Company news in brief
Philips misses Q2 forecastsDutch medical equipment maker Philips posted a bigger-than-expected drop in second-quarter core earnings yesterday, saying supply shortages and lockdowns in China dented sales.
The company cut its estimate for full-year sales growth to 1%-3% from 3%-5%, forecasting a second-half growth of 6%-9% on the back of a strong order book.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation (EBITA) came in at 216 million euro for the three months ended June 30. Analysts were expecting 324 million euro, according to a company-compiled poll.
In the same period a year earlier, Philips had adjusted EBITA of 532 million euro.
Sales fell 7% to 4.17 billion euro, also missing analyst forecasts of 4.23 billion euro.
Philips, once known as a consumer electronics company, now does most of its business making medical imaging, monitoring and diagnostic equipment, striking deals with big hospitals. - Reuters
Credit Suisse eyes more cost cuts
Credit Suisse is considering how it could cut costs further after a dismal performance by the embattled bank in the past quarter, SonntagsZeitung reported, citing senior sources.
"The numbers are catastrophic," an unnamed senior banker told the newspaper, adding that staff morale is very low.
Managers and the board of directors are now discussing a new, large cost-saving plan, a second executive told the paper in an article published on Sunday. "The cost structure is too large for the bank's revenue potential."
Credit Suisse has previously described 2022 as a "transition" year in which it is trying to turn the page on costly scandals that brought a near-total reshuffle of top management.
Discussions on the cuts are at an advanced stage, the paper said, though it is uncertain whether they will be announced when Credit Suisse reports second-quarter earnings tomorrow. – Reuters
Vodafone's biggest market goes into reverse
Mobile and broadband group Vodafone reported a drop in service revenue in its largest market Germany in the first quarter, reflecting broadband and TV losses after regulation changes.
Overall service revenue growth however, accelerated slightly quarter-on-quarter to 2.5%, helped by Turkey, where high inflation is providing a boost, and Britain. It said it was on track to hit its full-year targets.
Vodafone said its German TV customer base fell by 79 000 while its cable broadband service saw a 34 000 decline after regulatory changes ended processes like automatic recontracting, resulting in a 0.5% decline in service revenue in the country.
It said the scale of customer losses had reduced versus the previous quarter following remedial action.
Chief executive Nick Read said Vodafone had "executed in line with expectations", with growth recorded in Europe and Africa. – Reuters
China Evergrande CEO, CFO step down
China Evergrande Group said on Friday that its chief executive officer and finance head have resigned after a preliminary probe found their involvement in diverting loans secured by its publicly listed unit to the group.
The indebted company was investigating how deposits worth 13.4 billion yuan (US$1.99 billion) belonging to the unit, Evergrande Property Services, were used as collateral for pledge guarantees and seized by banks.
The pledges threatened to wipe out most of the cash the unit was holding.
The company said the loans secured by the pledges, which involved three sets of deposits, "were transferred and diverted back to the group via third parties and were used for the general operations of the group."
Global investors have turned their attention to the Chinese developer's cash flow problems out of worry that a collapse may shake the financial system and slow development in the world's second-largest economy. – Reuters
SpaceX whizzes past annual launch record
Elon Musk's SpaceX on Friday broke its record for the number of rockets launched in a calendar year, topping last year's slate of 31 missions amid a whirlwind campaign to launch its own internet satellites into orbit.
SpaceX's 32nd launch of 2022 using its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket comes as the company races to build a constellation of broadband satellites called Starlink, a largely consumer-based service with hundreds of thousands of internet users.
The mission took off from the company's California launchsite at the Vandenberg Space Force Base. SpaceX so far has launched nearly 3 000 Starlink satellites to space.
Friday's mission keeps SpaceX on pace to reach its goal of 52 orbital missions by year's end, nearly doubling its annual launch cadence with the reusable Falcon 9 that SpaceX says can be reflown up to 15 times.
The company, founded by Musk in 2002 to normalise interplanetary travel, has in recent months shifted its focus from manufacturing Falcon 9 rockets to managing a fleet of those already built, investing heavily in infrastructure for refurbishing boosters under speedy timelines. - Reuters