Global

This
week’s global news

Profits
slump by half at Levi-Strauss

Profits
have more than halved at jeans manufacturer Levi Strauss. The San
Francisco-based company’s first quarter profits were only $29.6m (£20.7m) compared
with $65.2m (£45.6m) in the corresponding period last year. Sales declined by 8
per cent. Levi is among a number of clothing retailers, including Gap and Nike
(see below), which have experienced poor results recently.

Earnings
at Nike slide after shoe sales slip

Sports
clothing giant Nike has reported that its earnings are down by a third. The
US-based company’s first quarter profits announcement coincided with a 15 per
cent decline in sales of sports shoes in America. The group’s net income fell from
$145m (£101.5m) to $97m (£67.9m), or from 52 cents per share to 35 cents. Nike
had predicted last month that profits would be down by between 34 and 38 per
cent.

Airbus
stakeholder to axe 1,500 jobs

The
European Aeronautic Defence and Space company, which has a 80 per cent stake in
Airbus, is to cut 1,500 jobs through restructuring. Four divisions are being
created, covering missiles, defence electronics, services and
telecommunications to help reduce dependence on the commercial jet market. Most
of the jobs will go in the French space unit and others from Germany.

Enodis
staff fall victim to shrinking market

UK
food equipment maker Enodis is to cut 900 jobs, mainly from its operations in
the US. Enodis has been struggling because most of its products are sold to the
US where the market for food equipment has shrunk by 10 per cent. Its shares
were down 33 per cent in pre-trading on the stock market and chief executive
David Williams has resigned. Enodis said the economic climate had worsened
considerably since the start of the year, particularly in North America, which
accounted for 77 per cent of the food equipment operating profit in the
financial year to September 2000.    www.enodis.co.uk