*Underlying sales grow more than expected. *Company stands by full-year, 2020 goals. LONDON, April 18- Consumer goods group Unilever is on track to meet its performance goals this year after strong sales in emerging markets led to a better-than-expected start to 2019..
ZURICH, April 18- Food group Nestle confirmed it expected organic sales growth to exceed 3 percent this year after good momentum in the United States and China helped it post better-than-expected sales growth in the first three months. The company based in Vevey in western Switzerland said its biggest markets, the United States and China, maintained good...
*Berlin sees growth of 0.5 pct in 2019, 1.5 pct in 2020. President Donald Trump's "America First" policies and business uncertainty caused by Britain's planned departure from the European Union. The difficult trade environment means that Germany's vibrant domestic demand, helped by record-high employment, inflation-busting pay increases and low borrowing...
LONDON, April 17- Global commodities house Trafigura Group said on Wednesday it is entering petrochemicals trading by teaming up with Houston- based Altis Group International to take advantage of an expanding sector. Geneva- based Trafigura estimates the value of the global petrochemical market at $729 billion and growing. The joint venture will have two...
*China Q1 GDP rises 6.4 pct y/y vs +6.3 pct expected by analysts. BEIJING, April 17- China's economy grew at a steady 6.4 percent pace in the first quarter, defying expectations for a further slowdown, as industrial production jumped sharply and consumer demand showed signs of improvement. Investors have ranked China's slowdown and the trade war as the biggest...
*China Q1 GDP rises 6.4 pct y/y vs +6.3 pct expected by analysts. BEIJING, April 17- China's economy grew at a steady 6.4 percent pace in the first quarter, defying expectations for a further slowdown, as industrial production jumped sharply and consumer demand showed signs of improvement. Investors have ranked China's slowdown and the trade war as the biggest...
ZURICH, April 17- Swiss drugmaker Roche raised its 2019 outlook after first-quarter sales rose 8 percent, beating analyst estimates on the strength of newer medicines including multiple sclerosis treatment Ocrevus and cancer immunotherapy Tecentriq. While the Basel- based drugmaker's big-selling cancer drugs Rituxan and Herceptin continued to be...
*China economy seen growing 6.3 pct y/y in Q1, vs Q4's 6.4 pct. BEIJING, April 17- China is expected to report on Wednesday that economic growth slowed to its weakest pace in at least 27 years in the first quarter, as policymakers seek to head off a sharper slowdown that could stoke job losses. Analysts polled by Reuters expect China to report GDP grew 6.3 percent in the...
WASHINGTON, April 13- Swiss monetary policy is appropriate for now, but policymakers still have room to lower already negative interest rates further or use other policies if necessary, Swiss National Bank Chairman Thomas Jordan said on Saturday. "There is no reason to change monetary policy," given the bank's dropping inflation forecasts and no risk of the...
The sale is expected to kick off next month and has already drawn interest from a series of buyout funds including Advent, Lone Star and CVC, the sources said. Lone Star, which owns Nordic building materials supplier Stark, is also working on a similar deal to buy Saint Gobain's Raab Karcher business which specialises in providing building materials to the German...
*Chairman Peter Spuhler sells 35 mln shares worth 1.33 bln francs. ZURICH, April 12- Shares in Stadler Rail surged on Friday as investors piled in to an oversubscribed initial public offering that valued the Swiss trainmaker at around $3.8 billion and made more than a billion Swiss francs for Chairman Peter Spuhler. The stock, priced at 38 francs, touched an early...
WASHINGTON/ FRANKFURT, April 11- European Central Bank policymakers are increasingly leaning towards rewarding banks for lending to households and businesses but are mostly sceptical about giving lenders a reprieve from a charge on their idle cash, four sources told Reuters. The sources said rate-setters, who met in Frankfurt on Wednesday, were now open to...
WASHINGTON/ FRANKFURT, April 11- European Central Bank policymakers are increasingly leaning towards rewarding banks for lending to households and businesses but are mostly sceptical about giving lenders a reprieve from a charge on their idle cash, four sources told Reuters. The sources said rate-setters, who met in Frankfurt on Wednesday, were now open to...
ZURICH, April 11- Three Germans on trial in Switzerland for helping expose a tax-stripping scheme that cost European governments billions of euros will likely avoid prison after a verdict on Thursday that fell well short of prosecutors' demands. The men, Stuttgart- based lawyer Eckart Seith and two former employees of Basel- based Bank J. Safra Sarasin, had faced...
*F-35 crashed over the Pacific close to northern Japan. *F-35 was first to be assembled in Japan. TOKYO, April 10- Search and rescue teams found wreckage from a crashed Japanese F-35 stealth fighter in the Pacific Ocean close to northern Japan, and are scouring the waters for the missing pilot, authorities said on Wednesday.
FRANKFURT, April 10 Reuters)- The European Central Bank kept its ultra-easy monetary policy unchanged as expected on Wednesday, giving recent stimulus measures time to work their way into the economy and counter spreading global gloom. ECB President Mario Draghi confirmed that policymakers were considering measures to mitigate the impact on banks of its...
*F-35 crashed over the Pacific close to northern Japan. *F-35 was first to be assembled in Japan. TOKYO, April 10- Search and rescue teams found wreckage from a crashed Japanese F-35 stealth fighter in the Pacific Ocean close to northern Japan, and are scouring the waters for the missing pilot, authorities said on Wednesday.
U.S.-based Newmont put the contract up for tender last year and has split the business between three of Valcambi's rivals- Asahi in the United States and Argor-Heraeus and PAMP in Switzerland, the sources said. The sources said Newmont would send gold from its mines in the United States to Asahi and material from mines in Peru and Ghana to either PAMP or...
FRANKFURT, April 10 Reuters)- The European Central Bank is all but certain to keep policy on hold on Wednesday, taking its time to evaluate whether its most recent stimulus is enough to arrest a rapid decline in sentiment. President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to impose tariffs on $11 billion worth of European Union products, while the International...
FRANKFURT, April 10 Reuters)- The European Central Bank is all but certain to keep policy on hold on Wednesday, taking its time to evaluate whether its most recent stimulus cocktail is enough to arrest a rapid decline in sentiment. Meeting earlier than usual so they can attend the International Monetary Fund's spring meeting in Washington DC this week, ECB...
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