International
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Sony to discuss spin-off suggestion
Few foreign activist investors have made much headway in forcing change in Japan, where a conservative corporate culture favours long-standing ties with banks, business partners and workers rather than shareholders seeking value. Struggling...
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IMF urges Britain to do more to boost growth
The International Monetary Fund called on Britain’s Government yesterday to do more to speed up slow economic recovery, hinting that the country might be able to afford to borrow more to fund investment. The report is unlikely to spur Chancellor...
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Ireland feels the heat from Apple tax row
Ireland yesterday called for an international clampdown on multinationals shifting profits around the world to avoid tax, after criticism that Irish loopholes helped technology giant Apple to shrink its tax bill. A US Senate investigation into the...
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Boeing resumes deliveries of 787 Dreamliners
Boeing Co. resumed deliveries of its high-tech 787 Dreamliner jet, ending a period of nearly four months in which it was unable to provide new planes to customers because of safety concerns about the battery system. The delivery of the first jet...
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HSBC to lay off 14,000 employees
HSBC will redouble cost-cutting efforts, including axing up to 14,000 more jobs globally, as Europe’s largest bank seeks to drive earnings and dividend growth in the face of muted revenue. London-headquartered HSBC is seeking up to $3 billion in...
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Bank of England offers ray of hope for UK economy
Britain’s central bank lifted a bit of the gloom hanging over the economy yesterday, delivering a slightly improved outlook for inflation and growth for the first time since the financial crisis erupted. Bank of England Governor Mervyn King,...
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European telecom revenues drop as price wars heat up
Two of Europe’s biggest telecom operators reported lower revenues yesterday, blaming the weak European economy and stiff regulation while seeing some bright spots in markets abroad. The figures from Spain’s Telefonica SA and Deutsche Telekom AG...
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ECB open-minded on SME lending but wants others to help
The European Central Bank has an open mind on what it could do to spur lending to small and mid-sized businesses, though other EU institutions might be better placed to help, a top ECB policymaker said yesterday. The ECB is concerned that banks,...
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China trade data beats expectations
China’s exports and imports grew more than expected in April, offering the possibility of a better outlook for the world’s second-largest economy, but the figures failed to put an end to scepticism that financial manoeuvring by exporters and...
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Adidas probed for competitor ban
Adidas chief executive Herbert Hainer addresses the company’s annual general meeting in Fuerth, near Nuremberg, yesterday. The German cartel office is taking a closer look at the online sales practices of the world’s second largest sports apparel...
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Britain to quiz Google and auditor again on tax
Executives from Google Inc. and its auditor Ernst and Young will be called again to a British Parliament committee to testify on tax, after a Reuters investigation highlighted inconsistencies in the way Google portrays its activities in Britain, the...
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EU considers trade action after Bangladesh factory collapse
The European Union is considering trade action against Bangladesh, which has preferential access to EU markets for its garments, in order to pressure Dhaka to improve safety standards after a building collapse killed hundreds of factory...
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Global consumer confidence improves
Global consumer confidence rose in the first quarter, with a marked increase in sentiment in the US, Japan and northern Europe, a survey showed yesterday. Indonesia overtook India as the most optimistic consumer market globally, according to the...
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Apple wows market with record $17 billion bond deal
Apple Inc wowed the debt markets on Tuesday with the largest non-bank bond deal in history, pricing a whopping $17 billion as the US computer giant switches strategy to placate restless shareholders. Just a week after announcing its first drop in...
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Master Card profit rises 12 per cent
Master Card Inc, the world’s second-largest credit and debit card network, reported a 12 per cent rise in quarterly profit as more people used credit and debit cards instead of cash. Net income rose to $766 million, or $6.23 per share, in the first...
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Apple unlocks more cash for investors as profit slides
Apple Inc bowed to investors’ demands to share more of its $145 billion cash pile, while posting its first quarterly profit decline in more than a decade. The new expanded capital plan includes issuing debt for the first time to fund $100 billion in...
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Barclays’ investment bank outshines overall profit drop
Barclays’ investment banking division beat expectations in the first quarter, outshining the wider group’s earnings drop and sending its shares to a six-week high. Overall profits at Britain’s third-largest bank were down a quarter from a year ago,...
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Ford profit surpasses estimates as North America shines
Ford Motor Co posted a higher-than-expected first-quarter profit yesterday as its North American unit posted its best quarter in more than a decade on the strength of new models. Revenue in North America, the company’s largest market, shot up by...
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Lloyds bank branch sale to Co-op collapses
The planned sale by state-backed Lloyds of hundreds of UK bank branches to the Co-op fell through yesterday, setting back government plans to boost competition in the industry. The Co-Op said it pulled out of the deal due to toughening regulations...
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Weaker yen boosts outlook as Canon and Nintendo find solace in stimulus policies
Super Mario creator Nintendo Co Ltd forecast a return to the black after two years of losses and camera maker Canon Inc raised its profit forecast by nearly 10 per cent as a weaker yen, spurred by aggressive deflation-fighting policies, bolstered...
