GenevaLunch - Business and Finance

Internet presence could be as good as opinion polls for measuring voter trends

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 11:11:17 +0100

Tribune de Geneve, Infos générales, Fre - A Geneva-based company, Agence Virtuelle, has been measuring the presence of French presidential candidates on the Internet for the past year to determine if Internet buzz is as good an indicator of voting trends as opinion polls. It is, says the company's president, Stéphane Périno. He notes that with 14 million French people online, the population base for the study is good, although there are limitations, such as not knowing who is under 18. Pre-election events such as the rapid rise of François

Energy consumption in Switzerland climbs

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 10:54:25 +0100

RSR, Fre - Energy consumption in Switzerland increased by 0.8% in 2006, despite growing concerns about global warming and politician's efforts to keep consumption in line with a possible electricity shortage in the country from 2015 to 2020. Electricity use rose, according to the federal energy office, because of a higher gross domestic product (GDP), up 2.7% and a population increase of 56,000.

Edipresse profits down 20% - free newspapers cited

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 09:46:12 +0100

24 Heures, Vaud section, Fre - Edipresse, the second largest media publisher in Switzerland, announced a 2006 drop in profits of nearly 20%, blaming a poor market in Spain, where it has several magazines, and the rise of free newspapers in Switzerland. The company owns Geneva's Tribune de Geneve, Lausanne's 24 Heures and Le Matin. It also publishes the region's most successful free paper, Le Matin Bleu. CEO Tibère Adler says that while advertising has been climbing for the

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

One-third of Swiss unemployed have reading handicaps

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 12:21:52 +0100

romandie/ats, Fre - More than one-third of Switzerland's unemployed people have trouble reading. The annual cost to the Swiss economy in terms of unemployment payments, lost income and lost tax revenue is more than SFr1 billion, according to a new report by the Lire et Ecrire association. The risk of unemployment is twice as high for those whose reading and writing skills are weak.

Swisscom gets green light to buy Fastweb

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 12:13:33 +0100

romandie/ats, Fre - The Swiss competition commission, Comco, Thursday approved Swisscom's offer to buy Italy's second-largest fixed network company, Fastweb.

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.

Citigroup to shed 5% of its workforce

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 13:33:51 +0100

Le Temps, Fre - Citigroup, the largest bank in the US, announced Wednesday that as part of a major restructuring plan it will lay off 17,000 employees, or 5% of its workforce around the world. The bank expects to save $10.4 billion in three years. The group employs 800 people in Geneva and Zurich.

Retired couples better off in the Valais than Lausanne

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 08:19:37 +0100

RSR, Fre - Retired people in the German-speaking parts of Switzerland generally have a lower cost of living than those in French-speaking areas and retired people in Valais find life less expensive than in Lausanne. Those are some of the findings published in the most recent issue of Bilan magazine, which compared the cost of living for three types of retired couples in 165 Swiss communes with populations of 2,000 or more.

Jelmoli shareholders smiling

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 08:25:47 +0100

TSR, Fre - The board of Jelmoli, a real estate and commercial stores group, is recommending that shareholders be paid SFr50 dividends per share, after 2006 results were published. The company's net profits rose nearly 10% to 180 million francs, with turnover up 4.1% to SFr1.08 billion.

Omegamania upcoming sale has watch-lovers' hearts ticking faster

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 08:02:25 +0100

swissinfo - The momentum is building for watch-lovers from around the world as Geneva prepares to host Omegamania 14-15 April. The sale of special Omega watches follows a world tour of the timepieces, in lots of 300, that has pulled in large crowds, especially in Asia. The sales collection includes watches that have been in space and many that were owned by the rich and famous. The auction was organized to celebrate the 50th birthday of the Omega Speedmaster model, more often known as the Moon Watch.

Swiss drinking less wine

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 10:59:48 +0100

GenevaLunch - Wine consumption fell in Switzerland in 2006, after a slight increase in 2005, to 2.7 million hectolitres. Swiss wine accounted for 1.12m hectolitres, of which slightly more than half was red wine.

Imported wine consumption fell by 1.6% and Swiss wine consumed was down 4%. Stocks of white wine fell by 4.7% while red wine stocks rose 3.2%.

Source: Swiss government news

CFF Swiss rail in the black again

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 11:40:15 +0100

swissinfo/Swiss Politics - The CFF national rail company posted 2006 results showing a net profit of nearly SFr260 million, a sharp change from the 2005 loss of SFr116m. The good results are due in part to improved operations. Reserves worth SFr130m were liquidated.

Swissinfo talked to some of the CFF staff, who came close to going on strike in November 2006 - it would have been the first strike in 90 years. The company's health might be better, but employees expressed unhappines

Tax exiles have doubled, contribute to Swiss economy

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 09:56:44 +0100

WRG-FM - The number of tax exiles, the very wealthy, has risen from 2,400 in 2003 to 4,000 in 2006, according to a study by consultants KPGM. They contributed SFr1 billion to the Swiss economy last year.

What the work conditions survey doesn't show

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 11:14:17 +0100

Switzerland has its head in the sand when it comes to work, and it is high time to look up and shake the sand out of our eyes. I have just published an article on GL about how well Switzerland comes out on a European survey of work conditions that includes 31 countries. Clearly, things could be worse, and for some people it is - the boss from hell or crazy hours. For the most part, though, the picture looks pretty good, with 91% of workers saying they are satisfied or very satisfied with work conditions. So far, so good, I think.