Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Nestlé’s financial results for 2009 were broadly positive in a difficult year, prompting its CEO, Paul Bulcke, to say “we were able to grow substantially faster than our industry.” The giant food company increased profit margins, reduced costs, and invested more in marketing and research & development in 2009. Group sales reached CHF107.6 billion, while net profit profit was CHF10.4bn. Bulcke warned that net profits could not be directly compared to 2008 because of the one-off sale of almost one quarter of Alcon to Novartis, which netted an exceptional CHF9.2bn in 2008.
Earnings per share were CHF2.92 this past year, and the company proposes a dividend of CHF1.60 per share, up 14.3 percent. The company also announced that Jean-Pierre Roth, formerly chairman of the Swiss National Bank, would join the board of directors.
Links to other sites: Nestlé press release, NZZ, Le Temps
Omega at the Torino Olympics 2006
Omega has a long history with the Olympic Games
Update (link added) Biel-Bienne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Gross sales in 2009 were down 6.3 percent for the Swatch Group, which 9 February published audited figures in advance of its March annual meeting, but it gained significant market share. The group notes that the overall sales figure for the Swiss Watch Federation were down 21.3 percent. The watch segment of the group’s business had “a very convincing operating margin” which contributed to the 17.6 percent increase in operating margin for the year.
The group puts 2009 into perspective against a backdrop of an outstanding 2008, the 2009 global economic crisis and unfavourable exchange rates. But 2010, it says, is off to a good start, with January sales the highest on record for that month, and orders strong. Swatch’s Omega brand as the Vancouver Olympics timekeeper is expected to give group sales a boost.
Philipp Hildebrand, SNB
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The incoming head of the Swiss National Bank, Philipp Hildebrand, says Switzerland needs tighter banking regulations than most countries, due to its size relative to the country’s economy. Total banking assets exceed seven times Switzerland’s GDP, he notes, and they are very concentrated, with the two big banks, Credit Suisse and UBS, having two-thirds of the total.
Recovery may be underway but the costs to the global economy, longer term, loom large. “The potential costs of the support measures taken – capital injection, asset purchases, and guarantees of bank debt – in the G7 countries together with Australia, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland amount to about 20 percent of GDP in these economies,” he says, although actual outlays have been about 8 percent.
Hildebrand, who takes over as SNB chairman in January 2010 when Jean-Pierre Roth retires, made his remarks in a speech Wednesday evening 18 November at the University of Geneva.
The SNB is focusing on two areas of bank regulation changes, in line with recommendations drawn up by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) The FSB was created in April 2009 and is housed at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland.
Philipp Hildebrand
Thomas Jordan
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Philipp Hildrebrand, age 46, 8 April was named chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), effective 2010, taking charge at that point of the SNB’s Department I, with responsibility for economic affairs, international affairs, legal and property services, and support functions. He will take over from Jean-Pierre Roth, who retires at the end of 2009. Thomas Jordan, also 46, was named vice-chairman. A new member of the Board has been named: Jean-Pierre Danthine, from Vaud, who heads the Swiss Finance Institute.
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Jean-Pierre Roth, who has been chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank since January 2001, has announced his retirement at the end of 2009. He joined the SNB nearly 30 years ago, and he has been a member of its Governing Board since May 1996.
