Business

ZURICH — Swiss food giant Nestle and liquor group Pernod Ricard, owner of Absolut vodka and Jameson whiskey, announced fresh price hikes on Thursday due to inflation even as consumers across the world face a cost-of-living crunch.

Nestle, which makes Nespresso capsules, Maggi bouillons, KitKat chocolate bars and Purina pet food, said sales rose by 8.4 per cent to 94.4 billion Swiss francs (95.5 billion euros, $102.3 billion) in 2022.

But its real internal growth — a measure of sales volumes — was up just 0.1 per cent year-on-year, much lower than in 2021, suggesting that consumers were buying fewer of its products.

"Last year brought many challenges and tough choices for families, communities and businesses," Nestle Chief Executive Mark Schneider said.

"Inflation surged to unprecedented levels, cost-of-living pressures intensified and the effects of geopolitical tensions were felt around the world," he added, referring to the fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The company raised its prices by 8.2 per cent on average last year as the cost of milk, grains and energy rose.

"Continued pricing action is needed to repair some of the damages we've taken from inflation," Schneider said in a conference call.

Last week, British consumer group Unilever, which makes Magnum ice cream, Cif surface cleaner and Dove soap, also reported rising sales in 2022 after raising its prices by 11.3 per cent on average.

But the group said its sales volume fell 2.1 per cent and warned that it would continue to face higher costs.

Nestle's underlying profit margin fell slightly to 17.1 per cent.

Net profits fell by 45 per cent to 9.3 billion francs in 2022 but the comparison with 2021 is deceptive since the disposal of shares Nestle held in L'Oreal boosted 2021 earnings.

Nestle's board proposed a dividend of 2.95 francs per share, a 0.15-franc increase.

For 2023, the company expects sales growth of between 6 and 8 per cent when excluding exceptional changes, down from the 8.3 per cent registered on this basis in 2022.

It hopes to hold, if not improve, its underlying trading operating profit margin, setting a target range of between 17 and 17.5 per cent.

Pricier liquor 

French spirits giant Pernod Ricard, whose other brands include Beefeater gin, Martell cognac and Havana Club rum, posted a net profit of 1.8 billion euros ($1.9 billion) for the six months to December, up 29 per cent from the same period in 2021.

Sales were up 19 per cent to 7.1 billion euros in the same span thanks to a 10 per cent price hike, with more increases looming.

"Costs were very high in this first half," chief financial officer Helene de Tissot told AFP, adding that glass, logistics and ingredients such as grains and rectified spirit are more expensive.

Shipping bottles to Asia and the United States is one of the group's biggest expenses.

"To protect our margins... we raised our prices significantly," De Tissot said, adding that prices would have to go up as production costs remain high.

WASHINGTON — World Bank chief David Malpass announced on Wednesday he would step down nearly a year early, ending a tenure at the head of the development lender that was clouded by questions over his climate stance.

The veteran of Republican administrations in the United States was appointed to the role in 2019 when Donald Trump was president and previously served as Under Secretary of the Treasury for international affairs.

His tenure at the World Bank saw the organisation grapple with global crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and an international economic slowdown.

"After a good deal of thought, I've decided to pursue new challenges," the 66-year-old was quoted as saying in a statement from the bank, having informed its board of his decision.

"This is an opportunity for a smooth leadership transition as the Bank Group works to meet increasing global challenges," Malpass added.

In recent months, Malpass has come up against calls for his resignation or removal.

Climate activists had called for Malpass to be ousted for what they said was an inadequate approach to the climate crisis and the chorus grew louder after his appearance at a New York Times-organised conference last September.

Pressed on stage to respond to a claim by former US vice president Al Gore that he was a climate denier, Malpass declined several times to say if he believed man-made emissions were warming the planet — responding, "I'm not a scientist."

He later said he had no plans to stand down and moved to clarify his position, acknowledging that climate-warming emissions were coming from man-made sources, including fossil fuels.

The White House previously rebuked Malpass, with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying the expectation was for the bank to be a global leader on climate crisis response.

Quick response 

The bank said in a statement on Wednesday that it has "responded quickly" in the face of recent global challenges, in particular mobilising a record $440 billion to tackle climate change, the pandemic and other issues.

"Under [Malpass's] leadership, the Bank Group more than doubled its climate finance to developing countries, reaching a record $32 billion last year," the statement added.

In a note to staff seen by AFP, Malpass said: "Developing countries around the world are facing unprecedented crises and I'm proud that the Bank Group has continued to respond with speed, scale, innovation, and impact."

Malpass's term would have originally ended in 2024.

Environmental groups welcomed his departure.

"Under David Malpass, the @WorldBank lost valuable time in fighting climate change," tweeted Friends of the Earth.

"Not only did he fail to stop actions that fuel climate chaos and injustice, Malpass pushed for Wall Street-friendly policies that go against the public interest."

In a statement, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the world has benefitted from his strong support for Ukraine, his work to assist the Afghan people and his commitment to helping low-income countries achieve debt sustainability through debt reduction.

She added that the United States looks forward to a swift nomination process by the World Bank's board for the organisation's next president.

"We will put forward a candidate to lead the World Bank and build on the Bank's longstanding work... and who will carry forward the vital work we are undertaking to evolve the multilateral development banks," she said.

The head of the World Bank is traditionally an American, while the leader of the other major international lender in Washington, the International Monetary Fund, tends to be European.

Prior to assuming his role as World Bank president, Malpass repeatedly lambasted the big development lenders as wasteful and ineffective and called for reforms.

AMMAN — Forbes Middle East has revealed its flagship annual list of the region’s most powerful businesswomen for 2023, ranking the female leaders championing business success in the Middle East and beyond. 

The list was constructed based on the size of the business, the individual’s impact, achievements, and performance over the last year, and the scope of CSR and other initiatives led by the person, according to a statement sent to The Jordan Times.  

Hana Al Rostamani, Group CEO of the First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), climbed two spots to land first place this year. In June 2022, FAB completed a merger with Bank Audi Egypt under the umbrella of FABMISR, making it one of the largest foreign banks in Egypt, with assets worth $10 billion as of March 2022. 

Raja Easa Al Gurg, Chairperson and Managing Director of Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group, and Lubna S. Olayan, Chair of the Saudi British Bank and Chair of the Executive Committee and Deputy Chair of Olayan Financing Company, rounded up the top three. 

NBK’s Sheikha Khaled Al Bahar ranks first in Kuwait and fourth regionally. Al Rostamani and Al Gurg were also both recognised on Forbes’ 2022 list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women. 

The 2023 ranking celebrates business titans from 27 different nationalities across 27 sectors. Emirati and Egyptian women dominate the list, with 15 and 12 entries, respectively. They are followed by Saudi with 11 listees, Kuwait with eight, and Lebanon, Oman and Qatar with six each. 

AMMAN — The Jordan Phosphate Mines Company (JPMC) in 2022 realised "record" total operational profits of JD1.058 billion, marking an increase of 96 per cent compared with 2021, JPMC Chairman Mohammed Thneibat said on Wednesday.

Thneibat said that the company achieved JD964 million as pre-tax profits in 2022, and net post-tax profits of JD735.682 million, including 2 per cent allocated as a production allowance for employees, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The chairman said that the JPMC's contribution to the commercial balance and payment balance stood at $3.085 billion, noting that the company's contribution to supporting the Treasury with taxes, mining revenues and fees stood at JD350 million. 

Thneibat noted that in 2022, the company managed to achieve the highest production of phosphate since its establishment, reaching some 11.3 million tonnes. Sales reached 10.8 million tonnes, and fertiliser sales increased to 724,200 tonnes, he said.

For his part, JPMC CEO Abdelwahab Rawad said that the report showed an improvement in the performance of subsidiaries and allies, referring to high quantities of production of the Indian-Jordanian Chemical Company fully owned by JPMC, reaching 308,000 tonnes of phosphoric acid (P2O5). Sales rose by 302,000 tonnes, he noted.

Rawad said that the Jordan-India Fertiliser Company achieved an increase in its acid production, reaching more than 487,000 tonnes of P2O5 and sales hikes of 488,000 tonnes.

The CEO also added that Nippon Jordan Fertiliser Company in 2022 achieved an unprecedented increase in profits, where its production volume increased to 244,000 tonnes and its sales went up to 232,000 tonnes of various kinds of fertilisers.

He also added that the joint project with Indonesia also achieved unprecedented profits in 2022, reaching JD20 million and high production levels of P2O5, which stood at around 181,000 tonnes. 

WASHINGTON — Retail sales in the United States rebounded in January, said government data released on Wednesday, on improving auto supply while policymakers watch for signs that consumer demand is cooling in the longer run.

The US central bank has been working to ease demand as policymakers try to rein in stubborn inflation, raising interest rates rapidly over the past year.

While there have been signals that the effects of policy are rippling across sectors including previously resilient consumer spending, the latest data could spark concern.

Sales bounced by 3 per cent last month to $697 billion after two months of contraction, said a Commerce Department report on Wednesday, markedly higher than analysts expected.

Sales at auto and other vehicle dealers provided a boost, jumping 6.4 per cent from December to January.

Also robust were sales at department stores, which surged 17.5 per cent, while that at restaurants and bars spiked 7.2 per cent, the report said.

Officials are looking for indications that consumers are pulling back, as they consider when to halt their campaign of rate increases.

LONDON — British unemployment held close to its historical low but wages continue to be outstripped by rampant inflation, official data showed on Tuesday.

The unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.7 per cent in the three months to the end of December compared with the three months to the end of November, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

Wages excluding bonuses rose 6.7 per cent in the same period — but sank 2.5 per cent when inflation is taken into account.

"Overall pay... continues to be outstripped by rising prices," said ONS Economic Statistics Director Darren Morgan.

In recent months, strikes have multiplied across Britain — particularly in the communication, education, transport and health sectors — as workers protest at pay that has fallen in value.

A total of 843,000 working days were lost to walkouts in December, which was the highest since November 2011, the ONS added on Tuesday.

The news comes on the eve of official UK inflation data for January.

Inflation had slowed slightly to 10.5 per cent in December.

However, the rate remains close to a four-decade high, propelled by surging energy bills after key gas producer Russia invaded Ukraine almost one year ago.

Britain's economy narrowly avoided recession with zero growth in the fourth quarter, recent data showed.

But Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt has warned it is "not out of the woods yet", particularly where inflation is concerned.

STRASBOURG — The European Parliament on Tuesday gave its final approval to a ban on new sales of carbon-emitting petrol and diesel cars by 2035, with a view to getting them off the continent's roads by mid-century.

European Union member states have already approved the legislation and will now formally nod it into law at an upcoming ministerial meeting, despite opposition from conservative MEPs, the parliament's biggest group.

Supporters of the bill had argued to that it would give European carmakers a clear timeframe in which to switch production to zero-emission electric vehicles, and spur investment to counter competition from China and the United States. 

This, in turn, will also support the European Union's ambitious plan to become a "climate neutral" economy by 2050, with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

"Let me remind you that between last year and the end of this year China will bring 80 models of electric cars to the international market," EU Vice President Frans Timmermans warned MEPs.

"These are good cars. These are cars that will be more and more affordable, and we need to compete with that. We don't want to give up this essential industry to outsiders."

But opponents argued that neither European industry nor many private motorists are ready for such a dramatic cut off in production of internal combustion engine vehicles — and that hundreds of thousands of jobs are at risk.

"Our proposal is... to let the market decide what technology is best to reach our goals," said MEP Jens Gieseke, a member of the centre-right European People's Party.

Gieseke declared that arguments from Green and socialist MEPs that electric cars are cheaper to run had been rendered "null and void" by the crisis of soaring energy costs.

"In Germany 600,000 people work on ICE production, those jobs are at risk," he declared, urging the European Commission to rethink plans to also extend the ban to trucks and buses.

The EPP group warned of what it said would be the "Havana effect" — Europeans continuing to drive vintage fuel-burning cars after new sales are banned because they can't find or afford an electric.

Opponents also argue car batteries are produced abroad by Europe's competitors like the United States, but Timmermans argued that thanks to EU-backed investment European production would increase. 

Green MEPs stressed the importance of the ban in reducing emissions and pollution.

Victory for the planet? 

Karima Delli, president of the transport committee, declared: "Today's vote is a historic vote for the ecological transition. 

"We will no longer, or almost no longer, have petrol or diesel cars on our roads in 2050 ... it is a victory for our planet and our populations"

Cars currently account for about 15 per cent of all CO2 emissions in the EU, while transportation overall accounts for around a quarter.

In October last year, EU member states, the European Commission and parliament's negotiators agreed on a proposal to reduce CO2 emissions from new cars in Europe to zero by 2035.

In practice, in the final legislation, this means a halt to sales of new petrol and diesel cars, light commercial vehicles and hybrids in the bloc by that date, in favour of all-electric vehicles.

US green subsidies 

Car-making giant Germany and conservative MEPs have been dubious about the new rules, fearing the burden of re-tooling their plants and retraining workers while global rivals have looser targets.

But the European car industry itself did not lobby hard against the law, with many firms already jockeying for position in the race to become electric vehicle giants. 

Since the law began its journey through the EU legislative process, however, the United States has unveiled a huge plan to subsidise the green transition of its own industry with government hand-outs. 

This has led to fears in Europe that its US rival will siphon away investment and jobs in electric vehicle and battery production. 

Currently around 12 per cent of new cars sold in the European Union are electric, with consumers shifting away from CO2-emitting models as energy costs and greener traffic regulations bite.

Meanwhile, China — the world's biggest automobile market — wants at least half of all new cars to be electric, plug-in hybrid or hydrogen-powered by 2035.

The law passed the Strasbourg assembly by 340 votes to 279, with 21 abstentions.