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International Business News
Ericsson reports profit drop, to cut 5,000 jobs
AP, Stockholm. Sweden
Wireless equipment maker IM Ericsson on Wednesday reported profits dropped 31 percent in the fourth quarter, citing restructuring charges and weaker handset sales, and said it would slash 5,000 jobs.
Still, Ericsson said its core infrastructure business was not yet feeling the effects of the global economic downturn, and its better-titan-expected report sent shares up more than 10 percent to 62 kronor in Stockholm.
Net proGt in the quarter fell to 3.9 billion kronor ($465 million) from 5.6 billion a year earlier.
Ericsson said the results included about 3 billion kronor in restructuring charges and "a dramatic drop" in the contribution from its handset unit, Sony Ericsson. The joint venture with Japan's Sony last week said it had swung to a fourth-quarter loss of euro 187 million ($243 million).
Sales received a boost from a weaker krona, rising 23 percent to 67 billion kronor, from 54.5 billion kronor a year earlier. SEB Enskilda analyst Mats Nystrom said the strong sales were the biggest surprise in what he called a "really good quarter" for Ericsson.
The world's leading maker of mobile broadband infrastructure said it released the fourth-quarter report a week ahead of schedule because it exceeded market expectations.
British unemployment rate jumps above six percent
AFP, London
Britain's unemployment rate jumped to a decade-high 6.1 percent in the three months to November, with nearly two million out of work, official data showed on Wednesday.
Under the International Labour Organization (ILO) measure of unemployment, the rate had stood at 6.0 percent for the three months to October, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.
According the British government's own measure, the unemployment rate advanced to 3.6 percent in December, the highest point since mid-2000 and compared with 3.3 percent in November.
The 6.1 -percent rate was the highestsince 1999.
"The bad news on the labour market is absolutely relentless now as the deepening recession, slumping business confidence and persistent very tight credit conditions exact a heavy toll," said IHS Global Insight analyst Howard Archer.
"Reports of companies laying off workers are becoming more and more prevalent, while an increasing number of companies are folding."
The number of people claiming jobless benefits in Britain leapt by 131,000 in the three months to November to 1.92 million — the highest figure in more than a decade - the ONS added on Wednesday.
German government forecasts historic recession
AFP, Berlin
Berlin forecast on Wednesday that Germany will suffer its deepest post-war recession this year, as Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet chewed over a historic rescue package aimed at easing the pain.
Germany's economy, which accounts for about a third of eurozone output, will contract by around 2.25 percent in 2009, the government said, as the sharp global slowdown hits demand for the country's all-important exports.
And by the end of the year there will be another half a million Germans out of work -- something certain to add spice to campaigning ahead of general elections on September 27 when Merkel hopes to secure a second term.
"This economic downturn that we are unfortunately having to predict is without precedent in the postwar period, it is the biggest slump in Germany's recent history," Economy Minister Michael Glos told a news conference.
Hong Kong Exchange Fund reveals heavy loss in 2008
AFP, Hong Kong
Hong Kong's Exchange Fund recorded a net loss of 74.9 billion dollars (9.6 billion US) in 2008, as turmoil on global stock markets battered its investments, the central bank said Wednesday.
The fund, which is partly used to back the Hong Kong dollar's link to the greenback, last year recorded a negative investment return of 5.6 percent, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said in a statement.
It is the fund's first negative annual return since records began in 1994. The fund had made a record return of 142.2 billion dollars in 2007, figures released by the HKMA showed.
HKMA chief executive Joseph Yam said the loss was due to exceptional turbulence in equity markets during 2008.
"The world financial crisis weighed heavily on global business sentiment and investor confidence," he said.