the bottomline

NEW YORK:

Credit card company American Express said Wednesday that its first quarter profit fell 13 percent from a year earlier, as the company continues to deal with the aftermath of losing its partnership with warehouse chain Costco.

The New York-based company said it earned $1.24 billion in the quarter, down from $1.43 billion in the same period a year earlier. American Express earned $1.34 a share compared with $1.45 a share a year ago. That beat analysts’ forecasts of $1.28 per share, according to FactSet.

The drop in profits from a year earlier mostly has to do with the fact that American Express still had the Costco co-branded credit card in 2016. That partnership ended in June. Before the divorce, Costco represented a sizeable portion of American Express’ credit card loans and its billed business. To recover, AmEx has been more aggressively marketing its products, as well as making changes to products like the Platinum Card to entice more customers. (AP)

PITTSBURGH:

Alcoa Corp is moving its global headquarters back to Pittsburgh, where the 129-year-old company had been based until moving to New York City in 2006.

Alcoa has maintained offices in Pittsburgh and 10 employees will relocate from its New York headquarters when the move is made Sept 1. Alcoa already has 205 employees in Pittsburgh who share a building with Arconic, a spinoff company created when Alcoa split off its mining, refining and aluminum businesses in November from businesses that make aluminum parts for aerospace, automotive and other industries. (AP)

NEW YORK:

Verizon’s profit sunk 20 percent in its first quarter as it lost subscribers for its wireless cellphone service.

Shares dropped more than 2 percent in Thursday premarket trading. The stock has fallen more than 8 percent since the beginning of the year.

For its Fios service, Verizon added 35,000 internet subscribers, lost 13,000 cable subscribers and lost 8,000 voice subscribers.

Overall, the company reported net income of $3.45 billion, or 84 cents per share, for the three months ending March 31. That’s down from $4.43 billion, or $ 1.06 per share, in the same period a year ago. (AP)

OMAHA:

CSX Corp says restructuring and cost cutting under new CEO Hunter Harrison will lift profits at the railroad around 25 percent this year.

The Jacksonville, Florida-based railroad says its earnings per share will jump about 25 percent over last year’s $1.81, but that excludes restructuring costs. CSX officials discussed their outlook Thursday, one day after reporting first-quarter earnings. (AP)

LOS ANGELES:

Sky saw revenues rise 11% year-on-year to ?9.6 billion ($12.4 billion) for the nine months ending March 31, the broadcaster said Thursday. The result was $1.2 billion up on the same period the previous year.

Operating profits were ?1 billion ($1.3 billion), down 11%. Sky’s group chief executive Jeremy Darroch said the company’s investment in Sky Q, the launch of Sky Mobile, and additional Premier League soccer costs of $633.7 million were behind the drop. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization were ?1.5 billion ($1.8 billion). (RTRS)

BERLIN:

German luxury carmaker BMW on Thursday reported firstquarter pre-tax profits that were sharply higher than expected, largely thanks to one-off financial effects.

Profits before tax increased by 27 percent to 3.0 billion euros ($3.2 billion) in the period from January to March, compared with the same period a year earlier, the Munich-based group said in a statement.

BMW enjoyed a windfall gain of 183 million euros from its stake in high-tech mapmaker Here — in which historic competitors Daimler and Audi also hold shares — after new investors climbed aboard. (AFP)

FRANKFURT AM MAIN:

Growth in Asian emerging economies will boost global insurance markets into next year, balancing an expected slowdown in China, German reinsurance giant Munich Re said Thursday.

Worldwide insurance premiums will grow by around 4.5 percent in nominal terms — unadjusted for inflation — this year and next, up from 3.0 percent in 2016, the group predicts in a study.

In real, inflation-adjusted terms, that would see insurers’ revenue grow 2.9 percent this year and 3.1 percent in 2018, roughly keeping pace with global economic growth. (AFP)

BASEL:

Consumer goods giant Nestle saw sales barely rise in the first three months of 2017 but confirmed its guidance for the year, including a rise in restructuring costs.

The Vevey, Switzerland-based company said sales in the quarter rose 0.4 percent 21 billion Swiss francs ($21.07 billion). Underlying sales, which exclude the impact of acquisitions, were up 2.3 percent, with emerging markets doing far better than developed markets. Consumer demand in the Americas, in particular, was soft. (AP)

THE HAGUE:

Anglo-Dutch food and consumer products giant Unilever on Thursday reported rising sales and boosted its shareholder dividend in its first earnings update since seeing off a takeover bid by Kraft Heinz.

Sales rose 6.1 percent in the three months to March to 13.3 billion euros ($14.3 billion), partly explained by favourable exchange rate factors, and ahead of analysts’ expectations.

Ever since spurning a takeover bid from US rival in February, Unilever has been trying to prove to shareholders that it is better off on its own.(AFP)

MILAN:

Alitalia employees are voting on whether to accept a government-brokered deal to save Italy’s flagship airline from bankruptcy.

Some 12,500 Alitalia workers began voting Thursday on a package that eased steep cuts sought by parent Etihad Airways, and which will open 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in investment to keep the airline afloat. Voting runs through Tuesday.

Italy’s economic development minister, Carlo Calenda, has excluded nationalizing the airline, putting pressure on workers to accept the deal that foresees wage cuts of about 8 percent, down from as much as 30 percent, and reduces the number of layoffs by about one-third to 1,700. (AP)