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World Business Quick Take

■BANKING

French bank’s profits rise

Societe Generale SA, France’s second-largest bank, said yesterday that net profit more than doubled in the third quarter after better market conditions helped earnings at its investment banking unit. SocGen said in a statement that it made a net profit of 426 million euros (US$627 million) in the July to September period, compared with 183 million euros a year earlier. The results were slightly lower than the consensus forecast. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had predicted a net profit of 457 million euros.



■AUTOMOBILES

Nissan’s profit plummets

Nissan Motor said yesterday its first-half net profit plunged 92.9 percent from a year earlier due to weak sales, but it narrowed its full-year loss forecast. Japan’s No. 3 automaker, in which France’s Renault has a 44 percent stake, said it performed better than expected thanks to brisk growth in China and government incentives for people to buy new cars during the recession. Nissan logged a net profit of ¥9 billion (US$100 million) for the six months to September, against a profit of ¥126.3 billion in the same period a year earlier.



■APPAREL

Adidas profits drop 30%

German sportwear and equipment maker Adidas said yesterday that its net profit fell by 30 percent to 213 million euros in the third quarter of this year. The result was in line with forecasts and demonstrated the tough conditions faced by retailers, with Adidas adding that it expected a decline in income for the year as a whole. Sales for the three-month period slipped by 6 percent to 2.89 billion euros, a statement said, though when corrected for foreign exchange effects the figure showed an increase of 7 percent.



■RETAIL

M&S half-year profits rise

British retailer Marks and Spencer (M&S) said yesterday that net profits rose by half a percent to £224.3 million (US$369 million) during the first six months of its financial year. The company said its profit after tax figure for the six months to the end of September compared with a net gain of £223.2 million a year earlier. Pre-tax profits dipped slightly to £306.7 million in the first half while group revenue rose 2.8 percent to £4.3 billion.



■ICELAND

Keep controls, IMF says

The IMF has recommended Reykjavik maintain currency controls for the time being in order to ensure a stable currency, a report released on Tuesday said. The Icelandic central bank published the 98-page report containing the IMF recommendations and an assessment of Iceland’s economy. A year ago the global financial crisis sparked the collapse of three of the nation’s major banks and a rapid depreciation of the krona. It was later granted a US$2.1 billion emergency loan by the IMF.



■ELECTRONICS

Peek offers Twitter gadget

A US maker of mobile devices is offering a gadget solely dedicated to sending and receiving Twitter messages. The “TwitterPeek,” made by New York-based Peek, costs US$100 with six months of service or US$200 for a lifetime service plan. Peek called the TwitterPeek “the world’s first dedicated Twitter mobile device.” The device resembles a BlackBerry smartphone with a full-color screen for viewing messages and a keyboard for typing them.
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