SOUTH AFRICA

Racism rife at insurance giant, claims ex-manager 

May 13, 2005

By A'eysha Kassiem

Racism is part of life insurance giant Old Mutual's "reality". That was what former Old Mutual transformation manager David Manne told the Labour Court yesterday, where Justice Elna Revelas is to decide whether the insurance giant mishandled a complaint of alleged racial discrimination.

Manne told the court: "The incident (where a former employee alleges she overheard her white colleague refer to black colleagues as 'kaffirs') is part of the reality at Old Mutual. It forms part of other issues at the company that compromise black people. It is symptomatic of a broader problem."

Under cross-examination by the company's attorney Mike Wagener, Manne said although Old Mutual reflected the country's demographics, "it was not a true reflection of what it should be".

The matter that sees the SA Transport and Allied Workers' Union up against Old Mutual Life Assurance Company (SA) Limited has been under way since Tuesday.

Satawu is representing Xolile Finca, who is claiming R100 000 for breach of his constitutional rights.

Former Old Mutual contract employee Zorina Jeffreys has alleged she heard her white colleague, Jenny Burger, refer to Finca and another black colleague as "kaffirs". Burger is also being sued.

She is alleged to have told department head Barbara van Zyl "Hoekom sit jy my langs die kaffirs?" (Why did you put me next to the kaffirs?)

The incident took place at a time when the company was restructuring the floor plan and rearranging the desks of personnel in an open-plan office in 2003.

Manne told the court that as transformation manager, his role included looking at employment equity as well as cultural issues around transformation.

He was commissioned by management to conduct a fact-finding investigation that included interviews with those involved. He left the company's employment on March 31.

Appearing as a witness for Satawu, Manne said based on his investigation, the "appropriate disciplinary action had not been carried out".

In his interviews with Van Zyl and Burger, neither could remember what the term used by Burger was.

He said he found this "strange" as he could not "tie up" how Van Zyl could allegedly have issued Burger with a verbal warning if she could not remember what Burger had said.

Van Zyl gave the impression the matter was not serious, he said.

He said Burger had denied using the word "kaffir" and said she had used the word "Khayelitsha" instead, which he did not find "acceptable".

"Organisations are faced with challenges of diversity. In a country with a history such as ours, it is a highly charged issue. We require that leaders be skilled (in diversity issues)," he said.

There was a perception that as long as there was an apology for a racial slur, the matter had been dealt with, he said.

But this would mean there would be an "absence of understanding" about the incident and the "hurt" it had caused.

Union representative Susani Tomsana, employed at Old Mutual for the past 10 years, said people were reluctant to raise this kind of complaint, as they feared victimisation and stigmatisation.

But it was when Tomsana explained the weight of the word "kaffir" that Finca and a relative stormed out of the courtroom in tears. Their sobbing could be heard in the hallways.

"There are people who have died (for the right) not be called 'kaffir'. There are people who have been hanged in our courts (for the right) not to be called 'kaffir'," he said.

When asked for recommendations by the judge, he said the union had a "zero tolerance" approach toward racial incidents.

"We recognise there will be incidents, fatalities, victims and lessons, but in the union's view, it is a dismissable offence."

Argument continues today.

http://www.pretorianews.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=665&fArticleId=2519241

Bank of Ireland profit in line with forecasts

Thu 12 May, 2005 09:38

By Jodie Ginsberg

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Bank of Ireland delivered a 7 percent rise in profit for the year to March -- in line with forecasts -- and said strong economies in its main Irish and UK markets gave it optimism for the coming year.

But profits in asset management would weaken further this year after a poor investment performance at Bank of Ireland Asset Management (BIAM) triggered a fund outflow in the later part of the financial year just ended, it said on Thursday.

"The performance of the overall asset management business in profit terms will deteriorate further before it recovers. We're talking a 2-3 year period of recovery here," Chief Executive Brian Goggin said.

"The profit for the year 2005/6 is clearly going to be impacted to a much greater extent than the year just ended because the outflows happened in the back end of the year."

 The group, pursuing a transformation programme that will cut 2,100 job cuts to slash costs, said profit attributable to shareholders before goodwill amortisation and exceptional items, rose to 114.2 euro cents a share from 106.7 cents a year ago.

This was in line with a trading update given by the group in March. The mid-range forecast from eight analysts surveyed by Reuters had been for a rise to 113.7 cents.

Pretax profit on ordinary activities before exceptionals climbed 5 percent to 1.33 billion euros from 1.27 billion euros last time -- bang in line with expectations.

But its asset-management services division reported an 8 percent fall in pretax profit to 115 million euros.

UNION TALKS GOING WELL

Assets under management in BIAM fell by 10.6 billion euros to 46.9 billion euros in the year, as the bank had forecast.

Goggin said discussions with unions over the bank's proposed job cuts was progressing well and he hoped to conclude negotiations by the end of May.

He was also optimistic about overall business prospects for the coming year given the strength of the UK and Irish economies and said there was no sign of the UK economy derailing.

Analysts said the results offered few surprises but noted that provision for the transformation programme's costs had been accelerated to 117 million euros in the year to March 2005.

"This is encouraging, as it implies the bank is well down the road on the detail of the cost initiative," said Emer Lang of Davy Stockbrokers.

Shares in Bank of Ireland were 1.1 percent higher at 12.35 euros by 0915 GMT -- in line with the benchmark Irish ISEQ index <.ISEQ>.

The bank made no new announcement on its Bristol & West branch network in Britain, which it has decided is no longer core to its business. The group reiterated that it had received a number of expressions of interest in that business.

Bank of Ireland's net interest margin declined by 20 basis points to 2.01 percent as the bank had guided and it is expected to slip by a level in the mid- to high-teens again in 2005/6.

The bank said this was due to rapid balance-sheet growth, the impact of low interest rates on liability spreads, but it also pointed to some pressure from competition.

Ireland's two biggest banks, Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks are facing increased competition from new entrants with powerful parents, such as Bank of Scotland , which has acquired new retail outlets in Ireland.

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Unibanco First-Quarter Net Rose 45% on Loan Growth (Udpate1)

May 12 (Bloomberg) -- Uniao de Bancos Brasileiros SA, Brazil's third-biggest non-state bank, said first-quarter profit rose 45 percent as it boosted lending.

Net income climbed to 401.3 million reais ($163.6 million), or 29 centavos per share, from 276.1 million reais a year earlier, or 20 centavos a year earlier, the Sao Paulo-based bank said on its Web site. Earnings were in line with the median forecast of 405 million-real profit in a Bloomberg News survey of five analysts.

Brazilian banks like Unibanco are reporting a surge in profits as a growing economy fuels demand for credit while interest rates at their highest level since September 2003 boost returns on loans. Unlike rivals including Banco Bradesco SA and Banco Itau Holding Financeira SA, Unibanco reduced the charge it took for provisioning for bad loans.

``Conditions for banks are pretty good at the moment with solid interest rate margins and good loan growth,'' said Mario Pierry, an analyst at Deutsche Ixe in New York. From now on, investors will be watching to see whether higher interest rates in Brazil lead to increased loan defaults, he said.

Unibanco boosted the value of outstanding loans to 33.2 billion reais, up 4.3 percent from the end of December and 22 percent from the same period a year ago.

Income from lending rose to 2.22 billion reais, up 23 percent from the same period a year earlier. Provisioning expenses for loan defaults fell to 310 million reais, down from 401 million reais in the fourth quarter and 313 million reais a year earlier, the bank said.

Revenue from service fees rose 3.4 percent from the same period a year ago to 766 million reais, but declined 10 percent from the fourth quarter, the bank said.

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GE Unit to Buy BAC Stake to Expand in Central America (Update1)

May 12 (Bloomberg) -- General Electric Co., the world's biggest issuer of private-label credit cards, said a unit agreed to buy a 49.99 percent interest in BAC International Bank Inc. to expand into Central America.

GE Consumer Finance plans to buy the stake in the privately held bank for an undisclosed amount, Fairfield, Connecticut-based General Electric said today in a statement distributed by Business Wire.

The deal allows GE Consumer Finance to expand into Central America through BAC's 178 branches in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.

``The combination of GE Consumer Finance's broad global experience and BAC's established position in Central America will allow us to accelerate growth opportunities for both of us in this strategically important emerging market,'' Mark Begor, chief executive officer for GE's consumer finance unit in the Americas, said in the statement.

General Electric shares rose 36 cents yesterday to $36.19 in regular New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has gained 20 percent in the past year.

GE Consumer Finance spokesman Mike Ettlemyer didn't immediately return a voice-mail message left at his office.

Операционная прибыль Suzuki Motor выросла на 13% в 04/05г

2005-05-11 10:47 GMT+04:00

(NoNEWS) - Операционная прибыль японского автостроителя Suzuki Motor Corp. выросла в 2004/2005 финансовом году на 13 процентов благодаря росту азиатских продаж, сообщила компания в среду.

Прибыль от операций компании по итогам 2004/2005 финансового года, завершившегося 31 марта, составила 107,54 миллиарда иен ($1,02 миллиарда). Аналитики прогнозировали 110,49 миллиарда иен.

Чистая прибыль выросла на 38 процентов до 60,51 миллиарда иен.

Suzuki, пятая часть которой принадлежит General Motors Corp., прогнозирует, что в текущем финансовом году ее операционная прибыль упадет на 16 процентов до 90 миллиардов иен из-за роста капиталовложений и ослабления доллара.

Опрошенные NoNEWS эксперты ожидают, что прибыль от операций автоконцерна в 2005/2006 финансовом году составит в среднем 120,45 миллиарда иен.

Автомобили будут ездить на спирте

Saab 9-5, предназначенный для продаж в Швеции, работает либо на биоэтаноле, либо на бензине в любом их соотношении. На других европейских рынках такой Saab 9-5 должен пробудить интерес к автомобилям, которые используют разные виды топлива.

За основу для такого "гибрида" был взят бензиновый турбодвигатель объемом 2 литра, который развивает мощность в 180 л.с. За работающим на спирту Saab 9-5 последует соответствующая версия 9-3. Раньше, Ford также представил в Швеции "спиртовой" вариант Focus. Связано это с тем, что в Швеции имеется около 140 заправочных станций с топливом E85. E85 на 85% состоит из этанола, который получают из растений и отходов их переработки и на 15% из бензина, сообщает autoNews.ru.

А вот в Германии только на незначительном количестве заправочных станций биоэтанол примешивают к обычным видам топлива. В небольших количествах он необходим для двигателя. Этанол экологически безопасен, так как при сгорании он выделяет только тот СО2, который могут поглощать растения. К 2010 году Европейский союз намерен увеличить долю биологического топлива до 5,75%. 

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Health Mgmt 2Q Up 10% On Rev Growth, Insurance Proceeds 

Tuesday April 26, 8:14 AM EDT

NAPLES, Fla. (Dow Jones)--Health Management Associates Inc. (HMA) reported second-quarter net income rose 10% due to continued revenue growth at existing hospitals and insurance proceeds related to the hurricanes that hit Florida last year.

In a press release Tuesday, the hospital operator said it earned $99.8 million, or 40 cents a share, up from $90.5 million, or 37 cents, a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Thomson First Call expected the company to earn 39 cents a share in the quarter.

Revenue rose 10% to $917.4 million from $833.9 million in the year-ago period.

Net patient service revenue at hospitals owned at least one year increased 3.8% in the quarter due to a 1.8% increase in admissions, with a continued focus on outpatient services.

Total admissions, which includes patient care at hospitals acquired in the past year, rose 7.3% in the second quarter.

During the second quarter, the company acquired three hospitals.

While visits from uninsured and underinsured patients continue to increase, as with most hospitals, the company's same-hospital self-pay admissions rose to 6.2% of total admissions, compared with 5.9% in the same quarter a year earlier.

During the second quarter, Health Management recognized about $1.6 million of net income from business interruption insurance proceeds as a result of the hurricanes that hit Florida in the fourth quarter ended Sept. 30, 2004.

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No insurance back payments for Polish workers 

BERLIN - German fruit and vegetable farmers will not have to make back payments to Poland to cover social insurance contributions for Polish seasonal workers employed in Germany during 2004, the president of the German farmers union, Gerd Sonnleitner, said on Monday.

Sonnleitner was citing the German social ministry which was currently trying to reach a similar solution for 2005, he said. The ministry did not officially comment on the statement by the German farmers union.

БЕРЛИН - Немецкие фрукты и растительные фермеры не должны будут сделать засчеты задним числом к Польше, чтобы покрыть вклады социального страхования для польских сезонных рабочих, нанятых в Германии в течение 2004, президент немецкого союза фермеров, Gerd Sonnleitner, сказал в понедельник. Sonnleitner цитировал немецкое социальное министерство, которое в настоящее время пробовало достигнуть подобного решения на 2005, он сказал. Министерство официально не комментировало утверждение немецким союзом фермеров.

Since Poland joined the European Union in May 2004, Polish seasonal workers employed in Germany during the harvest period have been obliged to pay social insurance contributions.

Так как Польша присоединилась к Европейскому союзу в мае 2004, польские сезонные рабочие, нанятые в Германии в течение периода урожая были обязаны заплатить вклады социального страхования.

However, German farmers have failed to pass the contributions for a large majority of the 280,000 seasonal Polish employees on to the Polish social insurance services.

Heinrich Tiemann, secretary of state in the German social ministry, visited Warsaw last Friday for talks on the issue. The ministry said it was trying to reach a "pragmatic solution".

Such a deal could lead to an exemption from back payments for at least 2004.

Однако, немецкие фермеры были не в состоянии передать вклады для значительного большинства 280 000 сезонных польских служащих на польских услугах социального страхования. Генрих Тиманн, госсекретарь в немецком социальном министерстве, посетил Варшаву в прошлую пятницу для переговоров по проблеме. Министерство сказало, что это пробовало достигнуть "прагматического решения". Такое дело могло привести к освобождению от засчетов задним числом для по крайней мере 2004.

The German Farmers Union has warned the issue of outstanding social insurance payments could lead to an "explosion of costs".

The German government commented that the farmers union apparently failed to inform their members about their obligations to pay social insurance contributions for Polish workers.

Немецкий Союз Фермеров предупредил, что проблема выдающихся платежей социального страхования могла привести к "взрыву затрат". Немецкое правительство прокомментировало, что союз фермеров очевидно был не в состоянии сообщить их членам об их обязательствах заплатить вклады социального страхования за польских рабочих.

DPA

Mersedes CLS65 переслал быть тайой

 Деловая неделя

Все уже видели и Mercedes CLS500, и CLS55, и наверное, самая заряженная версия CLS тоже недолго останется тайной. Теперь четырехдверное купе получило двигатель мощностью более чем 600 л.с. и называется CLS65. От других версий его можно отличить по буквально огромным колесам и уникальной форме воздухозаборников.

Официально Mercedes представит CLS65 на осеннем автосалоне во Франкфурте, где все желающие смогут полюбоваться на 6-литровый агрегат V12 с двумя турбинами, сообщает autoNews.ru.

Можно только смутно догадываться о том, как будет "улетать" с места в карьер этот автомобиль, если вспомнить, что CLS55 мощностью 560 л.с. разгоняется до сотни за 4,5 секунды. 

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Fiat Posts First Profit in 14 Quarters on GM Payment (Update3)

May 10 (Bloomberg) -- Fiat SpA, Italy's biggest manufacturer, reported the first profit in 14 quarters after Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne extracted $2 billion from General Motors Corp. to end a failing car-making alliance.

Net income of 295 million euros ($379 million) compared with a loss of 390 million euros a year earlier, the Turin, Italy-based company said in a statement to the Italian exchange today. Revenue fell 2.4 percent to 10.8 billion euros, hurt by a slump in car sales. The earnings were less than the 650 million-euro median estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

``Just goes to show that Fiat's woes are deep-rooted,'' said Claudio Morsenchio, who manages $715 million at Banco Emiliano Romagnolo SpA in Bologna, Italy. ``Fiat's problem is that it's in the wrong end of the market. It's making small cars whose margins aren't as high as they are for bigger, luxury cars.''

Marchionne, who took over last June, in February promised ``radical surgery'' to turn around the auto business, the main contributor to $10 billion of losses at Fiat in four years. He fired the head of Fiat Auto and took charge himself, laid off 17,000 hourly workers and 1,500 managers, and invested in new versions of cars such as the Punto, Italy's top-selling model.

Shares of Fiat fell 19 euro cents, or 3.4 percent, to 5.47 euros at 2:33 p.m. in Milan. The stock has fallen 7.4 percent this year.

Market Decline

Fiat, Europe's largest automaker 16 years ago, now has 7 percent of Western European car sales as rivals including Toyota Motor Co., Renault SA and Peugeot SA gain market share. In Italy, Fiat's market share fell to 28 percent last year, from 60 percent in 1986. The carmaker's European sales dropped 17 percent last month, while the company's Italian sales declined 9 percent.

The 106-year-old carmaker expects fewer auto sales this year than in 2004 as it reduces discounts on Fiat, Lancia and Alfa Romeo cars, favoring profit over market share.

Marchionne pushed for a cash settlement from GM in a dispute over whether an option would have forced the Detroit-based carmaker to buy Fiat's auto unit and assume $10 billion in debt. GM, the world's biggest carmaker, gave Fiat 1 billion euros in February and will pay out the remaining 550 million euros by May 13, boosting Fiat's second-quarter results as well.

Fiat said it had a first-quarter net gain of 715 million euros on the February payment. Fiat expects a gain of 400 million euros in the second quarter from this month's payment. Fiat had 5.7 billion euros in cash at the end of March.

Fiat Auto

Fiat Auto reported that its first-quarter loss before interest and tax narrowed to 129 million euros from 146 million euros. When including the company's luxury car unit Ferrari SpA, which sells Ferrari and Maserati cars, Fiat's loss in the car businesses shrank to 166 million euros from 185 million euros.

The carmaker said Italian demand will be weak this year because of the country's slow economic growth and high fuel costs.

``If things carry on like this, it will be difficult for the company to pull itself out of its negative results trend,'' said Marcello Benedetti, head of fixed income sales at HSBC Bank Plc in Milan, in an interview before the results were released. ``Things have been getting worse month by month and unless they find a couple of winning models to pull themselves out of the situation they are in, it won't change.''

A York County real estate title insurance agent pleaded guilty Tuesday to embezzling more than $1 million.

News 8 reported that there was no hesitation in Dwayne Pope's voice as he pleaded guilty to embezzling about $1.6 million.

Federal prosecutors said Pope operated a real estate settlement firm in a business center along Route 194 in Hanover. His job called for collecting and disbursing money owed in real estate transactions, but Pope didn't do that. Investigators said he used the money to benefit himself and others.

Йоркский страховой агент названия недвижимого имущества Графства признал себя виновным во вторник к присвоению больше чем 1 миллиона $. Новости 8 сообщили, что не было никакого колебания голосом Римского папы Dwayne, поскольку он признал себя виновным к присвоению приблизительно 1.6 миллионов $. Федеральные обвинители сказали, что Римский папа управлял фирмой урегулирования недвижимого имущества в деловом центре по Маршруту 194 в Ганновере. Его работа, к которой призывают, собираясь и платя деньги, которым должным в сделках недвижимого имущества, но Римском папе не делала этого. Исследователи сказали, что он использовал деньги для

The others have not been identified yet, but Pope will have to testify against them as part of Tuesday's plea agreement

His lawyer said Pope feels bad about what he did, but would not comment on why Pope embezzled the money or what he bought with it. The lawyer said he expects the East Berlin resident to explain his actions during sentencing in August.

Pope faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, $250,000 fine, plus he must make restitution of $1.6 million.

 Другие не были идентифицированы все же, но Римский папа должен будет свидетельствовать против них как часть соглашения просьбы вторника, которое Его адвокат сказал, что Римский папа плохо себя чувствует о том, что он сделал, но не будет комментировать, почему Римский папа присвоил деньги или что он купил с этим. Адвокат сказал, что он ожидает, что житель Восточного Берлина объяснит его действия в течение приговора в августе. Римский папа оказывается перед максимальным предложением пяти лет в тюрьме, штрафе за 250 000 $, плюс он должен сделать реституцию 1.6 миллионов $.

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Рост выручки Audi AG превзошел рост продаж в янв-апр 05г

Рост выручки подразделения Volkswagen Audi AG оказался в январе-апреле 2005 года более быстрым, чем продажи автомобилей Audi, сообщила компания в среду.

Товарооборот компании возрос в январе-апреле 2005 года на пять процентов до 8,6 миллиарда евро ($11,05 миллиарда). Объем поставок машин марки Audi вырос на 4,2 процента до 269.750 автомобилей.

Audi подтвердила прогноз увеличения продаж автомобилей в этом году, что позволило бы ей получить прибыль по итогам года 12-й раз подряд.

Доналоговая прибыль ожидается вблизи прежнего уровня.