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BUSINESSWednesday 4 November
VW shares sag after new accusation of emissions cheating
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) A scandal over emissions The previous revelations resigned because of the tor to smog and respiratory
— Shares in automaker cheating widened on Mon- of cheating involved four- scandal. problems, in amounts that
Volkswagen are sliding af- day when the Environmen- cylinder diesels in smaller Volkswagen has set aside exceed EPA standards. The
ter U.S. environmental of- tal Protection Agency said cars. Volkswagen has 6.7 billion euros ($7.4 billion) six-cylinder engines emit
ficials said the company that Volkswagen installed apologized for those cars to cover the costs of recall- up to nine times above
equipped more models software on thousands of and hired a law firm to in- ing the cars. Analysts say accepted levels while the
than previously thought Audi, Porsche and VW cars vestigate. The new accusa- the actual losses, including four-cylinders emit up to 40
with software that let the with six-cylinder diesel en- tions are the first to involve a potential drop in sales, times, the regulators say.
cars cheat on diesel emis- gines that allowed them to the company’s prestigious could be several times Volkswagen denied that
sions tests. emit fewer pollutants dur- Porsche brand, which had higher. software was installed
The company’s ordinary ing tests than in real-world been headed by Matthias U.S. regulators continue on the larger diesels “to
shares fell 3.0 percent to driving. Volkswagen de- Mueller before he became to tell owners of all the af- change the emissions val-
109.30 each in midday nied the charge, but faces CEO of the entire compa- fected cars they are safe ues in any impermissible
trading in Europe on Tues- the prospect of more fines ny. Mueller took over from to drive, even as they emit way” and vowed to coop-
day. and lost sales. Martin Winterkorn, who nitrogen oxide, a contribu- erate with the EPA.q
Wall Street closes higher, helped by energy, auto sales
KEN SWEET Diamond Offshore and Traders gather at the post that handles Allergan on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. A
AP Business Writer Anadarko Petroleum all rally in energy companies helped push the U.S. stock market higher for a second straight day on
NEW YORK (AP) — A rally in rose more than 5 percent. Tuesday.
energy companies helped Oil conglomerates Exxon
push the U.S. stock market Mobil and Chevron rose 2 (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
higher for a second straight percent and 3 percent re-
day on Tuesday. Investors spectively. $2.31, or 15 percent, to economic data out later December meeting.
also worked through cor- Investors found some good $17.85 after Activision Bliz- this week. Economists surveyed by
porate news and prepared news in the monthly sales zard announced it would The October jobs report FactSet expect U.S. em-
for key U.S. economic data reports from the automak- buy the company for $5.9 comes out on Friday. If the ployers added 185,000
later this week. ers. General Motors, Ford billion. Activision Blizzard survey comes in strong, it jobs in October and that
The Dow Jones industrial and others reported dou- rose $1.25, or 3.6 percent, would raise market expec- the unemployment rate
average rose 89.39 points, ble-digit increases in sales to $35.82. tations that the Fed will remained steady at 5.1
or 0.5 percent, to 17,918.15. from a year earlier, and Investors will be turning to raise interest rates at their percent.q
The Standard & Poor’s 500 some automakers are on
index rose 5.74 points, or pace to break annual sales
0.3 percent, to 2,109.79 records.
and the Nasdaq compos- “Even with the market vol-
ite rose 17.98 points, or 0.4 atility this summer, there
percent, to 5,145.13. aren’t the signs that con-
Oil and gas companies, sumers are hunkering
one of the most battered down,” said David Kelly,
parts of the market, saw chief global strategist at JP
another wave of investor Morgan Funds. “This could
interest. be good news heading
The energy sector of the into the holidays.”
S&P 500 rallied 2.5 percent. GM rose 21 cents, or 0.6
The advance was mostly percent, to $35.78 and
on the back of a jump Ford rose six cents, or 0.4
in the price of oil, which percent, to $14.81.
climbed 4 percent. In other company news,
Drilling and exploration shares of King Digital En-
companies were the big- tertainment, the publisher
gest benefactors. of the Candy Crush Saga
Pioneer Natural Resources, video game, jumped
‘Call of Duty’ creators buy ‘Candy Crush’ maker for $5.9B
BREE FOWLER tertainment, announced generate more than $36 Activision also makes the mobile games, so much so
TOM MURPHY Tuesday, will create one billion in revenue by the “World of Warcraft” and that a British lawmaker was
AP Business Writers of the world’s biggest en- end of 2015 and grow “Skylanders” games. admonished after being
NEW YORK (AP) — The tertainment networks, with more than 50 percent by While those kinds of games caught playing it during a
company behind the more than a half-billion 2019. don’t traditionally appeal parliamentary hearing.
hugely successful “Call of monthly active users in 196 The deal is also bound to women, Activision CEO But it is declining in popular-
Duty” has struck a $5.9 bil- countries, by Activision’s to help Activision attract Robert Kotick told CNBC ity, and King has struggled
lion deal to buy the mak- count. more women as custom- on Tuesday that about 60 to follow up on its success.
ers of the highly addictive The move is expected ers. Activision’s fortunes percent of King’s audience The company’s revenue
“Candy Crush” and take to help Activision get its tend to hinge on its latest is female. fell 18 percent to $490 mil-
advantage of the way vid- home-console games onto “Call of Duty” game. “Attracting women to lion in the second quarter.
eo games are moving out players’ mobile devices, Launched in 2003, the vio- gaming is a really impor- Jefferies analysts Brian Pitz
of living rooms and onto a market with seemingly lent, first-person shooter tant part of our strategy,” and Brian Fitzgerald said
smartphones and tablets. huge potential. games generated $11 bil- he said. replicating the success of
Activision Blizzard’s pur- The company said it ex- lion in sales through the “Candy Crush” has proved Candy Crush is a daunting
chase of King Digital En- pects mobile gaming to end of the 2014 fiscal year. one of the most addictive task.q
