Zurich (awp) – Key economic news of the day:
FRAGRANCES AND FLAVOURS: Givaudan exceeded pre-crisis revenue levels in nearly all of its businesses last year. Markedly improved, profitability suffered from high logistics costs in the second half. In 2022, the prices of raw materials will be the main concern of the Geneva flavors and fragrances giant. Raw material costs are expected to increase by 9% this year according to Givaudan, which has entered into negotiations with its customers to pass on this effect to prices. “This is the third cycle of increases” after those of 2011 (+15%) and 2017-2018 (+5% per year), reminded AWP the general manager Gilles Andrier.
BANKS: Credit Suisse, in turmoil since the departure of its president and mired in the Greensill and Archegos cases, wants to adjust the payment of bonuses to its employees, in particular to better take into account risk management. “Our goal is to distribute compensation that finds the right balance between the interests of employees, shareholders and other stakeholders,” said the banking group in an internal memo sent to the AWP agency.
LUXURY: The watch brand Zenith achieved a record year in terms of revenue in 2021. Notwithstanding the challenges linked to the coronavirus pandemic, the Le Locle manufacture anticipates a very dynamic 2022 financial year, thanks in particular to new products. “We have recorded a double-digit increase in turnover over two years and three-digits compared to 2020. And profitability has reached a fantastic level”, tells AWP Julien Tornare, the general manager, on the sidelines of the show. digital watchmaker LVMH Watch Week, an event during which the watchmaking houses of the French luxury giant present their new products.
CONDITIONS: Consumption stalled in December in the United States, as economic activity was disrupted by the Omicron variant, while household incomes rose, but less than expected, according to Commerce Department data. Household spending fell, as expected, by 0.6% in December compared to November. The increase in spending on services (+0.5%), and in particular on health services, was not sufficient to offset the drop in purchases of goods (-2.6%), weighed down by the decline in sales of cars.
CONJUNCTURE: French economic activity rebounded sharply in 2021 with growth of 7%, unheard of for 52 years but which comes after the historic recession suffered in 2020 due to the health crisis. This first estimate, published by INSEE, exceeds the forecasts of economists, such as those of the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies and the Banque de France.
CONDITIONS: German gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.7% in the fourth quarter of 2021, after two quarters of growth, due to shortages hampering industry and restrictions linked to the coronavirus pandemic, according to preliminary figures released on Friday. “After returning to growth during the summer, despite growing difficulties with shortages of materials, the recovery was halted by the fourth wave of coronavirus”, explains the statistical institute Destatis in a press release.
CONSUMER GOODS: The American hygiene and cleaning products group Colgate-Palmolive, which raised its prices from October to December 2021, achieved quarterly and annual sales below market expectations and saw his action sanctioned on Wall Street. The company’s quarterly revenue came in at 4.40 billion and annual revenue at 17.42 billion dollars (16.2 billion Swiss francs), below analysts’ average forecasts.
AUTOMOBILE: Renault will build in Dieppe from 2025 the small electric SUV of its sports brand Alpine, as part of an industrial reinvestment welcomed on Friday by the Minister of the Economy. The Renault group has made Alpine its sporting showcase, abandoning the Renault Sport brand. This promotion, particularly in Formula 1 with the French driver Esteban Ocon, should bring new notoriety to the brand, known outside France only to enthusiasts.
CONSUMER GOODS: Swedish home appliance group Electrolux announced a sharper-than-expected drop in its annual net profit (-29%), due to a fourth quarter weighed down by rising costs and supply problems . Net profit for 2021 was 4.7 billion crowns (464 million Swiss francs) while turnover reached 125.6 billion crowns (12.4 billion Swiss francs), an increase of 8%.
CLOTHING: Swedish ready-to-wear giant Hennes et Mauritz (H&M) announced a nine-fold increase in annual net profit for 2021 to 11.0 billion Swedish kronor (1.09 billion Swiss francs), above expectations, after a 2020 financial year weighed down by the confinements of the pandemic. Despite a boycott movement which further plunged its sales in China by nearly 40%, the world number 2 in the sector regained in the fourth quarter and excluding exchange rate effects a turnover similar to the pre-pandemic.
AUTOMOBILE: Toyota retained its crown as world number one in the automotive industry in 2021. The Japanese manufacturer sold no less than 10.5 million vehicles over the whole of last year, 10.1% more than a year earlier, according to data published by the group. This performance reflects the resistance in the whole of the Japanese giant’s production (which also includes its Hino and Daihatsu brands) despite the severe disruption of the global supply chains of the automotive industry, in particular for semiconductors. . Toyota has risen to the top for the second consecutive year ahead of the German Volkswagen group (VW, Audi, Skoda, Seat brands, etc.), whose global sales fell by 4.5% last year, to 8 .88 million units, according to figures published in mid-January.
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