Brady Dougan, Credit Suisse CEO
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Credit Suisse Thursday 9 February reported a net loss of CHF637 million for the fourth quarter of 2011, significantly worse than many analysts’ expectations, according to Bloomberg. Full-year figures remained in the black, with net income of CHF1.95 billion, but the profit was down by 62 percent, compared to a net profit of CHF5.2b in 2010.
Chief executive Brady Dougan summarized the result for Q4 as “disappointing”, saying “It reflects both the adverse market conditions during the period and the impact of the measures we have taken to swiftly adapt our business to the evolving market and regulatory requirements.”
It is the bank’s first quarterly loss since 2008 and in the statement issued Thursday the bank attributes it to “realignment costs of CHF414 million from cost-efficiency measures, and CHF567 million from businesses we are exiting and the reduction of risk-weighted assets in our Investment Banking fixed income business.”
The bank’s private banking business was hurt by “significantly lower levels of client activity and higher expenses for legal matters and credit provisions”.
Private banking new money continued to flow in, with net new assets of CHF40.9 billion for the year, but the last quarter was CHF7.6b, mainly from emerging markets, indicating a slowdown.
State of talks with the US government
Talks with Swiss and US government officials are ongoing, Credit Suisse notes, over allegations that the bank acted illegally with wealthy US residents who were trying to hide their money from American tax authorities. “Credit Suisse is strongly supportive of a resolution acceptable to both the US and Switzerland. Credit Suisse continues to cooperate with the authorities both in the US and Switzerland to resolve this matter in a responsible manner that complies with its legal obligations.”
Swiss and US officials have indicated this week that they are anxious to resolve the situation, which one top official not directly involved in the talks described off the record as a top area of “tension” between the two countries.
CEO says costs incurred to prepare for new world where banks face new regulatory environment
Dougan says costs incurred to re-position the bank will pay off as it cuts losses from less profitable business areas.
“In mid-2011, we decided to aggressively reduce risks and costs. This decision was rooted in our belief that the market and regulatory environment is undergoing fundamental change, and that by embracing these developments and proactively adjusting our business model, we can position Credit Suisse to succeed in the new environment. The regulatory developments and the subdued market environment in the second half of 2011 have confirmed our views. The accelerated implementation of the risk reduction plan and our measures to exit businesses that are no longer expected to deliver attractive returns in the changed regulatory environment, as well as higher charges incurred due to the rapid execution of the cost reduction programs, led to negative impact of CHF 981 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.”
Taxpayers get CHF1 billion via federal, cantonal budget boosts
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Swiss federal and cantonal budgets look set to receive some CHF1 billion from the Swiss National Bank, which expects to end 2011 with a profit of CHF13 billion. A little over one-third of the profit, CHF5b, is thanks to the meteoric rise of the price of gold during the year. The other CHF8 billion is due to foreign currency positions.
The consolidated result for the year is “likely to be somewhat better” as UBS repays its 2008 bailout debt through what is called the stabilization fund.
The other CHF12b will be distributed roughly as follows:
- allocation to provisions for currency reserves, CHF3.2 billion
- CHF5b to fill the gap in the distribution reserve that goes to the Confederation and the cantons
- remaining profit to the distribution reserve.
Definitive figures and details, including movements in foreign currency positions during the year, will be released 8 March.
SNB chairman Philipp Hildebrand, who resigned following a scandal over dollars purchased by his wife, has been praised this week by a number of financial leaders outside Switzerland for his exemplary work as a central banker. EU Central Bank President Mario Draghi told a Frankfurt press conference 11 January that “we all regret the developments that led to Mr Hildebrand’s resignation because I think we will miss a very, very good central bank governor.”
Ed. note: The Financial Times has published a commentary on the implications for European financial leadership of Hildebrand’s tenure at the SNB (free, registration required)
Callebaut supplies the chocolate industry: here at the Paris salon
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Swiss cocoa and chocolate products firm Barry Callebaut, ended its fiscal year 31 August with a 9 percent increase in net profits of CHF258.9 million, up nearly 20 pecent in local currencies. “The weakening of various currencies against the Swiss franc – Barry Callebaut’s reporting currency – negatively impacted both sales revenue and operating profit (EBIT),” the group said in a statement Thursday 10 November. “In local currencies, sales revenue rose strongly by 13.3 percent (+0.7 percent in CHF) to CHF4,554.4 million, driven by the volume increase and by higher raw material prices.”
Sales volume was 1.296 tons, compared to 1.209 tons a year earlier. The company took a non-recurring loss of CHF82.1m for discontinuing its European retail products business.
Temp general jobs up in US, but not professional ones
Adecco, the world’s largest temporary employment agency, based in Zurich, reported Wednesday that revenues were up 7 percent and gross profit up 4 percent, both in constant currencies, for the third quarter of 2011. France and the US, its two largest markets, continued to show solid growth although chief executive Patrick De Maeseneire said “Whereas general staffing in North America performed well, growth in professional staffing was disappointing. Germany, Italy and Emerging Markets maintained strong double-digit growth.”
European construction growth "restrained" says Holcim
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – The picture of the Swiss economy at the end of the third quarter 2011 is mixed, with some companies suffering badly from the overvalued Swiss franc while others appear to be sailing through the year relatively smoothly. This week’s results of financial results continues to feed the mix.
Swisscom shows net revenues down by 4.9 percent to CHF8.54 billion but net income up by 8.4 percent to CHF1.53b and it says the forecast for 2011 remains unchanged. “The 8.4% increase in net income to CHF 1,528 million is attributable to a provision booked in the previous year for VAT proceedings against Fastweb and a one-off amount which Fastweb will receive and which was booked in the third quarter of 2011 in settlement of a lawsuit.”
The telecommunications company notes that it created 400 fulltime equivalent jobs in Switzerland in 2011.
Holcim, Switzerland’s cement and construction multinational says that while construction grew briskly in emerging markets, it was “restrained” in North America and the eurozone. “Consolidated net sales decreased by 6.7 percent to CHF 15.5 billion, mainly because of exchange rate factors. On a like-for-like basis, it rose by 5.8 percent.” European results were affected by “the still outstanding sales of CO2 certificates”, but growth should remain steady in the region, the company says. “In the US, the ongoing insufficient demand for construction materials and the stabilization of prices at a low level both impacted results” but Holcim argues that its lean cost structure places it well to benefit from recovery when these markets improve.
US Navy helicopter surveys flooded areas of Thailand's capital, Bangkok
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Swiss Re, one of the world’s largest reinsurance companies, has third quarter net income of $1.3 billion, a 118 percent increase over the same period a year earlier, the company announced Thursday 3 November. The strong performance was due to a combination of what the company calls “a moderate natural catastrophe experience and positive one-offs.
That situation could change in the fourth quarter of 2011, with conntinuing flooding in Thailand taking a heavy toll on manufacturing in that country. Swiss Re says that with the floods still running it is not yet possible to estimate the damage.
Property and casualty alone contributed $1 billion to the financial results, thanks in part to the better than expected natural catastrophe business, but asst management business was responsible for $1.2b.
“Given the heightened volatility in financial markets as a result of economic uncertainties, Swiss Re has and will continue to maintain a conservative asset management strategy. Swiss Re’s exposure to sovereign debt issued by peripheral eurozone countries remains very low at USD 74 million. The exposure to Greek sovereign debt is nil,” a company statement notes.
First 9 months of 2011, more customer deposits at PostFinance and letter business stable
BERN, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss Post group showed profits of CHF721 million for the first three quarters of 2011, the group said Wednesday 2 November. The figure is 3 percent lower than a year ago, with a dip in over-the-counter business accounting for the drop.
Customer deposits were up with PostFinance, raising the operating result from CHF455m to CHF464m. The retail financial market is one of the four areas of business for Swiss Post, which says results were good for all areas. The other three are communications, which includes over-the-counter business; logistics; and public passenger transport, mainly the Postal Bus network.
Counter business is down because of lower income for Swiss Post International, Swiss Post Solutions and Post office sales. The volume of letter business remains stable, with a slight increase in revenues.
NYON, SWITZERLAND – Pharmaceutical company Novartis is closing its site in Nyon as part of a restructuration that will involve eliminating 1,100 jobs in Switzerland.
The company is cutting a total of 2,000 jobs, with most of the rest in the US. The Nyon site employs 320 persons and 770 jobs will also go in Basel, the company’s head office. The company included general information about the restructuring in its third quarter results, published Tuesday 25 October:
“Novartis is announcing today additional cost reduction activity, which will be executed over
three to five years. Elements of the activity to include: reallocation of production within the
Novartis network resulting in closure of two sites in Switzerland and one in Italy; restructuring
the development organization largely in Switzerland and the US and relocating some research
activities from Switzerland to the US.”
Novartis results show sales up 12 percent in constant currencies, from $12.6 to $14.8 million and operating income up 15 percent, from $2.6m to $3m. Net sales grew by 20 percent with the weakness of the US dollar “with a 5 percent benefit arising from the weak US dollar against most currencies,” the company noted, while “The weakness of the US dollar, combined with the strong Swiss franc, resulted in a negative currency impact of 8 percentage points” on operating income.
New BIS Secretary General Wayne Byres
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Swiss business news is dominated this week by Roche’s glum third quarter earnings, which the company attributes to the strong franc. Sulzer, however, announced Friday 14 October that new orders are up strongly despite the franc while Syngenta shows increased sales.
Q3 financial results in
Basel-based pharmaceutical giant Roche saw its sales fall by 14 percent year-on-year at the end of the third quarter 2011: down from $28.4 billion to $24.4b.
Agrochemical firm Syngenta, also based in Basel, published its third quarter figures Friday, showing a 13 percent increase in sales, year-on-year, to CHF9.3 billion.
Industrial machinery firm Sulzer, based in Winterthur, says its new orders are up 8.2 percent to CHF2.65 billion, but that the impact of financial markets is starting to be felt in new orders and the fourth quarter is expected to be slower. “The strong Swiss franc had a significant negative translation effect on absolute figures, but the company’s global presence is a natural hedge against material impacts on profitability”, the company notes in a statement issued Friday.
Banks’ bankers get new head
The Bank for International Settlements announced 13 October that Australian Wayne Byres will be its next secretary general. Byres is an executive general manager of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), with responsibility for the supervision of large complex banks in APRA, a post he has held for the past seven years. He was earlier a senior manager in the bank supervision department at the Reserve Bank of Australia. The BIS says he will also take over as chair of the Committee’s Policy Development Group (PDG).
The BIS faces the difficult task of overseeing the new capital ratios and more that are part of Basel III, a global regulatory framework for the banking system.
Poker didn’t pay off
The Tribune de Geneve reports this week that judicial authorities in Geneva have blocked the bank accounts of 10 Americans suspected of hiding their online poker haul in the canton’s banks. A reported CHF18 million in the accounts of the founders or organizers of Full Tilt Poker, Pokerstars and Absolute Poker are under investigation, according to the paper.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Swiss company news continues to be haunted by the record strong Swiss franc. Swatch says its sales remain strong despite the franc, but the currency impact is clear, with sales up 27.4 percent at constant rates, over 2010 half-year sales, or 13.3 percent at current rates. Credit Suisse confirmed rumours of job cuts, saying 2,000 are to go, with fixed income and trading income down by 59 percent. Switzerland’s second largest bank
Credit Suisse follows on the heels of UBS, which also announced job cuts and falling profits this week, but as the Financial Times pointed out 14 July, they are not alone “in an industry that is under intense pressure to slash costs”. Credit Suisse, like others, added employees, in its case 2,000 jobs from March 2010 to March 2011, based on expectations that markets would recover after the financial crisis. Factors marking the second quarter for the bank, it says in a statement included: “low levels of client activity and a difficult trading environment with concerns over the European debt crisis and deteriorating global economic indicators; low interest rate environment and strong Swiss franc that reduced pre-tax income by CHF348 million versus 2Q10 and CHF637 million versus 6M10.’
Logitech published its first quarter results for fiscal year 2012 late Wednesday 27 July, showing flat sales of $480 million, up from $479m a year earlier. The Morges and California-based company showed an operating loss of $45 million, compared to income of $12m in the previous year. “Excluding the favorable impact of exchange rate changes, sales declined by 4 percent year over year,” the company’s statement notes. Business Week points out that “Logitech has been affected by the proliferation of tablet computers, which may erode its traditional desktop and notebook business.” The net loss for the quarter was larger than analysts expected, at $30m, compared to $20m net income for the same period a year earlier.
easyJet in Geneva
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The number of passengers travelling on easyJet grew by 11.6 percent in the past six months, but the airline’s growing popularity was not enough to stem losses due to fuel price increases. The company 10 May published half-year results.
Load factor was a healthy 84.6 and 59 percent of the 23.9 million passengers now originate outside the UK. The airline is Geneva’s largest, with 36 percent of the airport’s traffic.
The pre-tax loss was £153 million, compared to £78m in the previous six months, due to steeper fuel prices and passenger taxes: “Fuel unit cost increase accounts for £43 million and increased passenger taxation accounts for £21 million of the £74 million increase in pre-tax loss compared with the prior year,” the company’s statement notes.
easyJet says it has now sold nearly half of its summer seats.
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – ABB‘s financial report for the first quarter of 2011, published Wednesday, is upbeat, with a 25 percent increase in orders for the industrial engineering multinational, while net income rose 41 percent to CHF655 million.
ABB robotics packing furniture panels (photo: ABB)
Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased 43 percent to approximately $1 billion. Company head Joe Hogan attributes the solid performance to lower costs and successful targeting of growth areas.
Credit Suisse published its results, the day after UBS, showing net income of CHF1.1 billion, in line with analysts expectations, with net new assets of CHF19.1b. Income was down 45 percent compared to a year earlier, but up 35 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2010.
The weaker performance compared to a year earlier was due, according to chief executive officer Brady Dougan, to “own debt and stand-alone derivatives relating to own funding liabilities” as well as to the franc’s continued strength against the dollar.”
Both net income and new inflows of money were lower for Switzerland’s second largest bank than for UBS.
Meanwhile, peelable ice cream ready for market
Peelable ice cream, inspired by bananas, expected to boost 2011 Nestlé sales
Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Food multinational Nestlé saw its profits jump to CHF34.2 billion in 2010, thanks to continuing strong growth boosted by exceptional revenues from the sale of Alcon, an eyecare company. Profits in 2009 were CHF10.2b.
The Vevey firm had sales in 2010 of CHF109.7b, up from CHF108b in 2009.
“We are starting 2011 with continued momentum, well placed to face uncertainties ahead, including volatile raw material prices,” says chief executive Paul Bulcke.
In separate news, the company says it is now ready to market peelable ice cream, which you eat like a banana, with a jelly outer skin and ice cream inside. Test marketing in Thailand was successful, Nestlé says, and the product will now be rolled out in other markets.
Swiss cut back on imported chocolate but eat a little more Swiss chocolate: 12 kg per person
Swiss chocolate makers are smiling despite the high franc
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Key companies in three Swiss industries whose business is linked to the country’s reputation, have noted, noted Tuesday 8 February that while the strong franc has not helped them, they are upbeat about the outlook for 2011, after good figures for 2010.
Swatch, the country’s largest watchmaker, the chocolate industry, and Givaudin, the Geneva-based fragrance company, saw good sales growth in 2010.
Swatch Tuesday 8 February confirmed its 2010 figures and published its forecast for 2011, saying it expects to achieve sales of CHF10 billion, up from CHF6.44b in 2010.
“The current outlook for 2011 appears positive, despite the unfavorable currency constellation at present, particularly the US Dollar and the Euro against the Swiss Franc”, the company notes in a press release.
Chocosuisse, the chocolate industry’s group of 18 major producers, said sales were up 2.4 percent in 2010 to CHF1.74b, after falling in 2009. Swiss chocolate accounts for 66.8 percent of the country’s chocolate, and for the first time in nine years the share of imported chocolate slipped slightly. The Swiss are eating more chocolate, however, adding to the manufacturers’ good news. The 300 grams extra a year consumed by the Swiss brings annual consumption up to 12 kg per person a year.
Givaudin’s chief executive told the Wall Street Journal in an interview that the company’s sales were up 7.1 percent in 2010 in Swiss francs, to CHF4.2 billion. The company sees little impact from the strong franc on its operating profits because it buys and sells in the same markets, he notes.
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Edipresse, the parent company of the largest press group in French-speaking Switzerland, is back in the black, the company reports 28 September. It had net profits of CHF20 million for the first half of 2010, compared to a loss for the first half of 2009 of CHF1 million. Turnover was up 5.9 percent to CHF88.9 million. The company is merging with Tamedia, publisher of 20 Minutes, a process that will be completed by the end of 2012. Tamedia now owns 49.9 percent of the business. Edipress publishes regional newspapers the Tribune de Geneve, 24 Heures, Le Matin and it publishes Le Temps jointly with rival Ringier.
The company attributes the turnaround to a slight improvement in revenues combined with cost-cutting. The sale to Tamedia does not figure in the financial report for the period.
Edipresse financial report, English
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Kudelski, world leader in digital media content security, has bounced back from a glum 2008-2009 to post strong profits for the first half of 2010, with net revenue of CHF502 million, up more than 12 percent over the same period a year earlier. Operating revenue was CHF47.5 million.
Strong growth in the digital TV industry is largely responsible for the turnaround. The company suffered a CHF40m loss in 2008.
Members of Elastec/American Marine Inc, prepare to deploy a lighting agent on oil contained in a boom, 5 May, as part of cleanup operations in the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon oil rig accident. The controlled burn was conducted by contracted fishing vessels working with the US Coast Guard, BP, and federal agencies to prevent the spread of oil. (Photo, US Navy / Jeffery Tilghman Williams)
Zug, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Thursday was not a good day for Transocean, the world’s largest offshore oil rig company, which moved its head office to Switzerland in 2008. Company CEO Steve Neweman said, in presenting first quarter financial results, that the accident which caused the loss of the oil rig Deepwater Horizon will increase operating costs by CHF222 million in 2010 and cut revenue by CHF130. The first three months of the year saw a 4.8 percent fall in revenues, to CHF2.6 billion.
Adecco net profits more than doubled
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Better job conditions worldwide have helped Swiss staffing giant Adecco to net $73.5 million, (€57 million), in the first quarter of 2010. The net is more than double the €23m the company earned during the same period in 2009.
Job market growth in France and the United States, cost-cutting, restructuring efforts, and acquisitions in the US and the UK helped the increase.
Swiss Re and Zurich Financial report earnings
This fire will likely cost $200m to Swiss Re
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss Re, one of the world’s largest reinsurance companies, reported profits up 22 percent to $158 million (CHF175m) during the first three months of 2010, despite several natural disasters around the world.
This is the first time that Swiss Re has reported its figures in dollars instead of Swiss francs, saying that more than half of its business is now written in dollars.
The earthquake in Chile cost it $500m and the European winter storm Xynthia $100m.
The Gulf oil spill from the fire and sinking of the Deep Horizon oil rig is likely to cost it $200m, Swiss Re says, while noting that the situation is still unfolding and these are early estimates.
Overall, it expects the Gulf spill, for which British oil company BP is financially responsible, to cost insurers $1.5-2 billion.
Update: Another Swiss insurer, Zurich Financial Services also reported Q1 profits in spite of natural disasters such as the Chilean earthquake, during the first trimester of the year.
ZFS’s net income more than doubled in comparison to Q1 last year, to $935 million. The chief financial officer Dieter Wemmer said in a written statement that the 76% increase was fueled by the “successful integration process of recent acquisitions in the US and emerging markets.”
Links to other sites: Financial Times, Le Temps (Fre), Swiss Re, and Zurich Financial
A number of companies present their Q1 financial reports this week
Headwinds for Swiss, first quarterly loss since 2005
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Swisscom Wednesday 5 May reported a first quarter net revenue increase of 1.3 percent to CHF2.95 billion, the bulk of which was due to a “slight recovery” in the economy. Profits for the first three months of the year fell by 22.1 percent to CHF 377 million, due to provisions for legal proceedings for subsidiary Fastweb, accused of fraud by Italian tax authorities.
Airline Swiss follows its parent, Lufthansa, with news of a first-quarter loss of CHF10 million, its first red-ink quarter in five years. After a difficult start to the year, business has picked up, but the company notes that the strength of the Swiss franc, continued steep rises in the price of jet fuel and low yields combined to keep revenues down. The company is not optimistic about a quick improvement, noting that the airline industry is facing continuing difficulties with currency, yield, uncertain fuel prices and structural problems, and “for the foreseeable future, Swiss sees only less-than-favourable developments.”
Frankfurt, Germany (GenevaLunch) - Lufthansa, the parent company of airline Swiss, had an operating loss of €330 million during the first three months of 2010, and a net loss of 298m, more than expected by analysts and a larger net loss than during the same period in 2009, €267m. The company blamed a pilots’ strike, which cost it €50m, as well as higher fuel costs and the consolidation of takeovers of two airlines, Austrian and bmi. The board says it expects nevertheless to end the year with a smaller loss than in 2009, thanks to growth in passenger and cargo traffic.
Links to other sites: Lufthansa (results available 5 May), Wall Street Journal
Zurich, Switzlerand (GenevaLunch) – Swiss bank UBS has posted CHF2.2 billion in profits for the second quarter, continuing its climb back to profitability. It earlier announced likely profits of CHF2.5b for the period, shortly before its annual general meeting. The bank says that while it continues to suffer from outflows, they are falling: CHF18b for Q1 compared to CHF56b for the last quarter of 2009.
“The reduction reflects actions taken by management to stabilize client flows as well as a reduction in special effects such as the Italian tax amnesty, which had a material effect in the fourth quarter,” the bank reports to shareholders. Net new money inflows from Asia were up, as was new money from “ultra high net worth individuals”, indicating that UBS is still able to attract the very wealthy.
Background, GenevaLunch
Links to other sites: Le Temps (Fre), UBS quarterly financial report
Inauguration of Altitude, part of the recent overhaul of restaurants and bars at Geneva Airport
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Geneva Airport is in the black for 2009: the good news about its CHF40 million in profits for last year comes as the airport is getting back to work after a six-day closure due to volcanic ash from Iceland.
Geneva International Airport had turnover of CHF295 million for 2009, and airport authorities, in announcing the figures Monday, say development plans for the airport can move ahead.
Logitech raises profit
Morges, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss giant Logitech International has raised its sales outlook and profit thanks to cost-cutting measures, new products and increased consumer demand.
The net profit for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2010, which ended 31 March, is $24 million, instead of the $19 million originally forecast. Sales were also up 29 percent to $525 million, from $408 million a year earlier.
The computer peripheral manufacturer was helped by the acquisition of LifeSize video conferencing products, its reporting currency, and a weak dollar.
The company expects to reach annual sales of about $2.3 billion in fiscal 2011, up from $2 billion in the year just ending.
Analysts and the stock market appeared less impressed by the company’s strong fourth quarter, with sales for the full year down from those for fiscal year 2009 ($2.2b). Stock prices slipped slightly and some analysts told Reuters that they would be lowering their forecasts for fiscal year 2011, which ends in March 2011.
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Swiss media industry continues to take a beating, with one of the country’s largest publishers, Ringier, posting a 72.4 percent fall in profits to CHF17.2 million for 2009. Turnover dropped by 15.6 percent to CHF1.3 billion. The company’s director general, Christian Unger, says 2010 should be more stable, but a turnaround will not be quick.
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Supermarket cooperative group Migros posted a 20.8 percent increase in profits, CHF846 million, in 2009 despite a 3.1 percent fall in sales, the company announced Tuesday 30 March.
Turnover was CHF24.95 billion, of which retail sales were CHF21.04b.
Medtronic in Tolochenaz, Switzerland
Tolochenaz, canton Vaud (Switzerland) – Medical device maker Medtronic has reported fiscal year third quarter (period ending 29 January 2010) revenue of $3.851 billion, a 10 percent increase over third quarter revenue reported a year earlier, the company said Tuesday 23 February. Revenue from outside the US rose by 22 percent in the same period compared to the previous year and accounted for 42 percent of the total.
Medtronic’s head office for Europe and Asia is in Tolochenaz, which is also home to its European training centre.
The company employs 950 people in Switzerland.
Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Food multinational Nestlé says its profits fell by more than 40 percent in 2009 compared to the previous year largely because of a hefty profit in 2008 from the sale of Alcon eye-care company. Net profit in 2009 was CHF10.4 billion, down from CHF18b in 2008.
Sales slipped from CHF109.9b to CHF107.6b but the company says that new markets, particularly in Africa and Asia, are growing well. CEO Paul Bulcke, Nestlé chief executive struck a positive note: “With organic growth of 4.1 percent achieved in last year’s challenging environment, we were able to grow substantially faster than our industry.”
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Geneva-based scents and flavours specialist Givaudan says it faces 2010 in good shape, despite lower production, with stocks reduced. Group sales for 2009 totaled close to CHF4 billion, an increase of 1.4% in local currencies and a decrease of 3.1% in Swiss francs compared to the previous year. On a comparable basis, sales increased by 1.6% compared to 2008.
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Travel agent Kuoni has reported a loss of CHF5.7 million on net income of almost CHF3 billion in the first nine months of 2009. Kuoni has not made a profit yet this year, although it says the trend in reservations is upwards and it expects to have an operational profit by the end of the fourth quarter. Kuoni has been hard hit by the recession, as households and businesses curtail travel plans.
“The continuing global financial and economic crisis and the negative impact of currency movements depressed our nine-month results,”said Peter Rothwell, CEO of the Kuoni Group. “On the plus side, further progress was made on the cost savings front with a positive effect on our operating result.”
Kuoni announced a new strategy at the end of September that will allow for greater savings in the future.
Links to other sites: Kuoni, Le Temps (Fre), Romandie News (Fre)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Sales at Firmenich, Geneva-based scents and flavours specialist, fell by 4.3 percent from June 2008 to June 2009, when the company’s financial year ends. The company’s turnover was CHF2.64 billion. Ingredients for the necessities of daily life, such as soaps and foods, remained stable but the fine perfumes business was down.
Links to other sites: Perfumer & Flavorist
