Ford earnings rise, beat expectations

Ford earnings rise, beat expectations

 

New York (AFP)

 

US auto giant Ford Motor Tuesday reported quarterly earnings that bested expectations as higher sales in North America and a smaller loss in Europe offset declines in South America.

 

Ford, the second-biggest US automaker, notched a 90 percent rise in fourth-quarter earnings thanks largely to a number of tax gains.

 

Revenues rose 3.6 percent compared with the year-ago period.

 

"We had an outstanding year in 2013, demonstrating that our One Ford plan continues to drive solid results and profitable growth for all," Ford chief executive Alan Mulally said in a statement.

 

Ford's North America division, which accounts for nearly one-third of company sales, reported higher quarterly sales but nine percent lower profits due to lower prices and $300 million in expenses associated with a recall of its Escape sport utility vehicle.

 

Ford enjoyed higher sales and wholesale deliveries in its Asia Pacific Africa segment, where pre-tax profit hit a record $106 million, about three times more than in the year-ago period.

 

In Europe, Ford trimmed its quarterly loss to $571 million from $732 million in the year-ago period, while Ford's South America division posted a loss of $126 million.

 

The South America results were hit by lower production in Venezuela due to a limited availability of US dollars, the company said.

 

Overall fourth-quarter profit came in at $3.0 billion on revenue of $37.6 billion compared with year-ago profit of $1.6 billion on revenue of $37.6 billion.

 

The results included $2.1 billion in favorable tax items, such as valuation allowances held against US tax-deferred assets.

 

The results translated into earnings of 31 cents per share, topping analyst expectations of 28 cents.

 

The company rated 2013 "one of Ford's best years ever" as Ford and other US automakers benefited from a surge in auto sales.

 

Net income for the year was $7.2 billion on revenue of $146.9 billion, up 26.3 percent from 2012 profit of $5.7 billion on revenue of $133.6 billion.

 

Ford said its 2014 outlook was unchanged with total company pre-tax profit expected to range from $7 billion to $8 billion.

 

Ford shares were up 2.1 percent at $16.04 in pre-market trade.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 28 Tuesday January 2014 The Roman)

 

Russia economy chief says dire 2013 was 'low point'

Russia economy chief says dire 2013 was 'low point'

 

Moscow (AFP)

 

Russia's economy chief said on Friday that the country had survived the worst of its sharp growth slowdown and was now on the path toward a cautious recovery.

 

But new data revision showed the $1.9-trillion (1.4-trillion-euro) economy expanding by an even worse than expected 1.3 percent in 2013 -- the second-worst performance of Vladimir Putin's 14 years in power and just a quarter of the Kremlin's target.

 

And a precipitous ruble selloff that has sliced seven percent off the currency's value this month and showed few signs of halting on Friday put Putin under still further pressure despite the upbeat forecast.

 

Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev rallied to Putin's relief by proclaiming the worst phase of Russia's growth slump over now that agriculture and industry were both picking up steam.

 

"It seems to me that we passed the low point somewhere around the third quarter of 2013," Ulyukayev told a ministerial meeting.

 

Russia's economy grew by 3.4 percent in 2012 and had been clipping along at a seven-percent pace during Putin's first two terms as Kremlin chief between 2000 and 2008.

 

Fitch Ratings on Friday attributed the downshift to a "decline in investment and the inventory cycle" and forecast an expansion rate of 2.0 percent this year -- below the world average and lagging most other big emerging market states.

 

Investor mistrust of Russia's economic reform efforts contributed to the ruble being swept up in a selloff of emerging market currencies at the end of last week.

 

The Russian currency -- subject of two devastating post-Soviet devaluations that forced many to question the wisdom of market economics -- was trading down 0.3 percent against the euro at 47.60 rubles and not far off its historic low.

 

The dollar was worth 35.25 rubles -- up 0.7 percent and once again approaching a five-year high it had set on Wednesday.

 

Russia's Central Bank this year reduced its market interventions as it proceeds with the planned introduction of a fully-convertible ruble exchange rate by the start of 2015.

 

Its First Deputy Chairwoman Ksenia Yudayeva gave the Moscow market a further fright on Wednesday by telling The Wall Street Journal that stress tests showed Russian banks being able handle a 30-percent ruble decline.

 

"Politically, devaluation is an understandable move," said Moscow's Higher School of Economics professor Nikolai Petrov.

 

"We have a large budget deficit (of 0.5 percent of gross domestic product) and there are not enough funds to fulfil Putin's election promises of 2012," Petrov told AFP.

 

"The government consciously took this step."

 

Capital flight risk

 

But economists attribute at least some of the ruble's troubles to a deteriorating current account balance that is being hurt by a steady outflow of foreign investor cash.

 

Capital flight reached $63 billion (46.5 billion euros) in 2013 and the government had hoped to see the figure shrink to $25 billion this year.

 

Yet First Deputy Economy Minister Andrei Klepach said that investors' recent turn against emerging markets could result in up to $35 billion leaving Russia in the first three months of the year alone.

 

He added that recent ruble weakness may translate into more expensive imports that push inflation above its annual target rate of 4.8 percent.

 

The delicate balancing act between a loosening of ruble controls and the fight against nagging inflation prompted the Central Bank Chairwoman Elvira Nabiullina to stress on Thursday that the ruble free-float plan "did not provide for a complete end to intervention."

 

The comment suggests that some authorities are alarmed by the pace of the ruble's deterioration and are now prepared to pursue currency support measures for longer than planned.

 

"The Central Bank appears to be increasingly concerned about the extent of the recent fall," Capital Economics said in a research note.

 

The London-based consultancy estimated that the Central Bank had bought about $5 billion (3.7 billion euros) worth of rubles on the Moscow Exchange in January -- a fraction of the $40 billion a month it was selling during the worst of Russia's 2008-2009 financial crisis.

 

"With some $500 billion in (gold and hard currency) reserves, it can stomach intervention on this scale for some time," Capital Economics said.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 31 Friday January 2014 The Roman)

 

Russian ruble hits historic low against euro

Russian ruble hits historic low against euro

 

Moscow (AFP)

 

The Russian ruble hit a record low against the euro on Friday and was at its weakest point against the dollar for nearly four years as it continued a weeks-long slide.

 

The euro broke through its record strong point of 47.25 against the troubled Russian currency in late afternoon trading and stood at 47.26 rubles at 3:20 pm (1120 GMT).

 

The ruble's previously low against the single European currency came in the worst months of Russia's financial crisis in early 2009.

 

The dollar had also gained more than 0.7 percent against the Russian currency and was trading at 34.50 rubles on the Moscow Exchange.

 

The Russian currency in the past four weeks has lost about five percent of its value against a basket of euros and dollars the Central Bank uses to set its policies.

 

Traders said the selling accelerated after Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev was quoted as saying on Thursday that the ruble was more likely to weaken than strengthen in the coming weeks.

 

Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told Moscow Echo radio on Friday that he "sees no problem" with the current ruble exchange rate.

 

"This is the policy of the Central Bank and the financial authorities -- to make the exchange rate more flexible," Siluanov said.

 

The Central Bank intend to introduce a fully floating exchange rate by the start of next year.

 

It eliminated some of its support measures for the ruble earlier this month.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 24 Friday January 2014 The Roman)

India's Infosys Q3 profit up 21.4%, raises sales outlook

India's Infosys Q3 profit up 21.4%, raises sales outlook



Mumbai (AFP)



Indian outsourcing giant Infosys reported Friday a better-than-expected 21.4 percent jump in quarterly net profit, led by improved demand from Europe and the United States.



The company also hiked its full-year revenue outlook, driving up its shares by around two percent.



Consolidated net profit for the Nasdaq-listed firm climbed to 28.75 billion rupees ($463 million) in the October-to-December quarter from 23.69 billion rupees in the same period a year earlier.



Analysts had expected Infosys to report a net profit of 27 billion rupees.



Revenues jumped 25 percent to 130.26 billion rupees in the third financial quarter from 104.24 billion rupees in the year-ago period.



The company's results kicked off India's quarterly earnings season.



It forecast revenues would increase by 11.5 to 12 percent in dollar terms for the fiscal year to March 2014 -- a notch above its earlier outlook of 9.0-10.0 percent growth.



"The year ahead looks exciting for the IT services industry. We believe the global economic environment has improved and our clients are gaining confidence to invest in their strategic initiatives," said Infosys's chief executive S.D. Shibulal.



Bangalore-based Infosys been undergoing major changes with a string of departures by some of its senior staff since co-founder and business icon N.R. Narayana Murthy returned in a bid to reboot the company's fortunes last June.



Infosys -- created three decades ago by Murthy and six others as they sat around a kitchen table -- has been losing market share to rivals such as Tata Consultancy Services and HCL.



Last October, Infosys said it would pay $34 million to the US government to settle an investigation into alleged visa fraud by the company.



Many of India's IT outsourcing firms have reported subdued growth in recent years due to a sharp global economic slowdown.



(Agence France-Presse, 10 Friday January 2014 The Roman)