Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Nestle SA, the world’s biggest food company, reported first-quarter sales that beat analysts’ estimates, as Nescafe and Nespresso were boosted by marketing to ward off competitors in coffee. Sales rose 3.9 percent on an organic basis, the Vevey, Switzerland-based maker of KitKat bars and Perrier water said in a […]
Sika’s fight against Saint-Gobain drags on as board renewed
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Sika AG minority shareholders won an important round in their 16-month battle to ward off a sale to a French competitor after re-electing half a dozen directors to the board who support their cause. At Sika’s annual meeting in Baar, Switzerland on Tuesday, Chairman Paul Haelg restricted voting rights […]
Stiff new fines for littering in Switzerland
Tribune de Genève. Throwing a cigarette butt on the street or an empty can on to the side of a road is set to become an offense with a steep fine. The new rules, supported by the Federal Council, and likely to be adopted by parliament over summer, will apply to all of Switzerland. According […]
How buying a house has become beyond the reach of most Swiss
20 Minutes. A couple with an annual income of CHF 100,000 won’t find anything in 65% of Swiss communes according to the newspaper. After looking at 800,000 property advertisements on the website Homegate, 20 Minuten calculated an average home price increase of 36% between 2002 and 2015, far more than the 15% rise in salaries between 2002 […]
Geneva airport has its eyes on Lyon’s airports
20 Minutes. Geneva airport is aiming to invest in Bron and Saint-Exupéry, Lyon’s two airports, as part of a privatisation launched by the French government, according to 20 Minutes. Bron airport, opened in 1920, lies around ten kilometres east of Lyon’s centre. Without traffic the 155 km drive from Bron to Geneva airport takes around 1 hour 30 minutes. Saint-Exupéry airport, eponymous with […]
Muslim pupil in Geneva refuses to be touched by teacher
Le Matin. The controversy continues. Last week, two muslim pupils at a secondary school in Basel refused to shake their teacher’s hand. On Sunday, the Swiss broadcaster RTS, revealed a similar case at a school in Geneva. The incident occurred at the beginning of 2015 during a gym class. The teenager, who had recently converted […]
Bank errors made one man a millionaire and others penniless
Odd things have been happening to people’s bank balances in Switzerland recently. In early April a customer of Bank Coop in Basel discovered he was a millionaire. Last week, many BCV (Banque Cantonale Vaudoise) customers found themselves penniless. According to 20 Minuten, a customer of Bank Coop found over 20 million francs in his account. […]
Geneva child care costs to drop by 20%
Tribune de Genève. The news was welcomed by some parents. “It’s great. I didn’t know” said one who was unaware that from the beginning of the next school year, the cost of Geneva city’s nurseries will drop 20%. The city’s administration recently approved the new prices, according to 20 Minutes. The 20% price reduction will apply […]
Finding Geneva’s markets – where and when in one click
Ville de Genève has put together an interactive page on their website showing where Geneva’s markets are, and when they are open. They are plotted on a map and can be filtered by day or type in a single click. There are fruit and vegetable (fruits et légumes), arts and crafts (artisanat), book (livres), flea […]
Swiss market up this week despite global decline
8 April 2016 – Swiss and global market roundup. Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. The SMI is set to finish the week (+1.15%), significantly higher, having outperformed global equity markets (-1.13%), thanks to the strong performance of healthcare giants Novartis and Roche. Global equities fluctuated during the week receiving a boost towards the end of the […]
