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HELSINKI — Nokia's Chief Executive Officer Rajeev Suri will leave the telecom equipment provider in September and be replaced by the current head of Finnish energy group Fortum, Nokia said on Monday.

Pekka Lundmark will take over on September 1, Nokia said.

Suri, who has been Nokia's president and CEO since April 2014, had "indicated earlier to the board that he was considering stepping down from his role at some point in the future, provided a solid succession plan was in place", the company said.

"After 25 years at Nokia, I have wanted to do something different," Suri said.

Lundmark has also served as CEO of Konecranes, a global material-handling technology leader. Prior to that, from 1990-2000, he held various executive positions at Nokia, including vice president of strategy and business development at Nokia Networks.

Lundmark also has "extensive experience in China", he told a press conference on Monday — a market which Nokia last year said it was backing away from in the light of growing support there for local vendors.

Nokia's share price rose by four per cent on the Helsinki stock exchange to 3.6 euros shortly after opening at 08:00 GMT, before falling back somewhat.

The group has remade itself as a 5G network systems company since its mobile phone business was wiped out by Apple and Samsung.

Suri is behind Nokia's recent transformation, including its acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent and the creation of a standalone software business, and the return of the Nokia brand to mobile phones.

He also oversaw the launch of “Internet of things” products designed to revolutionise specific sectors, such as soil sensors for agriculture or tracking systems for logistics firms.

However, Nokia's attempts to break into the 5G equipment market have faltered in the face of fierce competition from Huawei and Ericsson.

Last year Nokia downgraded its 2020 earnings forecast, while Chief Executive Suri played down the firm's delays in delivering some equipment orders. 

Nokia went on to beat expectations in a "challenging" 2019 and last month posted its first full-year net profit since 2015 of 7 million euros, and an operating profit of 2 billion euros.

At Monday's press conference, Suri defended his record, saying that when he took over as CEO of Nokia Siemens Networks in 2009, the year's operating profit was 28 million euros.

"I'm not entirely satisfied with last year but we still had 2 billion compared to that 28 million," he said.

DUBAI — Stock markets in the oil-rich Gulf countries plunged on Sunday.

The drop comes amid prevailing uncertainty which threatens to undercut Gulf economies. Gulf countries have already been battling a downturn and struggling to wean themselves from their decades-old addiction to energy revenues.

The Saudi bourse, the region's largest and one of the world's top 10 equity markets, closed down 3.7 per cent to its lowest level in 18 months.

Energy giant Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest listed firm, dropped 2.1 per cent to 32.65 riyals ($8.70), its worst performance since its listing on December 11 in a record-breaking initial public offering .

The other five markets operating on Sunday in the region, which were closed the previous two days for the weekend, were also hit badly as oil prices sagged below $50 a barrel.

The region's slide was led by the Kuwait Bourse, where the All-Share Index fell 10 per cent, triggering its automatic closure. Kuwait's bourse was closed for most of last week for national holidays.

The Dubai Financial Market dipped 4.5 per cent, while its sister market in Abu Dhabi was down 3.6 per cent at the close of trading, both one-year lows.

Bahrain's bourse ended 3.4 per cent down and the Muscat Securities Market in Oman finished down 1.2 per cent.

"GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] equities witnessed a downfall as panic over coronavirus spread across the region," M.R. Raghu, head of research at Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz), told AFP.

Global stocks slumped on Friday, marking the largest weekly drop since the 2008 global financial crisis.

Oil

Crude oil prices tumbled as well and analysts said central banks, led by the US Federal Reserve, might have to shift into crisis-resolution mode with urgent interest rate cuts.

"The news flow today is quite negative and it will make the narrative between now and Monday morning even more important than it was on Friday," Matt Maley, an equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co., told Bloomberg News.

But thanks to reforms following the global financial crisis, the markets are proving "resilient", the Bank of International Settlements' chief economist Claudio Borio said on Sunday.

LUXEMBOURG — Luxembourg on Saturday became the first country in the world to offer free public transport, as the small and wealthy EU country tries to help less-well-off workers and reduce road traffic.

Some cities elsewhere have already taken similar, partial measures. But the transport ministry said it was the first time such a decision covered an entire country.

The free transport, flagged as "an important social measure", affects approximately 40 per cent of households and is estimated to save each one around 100 euros ($110) per year.

Not all passengers were aware of the change, which was brought forward one day ahead of schedule.

"It's free? I didn't know," said a woman in her 50s who gave her first name as Dominique as she waited at Luxembourg's main train station.

Transport workers were concerned about what impact the measure would have on their job security.

"We don't yet know" what will happen to their positions, said one ticket seller at the station who declined to give his name. 

"All the public transport workers are worried. It's not yet clear."

Traffic woes 

The measure is part of a plan intended to reduce congestion.

Private cars are the most used means of transport in the Grand Duchy, accounting for 47 per cent of business travel and 71 per cent of leisure transport.

With more than 200,000 people living in neighbouring France, Germany and Belgium who work in Luxembourg and most of them driving in, that makes for major traffic jams at peak hours. 

The population of the tiny country is just 610,000 and those cross-border workers account for half the total employees.

The capital city of Luxembourg has invested in its public transport network, notably by building a tram network, but commuters complain it is still patchy. 

It will be some years before the network links to the northern airport, for instance.

"There's been an enormous delay to the development of public transport," said Blanche Weber, head of the Luxembourg Ecological Movement pressing for better links on environmental grounds.

"Systematic and continuous investment is a sine qua non [essential] condition for promoting the attractiveness of public transport," admitted transport minister Francois Bausch.

Sales of tickets on the domestic network — which cost two euros per journey — previously covered just eight per cent of the 500-million-euro cost of running the transport system. That shortfall will now be met from the treasury.

Ticket machines are to be gradually removed from stations, but offices selling tickets for international train trips and for first-class seating in Luxembourg — which continues to be a paying service — will remain. 

NEW YORK — Global stocks slumped again on Friday to mark the largest weekly drop since the 2008 global financial crisis over fears of uncertainty.
Crude oil prices tumbled as well and analysts said central banks, especially the US Federal Reserve, might have to shift into crisis-resolution mode with urgent interest rate cuts.

Frankfurt headed the losses in Europe, shedding almost 3.9 per cent as the market closed.

Leading European stock markets have lost more than 10 per cent in just one week, with London's FTSE 100, which fell by 3.4 per cent on Friday, dropping 11.3 per cent.

Wall Street also had another difficult day, with the Dow finishing down 1.4 per cent at 25,409.36, which meant a drop of more than 12 per cent for the week. 

But US indices cut their losses after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell released a statement saying the US economy remains "strong" but vowing to "use our tools" to provide support if needed.

The markets in Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo all closed down 3 per cent, while Jakarta shed more than 4 per cent. 

"The panic mode is full on," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.

Meanwhile, the Japanese yen continue to benefit from its status as a haven investment in times of economic uncertainty, making solid gains against the dollar.

Yields on 10-year US Treasuries hit new all-time lows.

Concern that global crude demand will crash meanwhile sent oil prices down again: In London, Brent crude fell 3.2 per cent, while the US benchmark WTI crude dropped 4.9 per cent.

BEIRUT — Eighteen-year-old domestic worker Mary came to Lebanon to help support her family, but now a financial crisis is preventing her from sending money home to Ethiopia.

A crippling liquidity crunch in the Mediterranean country has drastically limited access to dollars, and tens of thousands of migrant workers toiling for remittances in the hard currency are suffering the backlash.

On a recent Sunday, Mary strolled down a bustling street in the capital Beirut with her girlfriends, dressed in an elegant outfit of skirt, jacket and ballerinas for her day off.

"I used to earn 400 dollars... but today I get my salary in Lebanese pounds," she said. "I can't send money to Ethiopia anymore."

Around her, migrant workers of all ages flocked to shops that sell imported food or clothes from home, the women in their Sunday best. Young men sat on the pavement outside calling centres and restaurants, music spilling out onto the street.

The Lebanese pound used to be easily exchangeable for dollars at a fixed rate, but now banks have capped withdrawals of the US currency and its value has plummeted on the parallel market.

The de-facto devaluation means Mary has lost at least a third of her salary.

But she insisted her employees were not to blame. The problem, she said, "is from the state".

'What will I do?'

In a wave of mass street protests since October 17, Lebanese have railed against what they condemn as a corrupt political class that has mismanaged the country.

An estimated quarter of a million domestic workers live in Lebanon, many in conditions that have repeatedly been condemned by their countries of origin and rights group, who point to the fact that many are underage.

The large majority of foreign workers hail from Ethiopia, but many also come from the Philippines, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

A sponsorship system known as "kafala" leaves maids, nannies and carers outside the remit of Lebanon's labour law, and at the mercy of their employers.

Thousands more foreign men work petrol pumps, clean the streets or labour in private businesses and restaurants.

Before Lebanon's economy went into meltdown, most of these workers earned the equivalent of $150 to $400 a month, often according to nationality.

But their salaries have now been de facto slashed amid the worst liquidity crisis to rock Lebanon since the end of its 1975-1990 civil war.

With access to dollars severely limited and the value of the local currency tumbling, many employers have decided to pay their employees in Lebanese pounds.

Migrant worker are then forced to exchange their local wages into foreign currency at a substantial loss on the black market.

"What will I do?" Mary asked. "My siblings are in school and I'm supposed to help my family, but now I can't."

After years of political turmoil, Lebanon's economy is collapsing, prices have soared, and businesses are struggling to stay open.

'No more dollars'

Thousands of Lebanese have been laid off or forced to take pay cuts, and foreign workers too are feeling the pinch.

Amandeep Singh, 23, has been working for four years in a plant nursery north of Beirut and sent money home to India.

He says his salary has suddenly been slashed from $500 to $360 after his employer decided to pay him half in pounds.

He was told the situation would improve soon.

"I'll wait and see," Singh said.

But "if there are no more dollars, there will be nothing left for me in Lebanon. I will go home to India".

The crisis saw more than 1,000 Filipinos flock to their embassy in December to sign up for free repatriation.

The mostly female domestic workers, some with children in tow, signed up for the free flight.

Jasmin Bighoun, 32-year-old female domestic worker from Bangladesh, said she used to be able to send $300 home to the family, but now that has dropped to just $150.

"There are no more dollars and everything is more expensive. It's not the same as before, life is hard," she said.

"My 'madame' says she has no more dollars... I can't do anything," she said.

If necessary, she and her husband will pack up and return to Bangladesh, she said.

Other migrant workers have already made up their minds.

Nav, an 18-year-old from Ethiopia who works as a cleaner for hourly wages, said the sacrifices are no longer worth it.

"They pay me in pounds," she said. "What's the point of staying? I want to leave."

By Layal Abou Rahal

FRANKFURT AM MAIN — The acquisition of seeds and pesticides maker Monsanto remained both boon and burden for German chemical and pharma giant Bayer in 2019, ensuring bumper profits but miring the company in tens of thousands of legal disputes over a key weedkiller.

“We met our financial goals, even though we had to battle a difficult market environment, especially in the agricultural sector,” Chief Executive Werner Baumann said on Thursday as he presented Bayer’s annual results.

Net profit leaped 141 per cent year-on-year, to 4.1 billion euros ($4.5 billion), beating forecasts from analysts surveyed by Factset.

Much of the effect was down to the full integration of Monsanto into Bayer’s business after the mid-2018 takeover.

Operating profit at the group’s crop science unit jumped 80 per cent.

But Bayer also reported it had been served with around 48,600 American lawsuits — up from 42,700 in October — over Monsanto weedkiller glyphosate, a vital ingredient in widely-used products like Roundup.

Plaintiffs argue glyphosate caused their cancers, but Bayer insists the science shows its chemical is safe and is “vigorously” appealing first-instance court decisions against it.

“If necessary, we will appeal through every court,” Chief Executive Baumann said, noting that the US Environmental Protection Agency in January reiterated its judgement that glyphosate presents no health risks.

Bayer did not report setting any cash aside in provisions to cover potential court-ordered payouts or a settlement in the glyphosate cases, which analysts have reckoned at up to $20 billion.

The group is in court-ordered mediation talks with plaintiffs and bosses “want to reach as far as possible a solution that closes this issue for good”, Baumann said.

He would not be drawn on how much a settlement might cost, or on media reports it could include an end to sales of Roundup to private individuals.

The group also plans to appeal a court ruling that its herbicide dicamba destroyed a US farmer’s peach orchards, one of 140 lawsuits pending in America over the chemical.

Chairman quits early 

In a separate press release, Bayer said it would publish expert legal opinions on its acquisition of Monsanto and bosses’ judgements of the associated risks, in response to shareholder pressure.

The group suffered an unprecedented slap when investors voted against executives at last year’s annual shareholder meeting.

On Wednesday Bayer had announced that Supervisory Board Chairman Werner Wenning will step down early.

The 73-year-old, who was chief executive until 2010, was seen as a key backer of the Monsanto merger and mentor to present CEO Baumann.

Trade war headwinds 

North America was the focus of headwinds for Bayer’s agriculture business in 2019, as falling acreage of soybeans, competition, adverse weather and trade conflicts weighed on revenues.

Worldwide, sales were down slightly on 2018 when presented as if Monsanto had been part of the business since January 1 that year.

Aside from the US, drought in Australia and African swine fever weighed on business, Finance Director Wolfgang Nickl said, while Latin America was a bright spot.

Elsewhere in the business, operating profit grew in pharmaceuticals “driven by higher volumes and a decrease in the cost of goods sold”, notably in China.

Pharma chief Stefan Oelrich said Bayer had “a large number of new products” in development and trials to replace its two revenue workhorses, anticoagulant Xarelto and eye medication Eylea, whose patents will expire in the coming years.

Meanwhile profit was flat at the group’s over-the-counter medicines unit despite rising sales.

Coronavirus impact uncertain 

Looking ahead to 2020, Bayer said it expected to increase revenue from 2019’s 43.5 billion euros by “about 3 to 4 per cent” to between 44 and 45 billion, adjusting for currency and portfolio effects.

Earnings per share should grow to between 7 and 7.20 euros, also in adjusted terms, up from 6.40 last year.

Finance chief Nickl said Bayer had donated medicines in China to help combat the coronavirus disease outbreak, but added that “we will only be able to estimate the impact on our business after the end of the first quarter”.

PARIS — French car giant PSA Peugeot-Citroen, currently in the process of merging with rival Fiat Chrysler, said on Wednesday it shook off a drop in sales to notch up record profits in 2019.

“We have achieved record results in 2019,” Chief Executive Carlos Tavares said in a statement.

The group, whose brands include Opel in Germany and Vauxhall in Britain, booked bottom-line net profit of 3.2 billion euros ($3.5 billion) last year, an increase of 13.2 per cent over the figure for 2018.

Despite a 10.3 per cent drop in unit sales to 3.5 million vehicles worldwide, revenues inched up 1 per cent to 74.7 billion euros.

PSA said its operating margin — which measures underlying profit as a proportion of sales — increased by 0.8 percentage points to 8.5 per cent. 

In terms of vehicles sold, PSA suffered from its absence from the key US market and a shrinking market share in China. 

But the group attributed the modest increase in revenues to an improved product mix and higher prices, which it said helped offset negative exchange rate effects and falling volumes. 

Looking ahead to anticipated market developments in the current year, PSA said it forecast a decline of around 3 per cent in Europe but no change in Latin America.

RIYADH — Burdened by a bank loan, Ibrahim Ahmed searched for years for a second job before opting for something once seen as menial in oil-rich Saudi Arabia — driving for a ride-hailing app.

Such blue-collar occupations have largely been the preserve of low-income foreign workers in the formerly tax-free petrostate, which long offered its citizens cradle-to-grave welfare.

But Saudis are increasingly taking on what are widely seen as low status jobs in an age of dipping oil prices, as the government trims subsidies amid sluggish economic growth and high unemployment.

Like tens of thousands of Saudis looking to make extra money, 31 year-old Ahmed turned to the global giant Uber, whose drivers in the conservative kingdom had always been predominantly foreign workers.

For the father of three, a salary of 8,000 riyals ($2,133) as an employee at a private company in Riyadh was not enough to support his family and cover a monthly housing loan of 4,000 riyals.

“I finish my job at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, and this is what made it difficult to find a second job,” said Ahmed, clad in a white traditional thobe.

“My income after paying the monthly loan would be so limited, and we went through four years of this drought.”

In 2017, Ahmed sold his car to put a down payment on a new vehicle and enrolled with Uber.

The company’s spokesman says it is available in 20 cities in the kingdom and that more than 200,000 Saudis have driven for the app-based business since it launched in 2014.

“I work for seven hours a day, five days a week, and make an average of 6,000 riyals per month from Uber,” said Ahmed, adding the second job had helped ease his financial burden. 

‘Flexible economic opportunity’ 

Nearly two-thirds of all Saudis are employed by the government in secure and often undemanding white-collar jobs.

But as the public sector wage bill balloons, the kingdom — pushing reforms for a post-oil era — is seeking to wean citizens off government largesse.

Cultural attitudes to work are slowly changing in a country where 40 per cent of Saudis are aged between 20 and 40, with a new crop of citizens working in food trucks and gas stations for the first time.

Often these are second jobs to augment their incomes as high costs of living push many into debt.

“A large number of Saudis have joined Uber for the part-time, flexible economic opportunity it provides,” a company spokesman said.

Uber, which launched in the kingdom in 2014, acquired Dubai-based Careem in 2019 for $3.1 billion.

Both Uber and Careem have hired women since the kingdom lifted its ban on female motorists in 2018.

“I have paid off a third of [my wedding and car] loans thanks to Uber,” said Khaled, a 27 year-old newly-wed.

“I work 10 hours a day in addition to my other job to quickly settle my two loans.” 

For years, the kingdom has been struggling to pursue “Saudisation” — a programme to get firms to employ more citizens.

Unemployment in Saudi Arabia for the third quarter of 2019 stood at 12 per cent, a marginal improvement from 12.7 per cent in 2018, according to official figures.

“Young Saudis are accepting jobs they previously would not have accepted,” Abdullah Al Maghlouth, a member of the Saudi Economic Association, told AFP. 

“The presence of foreign companies, such as Uber and Careem, give young Saudis the opportunity to pursue these jobs... and increase their income,” he added.

There appears to be somewhat more prestige in working for a ride-hailing app than driving an ordinary taxi, largely reserved for foreign workers. 

But there remains a stigma in the conservative kingdom attached to blue-collar jobs in general.

Turki Al Oneizi says he does not care about dirty looks.

“With Uber, I’m my own boss,” the 33 year-old said.

“There is no shame as long as I’m doing something that does not violate my morals and ethics. This is something that improves my social and economic situation.”

AMMAN — The 2020 Arab Aviation Summit (AAS), one of the region’s leading aviation industry events, has announced an array of top executives for its eighth edition, to be held on March 16 & 17 at Al Hamra International Exhibition & Conference Centre in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE.

Themed, “Linking cultures, driving economies”, the summit will bring together an audience of key industry stakeholders and experts to participate in high-level dialogue on the latest trends, challenges and opportunities facing Arab travel and tourism. Global and regional industry experts will also discuss the contribution of the aviation and tourism sector to economies, and how it adds value to the economic diversification narrative of the region. 

They will evaluate sector challenges and share ideas and strategies on the best ways to address them.  

Amongst the aviation and tourism leaders participating in the event are Adel Al Ali, Air Arabia Group CEO; Raki Phillips, CEO of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority; Hussain Omar Bin Alawi Al Ibrahim, head of Air Transportation (Aviation) of the Arab Gulf Countries Cooperation Council; Aradhana Khowala, CEO & founder of Aptamind Partners. 

Endorsed by Arab governments and previously held in several Arab countries, the Arab Aviation Summit 2020 is hosted by Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority with the support of global industry partners such as Airbus, CFM, Alpha Aviation Academy.

Hailed as the “voice of the industry” and representing an ideal partnership of the three key players in the travel and tourism industry: Public sector, Private sector and the Media community — the Arab Aviation Summit is an industry initiative organised annually to shed light on trends, insights and opportunities driving the continuous growth and development of the Arab aviation and tourism industry.

A white paper, based on participants’ suggestions and discussions, will be presented at the conclusion of the 2020 AAS.