg, I was hoping you maybe help us think about just your overall growth. You're clearly taking share in the marketplace but you're also benefitting from the trade up to silicone hydrogel and greater growth in dailies. A cycle that number of your peers have already gone through on the trade up to silicone hydrogel help us to think about pricing and mix versus volume; when we think about your growth guidance for the full year for CVI?
Robert S. Weiss - President and CEO: You're correct, Chris, that some of what's going on is we're still lagging the market in total in the trade-up of silicone hydrogel, and clearly in the area of the trade-up to 1 Day where basically you won't have indexed of the marketplace there or may be well little north of that, but not much. So, we have a long way to go on 1 Day, and while we're dealing stellar on the silicone hydrogel family and it's something we continue to expect to greatly grow faster than the marketplace, part of that is trade-up, but quite frankly, part of it is taking new fits from competitors. So, it's a healthy combination. I would say it's well-balanced. Relative to when you look at the components, how much further do you have a 1 Day, the fact that you already are sheer leader in the two high growth ends of the market relative to type of lenses; torics, multifocals, and we certainly are exhibiting high growth in multifocal, albeit it's a smaller category, there is a lot of moving parts, but I think when you look at the product data we give you relative to how we measure up on every front, we're doing pretty darn good on every region, every type of lens, every modality, and there aren't – I don't think there are too many holes in it relative – that means, relatively speaking, we should be able to do pretty well for the indefinite future. Our products are still fresh in my opinion. Proclear 1 Day is early in its cycle. Biofinity; while it's been at it for four, five years now is not indicating any slowness and still has a lot of leveraging a halo effect if you will around the world. So I don't know quite frankly from the mix point of view we're still headed the right way, from a trading up point of view we're headed up the right way and from taking new fits perspective we're in good shape also.
Operator: Amit Bhalla, Citi.
Amit Bhalla - Citi: Bob I just wanted to follow-up on that stocking question and I have just another question on competition. Specifically last quarter you said that there were some distributor destocking related to Sandy, so I'm wondering did distributors restock in the quarter or do they keep at – at levels of last quarter? Then, secondly the question about fiscal versus calendar in the United States, you essentially grew 5%, market grew 5% and you said it's due to comps but can you address that same thing in the U.S. really due to competition or you're seeing any changes there?
Robert S. Weiss - President and CEO: Well, relative to Sandy I don't want to – I don't think I ever played the importance to Sandy in the contact lens arena. It actually was a slightly bigger in our women's healthcare than it was in our contact lens business. It as a minimal event relative to contact lens and that's why we shipped out of Rochester and the products pretty much got out there. Relative to the stocking, I can answer that in multiple ways. Number one we recall that in the second quarter of last year there was kind of an anomalous result that took place where the market went soft on us in April following whatever happened in March. So, there clearly was something going on with our competitor in that cycle. Certainly not going on with our competitors in our cycle which was really in October of 2011, where we thought we had done a good job of managing our distributors in the first second and third quarter of 2011, but they still had a full year incentive and because of that they brought a law in October of 2011 which negatively impact the comps in the first quarter of 2012. As a result of that, our comps in the U.S. from a fiscal year point of view are easier in the U.S. in the first quarter this year compared to the U.S. a year ago. That has nothing to do with our competitors but suffice it to say, we're keenly aware that there are things that our competitors occasionally do that impact it. We didn't see anything unusual following calendar year-end, meaning there was nothing about January and February that leads us to believe there was anything strange going on. We're keenly aware that there is some ripple effect at the retail end between the, if you will the split of 1800 and Wal-Mart, certain things happening within retail that pretty much are not, as far as, I'm aware germane at the manufacturers level.
Gregory W. Matz - VP and CFO: Amit, this is Greg. I would just throw into that. if you look at Q1 over Q1 year-over-year, the U.S. distributor days on hand inventory was about the same.
Operator: Kim Gailun, JPMorgan.
Kimberly Gailun - JPMorgan: I had a follow-up on the gross margin and the line of questioning from Jeff earlier. So, I think some more clarification with the updated guidance would be helpful. You obviously had the MedTech tax moving out of the gross margin guide. But is it fair to think about – so essentially you are kind of taking down on your gross margin guidance, and is it fair to think about essentially the benefit that you got roughly speaking from the lower CIBA royalty being about offset by currency just sort of in terms of round numbers or are there other factors at play we should be thinking about like mix?
Robert S. Weiss - President and CEO: So, overall, we took from the last time we gave guidance which was in early December. We gave gross margin guidance of 53.5 to 64.5 and we've now taken that up 50 basis points to 64 basis points to 65 basis points. There is no doubt -- on the positive side, is royalty. On the negative side is the yen and foreign exchange, because if you take a model of the yen, you could like I gave you that basically it's a $200 million franchise there, you could do certain what ifs and kind of get some idea what that might that range may look like. So, those two kind of blend. Beyond that there is certain mixed components I have talked about us pushing harder in one day silicone hydrogel, that would be a negative. The Avaira relaunch and Avaira doing well north of 50, is obviously a more a negative and Origio quite frankly which has lower gross margins doing very robustly north of 20 million is arguably a mix negative. So, there is a fair amount of – when you get into all the granular pieces, a fair amount of moving parts, I would acknowledge, but I also said we are not going to give you a real lot of clarity because we want to protect the real question everyone has which is so exactly what was the change in the royalty.
Operator: Matthew O'Brien, William Blair.
Tila - William Blair: This is (Tila) in for Matt. We were just wondering exactly where you guys are in the lifecycle of Biofinity. I know you had mentioned it really hasn't seen any slowdown but what sort of comfort do we have it is above market growth rates are sustainable going forward?
Robert S. Weiss - President and CEO: There are, obviously, no guarantees when does it start leveling off a little. But having said that, we have not been in the market all that long with Biofinity Multifocal, which, if you will, the third leg of the halo effect; we have just really got to Japan with the real more robust launch beginning in this fiscal year. So, suffice it say, we are still early with the Biofinity Toric launch in Japan and it certainly hasn't annualized. There is a lot of growth of Torics and Multifocals outside the U.S. and we obviously have a great product in the right modality in that front. So, we are pretty optimistic that there are a lot of legs left to it and I might add the Sphere is very close to 30% growth in and of itself. So there's nothing wrong with even what one might say is the most mature of the three between the Sphere, the Toric and the Multifocal doing pretty well, which to me is an indicator that there is a fair amount of legs left in this family.
Operator: (Anthony Petrone, Jefferies Group.)
Anthony Petrone - Jefferies Group: Two full questions for Bob and Greg on the yen. Can you review your hedging plans for the yen later this year, if there's any plans to put in different hedges related to the weakness and how long those would be put out? Then whether or not the current weakness in the yen is affecting the launch plans for Biofinity Toric in Japan? Then one follow-up.
Robert S. Weiss - President and CEO: From a hedging point of view, we did hedging for two or three years. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is a disaster, I would call it a 1. On the scale of understandability, where 1 was totally non-comprehensive, I'd call it a 1. It was something we chose to move away from and stay away from. So it is not our intent to crystal ball where currencies are going. You can't hedge after the fact. So that's history already that the yen is where it is and I know a lot of people have very strong views on where it's going to go next, but if everyone really knew, they can make a lot of money I suppose on where it's going to go next. So I don't subscribe to that. So the answer on hedging is, no we don't hedge. We do have kind of a global balance over time, but there is no doubt when currencies move on their own that we can win one way – we can win some times and we can lose sometimes, and in this case we're on the wrong end as is the marketplace. Your second question; you want to repeat that?
Anthony Petrone - Jefferies Group: Just if the currency weakness there is impacting at all the Biofinity toric launch plans in Japan. You mentioned that's earlier this year that that occurred. I am just wondering how that all plays out there.
Robert S. Weiss - President and CEO: No, locally, it's not really impacting anything. We put up 17% growth numbers in constant currency, 10% in actual in that entire region. So, I would say, no, there is no – nothing is changing because of that dynamic.
Operator: At this time, there are no additional questions in queue. I like to turn the call back to Mr. Robert Weiss, CEO, for closing remarks.
Robert S. Weiss - President and CEO: Well, I want to thank everyone for joining us. Hopefully you're as excited about our top line growth, our market share growth as I am, and the fact that we're pleasantly moving forward with the silicone 1 Day project, which I find real exciting. Keep in mind what I said about the market trading up. As this market continues to grow towards the 1 Day modality, that's a four to six time trade-up, which is going to be good for sustained growth in my opinion for the marketplace. While gross margins may come under pressure because of that, clearly I like the idea making 300% to 500% more profit on a contact lens wear. So, I would take that all day, all year, all decade, and we're pretty excited about that. So with that, I look forward to talking to you and updating you on where we are in June. Thank you.
Operator: Ladies and gentlemen this concludes today's conference. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect. Have a great day.


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Last week the Board of the Privy Council delivered a critical sequel to its previous judgments in connection with the Cukurova Group's attempt to recover shares following an appropriation. The Board held that not only can the court reopen an appropriation and exercise its jurisdiction to grant relief from forfeiture after the event, as per its decision earlier this year, but it can also exercise its jurisdiction to determine the basis and conditions of such relief.
For mortgagors and borrowers in secured transactions, the decision provides a helpful guide as to the breadth and flexibility of equity's ability, after forfeiture, to intervene in their favour and adjust the contractual terms where it would be unconscionable to enforce them strictly.
The Facts
As security for a loan by Alfa Group ("Alfa") to a company in the Cukurova group ("Cukurova"), English law governed share charges were granted to Alfa over Cukurova's shares in a number of BVI companies. The share charges included a clause providing that Alfa had the right, on enforcement, to appropriate the charged shares to satisfy the liabilities under the facility agreement in accordance with the Financial Collateral Arrangements (No. 2) Regulations 2003. When Cukurova defaulted in 2007, Alfa appropriated the shares and thereby gained a controlling interest in Turkcell (Turkey's largest mobile phone company). Within a month of the appropriation, Cukurova tendered the amount due to Alfa in full repayment of the loan. Alfa rejected the tender. Meanwhile, Cukurova held the full amount in an interest earning escrow account until 25 May 2010, ready to repay Alfa. In January this year, the Board held that relief against forfeiture should be available to Cukurova on appropriate terms. In this latest judgment, the Board had to consider the terms, amount and basis of the redemption.
The Issues
The Decision
The decision of the Privy Council establishes that where equity grants relief after an appropriation has discharged a due debt, the court has equitable jurisdiction to set the conditions of relief. These will try to take close account of the terms of the original loan, but may take account of other exceptional circumstances. Although the decision is quite specific to its facts, it arguably broadens the equitable principles that have developed to mitigate against unjust effects of common law in connection with contracts. The minority of the Board held that such an extension of the court's equitable discretion demonstrates a "fundamental misunderstanding of the role of equity" and that equity "did not provide some sort of cure-all whereby a judge could simply do what seemed just to him in the particular case". The minority of the Board referred back to past judgments which expressed concern that "'[u]nconscionable' must not be taken to be a panacea for adjusting any contract … when it shows a rough edge to one side or the other".
Irrespective of the extent to which the equitable principles have been broadened, the decision does introduce an element of uncertainty. For practical business reasons, parties want to ensure that they make express provision for a certain eventuality in their contracts and they want to be certain that these provisions will be enforced by the courts. A courts' discretion not to enforce certain terms of a contract on the grounds that it would be unconscionable does mean that parties will not be certain that the outcome will follow the terms agreed by the parties. The very existence of that discretion also means that knowledge of it can be used as a tool in negotiations.
Although decisions of the Privy Council are not binding on English courts, they are highly persuasive. Given that the dissenting minority considered that the appropriation will not discharge the due debt, there is still some uncertainty for lenders looking to the exercise of a contractual right of appropriation as to the path the English courts will follow.
DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.
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Hall Of Fame
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 3,720
TW, Demo Racquet Question....
I was playing several nights ago and it seemed like I almost had to throw my shoulder out just to try and put a ball away with my POG mid. Of course some of this is because of the extreme topspin I've become used to playing with, but even when I tried to flatten it out, it didn't seem to have a lot of pop. I tried to really go after my serve last night (I usually just hit huge kickers) and I had more double faults than I'd care to count (I'd guess around 9 or so).
As my body begins to slow down I'd like to gradually gravitate to a little more powerful racquet so that my body will have to do less of the work.
Swinging out was a load of fun when I was in my late twentys, but now that I'm 37, putting the ball away with less effort seems like it would be a blast too
I don't want to lose the solid feel that I have with the POG mid, but I believe I need to find a racquet that offers more pop from all over the court (I'm not talking rocket launcher) and is less demanding than the POG mid.
I know I want to demo the Yonex RDX-500 Midplus, Prince Diablo Midplus, and the Volkl Tour 10 V-Engine Midplus.
I would like to know what racquet you think would make a good 4th choice to add to my demo order.
Thanks a million.
FYI: I'm a 4.5 baseliner {who is in the process of adding a net game so I can end points a little quicker} who uses quite a bit of spin (top and slice) and uses patience, a strong backhand, and hustle to beat opponents. I'm looking for more power (without having to do as much work) from all areas of the court in a lighter (than the 12.1 ounces of my POG mid) package.
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Tennis-Warehouse.com
Posts: 24,039
Looking at the other racquets you have selected, I would look at one of the following: LM Prestige MP, LM Radical MP, Pure Storm Team, Pure Control Team, nSix-One 95, ProStaff Tour 95, Slazenger X-1, ProKennex 5G, Type C MP, Type R and the Dunlop 300G.
Good luck,
Chris, TW.
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The Valley Hi "Dream Team"We're Wild about Woodchucks
NISD Convocation 2013
We welcome your comments and suggestion to make Valley Hi the best school in Northside. Please contact us directly at 397-0350 or by email: Ms. Daeon Harris, Mrs. Josie Perez, and Mr. Andrew Morris.
The parent parking lot and the place where we drop off and pick up children is located on Medina Base Road. This is the safest place to drop off or pick up your child. You can also park in the parking lot on Ray Ellison Blvd and walk your child into the building. Please do not use the bus loop for pick up and drop off. The bus loop is for busses only. Also, please do not park in or block the handicapped parking spaces. These are reserved for parents or students with handicapping conditions.
The Raptor ID system will be used to scan visitor's IDs and create badges so we can identify who is visiting our campus. Please stop by the office to sign in and get a visitor badge every time you visit the school. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to call us.


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Aloft Philadelphia Airport
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Aloft Philadelphia Airport
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Guests with special needs will feel right at home! We're fully compliant with ADA regulations, including offering guest rooms with accessible features.
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In the state of Pennsylvania, alcohol is for adults-only—so we only serve and sell to guests 21 and over. (Remember your ID!)
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Guests must be 21 years or older with photo identification to reserve a room.
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Check cashing services are available to guests who present valid identification. There is a limit of $50 per day.
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In addition to the credit card requirement for reservations, a valid credit card must be presented at check-in.
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Rollaway beds are available at the nightly rate of $15.00.
Inflatable mattresses are permitted. However, there is a maximum of one per room.
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The hotel has a strict "No Party" policy on the guest floors. Noise complaints are taken very seriously and may result in eviction without compensation. Guests planning an event of any size are encouraged to contact the Sales Office at (215) 365-6600.
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Animals are family, too! That's why Aloft Philadelphia Airport welcomes dogs up to 40 pounds.* Our pet-friendly arf(SM) program offers a special bed, bowl, and a doggie bag of woof-alicious treats and toys, all complimentary to use during your stay. Please make sure they're on their best behavior—we don't want to charge you extra for housekeeping!
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Debit and Credit cards will be authorized at check-in for the amount of your stay, plus an amount to cover incidentals. The authorization will hold the funds until check out, at which time the amount actually incurred during the stay will be charged. Authorized amounts may take up to 30 days after departure to be released by your bank or financial institution and the hotel will not be responsible for any resulting fees or charges.
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