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Global Investment News Briefs

Freddie Mac CEO Quitting; HSBC Selling Shares, Cutting Jobs; Wendy’s/ Arby’s Loses $390 Million in 4Q; South Africa Unemployment Fell to 21.9% in 4Q; Venture Capital Investment Plummets; Dish Network Ups Profit, Loses Subscribers

  • Six months after becoming Freddie Mac (FRE) Chief Executive Officer, David Moffett is stepping down from his post, citing a desire to return to the financial services industry, Reuters reported. “Whatever the reason Mr. Moffett has determined to leave, the abrupt departure with no replacement in hand is a negative indicator for the company,” said Jim Vogel, a strategist at FTN Financial Capital Markets.
  • Wendy’s Arby’s Group Inc. (WEN), the third-largest fast food chain in the United States, posted a fourth-quarter loss of $393.2 million, or 84 cents a share, largely a result of impairment charges and falling sales at Arby’s, Reuters reported. In September, Arby’s owner, Triarc, bought Wendy’s International Inc. for about $2 billion in September to form Wendy’s/Arby’s.
  • According to a Bloomberg study, South Africa’s unemployment rate for the fourth quarter clocked in at 21.9%, the highest of the 61 countries in the study. South Africa is the continent’s largest economy, and it contracted for the first time in a decade, a result of plummeting manufacturing output, Bloomberg reported.
  • Dish Network Corp. (DISH) said yesterday (Monday) that its fourth-quarter profit rose 24%, but that higher prices and fees cost the nation’s second-largest satellite-TV provider more than 100,000 subscribers. Dish Network earned $217 million, or 48 cents per share, for the three months ended Dec. 31, up from $175 million, or 39 cents per share, a year earlier. Sales rose 1% to $2.92 billion from $2.89 billion.

March 3rd, 2009

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009 at 11:45 am and is filed under Global Business Roundup, Global Roundup. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Due to the amount of comments we receive Money Morning will not be able to respond to all questions. If you have not already registered to leave a comment, once doing so you will receive Money Morning's Daily Email.

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  1. Comment by Busy Man's Workout on 6 March 2009:

    “Investment in start-up companies in the United States fell 71% in January from a year earlier, according to preliminary figures by Thomson Reuters. Venture capital funding dropped to $1.3 billion in January from $4.5 billion in January 2008. The number of companies that received funds was cut in half as well, falling to 203 from 466.”

    This is a huge indication that we still have much further to fall this year.

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