the bottomline

MILAN:

Shares in Italian American automaker Fiat Chrysler tanked Thursday after the company issued conservative earnings forecasts for 2019, even as it posted record earnings last year.

Fiat Chrysler shares were temporarily suspended from trading due to excessive volatility, and then shed 11 percent to 13.55 euros ($15.39) in Milan, as analysts expressed disappointment at the earnings guidance of 6.7 billion euros for 2019.

That figure was below the full-year 2018 adjusted EBIT - or adjusted earnings before taxes, depreciation and amortization - of 7.2 billion euros, which Fiat said was a record. It also fell short of analyst forecasts of between 7.1 billion euros to 8.6 billion euros.

Manley said the carmaker was confronting a disappointing launch of the Ram light duty truck in the United States, plans to ramp up underutilized plants in Europe, particularly in Fiat’s native Italy, as well as issues in China and with luxury car brand Maserati. (AP)

LONDON:

Shares in British oil services firm Petrofac slumped almost 30 percent on Thursday after a former senior executive pleaded guilty to 11 counts of bribery in relation to oil deals in Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

Britain’s Serious Fraud Office said David Lufkin, a former global head of sales for Petrofac, was convicted over what the prosecutor called corrupt attempts by Petrofac to secure deals, via agents, worth more than $730 million in Iraq and more than $3.5 billion in Saudi Arabia.

The 51-year-old Briton will be sentenced at a later date. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Petrofac said a number of Petrofac individuals and entities were alleged to have acted “with the individual concerned”, although no current board member of Petrofac Ltd was alleged to have been involved and there had been no further charges. (RTRS)

LONDON:

Scotland’s capital Edinburgh is to become the first British city to introduce a tourist tax to try to better manage the impact of swelling visitor numbers and booming hotel occupancy, its council said on Thursday.

One of Britain’s most picturesque cities, Edinburgh had 1.75 million foreign visitors on average annually between 2015 and 2017, making it the second most-visited in Britain after London.

Hotel occupancy was the highest among all UK cities in 2017, at an average of 83.7 percent.

The council said it would use funds raised by the 2-pound ($2.60) per room per night tax “to improve facilities and better manage the city”, as other European cities such as Barcelona and Rome have done. ( RTRS)

PARIS:

France expects to support a revised directive on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, said the country’s foreign ministry on Thursday, adding it was working with partners including Germany on possible changes to a text on the matter.

Germany has been pressuring other European capitals to block an EU proposal to regulate Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline ahead of a key meeting on Friday, diplomatic sources have said.

“The aim of the revision of the gas directive is to apply the rules of the third energy package to all pipelines with third countries entering Europe. The revised directive would apply to the Nord Stream 2 project,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Agnes von der Muhll told reporters in a daily online briefin

MILAN:

Italian lender UniCredit says fourth-quarter profits more than doubled on accelerated positive tax effects under Italy’s new budget law.

Italy’s largest bank by assets reported Thursday a 1.7 billion-euro ($1.9 billion) quarterly net profit, compared with 801 million euros in the same period last year. Net income rose by 5 percent to 2.7 billion euros while fees and commissions shrank by 1.4 percent to 1.65 billion euros.

Without the positive tax impact of 887 million euros, quarterly profits rose by 20 percent for the best fourth quarter in a decade. (AP)

OSLO:

Norwegian metals producer Norsk Hydro warned it will miss its 2019 savings targets after falling well short of fourth-quarter earnings expectations hit by restricted output in Brazil and higher costs.

Underlying operating profit fell 85 percent to 534 million Norwegian crowns ($62.48 million) versus the 1.45 billion crowns expected by analysts in a Reuters poll.

“Our results are reflecting the challenging situation we face in Brazil and higher raw material costs,” Chief Executive Svein Richard Brandtzaeg said in a statement.

Despite making some progress it said it remained uncertain on when its Alunorte alumina facility in Brazil, the world’s largest, might return to full output. It has been operating at half capacity following a spill of untreated water in February. (AP)

LOUISVILLE, Ky:

Yum Brands missed Wall Street’s profit and revenue forecasts in the fourth quarter despite strong same-store sales growth at Taco Bell and KFC restaurants.

Net earnings fell 17 percent to $1.04 per share.

Without one-time items, including a big gain from refranchising 331 company-owned restaurants, Yum earned 40 cents per share in the October-December period, down 58 percent from a year ago. That was well short of the 95 cents analysts had forecast, according to FactSet. (AP)

NEW YORK:

Two Southern banks giants - BB&T and SunTrust - announced they would merge in a $66 billion deal, the first big bank merger since the chaos of the 2008 financial crisis. The combined company will create the sixth-largest bank in the country, putting BB&T and SunTrust in the ranks of other megabanks like JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo.

The banks said Thursday that the combined company will be have $442 billion in assets, $301 billion in loans and $324 billion in deposits serving more than 10 million households. The two banks’ market share will make them a formidable presence in the South, particularly in growing parts of the country like Atlanta and Nashville, Tennessee. The companies operate banks from Pennsylvania to Florida, and as far west as Texas. (AP)