WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
TOYOTA STILL ON ALERT AFTER CRISIS
Toyota remains on a “crisis” footing a year after the first of a wave of recalls of more than 12m vehicles, an executive at the Japanese carmaker has said.
Shinichi Sasaki, the board member responsible for quality, told the Financial Times: “I don’t think the crisis is over. If we step down the level of our efforts at this point in time, it may mean we are sowing the seeds of crisis once again.”
SAP CONSIDERS OPTIONS AFTER FINE
SAP said it would “consider all available options” and hinted it would seek a settlement after a US jury imposed a $1.3bn fine on the German group for illegally downloading rival Oracle’s software. The decision is a significant setback for SAP’s new management just as it had started to boost morale at the company.
PORSCHE POSTS STRONG PROFITS
Porsche gave a strong sign of confidence to employees and investors when the German sports car maker almost doubled its workers’ cash bonus and posted a stellar 19 per cent profit margin in the past quarter.
The producer of the iconic 911 sports car said it would pay its more than 13,000 employees a performance bonus of €2,100 for the past financial year, which ended in July.
TIFFANY SEES SALES SPARKLE
Tiffany is seeing early demand during the first weeks of the holiday season exceed its expectations, according to Michael Kowalski, its chief executive, as the US jeweller raised its full-year earnings forecast.
“We are now a few weeks into the all-important two-month holiday season and sales growth is exceeding our expectations, although the majority of the holiday season is certainly still ahead of us,” Mr Kowalski said on Wednesday.
THE TIMES
INVESTORS RUSH TO JOIN FACEBOOK FUNDS
American investment groups that have created Facebook funds to enable retail and institutional investors to own a slice of the social networking giant have been overwhelmed by demand.
The companies have been buying up shares in the secondary market, from Facebook employees or those leaving the company, to be held in limited liability companies.
BANKS AIM TO APPEASE CRITICS WITH PACT TO CUT BONUSES
As political pressure grows ahead of January’s bonus round, The Times has learnt that senior executives from Barclays, HSBC, Standard Chartered and Royal Bank of Scotland held discussions last week about a possible pact to cut bonus payouts and boost lending to small firms.
The Daily Telegraph
GERMANY WALLOWS IN GOLDEN AUTUMN
Behind the unfolding horror story of Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Spain, something is stirring in Europe which promises a rather better future than the grim, crisis-ridden headlines of the moment might suggest. Germany, the powerhouse of the European economy, is growing again, and what’s more, it is domestic demand, not net trade, which is driving the renaissance.
PORTUGAL GRINDS TO A HALT IN GENERAL STRIKE PROTESTING AUSTERITY MEASURES
Portugal was crippled on Wednesday as workers staged a 24-hour strike causing travel chaos and closing schools and hospitals to protest against tough austerity measures designed to tackle the debt crisis. The stoppage was the first since 1988 to involve Portugal’s two main unions.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
SPAIN DEFENDS ITS BANKING SECTOR
Spanish officials are mounting an aggressive campaign to dismiss fears that Europe’s fiscal woes – which have already leapt from Greece to Ireland and may soon spread to Portugal – will reach their shores.
This week, Spanish officials hastened to throw up a firewall around their country with a volley of positive comments about the progress of Spain’s fiscal reforms and the soundness of its banking sector.
WITH EU DEAL, RUSSIA PAVES WAY FOR WTO MEMBERSHIP
Russia and the European Union reached a deal Wednesday that could pave the way for Russia to join the World Trade Organization in 2011.
“We’ve practically resolved all the issues,” deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov said after meeting with senior EU officials.