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Markets News Afternoon: Car giant GM to begin repaying US government bailout; Shares up in Europe but down in Dublin
By Finfacts Team
Nov 16, 2009 - 4:08:03 PM
General Motors said last August, that its Chevrolet Volt vehicle is expected to achieve city fuel economy of at least 230 miles per gallon, based on development testing using a draft EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) federal fuel economy methodology for labeling for plug-in electric vehicles. Report
GM
US car giant General Motors, which is recovering after a court bankruptcy process, announced today that it generated $3.3 billion in cash in the third quarter and plans to start repaying government loans early.
GM had cash on hand of $42.6 billion at the end of September after a restructuring organised by the Obama administration.
GM also said today it has made progress in cutting jobs and closing dealers. The loss since leaving the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process on July 10th was $1.15 billion, GM said today.
The US government has a 61% stake in the biggest domestic carmaker, which said it still expects an initial public offering in 2010’s second half.
General Motors posts a quarterly loss and announces it plans to start repaying its government loans next month. CNBC's Phil LeBeau has the details:
Third-quarter revenue was $28 billion, including $26.4 billion for the post-bankruptcy period.
Digicel
Digicel, the mobile operator in the Caribbean, which is controlled by Irish businessman Denis O'Brien, today reported a 10% increase in its half year profit (EBITDA- - Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) to US$364 million on revenues of US$857 million.
Digicel says it has grown its subscriber base by 7% in the past 12 months to 7.3 million, and in its most recent quarter to September 30 2009 added 98,000 subscribers.
IBEC
Business group, IBEC, today met the Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan to present its budget submission. The group stressed that preserving and creating employment, along with stabilising the public finances, must be the priority.
IBEC director general Danny McCoy said: "Too many jobs have been lost and too many viable businesses are struggling to survive. While the government must reduce public expenditure, now is the time for a substantive jobs stimulus package through the redeployment of existing expenditure."
3V Transaction Services Ltd, the Irish online voucher payments company has reported that it expects a 40% increase in people shopping online this Christmas, as Irish consumers go in search of festive savings on the internet.
3V says with an estimated 400,000 customers 3V has witnessed an increase of over 45% in the volume of 3V prepaid Visa vouchers being purchased throughout 2009, as "the Irish consumer makes the most of internet shopping without the fear of fraud or going into the red by spending cash online."
The firm says a combination of increased value for money online and Irish consumers reluctance to over spend has resulted in a decrease in the average spend per online transaction according to 3V. Traditionally the average online spend per transaction has been an estimated €36 whilst 2009 has witnessed an average spend of €32, highlighting the fact that Irish consumers are becoming more savvy at locating the best savings the online world has to offer.
It should be noted that this is 3V giving an outlook on its business, not the total online market.
It does not provide an estimate of its share of the market.
Abbott Laboratories' Niaspan beat Merck's Zetia in a new study. Dr. Steven Nissen, chairman of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at The Cleveland Clinic, shares his reaction with CNBC's Mike Huckman:
US
The US Census Bureau announced today that advance estimates of US retail and food services sales for October, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $347.5 billion, an increase of 1.4% from the previous month, but 1.7% below October 2008. A local barometer of manufacturing was reported to have fallen today.
In Europe, the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 is up 1.43% Monday.
In Dublin, the ISEQ is down 0.66%.
CRH is up 1.32%.
AIB is down 5.1% and BoI is off 5.65%.
A fall in UK house prices in November signals a slowdown in the market for the next three months, Miles Shipside from Rightmove told CNBC Monday. Now isn’t “the usual time of year to put your property on the market,” he said, adding that those selling at this time “have a particular reason” and are “more likely to price competitively.”
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, oil for December delivery is trading at $78.44 up $2.09 from Friday's close. In London, Brent crude for December delivery is trading at $78.22 a barrel.
Currencies
The euro is trading at $1.4975 and at £0.8938.
For live currency updates, check the right-hand column of the Finfacts home page.The dollar traded at a record low $1.6038 per euro on July 15, 2008.
The US and China together generate roughly 40 percent of the global emissions and use one third of the world's energy, but now both countries are making a big push to go green, reports CNBC's John Harwood:
