Airbus Q3 operating profit down 4% to $811 mn

Europe's Airbus said on Tuesday third-quarter earnings fell by a sightly narrower-than-expected four per cent on lower aircraft deliveries and reaffirmed its forecasts as the fallout from an internal compliance review widened to the United States.

The world's second largest planemaker after Boeing posted quarterly core operating earnings of 697 million euros ($811 million), while revenues rose 2 per cent to 14.244 billion euros.

Markets had expected a weak quarter due to delays in commercial aircraft and a build-up of inventory.

Analysts on average expected third-quarter adjusted operating profit down 5.6 per cent at 690 million euros on revenues up 1.8 per cent at 14.2 billion, according to a Reuters survey.

Airbus said it was too early to predict the size of any fines resulting from ongoing corruption problems in the UK and France concerning the use of commissions in airplane sales, which have also triggered a sweeping internal investigation.

But it said it had now discovered inaccuracies in past declarations to the US State Department under part 130 of the US International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). The legislation concerns political contributions, fees and commissions.

($1 = 0.8595 euros)
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VW brand upbeat as cost cuts, new models boost Sept quarter earning

Cost cutting and new models such as the Arteon fastback should continue to boost Volkswagen's main car brand in the fourth quarter after it doubled core earnings in July-September, it said on Monday.

Analysts see reviving the VW brand, which has long suffered from high staff and development costs, as crucial to the group's ability to recover from its diesel emissions scandal.

The brand said on Monday it expected sales and profits to keep growing in October-December, despite the hit across the industry to demand of diesel vehicles and their resale value in the wake of the German carmaker's 2015 scandal.

"Our model offensive is increasingly paying off, the turnaround programmes in the markets are having an effect," VW brand chief Herbert Diess said in a statement.

Operating profit at the brand doubled to 728 million euros ($847 million) in the three months to Sept. 30, helped by cost cuts and staff reductions agreed with labour unions last year.

Volkswagen shares were up 2.9 per cent to 156.40 euros at 1150 GMT.

By contrast, the group's premium Audi division said it was bracing for a "demanding quarter" with costs for vehicle overhauls including the high-end A6, A7 and A8 as well as the Q3 and A1 compacts weighing on results.
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China's top lenders see growth in Q3 net, tapering of bad loans

Four of China's 'Big Five' state-owned banks reported higher quarterly profits and slower growth in bad loans, helped by a resilient economy and checks on the shadow banking sector.

The improved results from top lenders in the world's second-largest economy come after successive interest rate cuts dented their interest margins - a key gauge of profitability - while loan defaults rose sharply among struggling borrowers.

The improvement has been aided by a cocktail of policy measures, such as debt-for-equity swaps for struggling state borrowers.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the country's top lender by assets, posted a 3.3 per cent rise in third-quarter net profit, versus flat growth a year-ago.

Agricultural Bank of China (AgBank), China Construction Bank (CCB) and Bank of Communications (BoCom) also reported faster quarterly profit growth than a year ago.

ICBC, CCB and AgBank also reported declines in their non-performing loan (NPL) ratios, as they dispose of more of their bad debt. A crackdown on unregulated shadow banking has also helped.

"The market has been talking about a potential Chinese banking crisis caused by NPLs since 2011," said Jiahe Chen, chief strategist at Cinda Securities. "But after seven years and banks' net assets increased by over 100 per cent, it's now one of the most worthwhile investable industries."
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Pak PM Abbasi assures Tillerson of co-operation in war against terrorism

Under pressure to dismantle terror safe havens in Pakistan, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Tuesday assured US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that his country is committed to the war against terrorism.

Tillerson arrived here on a whirlwind visit to reset bilateral ties strained after President Donald Trump accused Pakistan of providing safe havens to terrorist groups.

"The US can rest assured that we are strategic partners in the war against terror and that today, Pakistan is fighting the largest war in the world against terror," Abbasi told Tillerson just before their closed-door talks began.

Abbasi said Pakistan is "committed in the war against terror."

He said Pakistan has produced "results" in its war against terrorism and it was looking forward to moving ahead with the US and building a tremendous relationship.

Tillerson's maiden visit to Islamabad comes days after he made a major policy speech on America's growing strategic relations with India and Trump's move to offer a bigger say to India in war-torn Afghanistan.

Ahead of his visit to India, Tillerson during a surprise visit to Afghnaistan indicated that he will firmly tell Pakistan to stop providing safe havens to terror groups on its soil to improve bilateral ties.
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MasterCard beats estimates with 20% jump in profit

MasterCard Inc, the world's second-biggest payments processor, on Thursday reported a better-than-expected 20 percent jump in quarterly profit as people spent more using credit and debit cards.

Mastercard's shares were up 2 per cent at $133.60 in premarket trading.

Consumer spending in the United States, which accounts for more than two-thirds of nation-wide economic activity, has been on an upswing, supported by a tightening labor market and cooling inflation.

Purchase, New York-based Mastercard, like its bigger rival Visa Inc, generates revenue by facilitating credit- and debit-card transactions and both their revenue streams are closely linked to consumer spending power.

Mastercard also benefited from consumer spending outside the United States, with its cross-border volumes - the value of transactions made by overseas card-holders - rising 14 per cent on a local currency basis in the second quarter ended June 30.

The company's net income rose to $1.18 billion, or $1.10 per share in the quarter, from $983 million, or 89 cents per share, a year earlier.

Analysts on average had expected earnings of $1.04 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

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Whole Foods profits dip as same-store sales fall for 8th straight quarter

Whole Foods Market Inc, which has agreed to be bought by Amazon.com Inc for $13.7 billion, on Wednesday reported a quarterly profit decline after same-store sales fell for the eighth quarter in a row.

Shares in the upscale grocer, which released the financial report more than two hours earlier than expected, were largely unchanged at $41.80 in midday trading.

Net income fell to $106 million, or 33 cents per share, from $120 million, or 37 cents per share, a year earlier.

The Austin, Texas-based upscale grocer reported a 1.9 percent drop in same-store sales for the third quarter that ended July 2.

Whole Foods said it expects to close its deal with Amazon during the second half of this year, and said it would not update its earnings forecasts and would not hold a conference call.
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Unilever lifts full-year margin target after first-half improvement

Unilever lifted its full-year margin target on Thursday after seeing a big improvement in the first half, underlying its ability to boost returns as an independent firm after rebuffing a $143 billion takeover bid earlier this year.

The Anglo-Dutch conglomerate whose products range from Hellmann's mayonnaise to Dove soap said it expected underlying operating margin to grow by at least 100 basis points this year. Its previous target was at least 80 basis points.

The company's profit margins became an area of investor scrutiny when February's aborted takeover bid from Kraft Heinz forced Unilever into a deep business review aimed at improving performance on its own.

Its margin improved 180 basis points to 17.8 per cent in the first half of the year, helped by an acceleration of its cost-savings and productivity programmes, and a 130 basis point drop in brand and marketing spending.

Analysts welcomed the margin improvement but voiced concern that it was largely driven by reduced marketing spending, which can hit sales.

"Quantity good ... quality less so," RBC Capital Markets analysts wrote.

Unilever said marketing spending would rise in the second half, as new product launches were skewed to that period. It said full-year brand and marketing spending should be about flat with the figure year ago.

Unilever shares were up 1 per cent at 0737 GMT.
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FedEx says cyber attack to hurt its fiscal 2018 results

Package delivery company FedEx Corp said its fiscal 2018 results would be hurt in part due to disruption of operations in its TNT Express unit following a cyber attack last month.

The Netherlands-based TNT Express is still experiencing widespread service delays following the attack, FedEx said in a regulatory filing on Monday.

FedEx said it was unable to estimate when services at the unit would be fully restored.

FedEx added that no data breach or data loss to third parties is known to have occurred as of July 17.

The company said it was evaluating the financial impact of the cyber attack, but it was likely to be "material".

Shares of FedEx fell as much as 2.7 per cent to $213.07 in early trading.

In June, a new cyber virus spread from Ukraine to wreak havoc around the globe, crippling thousands of computers.

FedEx said it has experienced loss of revenue due to decreased volumes at TNT Express, incremental costs from contingency plans and remediation of affected systems.

The company said it did not have an insurance in place that covered the impact from the cyber attack.
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Jio impact: Bharti Airtel consolidated net income down 72%

Amid stiff competition from Reliance Jio Infocomm, Sunil Mittal-led telecom giant Bharti Airtel suffered a 72 per cent plunge in its net income during the quarter ended March 2017. The company’s net income dropped to Rs 373.4 crore, while its revenue slipped to Rs 21,934.6 crore, Bharti Airtel said on Tuesday.

India’s telecom sector has seen a massive churn in the past few months with the entry of Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Jio, especially as the latter has come up with attractive schemes and freebies and eaten into the subscriber base of older rivals like Bharti Artel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular.
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Federal Bank Q4 profit jumps to Rs 257 cr as net NPAs ease

Private lender Federal Bank's net profit went up manifold to Rs 256.59 crore for the quarter to March as net bad loans shrank.

Also, there were significant gains from retail, corporate and wholesale banking verticals. Net profit stood at Rs 10.26 crore in the January-March quarter of 2015-16.

The board also approved capital-raising plan of Rs 2,500 crore through various means, including qualified institutional placement (QIP), rights issue, preferential issue or follow-on public offer.

Total income during the period rose to Rs 2,598.06 crore, from Rs 2,262.94 crore a year ago, Federal Bank said in a regulatory filing.

For the all of 2016-17, net profit spiked 75 per cent to Rs 830.79 crore, from Rs 475.65 crore a year earlier.

Likewise, total income grew to Rs 9,759.20 crore, from Rs 8,556.35 crore.

The bank improved its asset quality, with net non- performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans easing to 1.28 per cent of net loans as on March 31, 2017, from 1.64 per cent at the end of March 2016.

Gross NPAs read 2.33 per cent of gross advances by the end of 2016-17, slightly down from 2.84 per cent a year ago.

In absolute terms, net NPAs stood at Rs 941.20 crore at March-end, down from Rs 950.01 crore in the year-ago period. Gross NPAs came in at Rs 1,727.05 crore as against the earlier Rs 1,667.77 crore.
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Infosys management did not make timely disclosures: Mohandas Pai

Latest News - Even as Infosys management denies allegations on corporate governance deficit, its former chief financial officer T V Mohandas Pai on Tuesday accused it of not disclosing necessary details on Rajiv Bansal's exit with a high severance package of Rs 17.3 crore.

"In October 2015, they had a press release saying the CFO is going, and both the CFO and CEO said nice things about each other. They did not disclose (the severance package)... They didn't disclose after the December quarter (results)," Pai told PTI on the sidelines of an event here.

The tussle between some of the Infosys founders and the management comes at a time when the (Read More)