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Swiss flies profitably despite harsh headwinds

This content was published on Mar 11, 2010 The airline, owned by German state carrier, Lufthansa, said in a statement that total income from operating activities last year declined by 17 per cent to SFr4.36 billion compared with 2008. Swiss CEO Harry Hohmeister said he was satisfied with the airline’s performance. “We achieved a black-ink result in all four quarters; and we were…

Swatch watches industry crisis from a pedestal

This content was published on Mar 11, 2010 Revenues fell nearly nine per cent last year at Biel-based Swatch Group, a 20-brand empire employing 22,000 people, but the company began 2010 with much fanfare in an atmosphere of near panic among most of its peers. The firm’s brashness surprised observers but Kalust Zorik, co-founder of the new watchmaking institute at the ARC technical…

Helsana cuts jobs to move to healthier figures

This content was published on Mar 10, 2010 The layoffs amount to nearly one-sixth of the company’s staff and will take place over the next 18 months, Helsana said. The company said a portion of the job cuts would come from natural wastage, or attrition. In 2009 the Helsana Group, which provides health insurance to nearly two million people in Switzerland, suffered a…

Voice of nature

This content was published on Mar 10, 2010 Swiss books are often among the most beautiful around. The Buchkunst Foundation in Leipzig, Germany, recently awarded prizes to various Swiss publishers, among them editor Marco Müller for the Pro Natura book, the Voice of Nature (Die Stimme der Natur). It has been published by Kontrast in German and Editions Slatkine in French.Pictures by Markus…

Big bill lands at Swiss Re after Chile quake

This content was published on Mar 10, 2010 The world’s second largest reinsurance company, which sells insurance to insurance companies, said the amount of damage it would cover in Chile has climbed to around $500 million. That comes on top of $100 million in claims following a storm that recently swept across Europe, Xynthia. Chile has certain building codes in place but the…

Construction boom may be moving too fast

This content was published on Mar 10, 2010 While the residential market is expected to remain largely stable, the global economic recession is more likely to hit demand for business premises. But this is not mirrored by the rate of projects under construction. The latest real estate market report by Credit Suisse bank has warned of a probable disparity between supply and demand…

More silver surfers want to take the plunge

This content was published on Mar 9, 2010 But, as a study shows, one third of these “offliners” might be encouraged to use the net if they had a bit of help. Experts say family support and more training are needed. The research, which was presented in Zurich on Tuesday, was carried out by Zurich University’s Centre for Gerontology on behalf of the…

Swisscom wins appeal against SFr333 million fine

This content was published on Mar 9, 2010 Swisscom – a former monopoly which is still majority-owned by the government – appealed in November against the SFr333 million ($308 million) fine issued by the Federal Competition Commission for alleged abuse of the pricing of broadband services, anti-competitive behaviour and contravention of competition law. The commission said Swisscom had displayed anti-competitive behaviour by abusing…

Can an image campaign save Switzerland?

This content was published on Mar 9, 2010 swissinfo.ch spoke to communications expert Iwan Rickenbacher, an honorary professor at Bern University, about the damage to Switzerland’s image, and what Presence Switzerland – the government’s PR agency – should be doing about it. On February 5 the American magazine Newsweek declared “The End of Switzerland” over the issue of undeclared foreign assets in Swiss…

Small debuts

This content was published on Mar 9, 2010 The trend towards ever smaller cars and engines is clearly evident in Geneva. The compact sector should account for more than half of the global market by 2016. (all pictures: Keystone)

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