Fri, Oct 25, 2013 page15

• World Business Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  SPAIN

  More Spaniards employed

  Spain’s jobless rate eased slightly to 25.98 percent in the third quarter, official data showed yesterday, as the EU’s fourth-largest economy battled its way out of a long recession. The number of people out of work dipped by 72,800 to 5.9 million, lowering the unemployment rate from the previous quarter’s 26.26 percent, a National Statistics Institute report showed. It was the second straight quarter showing a drop in the unemployment rate, which peaked at a record of more than 27 percent early this year.

  CAMERAS

  Canon sees first sales drop

  Canon Inc, the world’s largest camera maker, cut its annual profit forecast and predicted its first drop in sales of models with an interchangeable lens, as consumers switch to smartphones to take photos. Net income will likely total ￥240 billion (US$2.5 billion) for the year ending Dec. 31, the Tokyo-based company said in a statement yesterday, cutting its earlier forecast of ￥260 billion. The value of worldwide camera shipments dropped 19 percent in August from a year earlier, a ninth consecutive monthly decline, according to the Camera & Imaging Products Association in Tokyo.

  TEXTILES

  Brazilians rally over job loss

  Brazilian textile workers held a demonstration on Wednesday over the loss of manufacturing jobs to China, in a protest at a trade fair showcasing mainly Chinese goods. Reporters witnessed about 200 demonstrators who converged on the Anhembi convention center in the north of Sao Paulo, where 340 mostly Chinese firms were displaying their wares. Unions and textile associations say they want to call attention to the loss of factory work to China.

  TECHNOLOGY

  Ericsson warns of pressure

  Swedish wireless equipment company Ericsson AB warned yesterday that its sales are under pressure as big projects in the US and Japan come onstream. The warning came as Ericsson reported a 34 percent increase in third-quarter net profit to 2.92 billion Swedish kronor (US$458 million), compared with 2.18 billion kronor a year earlier. Sales in the quarter dropped 3 percent to 52.98 billion kronor amid negative currency effects and lower sales in North East Asia and India.

  BANKING

  Credit Suisse profit rises

  Credit Suisse Group posted a 79 percent increase in third-quarter profit compared with last year, backed by strong results from private banking and wealth management. Switzerland’s second-largest bank, which has shed employees and cut other costs to boost profitability, reported a third-quarter profit of 454 million Swiss francs (US$509 million), up from SF254 million a year ago. The Zurich-based bank said in a statement yesterday it had net revenue of SF3.32 billion from private banking and wealth management, roughly in line with the comparable quarter a year earlier.

  TELECOMS

  LG phone biz falls into red

  LG Electronics Inc said its handset business sank into the red for the first time in a year as it cut prices and spent more on marketing to carve out a share of the high-end smartphone market. The South Korean firm reported yesterday that its mobile communications business lost 79.7 billion won (US$75.5 million) in the July-to-September period, even after selling 12 million smartphones. It was the first red ink since the third quarter last year.
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