CitiGroup Ties In Former Vice Chairman McQuade to Its Board

Wall Street is expecting higher profit for Citigroup when the company reports its second quarter results on Thursday.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) has announced that former chief executive of one of its Citibank unit, Eugene M. McQuade, has officially joined the board. Mr. McQuade served as vice chairman Citigroup for over a year before retiring from the bank around May, this year. Simultaneously, he joined XL Group, insurance and reinsurance company, as chairman.

In 2014, McQuade was persuaded by Citigroup CEO, Michael Corbat, to stay and delay his retirement to help the largest investment banking financial institution in the world in the deal with the bank’s effort to sail past the Federal Reserve’s annual stress test. The bank cleared that test in March this year, giving it the green signal to increase its dividends for the first time after the financial meltdown.

In explaining his decision to rope Eugene, Mr. Corbat describes, “Gene brings a wealth of expertise from his deep experience in banking, but at the same time also offers continuity of knowledge in the capital planning process.” The appointment has increased the number of members of Citigroup’s board from 13 to 14.

Meanwhile, Citigroup is due to announce its second quarter results tomorrow, Thursday, July 16^th 2015. The consensus estimate for profit is clocked in at $1.35, which is a rise of $1.24 over a year ago. It is also an upgrade from three months ago, when the estimate was pegged at $1.33.

On the other hand, analysts expect earnings to clock in at $5.44 per share for this fiscal year. They also expect revenues to slide around 17%, from less than $23 billion last year to over $19 billion in the second quarter this year. For the year, revenue is expected to clock in less than $77 billion.

The profit increase comes after the previous quarter’s decline in net-income. The profit increase in the most recent quarter climbed the figure up to less than $4.80 billion, which is a whopping 2535% increase.

Citigroup Stock price ended the day at $55.92, a gain of less the 0.70% the previous day, as the financial entity has sold out its retail and business commercial operations in Latin America, with Canadian based Bank of Nova Scotia (otherwise known as Scotiabank) acquiring those operations in Costa Rica and Panama. This will help to ripple the customer base to an estimated 387,000 customers of its existing business in both nations, as well as 15% market share in Costa Rica and 18% market share in credit card operations in Panama.

AppleCare+ To Benefit Users With Battery Issues

Apple warranty service AppleCare+ is designed in a manner to improve the battery span.

Apple Inc. the tech behemoth has become a major tycoon in the industry and has thus established its image as a top notch brand that delivers high end products with an amazing customer service. Several other firms are trying its best to come up with such products and services that can compete with the likes of Apple. However, most of the companies cannot really touch the standards which Apple has already set.

Among other Apple products there is also a service for the warranty of their product known as Apple Care which is designed with an aim to offer technical support if any issue arises with the hardware and software of their product. in case clients wish to avail extended care from  the company then they can also subscribe to their Apple Care+ service which is paid.

This Apple service allows the clients to bring their devices to the company for repair and maintenance or even replacement if they face any battery related issue. Apple has now upgraded its battery clause by 20 percent that is a relatively big improvement. Earlier it was said that the service will only be available to those users that have experienced a 50 percent loss in the original battery capacity.

So the company has now modified its Apple Care warranty related service according to which”

“If during the Plan Term, you submit a valid claim by notifying Apple that (i) a defect in materials and workmanship has arisen in the Covered Equipment, or (ii) the capacity of the Covered Equipment’s battery to hold an electrical charge is less than eighty percent (80%) of its original specifications, Apple will either (A) repair the defect at no charge, using new parts or parts that are equivalent to new in performance and reliability, or (B) exchange the Covered Equipment, with a replacement product that is new or equivalent to new in performance and reliability.”

Apple Care+ is currently being offered to users with Apple iPhones and iPads at a subscription fee of $99 that result in a warranty span of 2 years for the device. On the other hand, this offer for Apple Watch is different since the pricing is dependent on which variant of the watch is owned by the user. The diversity in the pricing can be observed from the fact that the Sport edition of the Apple Watch warranty starts at $49 but in case you own an Apple Watch Edition then the device warranty will start from $1500.

More Woes For Petrobras As It Slashes Five Year Investment Budget

State-run oil company looks to reduce debt and recover investors' confidence amidst a corruption scandal.

Petróleo Brasileiro Petrobras SA (ADR) (NYSE:PBR) has said that it will slash its five year investment plan, which is yet the clearest indication that the damage from the corruption scandal and rising debt has force it to cut down its spending program even further to improve investor confidence.

In its long delayed document, the Brazilian oil giant now expects its capital spending to be more than $130 billion, way below less than $207 billion for the projects that are underway.

Finance Minister, Joaquim Levy, says the move is not unusual, since most oil companies around the world are doing it, and Petrobras is not different. The cutbacks are likely to have huge implications on the Brazilian economy, which is forecasted to contract by 1% this year, since the company is the single biggest source of investment, and that in turn, helps the construction sector and its suppliers indirectly.

The cutback will also serve as a setback against Brazil’s goal to become the top five oil-producing nations by the end of this decade, despite of the more than four million barrels of oil per day, that has been reduced to less than 3 million barrels of oil per day.

Petrobras’ fortune has had a radical change for the worse for the past several years. Ever since the announcement of pre-salt oil reserves, Brazil jumped into high euphoria and enthusiasm that it could be ‘the next big thing’. The left-leaning governments of Brazil had attempted to use the Brazilian oil giant as a vehicle for a broader economic development.

The result of this excitement was a massive spending spree through debt that is flying over the company’s head for a long time now. Capital expenditures were clocked in at 13% growth. Several huge refineries were built, most of them shooting past the budget.

Now, the company has seen its hands tied to the mountain of debt. Making matters worse was that the government adopted strict mandates for oil company to hold a minimum 30% stake for a newly developed pre salt oilfields, on top of high local rules and hefty dividend payments to investors, along with the forceful subsidization of fuel prices to ordinary Brazilians further adding to the woes.

The road to recovery will not be without roadblocks, and Chief Executive Aldemir Bendine has to focus on this for the most part, since he took the helm earlier this year. He also pledges to improve corporate governance, debt reduction, selloff assets, aside from the oil field, and most importantly, start cleaning up the mess from within.

Petrobras’ stock price ended the day at $9.02, a massive decline of more than 4%, based on the reflection of the budget cutback announcement.