Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Givaudan, makers of scents and flavours for the world’s perfumes, food and other industries, ended the first quarter of 2010 on a positive note, with sales of just over CHF1 million. The company’s shares rose on the news, 8.5 percent in trading on the Swiss market, its largest jump in a year. Sales in developing markets accounted for much of the boost, with both segments of the business contributing to the increase.
The company ended 2009 with a 3.1 percent drop in sales, in Swiss francs.
Links to other sites: Business Week, Givaudan
France has fined eBay €1.7 million for not respecting fully a July 2008 injunction against sales of LMVH luxury goods on the online auction site. The web site reportedly let 1,400 sales of the company’s perfumes and other luxury goods slip through the filtering software it installed last year to comply with the court order. eBay was initially accused of not doing enough to stop copies of the company’s products, but the court order applies to fake as well as legitimate LMVH goods, new or used. Alex Von Schiermeister, director of eBay Europe, calls the fine disproportionate.
Links to other sites: BBC, CNet, TechCrunch
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
Basel and Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Tests completed on 152 tattooing products “show clearly that manufacturers and users are not adequately respecting safety standards,” Bern said in a press release Monday 13 July. Forty percent of the samples are being banned from use as a result of the findings.
Government laboratories have completed tests on products used in tattooing in 16 cantons and Liechtenstein: only 21 percent, or 32 of them, passed safety standards established in January 2008. The standards cover microbiological purity, chemical composition as well as the quality of the tattoos’ colours from a safety perspective. Most of the shortcomings are linked to the chemical composition and labeling of products. The tests check conservation agents, colouring agents as well as scents. They also review sterilization quality and check labels, which should list the products’ compositions, use-by dates and the lot numbers.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Geneva-based Givaudin, the world’s leader in scents and flavours, had a 6.07% increase in sales in local currencies in 2008, to CHF4.09 million, representing a fall of 1.1% in Swiss francs. Net income was up 19.4% from CHF93 million in 2007 to CHF111m in 2008. The group says it is relatively optimistic for 2009 despite the overall market downturn.
In other Swiss business news, Basel-based chemical company Clariant has posted a 2008 loss of CHF37 million, hurt by a sharp drop in the textiles and leather business, notably in the auto industry.
