Mr Whippy, George Calombaris reach sweet settlement over dessert name dispute: Midday roundup

Stan Gordon, chief executive of the Franchised Food Company and owner of the popular Mr Whippy ice cream brand, has reached a settlement with celebrity chef George Calombaris over the company’s name.

The dispute began when Calombaris started selling the dessert, called “Mrs Whippi”, at his Melbourne Restaurant St Katherine’s.

While Calombaris originally called the dessert “Mr Whippi”, he changed the name to “Mrs Whippi”. But Gordon pursued legal action anyway.

“The Directors of Mr Whippy Pty Ltd and St Katherines Pty Ltd have agreed to resolve the proceeding issued over the use of the Mr Whippy brand name. As a gesture of goodwill, it has been agreed to donate $4,000 to the Royal Children’s Hospital,” Gordon said in a statement.

Consumer sentiment rises in February

Consumer sentiment has increased again in February, according to the latest results from the Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment index.

The index rose 7.7% to 108.3 in February, after a rise of 0.6% in January. Westpac chief economist Bill Evans said in a statement news from sharemarkets and international financial markets may have helped the result.

“Sentiment may have been buoyed by a strong start to the year for financial markets,” he said.

“News from offshore has also been broadly supportive.”

However, Evans said the result is still below the levels seen between 2008 and 2009.

Commonwealth Bank records record profit

The Commonwealth Bank recorded a half yearly profit of $3.78 billion this morning, saying the economic improvement in the country is on the rise.

Chief executive Ian Narev said that while credit growth is slow, the global economy has improved.

“In each of the major areas of concern – European Union stability, US recovery and China’s on-going growth – developments have been positive overall,” Narev said.

“But if the current stability continues, we believe it will translate into a slow but steady rebuilding of consumer and business confidence in Australia. And that is our base case for the 2013 calendar year.”

Shares breach 5,000 point mark, reach three year high

The Australian sharemarket has breached the 5,000 point threshold this morning for the first time since 2010.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 45.8 points or 0.9% to 5004.8 at 11.50 AEST, while in the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 47.5 points or 0.3% to 14,018.7.