Soccer’s governing body thriving in economic crisis, nets $184M profit in 2008

August 14th, 2009 German construction co. Hochtief net profit fallsFRANKFURT — German construction company and airport operator Hochtief AG said Friday that second quarter net profit fell 6 percent but that the order backlog increased to an all-time high despite the economic crisis.

July 30th, 2009 France Telecom H1 profit down 4.3 percentPARIS — Telecommunications company France Telecom said Thursday that first half net profit fell 4.3 percent as the economic crisis caused customers cut back on phone calls and data transfers — and warned that conditions will get tougher in the second half. The company, whose largest shareholder is the French state, reported net profit of euro2.56 billion ($3.60 billion) in the six months through June compared with euro2.67 billion in the first half of 2008.

July 30th, 2009 Lufthansa 2Q net pft falls 88 pct to €40 millionFRANKFURT — Airline Deutsche Lufthansa AG said Thursday its second quarter profit fell 88 percent on a slump in sales — especially of lucrative first- and business-class seats — due to the global recession. The Cologne-based airline, Europe's largest by sales, earned €40 million ($56 million) in the April-June period compared with €337 million a year ago.

July 22nd, 2009 Norway's Hydro posts 73 pct 2Q profit tumbleOSLO — Norwegian aluminum supplier Norsk Hydro ASA on Wednesday reported a 73 percent plunge in second quarter profits, citing "historically" weak demand amid the economic crisis. Net profit fell to 211 million kroner ($33.5 million) in the second quarter, down sharply from 786 million kroner in the same period last year.

July 15th, 2009 Air China forecasts 50 percent profit riseBEIJING — Air China Ltd., one of China's three major state-owned carriers, said Wednesday it expects first-half profits to rise at least 50 percent from a year earlier as it recovers from a huge 2008 loss. The Beijing-based airline said its first-half 2008 profit was 1.3 billion yuan under Chinese accounting standards, which would make its profit from January to June this year at least 1.9 billion yuan ($284 million).

July 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - There should be a single regulatory body for the transport sector including highways, railways, ports and airports to ensure better cohesion, the Economic Survey for 2008-09 tabled Thursday has suggested. According to the survey, there should be at least one member from each of these sub-sectors and the authority could have specialized groups of professionals in each sector.

May 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - State-run oil marketing company Indian Oil Corp (IOC) Friday recorded a 57 percent fall in its net profit for 2008-09 from the year before. The company said in a statement that its annual profit stood at Rs.2,949 crore as against Rs.6,962 crore recorded in 2007-08.

April 29th, 2009 Nets' Lawrence Frank will coach next seasonEAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Lawrence Frank is returning to coach the New Jersey Nets next season despite missing the playoffs for a second straight season.

April 29th, 2009 ANZ Bank's first-half net profit down 28 percentSYDNEY — Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. reported a 28 percent drop in first-half net profit on Wednesday, as bad debts rose amid the global economic crisis.

April 28th, 2009 China Southern Airlines 1Q profit down 71 percentBEIJING — China Southern Airlines Ltd., one of China's three major state-owned carriers, said Tuesday its profit fell 71 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier amid a slump in traffic. Profit for the three months ending March 31 was 222 million yuan ($32.4 million) or 0.03 yuan per share, the carrier said.

April 28th, 2009 China Eastern Airlines: 1Q net profit down 81 pctSHANGHAI — China Eastern Airlines said Tuesday that its net profit fell 81 percent in the first quarter from the same period a year earlier as passenger traffic fell amid the economic slowdown. The 40.1 million yuan ($5.9 million) net profit in January-March compared with 210.8 million yuan earnings in the first quarter of 2008.

April 28th, 2009 Bank of China's 1Q net profit falls 14 percentSHANGHAI — Bank of China Ltd., the country's third-largest commercial bank by assets, said Tuesday its first-quarter profit fell 14.4 percent as slowing exports and imports cut into its trade finance business. The Beijing-based lender said profit fell to 18.57 billion yuan ($2.7 billion), or 0.07 yuan per share.

April 27th, 2009 Sweden's Scania 1Q profit falls 93 percentSTOCKHOLM — Swedish truck and bus maker Scania AB on Monday reported a 93 percent drop in first-quarter net profit, as the global financial crisis continued to weigh on demand and capacity utilization. Net profit for the first quarter was 179 million kronor ($22.1 million), down from 2.5 billion kronor in the same period last year, Scania said.

April 27th, 2009 Audi 1Q operating profit down 29 percentFRANKFURT — German luxury carmaker Audi AG said Monday that its first-quarter operating profit fell by 29 percent as the global economic crisis ate into sales. Ingolstadt-based Audi said its operating, or pretax, profit was down to euro363 million ($479 million) in the January-March period from euro514 million a year earlier.

April 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - State-run power generation firm NTPC Ltd Wednesday reported 5.6 percent increase in its provisional net profit for 2008-09. NTPC, formerly known as National Thermal Power Corp, posted Rs.7,827.4 crore ($1.5 billion) as profit for 2008-09, compared to Rs.7,414.8 crore the year before, the company said in a statement.