Rolls-Royce to cut 2,600 aerospace jobs
Rolls-Royce, the British maker of jet engines, has said that it would cut its workforce by 2,600 in the wake of a profit warning last month.
The company said Tuesday that the cuts, which represent nearly 5 percent of its 55,000 employees worldwide, will come over the next 18 months and mainly occur in its aerospace division. The company did not say where, geographically, the jobs would be cut. Rolls-Royce has about 16,000 employees in Britain.
Rolls-Royce is a leading global supplier of jet engines for military and civilian aircraft, and it also makes engines for ships and factories. The job cuts appear to be a sign of slackening global demand for big pieces of equipment. “The measures today will not be the last,” John Rishton, the company’s chief executive since 2011, said in a statement. “They will contribute to Rolls-Royce being a stronger and more profitable company.”
TOYOTA MOTOR RAISES PROFIT FORECAST
Toyota Motor reported a surge in quarterly profits Wednesday and issued a more optimistic outlook for the year, forecasting a record profit of 2 trillion yen thanks to rising sales and a weaker Japanese currency.
Toyota, which has kept its narrow lead in the global sales rankings this year, said its yearly forecast of $17.5 billion included net profit in the three months through September of 539 billion yen, or $4.2 billion. That represented a gain of 23 percent over the same period a year earlier and beat analysts’ predictions.
21ST CENTURY FOX EARNINGS BEAT ESTIMATES
Movie studio and cable network growth resulted in better-than-expected quarterly profit at 21st Century Fox. But weakness at the Fox broadcast network continued to bedevil the company.
The media conglomerate, which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch, said Tuesday that income in its fiscal first quarter totaled $1.04 billion, or 47 cents a share, a decrease from $1.26 billion, or 54 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time gains, earnings rose to 39 cents a share, from 33 cents a year ago. Analysts had expected 36 cents a share. Revenue totaled $7.89 billion in the quarter, which ended Sept. 30.
Operating income at the company’s movie studio spiked 40 percent, to $458 million. Cable networks — FX, FXX, Fox News Channel and others — reported a 5 percent increase in operating income, to $1.04 billion. A 21 percent increase in programming costs dented cable results, the company said. Satellite television operating income rose 9 percent, to $207 million.
CEMEX DEAL SEEN BOLSTERING RETURNS ON BONDS
Cemex’s bondholders are giving the cement maker a vote of confidence after it persuaded banks to boost the size of its credit line and ease restrictions on its ability to expand.
The company said this week that it won lenders’ consent to increase its loan by $515 million and spend more on capital and potential acquisitions. The move will probably bolster gains in Cemex’s notes because it provides the company with another source of funding, according to creditors including Stone Harbor Investment Partners and Neuberger Berman Group. Its $1 billion of bonds due 2021 have gained 10.4 percent this year, twice the gain for junk-rated debt in emerging markets.
U.S. MORTGAGE APPLICATIONS DOWN 2.6%
Mortgage applications in the United States declined for a second week as fewer homeowners refinanced their properties.
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index fell 2.6 percent in the period ended Friday after a 6.6 percent decrease the week before, data from the Washington-based group showed Wednesday.
The refinancing gauge dropped 5.5 percent, while the purchase applications measure rose 2.6 percent from the lowest level since February. The average on a 30-year fixed loan rose to 4.17 percent from 4.13 percent. The average 15-year mortgage rate jumped to 3.38 percent from 3.28 percent, the first increase since mid-September.
U.S. OIL PRICE FALLS BELOW $76 A BARREL
Oil prices has plunged for a second consecutive day as commodity traders appeared convinced that a move by Saudi Arabia to cut its oil price for the United States may presage a price war by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
The benchmark U.S. oil price broke below $76 a barrel on Tuesday, representing its lowest level since October 2010, before recovering a bit. North Dakota and Canadian crude dropped even lower, and the slide stretched to the global Brent benchmark, which swooned to just over $82 — roughly a 30 percent drop since June.
UBER TO START SERVICE IN FIAT’S HOMETOWN
Uber Technologies, the owner of the ride-hailing application that’s rankled taxi drivers from New York to Tokyo, is starting this week in Turin, the Italian city where carmaker Fiat was founded 115 years ago.
The company begins its Uber Pop service in Turin on Thursday, enabling people to arrange transportation in private vehicles, Benedetta Arese Lucini, Uber’s general manager for Italy, said in an interview. Uber counts Milan, Rome and Genoa among the 220 cities in 45 countries where it operates.