MORNING NEWS

UBS saw its profitability decline in the first quarter of 2025. From January to the end of March, Switzerland's number one bank posted a net profit of 1.690 billion dollars, compared with 1.75 billion twelve months earlier. On the other hand, profit before tax fell by 10% year-on-year to 2.1 billion dollars, UBS reported on Wednesday. In adjusted terms, however, pre-tax profit from core businesses rose by 15%. Return on equity (CET) was 9.6% and 11.3% in adjusted terms.

Novartis has continued the strong pace of growth seen in recent quarters during the first three months of 2025. Contrary to the expectations of many analysts, the pharmaceutical company has raised its outlook again - for the ninth quarter in a row. Between January and March, Novartis generated sales of USD 13.2 billion. This is an increase of 12 per cent compared to the same period last year, as the Group announced on Tuesday.

British food-delivery company Deliveroo said it received a proposal from DoorDash earlier this month to buy all of its shares for 1.8 billion Pound Sterling ($2.40) a piece. Deliveroo said Friday that “it would be minded to recommend such an offer” to its shareholders, assuming an offer is made on those terms. Based on Deliveroo’s 1.5 billion outstanding shares, DoorDash’s offer values the company at approximately GBP2.7 billion, or about $3.6 billion. Deliveroo’s board has engaged with DoorDash regarding the offer and provided the San Francisco-based company with due diligence, Deliveroo said. The company noted there is no certainty a firm offer will be made. DoorDash has until May 23 to make such an offer.

The building materials group Holcim met sales expectations in the first quarter. Despite unfavourable weather conditions in North America, Holcim achieved sales of 5.54 (previous year: 5.58) billion Swiss francs. Analysts had expected sales in the same range. Recurring EBIT climbed by 1.7 per cent in local currency to CHF 515 million. The Group has confirmed its forecast for the year. Holcim believes that the spin-off of Amrize remains on track and expects a stock market listing in June 2025.

The logistics group Kuehne+Nagel generated significantly higher turnover in the first quarter of 2025 than in the previous year. Net turnover rose by 15 per cent to CHF 6.33 billion and gross profit, adjusted for volatile freight tariffs, increased by 8 per cent to CHF 2.24 billion, as the company announced on Thursday. Consequently, the profit figures also improved. Operating profit (EBIT) climbed by 7 per cent to CHF 402 million and net profit by 9 per cent to CHF 303 million.

Tesla’s net income slid 71% in the first quarter, as the company struggled to overcome competitive pressure overseas and a reputational hit from Chief Executive Elon Musk’s polarising role in the Trump administration. Musk said he would be devoting significantly less time to his federal cost-cutting work at the Department of Government Efficiency starting next month, but struck a defiant tone against critics. The electric-vehicle maker also reported adjusted earnings per share of 27 cents, which missed analysts’ expectations of 41 cents. Tesla said that shifting trade policies, exacerbated by the administration’s tariff regime, are stressing supply chains while adding to the automaker’s costs. Tesla imports some of its battery cells from China, but said it was looking to source them from the U.S. instead.

A marriage of two of the country’s biggest credit-card issuers is moving forward. Capital One’s $35 billion acquisition of Discover got the greenlight from bank regulators on Friday, who noted the approval was conditional on the resolution of pending enforcement actions against Discover. The deal greatly expands Capital One’s credit-card business and gives the bank a card network.

ABB’s first-quarter earnings increase exceeded analysts’ expectations, and the company said it intends to spin off its robotics division. The Swiss industrial-technology company said it achieved $1.10 billion in net profit for the first three months of the year, compared with $905 million a year prior, on revenue that grew 1% to $7.935 billion.

Rio Tinto said iron ore shipments from its Australian mining operations are likely to be at the lower end of guidance following disruptions from four cyclones during the first quarter of the year. The world's second-biggest miner by market value said it shipped 70.7 million metric tons of the steel ingredient from pits in Australia's minerals-rich Pilbara region in the three months through March.

Goldman Sachs said a jump in equities trading revenue fueled its profit in the first quarter, which ended just before President Trump’s sweeping tariffs set off market turmoil. JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley also last week reported big revenue increases from equities trading. The heightened activity reflected investors repositioning their portfolios in the face of uncertainty about Trump’s trade and economic policies. The upheaval in markets since then has put top bankers and their corporate clients on edge about what might come next.