"independent neutral intermediary" on Thursday. It adds to an anti-corruption drive following Daimler's 2010 agreement on $185 million in civil and criminal payments to U.S. authorities over bribes paid to win sales in various countries. A year ago, Daimler tapped another former supreme court judge, Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt, as its integrity officer a newly created post. Hohmann-Dennhardt says Hassemer's appointment expands "the possibilities for external and internal whistleblowers to contact us confidentially and if desired also anonymously, and to report any breaches of rules and regulations." Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast,http://adsens-esport.com/index.php?file=Guestbook,cheap toms shoes, rewritten or redistributed. Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ. An insider's guide to politics and policy, available on the iPad or as a PDF download.
By MAE ANDERSON and SARAH SKIDMORE, Associated Press Kellogg Co. is showing signs of easing its way out of a two-year slump. The cereal maker reported Thursday that its net income rose 23 percent on revenue gains. The results beat expectations and Kellogg reiterated its full-year guidance, which sent its shares higher,http://desw.net/viewthread.php?tid=946964&extra=. Kellogg is one of the nation's largest food makers with products such as Frosted Flakes cereal,http://friendvenue.com/activity/, Eggo waffles and Keebler cookies. The popularity of such brands has helped the company weather the challenges of the tough economy. But Kellogg has struggled with high ingredient costs, weak consumer spending, a major cereal recall and other issues over the past two fiscal years. The company's biggest challenge has been a series of supply chain problems. The Food and Drug Administration found traces of listeria bacteria at its bakery in Augusta, Ga., last year during an inspection. That followed a major cereal recall the prior year and problems at another plant that led to a shortage of Eggo waffles. In November, Moody's Investors Service said it was reviewing Kellogg's investment-grade credit for possible downgrade because the company's cost-reduction efforts may have cut into its operations too deeply and led to some of the issues with its food safety,toms outlet, which is critical in the food industry. Kellogg announced last quarter that it had learned from its lessons and was making major investments in its supply chain to similar problems in the future. It also has spent more on marketing and brand-building efforts to help drive its sales in the long term. And, like many of its peers, has raised its prices to offset higher ingredient costs. These moves showed signs of paying off on Thursday,toms outlet. The company reported that it earned $232 million, or 64 cents per share, for the quarter ended Dec. 31. That's up from $189 million, or 51 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. Analysts expected 63 cents per share, according to FactSet. Kellogg's revenue rose 5 percent to $3.02 billion; analysts expected $2.99 billion. The company said its total sales volume