Shareholders cautioned about talks

making and operations.

Piaget and Vacheron Constantin employees rejected Richemont’s plan earlier this week, with 65 percent of votes against, according to a statement from the company.

Turnout was 32 percent of a combined workforce of 1 352 people.

Talks with the Unia and Syna unions would center on improving measures to help employees who were most impacted in terms of finding jobs, said Serge Hauert, a human resource director at Richemont, in an e-mailed statement.

Shares of Richemont traded 0.3 percent lower at Sf66.50 (R898) at 1:34pm in Zurich.

They have dropped 12 percent in the past year. By the close in Johannesburg, the shares were 2.05 percent lower at R89.63.

“This is a historic time for us in watchmaking, it’s the first time we’re going to the streets,” said Antonio Di Marino, a mechanic who joined more than 100 workers to protest in Plan-les-Ouates, a town near Geneva. “We’re all scared. We know that whole industry isn’t going well, so where would we go?” – Bloomberg ALLIED Electronics Corporation (Altron) is cautioning shareholders that it is in talks. The listed company said that it was in negotiations that might have a material effect on its share price. Altron did not give any indication as to whether it was buying, or was involved in a buyout. The company completed the biggest deal in its history when it bought out minorities in Altech in 2013 for R1.8 billion. In October, the firm said overall revenue dropped by 14percent to R11.4bn in the six months to August, while earnings before tax, interest, depreciation and amortisation gained 58percent to R380 million. Headline earnings a share improved to 31c a share from a headline loss of 64c a share a year ago. Altron shares surged by 16.42percent on the JSE to close at R8.72 a share yesterday, while the JSE’s electronic and electrical goods index decline by 0.75 percent. – IOL, go to www.busrep.co.za