Recent Global Corporate, Outsourcing, Economy News and Articles
Motorola loses ground to rivals
Mobile phone giant Motorola posted a fourth-quarter loss in 2008 as it slipped to fifth place in the global mobile phone market. It reported a net loss of $3.6bn (£2.5bn) for the three months to the end of December, compared with a $100m profit for the same period in 2007. The company also said it was suspending its quarterly dividend and looking for a new chief financial officer. Paul Liska has left as CFO. No reason was given for his departure. The firm said it lacked a popular handset to compete with its rivals and will now focus on mid-tier to high-end phones. The news sent Motorola shares down 10%. The company said sales volumes were falling faster than the industry’s. Revenues for the quarter fell to $7.1bn from $9.65bn a year ago.
3rd February 2009, www.bbc.co.uk
Merck profits beat expectations
Drugs firm Merck has reported better-than-expected fourth quarter profits. The US company earned $1.64bn (£1.14bn) for the three months to the end of December, helped by cost controls and sales of its diabetes drugs. It made a loss of $1.63bn for the same period in 2007, when it took a $4.85bn charge related to a legal settlement for its withdrawn Vioxx drug. However, quarterly sales were down 3% to $6bn compared to the last three months of 2007. The firm left its outlook for 2009 unchanged at a time when many companies are either cutting or not issuing forecasts because of economic uncertainty. Merck shares were up 4.1% at $29.60 before the opening bell. There is increased competition in the pharmaceuticals market at the moment. Last week Pfizer confirmed it would merge with smaller rival Wyeth in a deal worth $68bn (£50bn).
1st February 2009, www.bbc.co.uk
Commercial property values plunge
UK commercial property values fell by a record amount in 2008, according to Investment Property Databank (IPD). Its UK Quarterly Property Index showed commercial properties lost 26.4% of their value last year – the most since records began in 1987. The values of office buildings, shops and warehouses are now broadly in line with December 2001 levels. Five and a half years of growth has been lost in 18 months of successive falls, IPD said. Values were down 14.4% in the last three months of the year compared to the previous quarter, another record fall. In nominal terms, we have never tracked a year with this level of capital decline, said Ian Cullen, IPD’s co-founding director.
1st February 2009, www.bbc.co.uk
World’s top 500 banks witness a 32% decline in brand value
The global credit crisis that has felled some of the world’s best known financial institutions and left survivors with a mountain of bad debt has also taken a heavy toll on banks’ brand valuations. The world’s top 500 banks lost brand value worth $218.1 billion (about Rs10.8 trillion), a 32% drop over the past year, while their market capitalization slumped by $3.9 trillion, or 51%, according to a global survey. State Bank of India (SBI), the nation’s biggest lender, was the only Indian institution to figure in the top 100 rankings.
29th January 2009, www.livemint.com