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World Business Quick Take

■AUTOMOBILES

BMW posts Q3 drop

The German luxury car maker BMW yesterday posted a 73.8 percent drop in third quarter net profit after being slammed by a collapse in the market for high-end vehicles. A BMW statement said net profit plummeted to 78 million euros (US$115 million) from 298 million euros in the third quarter of last year. Core earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) was also sharply lower, falling by 85.8 percent to 55 million euros in the three-month period, while sales edged lower to 11.76 billion euros from 12.6 billion. That reflected “sales volume decreases caused by the weak state of the economy and the competitive environment,” the statement said. The company said it aimed for positive group earnings for the full year.



■INSURANCE

Reinsurance posts profit

Swiss Reinsurance Co beat analyst expectations by reporting a third-quarter net profit of 334 million Swiss francs (US$327 million) yesterday. The Zurich-based company said earnings per share reached SF0.97, compared with a loss of SF0.93 per share in the same period last year, when it recorded a quarterly loss of SF304 million. The company said premiums dropped 11 percent to SF5.84 billion from SF6.53 billion in the third quarter of last year. Zurich said payouts dropped markedly during the quarter as customers made fewer property, health and life insurance claims.



■RETAIL

Metro remains stable

The biggest German retailer Metro said yesterday that it had maintained its third quarter operating profit at 357 million euros (US$527 million). That represented “a clear improvement in the trend,” a company statement said. Sales were 4.6 percent lower at 15.6 billion euros, mainly owing to unfavorable foreign exchange effects with eastern European countries.



■CHINA

Shougang buys Delphi unit

An investment group led by state-owned steel maker Shougang Group (首鋼) said yesterday it had bought US-based Delphi Corp’s brake and suspension unit for about US$100 million. The purchase by BeijingWest Industries Group adds to a string of Chinese acquisitions abroad amid the global economic crisis. Delphi, based in Troy, Michigan, is reorganizing under bankruptcy court protection from creditors. The sale includes operations in the US, Poland, France, Britain, Mexico and China that employ about 3,000 people, BeijingWest said.



■MANAGEMENT

Ruiz quits amid scandal

Hector Ruiz, former CEO of chip designer Advanced Micro Devices Inc, is leaving his job with a spinoff company after a published report linking him to the Galleon Group insider trading case. GlobalFoundries Inc, a chip manufacturer, said on Monday that Ruiz would take a voluntary leave from his position as chairman before resigning officially on Jan. 4. Board member Alan Ross will take over as interim chairman immediately.



■INTERNET

Google learns Mandarin

Google’s voice search tool now understands Chinese. The Internet giant announced on Monday that users of Nokia S60 series mobile phones could now search the Internet using voice commands in Mandarin. “Up until now voice search has only been available in English, but the new version of Google Mobile App for Nokia S60 devices works for Mandarin speakers, too,” Google said in a blog post.
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