MORNING NEWS

In the third quarter, the logistics group Kuehne+Nagel increased its turnover compared to the same period last year. There was stronger demand for flexible logistics services, not least due to renewed supply chain disruptions, the company explained. Net sales increased by 19 per cent to CHF 6.49 billion and gross profit adjusted for volatile freight rates rose by 5 per cent to CHF 2.19 billion, as the company announced on Wednesday. As a result, the profit figures also improved.

Logitech increased both turnover and profit in the second quarter of the 2024/25 financial year. The computer accessories manufacturer is also further raising its outlook, which was only increased in the first quarter of the year. Turnover rose by 6 per cent to 1.12 billion US dollars in the months from July to September, as the company announced on Tuesday. The growth was broad-based across all regions and almost all categories, CEO Hanneke Faber was quoted as describing. In addition, operating profit (EBIT, non-GAAP) adjusted for acquisition and restructuring costs climbed 5 per cent to USD 192.8 million.

Procter & Gamble reported higher earnings than expected, fell short on sales despite price increases, and reiterated its financial guidance. As a huge consumer-products company, with brands spanning from Tide laundry detergent to Bounty paper towels, the company tends to serve as an indicator of what is going on with the spending habits of the average shopper. For its first fiscal quarter, Procter & Gamble reported core earnings of $1.93 per share, beating Wall Street’s call for $1.90, according to FactSet. Net sales of $21.7 billion were below the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion and fell 1% from the year-ago quarter. Volume was flat, while prices rose 1%. P&G maintained its outlook for 2025 all-in sales growth to a range of 2% to 4% from a year ago, and repeated its forecast for core earnings per share, which equates to a range of $6.91 to $7.05.

Netflix shares rose about 4% afterhours as the streaming giant reported that revenue and operating margins continued to improve even as subscriber growth slowed, a sign the company is having success in pivoting toward profitability over growth. Netflix added 5.07 million subscribers in the third quarter, compared with 8.76 million net new subscribers during the period a year earlier. The company ended the quarter with 282.7 million global subscribers, up from 247.15 million subscribers a year ago.

Nestle lowered its sales expectations for the second time this year as the food giant offers greater discounts to lure back shoppers deterred by rising prices in recent years. he Switzerland-based maker of coffee, confectionary, breakfast cereals and nutritional supplements now expects organic sales growth of 2% for 2024 as a whole, down from previous targets of at least 3% and before that, 4%. That would imply no acceleration from the first nine months of the year, when sales were 2.4% lower on year at 67.15 billion Swiss francs ($77.59 billion), Nestle said Thursday.

ASML Holding warned of a slower-than-expected recovery for some areas of the semiconductor industry after orders came in below analysts’ expectations as chip makers held back spending on key production equipment. The Dutch company, which supplies semiconductor-making machinery to chip makers, booked 2.63 billion euros, equivalent to $2.87 billion, in orders in the third quarter, up from 2.60 billion euros a year earlier but well below analysts’ forecast of 5.59 billion euros, according to consensus estimates by Visible Alpha.

The Singapore government plans to put a halt to a proposed deal by Germany’s Allianz to buy a majority stake in Singapore insurance company Income Insurance. “The government has assessed the proposed transaction and has decided that it would not be in the public interest for the transaction, in its current form, to proceed,” said Edwin Tong, minister for culture, community and youth, in remarks to parliament on Monday. The ministry isn’t confident that Income will be able to continue fulfilling its social mission following the proposed Allianz transaction, Tong said. Income was set up as a social enterprise in 1970 to provide accessible and inclusive insurance to Singaporeans, he added.

Boeing will cut 10% of its global workforce, or roughly 17,000 jobs, and warned of deeper losses in its operations as a machinist strike compounds problems brewing at the jet maker for years.

Delta (-1%) warned that Americans are likely to cut their travel spending in the run-up to November’s presidential election. Delta Air Lines revealed the dollars-and-cents impact of the CrowdStrike outage on Thursday, and issued a soft fourth-quarter outlook that appears to have disappointed investors. The legacy carrier said in an earnings report that the tech glitch, which crippled Microsoft computers worldwide and forced it to ground about 7,000 flights over a five-day period in July, had cost it $380 million in revenue and 45 cents a share in profit over the three months ended Sept. 30. Delta also forecast earnings of between $1.60 and $1.85 a share for the current quarter, warning that Americans are likely to cut their travel spending in the run-up to November’s presidential election.

The Geneva-based flavour and fragrance manufacturer Givaudan continued the strong growth of the first half of the year in the third quarter. The industry leader further benefited from significantly higher sales volumes. Overall, sales rose by 7.2 per cent to 5.64 billion Swiss francs in the first nine months, as the supplier of flavours and fragrances for food, perfumes, household and personal care products announced on Thursday. In organic terms, i.e. adjusted for acquisitions and disposals as well as currency effects, Givaudan even grew by 13.0 per cent.