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Banking ombudsman flooded with complaints

This content was published on Feb 6, 2009 At a news briefing on Friday in Zurich, Hanspeter Häni said his office had to deal with 4,073 complaints last year, a huge increase from the 1,505 he received in 2007. Most of the extra burden came from last September’s collapse of the United States investment bank Lehman Brothers, which provoked 1,800 complaints from people…

Boom market buoys cheese exports

This content was published on Feb 6, 2009 Emmental remained the most popular variety, despite a slight decline, with 21,603 tons sold. That represents over 22 million litres of milk used in its production. Emmental, known in some parts of the world as Swiss Cheese, was followed by Raclette and Tilsit. Sales in those two varieties increased 31.4 per cent and 31 per…

Unemployment hits two-year high

This content was published on Feb 6, 2009 The figure represents an unemployment rate of 3.3 per cent, the highest it has been for two years, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) said on Friday. It is also a 14.8 per cent increase over one year ago. Seco said almost half the increase, which was expected, was down to the poor economy…

Bear market eats into Bär profits

This content was published on Feb 6, 2009 The result, announced on Friday, is a 30 per cent decline over the previous year for Switzerland’s third-largest bank. The Zurich-based bank said total client assets fell 29 per cent to SFr338 billion but it had strong inflows with net new money of SFr22 billion. It left its dividend unchanged at SFr0.50 and said it…

Syngenta profit up for sixth straight year

This content was published on Feb 6, 2009 Sales in the Basel-based firm’s crop protection unit rose 22 per cent over last year to $9.2 billion and seed sales were up 16 per cent to $2.4 billion, it said on Friday. Earnings per share were $14.63. The result was Syngenta’s sixth consecutive year of growth. Chief executive Mike Mack praised the results in…

Pharmaceuticals face recession health check

This content was published on Feb 5, 2009 Profits leapt 25 per cent last year at Swiss giant Novartis while rival Roche forged ahead with its hostile bid for biotech firm Genentech despite a dip in results. But balance sheets alone do not tell the whole story. Pharmaceutical companies traditionally weather economic downturns better than other industries as health spending is considered a…

Vatican Radio gives Novartis bitter pill

This content was published on Feb 5, 2009 The broadcaster said the fact that Novartis manufactures contraceptives played a role in the decision. In a statement published on the German-language pages of its website, Vatican Radio said it had decided not to have an external “commentator of the month” in February due to the Lefebvre affair. It said it had only found out…

Record income for customs and excise

This content was published on Feb 5, 2009 In its annual report released on Thursday, the Federal Customs Administration (FCA) also said it intercepted twice as much smuggled medicine in 2008 than in 2007. The FCA earned a total of SFr23.7 billion in 2008, up by 700 million on 2007, and equivalent to 37 per cent of the annual federal income. Value added…

Buffett steps in as Swiss Re warns of big loss

This content was published on Feb 5, 2009 News of the losses and a large writedown left the Zurich-based group’s share price plummeting, ending Thursday 28 per cent lower on the Swiss stock exchange. The world’s second-largest reinsurer wrote down SFr6 billion in toxic assets in 2008 as its shareholder equity dropped, offsetting a strong underwriting performance, the group said. In a statement…

Profits plunge at Zurich Financial

This content was published on Feb 5, 2009 The group announced on Thursday that business operating profit had dropped by 23 per cent to $5.2 billion (SFr6 billion), and resulted in a net income after tax of $3 billion in its full year results. It followed an 87 per cent fall in fourth-quarter net profits, which the group blamed on losses and writedowns…

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Banking ombudsman flooded with complaints

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Boom market buoys cheese exports

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Unemployment hits two-year high

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Bear market eats into Bär profits

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Syngenta profit up for sixth straight year

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Pharmaceuticals face recession health check

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Vatican Radio gives Novartis bitter pill

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Record income for customs and excise

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Buffett steps in as Swiss Re warns of big loss

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Profits plunge at Zurich Financial

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