Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN) announced today the results for the first half year ended June 30, 2010. During the reporting period, Catena® achieved net sales of CHF 1.7 million (plus 270%; first half year 2009: CHF 0.5 million). Net cash burn (CHF 13.8 million) and net loss (CHF 14.2 million) were both significantly lower in the first six months of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009 (CHF 21.6 million and CHF 23.4 million respectively) and in line with expectations. Link: Click Here

u-blox (SIX:UBXN), a leading provider of GPS receiver and wireless communication technology, today announced revenue for the first half year 2010 of CHF 49.3 million. This constitutes a 44.3% increase over the first half year of 2009. Gross profit increased strongly by 42.2% from CHF 18.4 million to CHF 26.2 million. EBIT for the first half year of 2010 was CHF 7.6 million and net profit of CHF 6.0 million were higher by 293% in comparison to the same period in 2009. Link: Hier Klicken

Von Roll has appointed Stephan Kellmann as the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Von Roll Holding AG. The 46-year-old manager from Lucerne, who worked for the Mövenpick Holding before, will start the job on 15. September 2010. He will be the successor of the current CFO Markus Scherbel who leaves the company at his own request in order to meet new challenges. Link: Click Here


Economy
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ECB Press Conference: ECB raises GDP and HICP projections, signals desire to continue very gradual exit from non-standard operations subject to market conditions. Today's Introductory Statement and Press Conference was broadly in line with our expectations, with the main focus being on a still relatively upbeat tone from the Council concerning the economic outlook, alongside details of the market operations during the remainder of this year and into early 2011. Link: Click Here

US jobless claims post modest decline. Initial jobless claims fell to 472k in the week of August 28 from an upwardly revised 478k (previous: 473k), between our forecast (465k) and consensus (475k) estimates. This was the second consecutive weekly decline after a recent high of 504k during the week of August 14. Link: Click Here

ECB continues its policy of gradual normalisation. Introducing a tracker rate for three-month LTROs. The ECB Governing Council left its key interest rates unchanged, describing the monetary policy stance as accommodative. As expected, after strong hints from Bundesbank's Weber, the Council also extended its fixed-rate liquidity provision with full allotment for as long as necessary, until at least 18 January 2011. The main surprise was the switch to an MRO tracker rate for the October, November and December three-month LTROs. In the absence of inflationary pressures, the ECB will remain on hold for the foreseeable future. We forecast a first 25bp hike to 1.25% in December 2011. Link: Click Here

Swiss real GDP (sa) rose a strong 0.9% q/q after the 1.0% q/q seen in Q1 (revised up from 0.4% q/q reported earlier). The annual GDP growth rate rose to 3.4% from 2.3% previously. Looking at the GDP breakdown, the biggest gain was in gross fixed capital, which rose 2.1% q/q. Link: Click Here