Raphael Stevens

In this articleCROXCrocs store in New York City.Michael Brochstein | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty ImagesCrocs shares shot up more than 8% Tuesday after the shoe maker increased its revenue outlook for the full year and reported record first-quarter sales.CEO Andrew Rees said demand for the Crocs brand is “stronger than ever” across the world. Some have called Crocs the “it” shoe of the pandemic, as the clog became a closet staple for consumers seeking comfort at home. But it had seen momentum growing even prior, thanks to popular collaborations and limited-edition drops with celebrities including Justin Bieber, Post Malone and Priyanka Chopra.Here’s how the shoe maker did for its quarter ended March 31, compared with what analysts were anticipating, using data from a Refinitiv survey:Earnings per share: $1.49 adjusted vs. 89 cents expectedRevenue: $460.1 million vs. $415 million expectedCrocs’ first-quarter net income grew to $98.4 million, or $1.47 per share, compared with $11.1 million, or 16 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time adjustments, the company earned $1.49 a share, solidly outpacing the 89 cents that analysts were anticipating, according to Refinitiv.Revenues grew a whopping 64% to $460.1 million from $281.2 million a year earlier. That topped Street expectations for $415 million.Crocs said its digital sales surged 75.3% to represent 32.3% of revenue, compared with 30.1% in the year-ago period.For the second quarter, Crocs is now calling for sales to grow between 60% and 70% year over year. Analysts had been looking for growth of 39.2%, according to Refinitiv.For the year, it now expects sales to be up between 40% and 50%. In February, it had been guiding for revenue growth of 20% to 25%. Analysts had been calling for a 25% increase.While Crocs said it’s seeing strong and continued momentum in the Americas, it sees the biggest long-term growth opportunity in Asia, which it says is the second-largest footwear market in the world.It continues to experiment with new designs that build on its classic clog, including platform Crocs for women. The company also told analysts and investors Tuesday that it will be launching more sandals in the future.Over the past 12 months, Crocs shares have rallied more than 260%, making it one of the best-performing stocks in the retail industry during the span of the health crisis. It has a market cap of $5.5 billion.Find the full press release from Crocs here. More

A new Singapore-inspired tax law will reduce corporate income tax and boost foreign investment in the Philippines, finance secretary Carlos Dominguez told CNBC, as the country moves to speed up its economic recovery.The Philippines’ so-called corporate recovery and tax incentives for enterprises (CREATE) act, which was signed into law last month, aims to provide financial relief to companies in need while increasing the country’s competitiveness within the region, he told CNBC Tuesday.The law reduces the corporate income tax rate — formerly the highest among Southeast Asian nations at 30% — to 25% for large companies and 20% for small businesses.It also unifies the government’s inbound investment program, bringing it closer in line with financial hubs like Singapore, and granting the president more powers to give non-fiscal incentives to businesses, Dominguez said.”We patterned our program after the Singaporean system,” he said in reference to its coordinated strategy of attracting and incentivizing overseas investments.”In the past we had 13 independent investment promoting agencies in the country, and they were hardly ever coordinated,” he continued.People wearing protective masks are seen at a busy street in Manila, the Philippines, March 20, 2021.Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images”Now we are coordinating them and we are making sure that these agencies provide incentives that are transparent, that are time-bound, that are performance-based, and attract the investments that we actually want in this country.”The reduced corporate tax is the latest in a series of tax reforms introduced by President Rodrigo Duterte’s PDP-Laban party since coming into power in 2016.The finance secretary said the plans will return cash to distressed small- and medium-sized businesses, which can then reinvest in jobs and economic growth. However, critics have questioned the merits of reducing already stressed public finances as the country battles the coronavirus pandemic.”The chunk we are giving up, we estimate is around 1 trillion pesos ($20.65 billion) over a period of 10 years. However, we think this is a time to do it,” said Dominguez.The businesses need fiscal stimulus, number one. And secondly, that it will attract more investments into our country over the long period of timeCarlos Dominguezsecretary of finance, Philippine government”The businesses need fiscal stimulus, number one. And secondly, that it will attract more investments into our country over the long period of time,” he said.The Philippines has so far retained its BBB credit rating from Fitch Ratings, BAA2 from Moody’s, and BBB+ from Japan’s Rating and Investment Information (R&I) agency. That’s despite the global downturn and its disproportionate impact on emerging markets.”Not only the credit rating agencies, but the people who actually put their money where their mouth is, have been investing in the long-term viability and prospects of the Philippines,” he said, referencing strong bond trading activity.The finance secretary’s comments come as the Philippines faces a spike in cases in its capital Manila. Dominguez said the country’s resources are currently “adequate” to deal with the surge, adding that it has ordered enough vaccines to inoculate its 70 million adult population by the end of this year.”This Covid contagion is just a blip in our history. We still have our strong fundamentals, which are our very strong fiscal and monetary system in the Philippines,” said Dominguez.”We have our very young and talented workforce, and we have improved the infrastructure so far. So this CREATE (law) will just add to our ability to attract more investments into this country.” More

In this article7205.T-JPThe Hino Motors logo is displayed at the 43rd Tokyo Motor Show 2013 in Tokyo, Japan.Tomohiro Ohsumi | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesHino Motors, a subsidiary of Toyota Motor, is teaming up with an Israeli electric vehicle start-up to develop electric trucks, buses and commercial vehicles.REE Automotive, which is based in Tel Aviv, has a different approach to developing electric vehicles which centers around technology packs built into the wheels of the vehicle, that allow customers to come up with unique layouts for the vehicle cabins.  For Hino, the option to develop commercial vehicles with special layouts and capabilities could be critical to winning over customers in a commercial vehicle market that has become highly competitive for electric vehicles. Nearly every automaker — including General Motors, Ford and Volkswagen — is targeting commercial vehicles for growing their EV platforms.Hino and REE expect to develop their first prototypes by next year. It is unclear when commercial vehicles from the partnership may actually be on public streets in the future.”REE is a visionary company, and I am confident that this business alliance will become a driving force for Hino as we take on the challenge of generating new value in commercial mobility,” said Hino CEO Yoshio Shimo.REE, which merged via a SPAC with 10x Capital Venture Acquisition Corp in March, hopes to disrupt the automotive industry by offering drive-by-wire systems for vehicles. Drive-by-wire technology uses electronic systems to replace traditional mechanical controls.The company believes putting its technology between the wheel and the chassis enables the floor of its commercial vans and trucks to be completely flat. This allows for greater flexibility in design and can be adjusted to meet unique specifications.   “This business alliance is a unique opportunity in terms of its global reach and scale,” said REE CEO Daniel Barel. “It can position us as a strong leader in the commercial and mobility-as-a-service segments.” More

Being named to UNESCO’s World Heritage List often brings worldwide acclaim, tourist revenue and access to international funding and expertise.But there are strings attached.  World Heritage sites are, in principle, inscribed “forever,” said Mechtild Rossler, director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, but countries have to do their part to protect and counteract threats to the sites. That includes agreeing not to materially alter sites.Failure to comply can result in being “delisted,” a fate which has befallen only two World Heritage sites to date.  Being named to the World Heritage ListThe process to be inscribed on the World Heritage List takes years, said Rossler, adding that several sites waited some 25 years to be named to the prestigious list.Only countries that ratify the World Heritage Convention (adopted by UNESCO in 1972) are eligible to have sites within their territories named to the list. Called “State Parties,” there are currently 194 around the globe.The World Heritage Convention set forth the idea that loss of cultural and natural heritage — such as Afghanistan’s Buddhas of Bamiyan which were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001 — harmed “all the nations of the world.”Paula Bronstein | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesSites must be included on a “tentative list” before they can be formally nominated. The World Heritage Committee, comprising representatives from 21 State Parties, meets once a year to decide which nominated sites will be inscribed on the World Heritage List.To be accepted, sites must be of “outstanding universal value” and meet at least one of 10 criteria, such as being “a masterpiece of human creative genius” or “areas of exceptional natural beauty.”Some State Parties have no World Heritage sites within their boundaries, including Kuwait, Maldives, Monaco, Rwanda and Bhutan (shown here).RBB | Moment | Getty ImagesThere are currently 1,121 sites on the World Heritage List, of which 869 are cultural, 213 are natural and 39 are mixed.First, a warningWhen sites run afoul of UNESCO’s protocols, countries are sent a warning letter.That’s what happened to Peru, which has received multiple warnings over threats from overtourism, landslides and flooding at Machu Picchu.Warnings were also sent to Saint Petersburg in Russia, which resulted in the construction of the Gazprom Tower being moved 9 kilometers (5.5 miles) from the city center, said Rossler.Rossler said she received 30,000 hardcopy letters — so many “I could not even enter my office” — asking for help to protect Mexico’s Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino from plans to build a massive salt plant in the vicinity.It is “one of the biggest whale sanctuaries, of the gray whale, we have on Earth,” said Rossler, who described leading a mission to the site. “Half a year later, the Mexican president — imagine, the president — decided to stop it. It was a great celebration of course; we were jumping up and down.”  Being added to the ‘Danger List’Many sites comply at the warning stage, said Rossler, but not all.At that point, UNESCO arranges a site mission and presents its findings to the World Heritage Committee, which makes the decision to place a site on UNESCO’s “List of World Heritage in Danger” — often referred to simply as the “Danger List.”Danger List decisions are “up to the Committee … it’s not UNESCO,” said Mechtild Rossler, director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, shown here at the 40th session of the World Heritage Committee in Istanbul, Turkey on July 11, 2016.Onur Coban | Anadolu Agency | Getty ImagesCurrently, there are 53 World Heritage sites on the Danger List, including the historic center of Vienna and the Old City (and walls) of Jerusalem, plus every World Heritage site in Syria, Libya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.Pursuant to Article 11(4) of the World Heritage Convention, the list includes sites that are “threatened by serious and specific dangers” such as armed conflict, construction, natural disasters, or deterioration or abandonment of the land.Sites can be removed from the Danger List, as happened with Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity (believed by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus) in 2019.“The Danger List is actually a call for action to all of us … it’s trying to help the country.Mechtild Rosslerdirector of the UNESCO World Heritage CentreGovernments often resist having sites included on the Danger List, fearing it will harm tourism, Rossler said. That’s what happened in the Galapagos Islands, she said, where authorities “worked very hard” to address threats to the area. The site was removed from the Danger List in 2010.“Another example is Kathmandu in Nepal,” which UNESCO proposed to the list after a pair of devastating earthquakes struck in 2015, she said. “They did a lot of lobbying in the World Heritage Committee not to get on the Danger List.”  Some countries mistake the list as “blackmail,” according to Rossler. “They see it as a red list,” she told CNBC.But “the Danger List is actually a call for action to all of us … it’s trying to help the country,” she said. UNESCO counts Dubrovnik, Croatia, as one of its success stories. Dubrovnik was removed from the Danger List in 1998 after the walled “Old Town” section of the city was repaired from damage caused by armed conflict with Yugoslav forces in the early 1990s.The site, however, was back in UNESCO’s crosshairs after the HBO series “Game of Thrones” caused a tourism deluge. After having its heritage status threatened, Dubrovnik capped cruise ship tourists to 5,000 a day in 2019, according to local media.  UNESCO recently rejected plans to build an amusement park outside of Cambodia’s Angkor temple complex, said Rossler, because “all development inside and outside” of World Heritage sites must be managed in a way that preserves them for future generations.TANG CHHIN SOTHY | AFP | Getty ImagesRossler said UNESCO’s sustainable tourism program works with tour operators such as cruise ships “so that they better understand they shouldn’t come … with 4,000 passengers and all go into a small city” such as Dubrovnik or Tallinn, Estonia.Sometimes cruise passengers “don’t even know where the hell they are,” laughed Rossler, who said she knows this from conversations she’s had with tourists on the ground.The ultimate penalty: delisting  Only two World Heritage sites have been delisted to date, a decision that Rossler describes as a failure not of the site, but of the international community.“It’s the international community which has to take the responsibility, and we have failed twice,” she said.1.      The Arabian Oryx Sanctuary (Oman)This animal sanctuary contained the first free-ranging herd of Arabian oryx since the animals went extinct in the wild in 1972, according to UNESCO.Oman’s Arabian Oryx Sanctuary was the first site to be “delisted” from UNESCO’s World Heritage List.KARIM SAHIB | AFP | Getty ImagesThe site was inscribed in 1994, and two years later was home to some 450 Arabian oryx. By the 2000s, only 65 — and four breeding pairs — were left due to poaching and habitat loss.Oman wanted to pursue oil and gas exploration, said Rossler, and when it significantly reduced the size of the sanctuary, the World Heritage Committee delisted it in 2007.2.      The Dresden Elbe Valley (Germany)This 11-mile stretch of landscape became a World Heritage site in 2004 due to the area’s blend of Baroque architecture with relics from the Industrial Revolution, notably the 19th-century Blue Wonder steel bridge.Yet, it was another bridge that resulted in the site’s undoing.The controversial Waldschlosschen Bridge divided residents and local authorities during its construction, and eventually resulted in the area losing World Heritage status.Arno Burgi | picture alliance | Getty Images“The city, not the country … decided to build a four-lane bridge in the middle of the site,” Rossler told CNBC. “The World Heritage Committee said ‘no’ and … they went ahead, against the will of the central government.”The World Heritage Committee delisted the site in 2009 after the construction of the Waldschlosschen Bridge was well underway.“The international community was not able to save the site, and we don’t want to see that anymore,” said Rossler, calling the case “one of the most difficult in my whole career because it was in my own country of Germany.”One partial delistingAnother World Heritage site, Georgia’s Bagrati Cathedral and Gelati Monastery, was partially delisted.Inscribed in 1994, both buildings —  located 6 miles apart in Kutaisi, Georgia — were placed on the Danger List in 2010 after the Committee objected to reconstruction work at Bagrati Cathedral that it said would “undermine the integrity and authenticity of the site,” according to UNESCO’s website.    Georgia’s Bagrati Cathedral is no longer a UNESCO World Heritage site.Gunter Fischer | Universal Images Group | Getty ImagesThe Gelati Monastery was removed from the Danger List in 2017, but with the boundaries of the World Heritage site redrawn to exclude the Bagrati Cathedral.Could another site be delisted soon?“It could happen for Liverpool,” said Rossler.Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City is currently on the Danger List due to the construction of a mixed-use development called Liverpool Waters at the city’s historic northern docks.The British city has been sent multiple warnings over the plans.Still, “it [will] be a difficult choice to make for the Committee,” she said. 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