GenevaLunch - Basel, Switzerland

Federer's watch gives Rolex an extra smile as watch fair opens in Basel

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 07:32:03 +0100

Le Matin, Fre - First it was Breitling whose hot air balloon world tour was celebrated on a stamp in 1999 and now it's Rolex's turn to smile at the additional free publicity from having its watch appear on Swiss postage stamps. Roger Federer's new stamp shows the tennis champion holding his Wimbledon trophy - with his Rolex in plain view. Le Matin talked to watchmakers as the [annual watch fair](http://www.baselworld.com/go/id/ss/lan

Novartis sells Gerber to Nestlé

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 09:49:00 +0100

Le Temps, Fre - Novartis has announced the sale of Gerber, its line of baby foods, to Nestlé, for SFr6.7 million in cash. The sale makes Nestlé the world's number one baby food company. The line is expected to create turnover of SFr10 billion.

Roger Federer stamp

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 06:56:14 +0100

Roger Federer stamp issued by La Poste in Switzerland 10 April 2007

Coop has a healthy year

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 11:02:20 +0000

romandie/ats, Fre - Coop, Switzerland's second-largest supermarket chain, reported Tuesday that profits and sales were both up comfortably and that it increased market share. Its turnover in the retail market in 2006 was SFr14.7 billion, up 4.6% over the previous year, with an overall increase of 4.7% to SFr15.6 billion for the group. The company invested SFr270 million to lower its prices by 1.8% in order to offer the same prices as Migros, its main competitor and the market leader.

Novartis says no to Daniel Vasella's golden handshake

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 17:26:41 +0000

GenevaLunch and sources - Daniel Vasella, CEO of pharmaceutical giant Novartis, will not have a golden handshake written into his contract after the current one expires in 2009. The change is a victory for those shareholders who have been battling the company in recent years over what they see as excessive remuneration packages for top managers.

Vasella shares the top payment slot for managers in Switzerland with banker Marcel Ospel of UBS. How much he earns depends on who you ask, Le Temps points out: according to the Novartis annual report he earned SFr21 million in 2006, but according to the Ethos Foundation he earned SFr44m.

Roche's strong growth in 2006 driven by pharmaceuticals

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 09:35:51 +0000

GenevaLunch - Roche, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant, has announced full year figures for 2006, with a 17% increase in sales, to SFr42 billion, up SFr6.5b from 2005. Net income was up strongly, 34%, to SFr9.2b. The company says that strong pharmaceutical sales, three times higher than the industry average, led the way.

Swissinfo, Roche

Generic drugs now 12% of Swiss market, and growth up strongly

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 08:34:44 +0000

WRG-FM - The Swiss generic drug business grew by 50% in 2006, says the pharmaceutical industry association in a report. Generic drugs now account for 12% of the market, but growth in the market as a whole has stagnated.

Last chance to catch up with Kandinsky

Mon, 22 Jan 2007 19:29:49 +0000

Switzerland’s major exhibition of paintings by Kandinsky is coming to a close – so if you want to see it, plan a trip to Basel Kunstmuseum by February 4.

You can get to Basel in about two hours by train, and the gallery is just a few minutes away by tram. It’s closed Mondays.

High winds elsewhere in Europe affect Swiss air traffic

Fri, 19 Jan 2007 07:04:11 +0000

Tribune de Geneve, print edition - Friday morning, Geneva flights to and from northern European cities were still seeing delays after high winds lashed much of northern Europe. The storms caused cancellations at Switzerland's airports Wednesday. Cointrin in Geneva cancelled 18 flights - 3 departures and 15 arrivals. In Basel 23 flights were cancelled and 60 in Zurich. For further information on current flights at Cointrin Airport call 0848 700 700.

Swiss adds six new destinations from Basel

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 11:45:47 +0000

Swiss - Swiss is adding six new destinations from Basel this week: Barcelona five times weekly; Prague, Nice and Budapest four times a week; and Warsaw and Manchester three times a week.

New tremor in Basel rattles city's nerves

Tue, 16 Jan 2007 09:20:45 +0000

TSR, Fre - Basel was hit in the early hours of Tuesday by small earth tremors, 3.2 on the Richter scale. It is the fourth since early December and could be linked to work on the city's new geothermal project, causing nervousness in the city.

In neighbouring France the deputy mayor of Saint Louis, Jean Ueberschlag, called for a definitive stop to these "experiments." Deep Heat Mining (Ger), the company in charge of the project, has temporarily halted work to study the situation.

Dutch bank buys out Sarrasin private bankers

Tue, 09 Jan 2007 08:55:17 +0000

Le Temps, Fre - Banque Sarrasin, a private bank in Basel, was bought out Monday evening by the large Dutch Bank Rabobank, which increased its share capital from 28 to 46%, but with 69% of the voting rights.

Basel's Deep Heat project hit by new tremor

Mon, 08 Jan 2007 08:32:34 +0000

swissinfo - Basel's Deep Heat Mining project was hit Saturday morning by a new tremor that registered 3.1 on the Richter scale. There were no injuries and no damage was noted. Work on the city's new geothermal power plant was halted after a first tremor in December, to give investigators time to analyze the situation.

Max Havelaar and STEP join forces

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 14:17:53 +0000

romandie/ats, Fre - The two Swiss foundations Max Havelaar and STEP, both of which work in the area of fair trade, have agreed to merge. STEP gives its fair trade label to import/export companies whose handmade carpets meet its standards. The group will be absorbed by Max Havelaar as a separate business unity but it will retain its own identity.

Swiss productivity growth slows

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 09:31:12 +0000

Tribune de Geneve/SDA-ats, Fre - Swiss industrial productivity continues to grow, but more slowly in the third quarter, to 1.3% on an annual basis compared to 2.5% at the start of the year. Swiss productivity has grown steadily since January 1994, up 16.6 points during the nearly 13 years, for an annual growth rate of 1.2%.

The figures were compiled by the Basel Economic Institute, BAK, with Agence Télégraphique Suisse, ATS. BAK notes that it expects an acceleration in acti