Procter & Gamble, the world?s largest household products maker, reported lower quarterly profit on Friday, hurt by unfavourable currency movements and lower gross profit margin. The maker of Pampers diapers and Tide detergent left its 2014 sales growth forecast unchanged. The company earned $3.43 billion, or $1.18 per share, in the fiscal second quarter, down from $4.06 billion, or $1.39 per share, a year earlier. Core earnings per share, excluding restructuring charges, fell 1% to $1.21.
Cameron says can reshape ties with EU to avoid exit
British Prime Minister David Cameron told the World Economic Forum in Davos on Friday he was confident he could renegotiate his country?s relations with the European Union to allow it to remain in the 28-nation bloc. ?I?m confident that we?ll have a successful renegotiation and a successful referendum,? he told delegates, referring to his plan to reshape his country?s EU ties before offering Britons an in/out referendum if he is re-elected next year.
Dreamliner reliability still not satisfactory: Boeing
The reliability of Boeing?s 787 Dreamliner is slowly improving but it is still not at a satisfactory level and the firm is working to improve the jet?s performance, Mike Fleming, Boeing?s vice-president for 787 support and services, said. The Dreamliner?s reliability rate is now around 98%, meaning that two out of every 100 flights is delayed, above the 97% reported in October but still short of the firm?s target, Fleming told a news conference in Oslo.
China?s 2013 urban jobless rate at 4.1%
Over 13 million jobs were created in China in 2013 while the urban unemployment rate in the world?s second-largest economy stood at around 4.1%. The unemployment rate edged up to 4.05% at the end of the fourth quarter from 4.04% at the end of the third quarter, the Chinese ministry of human resources and social security said on Friday.
Renault, Nissan to have joint manufacturing, R&D
Nissan Motor and Renault will combine their manufacturing and research functions in a move that will save the alliance more than 400 billion yen ($3.86 billion) a year, the Nikkei business daily reported on Friday.As a first step, the Renault-Nissan alliance, led by dual-chief executive Carlos Ghosn, will appoint a manager to oversee the production departments of both companies from as early as April, following up with a similar structure for research and development (R&D), the paper said.
Qualcomm buys Palm patents from HP
Cellphone chip maker Qualcomm on Thursday said it has acquired patents once owned by smartphone maker Palm from Hewlett-Packard for an undisclosed amount. Qualcomm says the purchase covers 1,400 US patents and about 1,000 more foreign patients for the company?s mobile computing technology. Hewlett-Packard paid $1 billion for Palm in 2010 as part of its first foray into tablet computers and smartphones, which ran on Palm?s operating system.
Bristol-Myers Squibb beats sales, profit forecasts
Bristol-Myers Squibb?s quarterly sales and earnings beat Wall Street expectations, helped by cost cuts and growing sales of its treatments for cancer, blood clots and diabetes. The company on Friday said it earned $726 million, or 44 cents per share, in the fourth quarter. That compared with $925 million, or 56 cents per share, in the year-earlier period, when Bristol-Myers took a big write-off for a failed hepatitis C drug. Excluding special items, the drugmaker earned 51 cents per share, well above the average analyst estimate of 43 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Fannie would get about $537 m in deal with Lehman
Lehman Brothers Holdings has reached a settlement with Fannie Mae that would allow the mortgage finance giant to recover about $537 million for its claim against the estate of the failed Wall Street bank over soured mortgage securities. The settlement announced on Thursday must be approved by a federal bankruptcy judge. It valued Fannie?s claim over home loans and mortgage securities it bought from Lehman before the financial crisis at about $2.15 billion. But under Lehman?s bankruptcy proceeding Fannie would get about 25% of that. A Fannie official called it a fair outcome.
