Switzerland

Adecco’s first-quarter profit rose more than a fifth, better than expected, as the world’s largest temporary staffing company continued to get a boost from major markets in southern Europe while projecting modest growth in the U.S.

Net profit attributable to shareholders rose to €176 million ($192.2 million) in the three months to March, beating the average estimate of 165 million in a Reuters poll of analysts. Sales rose to €5.73 billion, better than the poll average of 5.68 billion.

Dutch staffing company Randstad last month reported a 21 increase in net profit during the quarter, boosted by strong growth in France and Germany. U.S. rival Manpower’s earnings rose 3.8 percent in the first three months as it saw broad improvement across Europe.

The French presidential election has delivered a clear win to Emmanuel Macron. With an estimated 65.8% of the votes going to Macron, compared to 34.2% to Marine Le Pen, he is France’s new president. At the same time the election brought the highest rate of protest votes since 1969. 26% of voters abstained and 9% handed in a blank form.

Switzerland’s press and politicians largely consider the election of new French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday as good news.
Doris Leuthard, Switzerland’s president, said: “On behalf of the Swiss government I congratulate Mr Macron on his election as president of the French Republic. Switzerland and France are linked by a common language and shared values of liberty and democracy. Based on this I am convinced that we will continue our good neighbourly relationship and that our two countries will pursue and deepen our stable and positive cooperation.”

Christie’s auction of Magnificent Jewels on May 17 at the ultra-luxe Four Seasons des Bergues hotel in Geneva will feature La Légende, a 92-carat D color Flawless heart-shaped diamond pendant signed by Boehmer et Bassenge.

La Légende is a diamond and cultured pearl necklace set with a 92.15-carat heart shaped, D color, Flawless diamond pendant. Suspended from a cultured pearl sautoir, it has a pre-sale estimate of $14 million-$20 million and will be the largest D Flawless heart shaped diamond ever to be offered at auction.

Shareholders in Swiss pesticide and seed giant Syngenta have accepted the company’s takeover by state-owned ChemChina, the companies said Friday, which would be the biggest overseas acquisition by a Chinese firm.
The proposed merger is part of a broader wave of consolidation in the agro-chemicals sector that has worried environmental activists and farmers.
At the closing date for the offer on May 4, shareholders holding around 80.7 percent of the company’s stock had accepted the US$43-billion takeover, according to a preliminary count. Subject to confirmation of the results, “the Minimum Acceptance Rate condition of 67 percent of issued Syngenta shares has been met”, they said in a statement.

A new virtual currency launched yesterday aims to rival industry leader Bitcoin by pegging its value to hard oil assets, a first in the rapidly growing digital money sector.

The currency called “bilur” and created by London-based financial services company R Fintech uses the technology pioneered by Bitcoin, while trying to offer an alternative for those weary of the wild fluctuations that have plagued digital currencies. The name "bilur" is the Basque language word for "chain", a nod to blockchain technology, the company said.

In Switzerland, frontier workers are 317,821, up 2.8% compared with the same period in 2016, down 0.2% on the previous quarter.

Workers from borders increased in Ticino by 0.5% over the last three months of 2016. In the first quarter, the frontiers registered by the Federal Statistical Office were 64’670, up by 3.6 % in a year.

The most significant growth, by 6.5% (1,908) was recorded by primary sector, although the largest number of jobs are in the service sector with a 4.1% increase and 207,830 people, followed by the secondary, slightly up 0.3% and 108’082 people occupied in the branch.

Swisscom reports revenues of CHF 2.83 billion for the first quarter of this year, down by 1.9 percent compared with the same period in 2016. The revenue decrease is caused by strong pressure on prices and increasing market saturation. In Q1 Swisscom revenue from telecommunications services fell by CHF 37 million (-2.2%). Around 50 percent of this decrease in revenue was the result of a decline in subscribers in fixed-line telephony, while the other 50 percent was due to price reductions, including roaming, and a decline in corporate business.

Scientists supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) have produced novel electrolytes for rechargeable sodium and magnesium batteries. The research group’s objective was to develop alternatives to lithium-ion technology.

The recent research, led by Arndt Remhof of the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Empa, is said to have demonstrated the potential of sodium and magnesium and his team has produced experimental battery components based on these metals.