Nissan posts weaker than expected profits in Q3

Tokyo, Nov. 02 (ANI): Japan's second-biggest automaker Nissan has reported weaker than expected profits for Q3 and reshuffled its management to cope with quality issues and tough market conditions.

The company posted a 107.8 billion yen net profit for the third quarter, with a meager 2 percent increase from 105.7 billion yen last year, the Japan Times reports.

Meanwhile, the company's quarterly sales rose 16 percent to 2.5 trillion yen.

Nissan President and Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said the main reason was their weakness in many emerging markets and painfully expensive recalls.

The company's Chief Operating Officer (COO), Toshiyuki Shiga, has been made the vice chairman and three other executives were appointed as COOs. (ANI)

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Wall Street ends session lower but posts gains for October

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks finished lower on Thursday as the Federal Reserve's statement the day before added to investors' anxiety about the timing of a pullback in its stimulus program.

While it was a second consecutive day of losses for the market, all three major indexes ended October with solid gains.

Dragging on the Dow and the S&P 500, Visa Inc lost 3.5 percent to $196.67 after the world's largest credit and debit card company reported a 28 percent drop in quarterly profit.

The U.S. central bank on Wednesday said it will keep buying $85 billion of bonds per month, citing weaker economic signals, but it removed a phrase from a previous statement expressing worries about credit conditions, which some investors interpreted as a sign that the Fed could begin tapering earlier than expected.

"That leaves tapering on the table for December," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading, in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Before the Fed's meeting, many market participants were anticipating that the stimulus plan would not change until at least early next year.

The Fed's accommodative monetary policy in recent years has contributed to the stock market's rally.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> fell 73.01 points, or 0.47 percent, to close at 15,545.75. The S&P 500 <.spx> lost 6.77 points, or 0.38 percent, to finish at 1,756.54. The Nasdaq Composite <.ixic> dropped 10.91 points or 0.28 percent, to end at 3,919.71.

The S&P 500 closed near its intraday low, with a wave of end-of-session selling marked by sell-order imbalances near the close.

"This was more of an order flow thing," said Dennis Dick, proprietary trader at Bright Trading LLC in Las Vegas. "Some participants, some institutions wanted out big time, and they got out."

For the month, the Dow gained 2.8 percent, the S&P 500 added 4.5 percent and the Nasdaq rose 3.9 percent.

The S&P 500 is up 23.2 percent for the year so far.

"It's already at nosebleed heights and it could go higher, but people are focusing on the rewards and not the risks," including ongoing weakness in the economy," said Uri Landesman, president of Platinum Partners in New York.

Among the day's gainers, shares of Exxon Mobil Corp , the world's largest publicly traded oil company, helped support the Dow and the S&P 500, rising 0.9 percent to $89.62 after the company reported adjusted third-quarter earnings that beat expectations.

Expedia jumped 18 percent to $58.97 and ranked as the S&P 500's best percentage gainer, a day after reporting third-quarter earnings that exceeded expectations.

Facebook reported strong growth in its mobile advertising business late on Wednesday, though it said it didn't plan to boost the frequency of ads shown to users. Facebook's stock rose 2.4 percent to close at $50.21.

With results in from 355 companies in the S&P 500, 68.2 percent have topped Wall Street's expectations, above both the 63 percent beat rate since 1994 and the 66 percent beat rate for the past four quarters, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Revenue performance has been weaker, however, with 53.6 percent of companies exceeding expectations, shy of the 61 percent beat rate since 2002, but above the 49 percent rate for the past four quarters.

Thursday's economic data was mixed. A gauge of business activity in the Midwest surged past expectations in October, while weekly initial jobless claims dipped in the latest week.

(Additional reporting by Luke Swiderski; Editing by Kenneth Barry and Jan Paschal)

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Jet sees Etihad deal closure even as it posts record loss

By Devidutta Tripathy

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Jet Airways expects to conclude a $334 million stake sale to Abu Dhabi's Etihad by the year-end, the Indian airline said, one day after posting a record quarterly loss.

Jet, which has lost money in the past six years, is awaiting approvals from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for the deal and is on course to complete the transaction during this quarter, Chief Financial Officer Ravishankar Gopalakrishnan said.

An Etihad spokesman declined to comment, after Jet's earnings announcement on Wednesday, on whether Jet's quarterly loss would have any impact on the deal. The stake sale, cleared by the cabinet this month, is meant to help Jet break out of a pattern of losses in the domestic airline business.

The net loss widened to 8.91 billion rupees in the three months ended September 30 from 997 million rupees a year earlier.

An economic slowdown also meant lower yields, a gauge of the average fare paid per kilometre flown, Jet said on Wednesday.

A fall in the value of the rupee, the high cost of fuel and an increase in fees at some airports also led to the loss, said India's second-biggest carrier by domestic market share.

The loss in the fiscal second quarter is the biggest ever for Jet, the first of India's airlines to publish earnings for the quarter, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters from company filings. It reported a net loss of 7.1 billion rupees in the September quarter of 2011.

Despite the sector's current problems, deep-pocketed foreign players such as Singapore Airlines , AirAsia Bhd and Etihad have been lured to the country by longer-term growth prospects.

The Indian government expects passenger air traffic to almost triple during the current decade.

SYNERGY

Etihad's $334 million deal for a 24 percent stake in Jet is the first investment by a foreign carrier in an Indian airline since the country last year changed rules to help channel capital into a sector.

"The synergy between the two airlines in terms of commercial cooperation and the kind of cost synergies that we will achieve will be significantly increasing the profitability for the airlines in the coming quarters," Jet's Gopalakrishnan said.

Jet shares fell as much as 6.4 percent in Mumbai trading on Thursday to their lowest level in about seven weeks, before paring losses to trade about 2 percent down by 0911 GMT.

High costs of jet fuel and aggressive pricing as competition increases will likely hurt airlines' finances in the coming quarters, analysts say. Jet paid 8 percent more for fuel from a year earlier, it said.

Income from operations rose marginally to 37.88 billion rupees in the quarter ended September from 37.55 billion rupees a year earlier, Jet said, while expenses jumped nearly a fifth to 48.51 billion rupees.

Some of its aircraft sat idle, accounting for 1.2 billion rupees in losses.

All players in India's five-player airlines market are losing money with the exception of unlisted IndiGo, the biggest Indian carrier by local market share.

Kingfisher Airlines , once the No. 2 carrier, has not flown in a year for want of cash. India's three listed airlines stocks - Jet, Kingfisher and SpiceJet - are the worst performers this year among 85 global airline stocks studied by Thomson Reuters StarMine.

Etihad is investing another $150 million in Jet's frequent flyer programme and has spent $70 million to buy Jet's three pairs of Heathrow slots through a sale and leaseback agreement, as part of the deal, which was first agreed in April.

Etihad will also support Jet with up to $150 million of foreign currency loans. The Indian carrier's debt at the end of September was about $1.9 billion.

(Additional reporting by Tripti Kalro in Bangalore and Praveen Menon in Dubai; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell, Mark Potter and Ryan Woo)

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Jet sees Etihad deal closure even as it posts record loss

By Devidutta Tripathy

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Jet Airways expects to conclude a $334 million stake sale to Abu Dhabi's Etihad by the year-end, the Indian airline said, one day after posting a record quarterly loss.

Jet, which has lost money in the past six years, is awaiting approvals from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for the deal and is on course to complete the transaction during this quarter, Chief Financial Officer Ravishankar Gopalakrishnan said.

An Etihad spokesman declined to comment, after Jet's earnings announcement on Wednesday, on whether Jet's quarterly loss would have any impact on the deal. The stake sale, cleared by the cabinet this month, is meant to help Jet break out of a pattern of losses in the domestic airline business.

The net loss widened to 8.91 billion rupees in the three months ended September 30 from 997 million rupees a year earlier.

An economic slowdown also meant lower yields, a gauge of the average fare paid per kilometre flown, Jet said on Wednesday.

A fall in the value of the rupee, the high cost of fuel and an increase in fees at some airports also led to the loss, said India's second-biggest carrier by domestic market share.

The loss in the fiscal second quarter is the biggest ever for Jet, the first of India's airlines to publish earnings for the quarter, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters from company filings. It reported a net loss of 7.1 billion rupees in the September quarter of 2011.

Despite the sector's current problems, deep-pocketed foreign players such as Singapore Airlines , AirAsia Bhd and Etihad have been lured to the country by longer-term growth prospects.

The Indian government expects passenger air traffic to almost triple during the current decade.

SYNERGY

Etihad's $334 million deal for a 24 percent stake in Jet is the first investment by a foreign carrier in an Indian airline since the country last year changed rules to help channel capital into a sector.

"The synergy between the two airlines in terms of commercial cooperation and the kind of cost synergies that we will achieve will be significantly increasing the profitability for the airlines in the coming quarters," Jet's Gopalakrishnan said.

Jet shares fell as much as 6.4 percent in Mumbai trading on Thursday to their lowest level in about seven weeks, before paring losses to trade about 2 percent down by 0911 GMT.

High costs of jet fuel and aggressive pricing as competition increases will likely hurt airlines' finances in the coming quarters, analysts say. Jet paid 8 percent more for fuel from a year earlier, it said.

Income from operations rose marginally to 37.88 billion rupees in the quarter ended September from 37.55 billion rupees a year earlier, Jet said, while expenses jumped nearly a fifth to 48.51 billion rupees.

Some of its aircraft sat idle, accounting for 1.2 billion rupees in losses.

All players in India's five-player airlines market are losing money with the exception of unlisted IndiGo, the biggest Indian carrier by local market share.

Kingfisher Airlines , once the No. 2 carrier, has not flown in a year for want of cash. India's three listed airlines stocks - Jet, Kingfisher and SpiceJet - are the worst performers this year among 85 global airline stocks studied by Thomson Reuters StarMine.

Etihad is investing another $150 million in Jet's frequent flyer programme and has spent $70 million to buy Jet's three pairs of Heathrow slots through a sale and leaseback agreement, as part of the deal, which was first agreed in April.

Etihad will also support Jet with up to $150 million of foreign currency loans. The Indian carrier's debt at the end of September was about $1.9 billion.

(Additional reporting by Tripti Kalro in Bangalore and Praveen Menon in Dubai; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell, Mark Potter and Ryan Woo)

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Jet Air posts worst quarterly loss of 8.91 billion rupees

By Devidutta Tripathy

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Jet Airways reported its worst quarterly loss on record, squeezed by high fuel costs and a weaker local currency, as it awaits funds from the agreed sale of a stake to Abu Dhabi's Etihad.

Jet, which has lost money in the past six years, said on Wednesday it was awaiting approvals from some regulators for the Etihad deal, without specifying. The agreement, struck to help Jet break out of a pattern of losses in India's airline business, won the cabinet's approval earlier this month.

An Etihad spokesman declined to comment, when asked if Jet's record quarterly loss would have any impact on the deal.

An economic slowdown meant lower yields, a gauge of the average fare paid per kilometre flown, Mumbai-based Jet said in a statement.

A fall in the value of rupee, the high cost of fuel and an increase in fees at some airports also led to the loss, it added.

The net loss for Jet, India's second-biggest carrier by domestic market share, was 8.91 billion rupees for the three months ended September 30, compared with a net loss of 997 million rupees a year earlier.

The loss is the biggest ever for Jet, the first of India's airlines to publish earnings for the quarter, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters from company filings. It reported a net loss of 7.1 billion rupees in the September quarter of 2011.

Despite the sector's current problems, deep-pocketed foreign players such as Singapore Airlines , AirAsia Bhd and Etihad have been lured to the country by longer-term growth prospects. The government expects passenger air traffic to almost triple during the current decade.

Etihad's $334 million deal for a 24 percent stake in Jet is the first investment by a foreign carrier in an Indian airline since the country last year changed rules to help channel capital into a sector.

But high costs of jet fuel and aggressive pricing as competition increases will likely hurt airlines' finances in the coming quarters, analysts say. Jet paid 8 percent more for fuel from a year earlier, it said.

Income from operations rose marginally to 37.88 billion rupees in the quarter ended September from 37.55 billion rupees a year earlier, Jet said, while expenses jumped nearly a fifth to 48.51 billion rupees. Some of its aircraft sat idle, accounting for 1.2 billion rupees in losses.

WORST PERFORMERS

All players in India's five-player airlines market are losing money with the exception of unlisted IndiGo, the biggest carrier by local market share.

Kingfisher Airlines , once the No. 2 carrier, has not flown in a year for want of cash. India's three listed airlines stocks - Jet, Kingfisher and SpiceJet - are the worst performers this year among 85 global airline stocks studied by Thomson Reuters StarMine.

Shares in Jet Airways are down about 38 percent this year, valuing the company at about $488 million. By comparison, the Nifty is up 4.6 percent.

(Additional reporting by Tripti Kalro in Bangalore and Praveen Menon in Dubai; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell and Mark Potter)

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Bank of America posts profit as fewer loans go bad

By Peter Rudegeair

REUTERS - Bank of America Corp on Wednesday posted a quarterly shareholder profit of $2.22 billion, reversing a year-earlier loss, as fewer loans went bad.

The bank's loan portfolio performed better, but results deteriorated in three of its five major businesses - consumer real estate, commercial and investment banking, and sales and trading.

Chief Executive Brian Moynihan has been struggling to put the bank's legal problems behind it and start building revenue. Excluding gains and losses from changes in the value of the bank's debt, revenue in the third quarter fell 1.5 percent to $22.19 billion.

The second-largest U.S. bank earned 20 cents per share, beating analysts' average estimate of 18 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

In the year-earlier quarter, the bank recorded a net loss attributable to common shareholders of $33 million due to accounting adjustments, litigation expenses and tax charges.

In the latest quarter the bank was helped by the improved performance of its loan portfolio. It wrote off $1.69 billion of loans, down from $4.12 billion a year earlier.

With loans performing better and delinquencies falling across all consumer portfolios, Bank of America set aside $296 million to cover bad loans, compared with $1.77 billion in the same quarter last year.

Sales and trading revenue for the bank's fixed income, currency and commodities business, excluding an accounting adjustment, fell by $501 million to $2.0 billion due to lower bond-trading volumes for much of the quarter.

Fixed-income traders were inactive for several weeks leading up to the Federal Reserve's meeting in mid-September in the expectation that the central bank would announce that it was starting to wind down its bond-buying stimulus program.

Bank of America sold its remaining stake in China Construction Bank Corp for $1.47 billion in September, contributing $750 million pre-tax to the bottom line.

Bank of America shares have risen 23 percent this year, in line with gains in the KBW index of bank stocks <.bkx>. The shares were little changed in premarket trading after closing at $14.24 on Tuesday.

(For a graphic comparing the share price performance of BofA, Citigroup and JPMorgan, click http://link.reuters.com/hyj83v)

(Reporting by Peter Rudegeair in New York; Additional reporting by Anil D'Silva in Bangalore; Editing by John Wallace)

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