A round-up of today's other news stories in brief
Volkswagen profits rise to 312m
Volkswagen added to recent surprises in the European car sector when the continent’s largest carmaker said its operating profit almost tripled in the first quarter.
The German carmaker’s operating profit rose from €312 million in the same period of the year before to €848 million in the first quarter of 2010, exceeding analysts’ estimates. Revenues increased by 19.4 per cent to €28.6 billion.– Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010
Flahavan's Group wins inaugural award
Flahavan’s Group was yesterday named as overall winner of the inaugural SuperValu Irish Food Awards. The awards, supported by SuperValu, The Irish Times and Enterprise Ireland, were designed to recognise excellence within the Irish food sector. Oats producer Flahavan’s was recognised for its commitment to innovation. Other winners at the awards included Meath-based meat processor Kepak; Cork artisan food producer, Just Food; Cork bakery firm, Country Kitchens and gluten-free baker, Cork-based Delicious. Barry’s Tea won a People’s Choice award. All successful companies will participate in an Enterprise Ireland study trip to Italy in June.
New appointment for Somers
Dr Michael Somers has been appointed to the board of US-based insurance broker, Willis Group. He will also join the firm’s risk committee and is in the process of taking up directorships at Hewlett Packard International Bank in Dublin.
Dr Somers was chief executive of the National Treasury Management Agency until the end of last year. He previously worked at the Department of Finance and the Central Bank.
He remains a director of the European Investment Bank and is on the board of AIB.
Willis offers professional insurance, reinsurance and risk management among other services.
Russia to raise $4bn with Eurobond
Russia will today raise at least $4 billion (€3 billion) in its first Eurobond in more than a decade.
The sovereign bond is to be issued in two equal tranches of five- and 10-year maturities, with the five-year tranche priced 125 basis points above US Treasuries and the 10-year tranche priced 135 basis points above Treasuries.
The minimum size of each tranche will be $2 billion, while the exact size will be announced this morning.
The issue is a pivotal moment for Moscow, which adopted a conservative spending policy after the country’s 1998 default. With $447 billion (€333 billion, £290 billion) in reserves the government does not need to return to the debt market but is seizing the Eurobond as a way to improve Russia’s financial image abroad and help companies attract better financing rates. –Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010
Trading boost for Morgan Stanley
Robust fixed income trading results launched Morgan Stanley to a better-than- expected first-quarter profit yesterday, sending its shares up. With its quarterly profit, Morgan Stanley joined in a rally that began last week with strong results from JP Morgan Chase and continued with Goldman Sachs Groups profit surge on Tuesday.
The earnings were the first under quarter under James Gorman, who became chief executive on January 1st.
Morgan Stanley lagged behind Goldman in 2009 in the recovery from the financial crisis largely because Goldmans trading desks made out-sized profits, while Morgan Stanley scaled back on risk.
– (Reuters)
