Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/258814
12 BUSINESS & FINANCE maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2014 Google now second most valuable US company after Exxon Google has passed Exxon to be- come the second most valuable US company by market capitalisation. According to FactSet data, the internet company's market capitalisation surpassed that of oil company Exxon Mobil Corp. last week. As of Friday's market close, it sat at $395.42 billion compared with the oil company's $392.66 billion. Shares of Google Inc. have been on a steady climb since the beginning of 2013, gaining 66%. Market capitalisation is the number of outstanding shares multiplied by their value. Meanwhile, Exxon's have risen just 5%. Since the beginning of this year, they've lost about 10% of their value. Both companies trail Apple Inc.'s market capitalisation of $463.55 billion. Download the MaltaToday App now Fruit and veg index up by 1.5 per cent The volume of fresh fruit and veg- etables that passed through official markets amounted to 8.3 million kilograms, yielding €4.0 million. This represents an increase of 1.5% in weight and a 3.1% decline in the wholesale value over the correspond- ing period in 2012. The supply of fresh vegetables went up by 1.9% to 7.9 million kilograms over the comparative quarter. Increases were registered in the supply of carrots (+18.1%), cabbages (+8.2%) and Dry onions (+5.3%). On the other hand, the wholesale value of fresh vegetables decreased by 2.8% to €3.7 million. Fresh fruit supplied decreased by 7.2% mainly on account of a decline in the availability of sweet oranges (-10.1%) and Oranges (-1.5%). Similarly, the wholesale value of fresh fruit fell by 6.3%, to €0.3 million. Maltese farmers supplied 7.6 million kilograms of fruit and vegetables; an increase of 2.2% over the corresponding period in 2012. During the quarter under review, the wholesale value of fresh fruit and vegetables declined by 2.0 per cent to €3.5 million. This produce represented 91.7% of the total supply of fresh fruit and vegetables. Gozitan farmers supplied 0.7 million kilograms of fresh fruit and vegetables or 8.3% of the total supply. The volume of fresh fruit and vegetables declined by 5.6%. Likewise, the wholesale value dropped by 11.0% over the comparative quarter of 2012. The quarterly 'All Items' fresh fruit price index for the fourth quarter of 2013 decreased slightly by 0.04 points (-0.1%) to stand at 71.95 points. Furthermore, the fresh fruit volume index declined by 7.2% to 51.11 points. In the quarter under review, while the 'All Items' fresh vegetables price index declined by 6.0 points (-5.1%) to 111.14 points, the 'All items' fresh vegetables volume index increased by 1.41 points (+1.9%) to 76.81 points. MaltaPost registers 'satisfactory' increase in turnover MaltaPost p.l.c. yesterday announced that during the financial period be- tween 1 October 2013 up to Febru- ary 2014, the company's turnover registered a satisfactory increase even though, in line with expectations. "Overall, the financial performance for the relevant period remained broadly unchanged when compared to that of the corresponding period last year," MaltaPost said. It also noted that its Letter Mail volumes remained on a downward trend, while the increase, in turnover has been partially offset owing to wage increases, inflationary pressures and higher cross-border mail delivery cost. "Looking ahead, we remain focused on improving revenue and profit growth through product and service diversification and by seeking opportunities arising from the structural trends in e-retailing." Moreover, MaltaPost said that the revision of certain tariffs with effect from 1 January 2014 is expected to contribute towards mitigating the continued decrease in Letter Mail volumes. "However, the main objective underlying such tariff revisions is to alleviate some of the pressures on the realistic sustainability of the Company's Universal Service Obligations." The company reiterated that it will continue to maintain an open dialogue with the Malta Communications Authority to ensure that it can continue to "reasonably and realistically fulfill its obligations".