Category: Business

BRUSSELS Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer, raised its forecast for savings from its near $100 billion takeover of SABMiller after weaker than expected earnings as beer sales suffered in Brazil. The company, now more than double the size of nearest rival Heineken, increased its cost savings and synergy target to $2.8 billion from $2.45 billion. This includes $1.05 billion that SABMiller had previously announced before the merger.

TOKYO Asian shares rose on Thursday as investors were encouraged by President Donald Trump's measured tone in his first speech to Congress, which sent Wall Street stocks sharply higher, while growing bets on a U.S. rate hike this month buoyed the dollar.MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.2 percent, led by rebound in Australian shares .Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose 1.3 percent to a 14-month high.MSCI's broadest gauge of the world's stocks covering 46 countries .MIWD00000PUS rose

BOSTON An investor committee that advises the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will next week review if Snap Inc's decision to deny shareholders voting rights might also reduce the social media company's public disclosures on executive pay and other governance matters, the head of that committee told Reuters on Wednesday.Snap, the parent of the popular messaging app Snapchat, priced its eagerly awaited initial public offering at $17 per share on Wednesday, above the expected range, giving the company a value

A federal judge in Houston has thrown out a lawsuit accusing UBS Group AG of hiding fraud by its client Enron Corp from retail customers, a decision that may end a 15-year legal battle stemming from the energy company's December 2001 bankruptcy.In a 228-page decision on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon said UBS PaineWebber brokerage customers failed to show that the Swiss bank intended to defraud them into buying Enron securities.The customers accused UBS of trying to generate more

By Lucia Mutikani | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. consumer spending rose less than expected in January as the largest monthly increase in inflation in four years eroded households' purchasing power, pointing to moderate economic growth in the first quarter.The surge in inflation raises the possibility of an interest rate increase from the Federal Reserve this month. While still below the U.S. central

By Sijia Jiang | HONG KONG HONG KONG Taiwan's Foxconn (2317.TW), the world's largest contract electronics maker, is "definitely bidding" for the chip business of Japan's Toshiba Corp (6502.T) and is "very confident" it can buy into it, company founder Terry Gou said on Wednesday.Gou was speaking as Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, broke ground for

Snap Inc, owner of popular messaging app Snapchat, will price its initial public offering after the U.S. stock market closes on Wednesday in the most eagerly awaited technology IPO since Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba went public in 2014.The pricing will be the first test of investor appetite for a social-media app beloved by teenagers and 20-somethings but which has yet to turn a profit. The company's losses widened last year, and it is experiencing decelerating user growth in the face

By David Shepardson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON German automakers dominated Consumer Reports' annual ranking of automotive brands released on Tuesday, with Volkswagen AG's (VOWG_p.DE) Audi (NSUG.DE) leading the pack, while U.S. brands continued to lag despite gains for many.Jake Fisher, director of auto testing at the magazine, said German automakers rose largely due to improvements in reliability. "Building one or two great

By Christine Murray | MEXICO CITY MEXICO CITY Mexico's telecoms regulator has discussed forcing billionaire Carlos Slim to legally separate his fixed-line company Telmex from his wireless business, three people familiar with the matter said.On Monday evening, the regulator's seven-person board voted on whether to toughen, maintain or loosen rules against America Movil (AMXL.MX) and broadcaster Grupo Televisa (TLVACPO.MX), according to

By Richa Naidu and Nandita Bose Target Corp (TGT.N) shares plunged on Tuesday after executives issued a full-year profit forecast that fell well below analyst estimates and said the retailer would lower prices to compete with deep-discounting rivals. Target at its investor day conference vowed aggressive promotions and said new brands and investments in technology and small stores will allow it

WASHINGTON Feb 28 U.S. economic growth slowed in the fourth quarter as previously reported, with robust consumer spending offset by downward revisions to business and government investment.Gross domestic product increased at a 1.9 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday in its second estimate for the fourth quarter, confirming the estimate published last month. Output increased at a 3.5 percent rate in the third quarter. The economy grew 1.6 percent for all of 2016, its worst performance since

By Se Young Lee and Ju-min Park | SEOUL SEOUL South Korean prosecutors said on Tuesday they will charge Samsung Group [SARG.UL] chief Jay Y. Lee with bribery and embezzlement as the top conglomerate announced the dismantling of its corporate strategy office, the latest developments in a scandal that has rocked the country for months.Jay Y. Lee, 48, was arrested on

BEIJING China plans to target broad money supply growth of around 12 percent in 2017, slightly lower than last year's goal, policy sources said, signaling a bid to contain debt risks while keeping growth on track.Under its new "prudent and neutral" policy, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) has adopted a modest tightening bias in a bid to cool torrid credit expansion, though it is treading cautiously to avoid hurting the economy.The M2 growth target was endorsed by leaders at

By Steve Holland | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Donald Trump is seeking what he called a "historic" increase in defense spending, but ran into immediate opposition from Republicans in Congress who must approve his plan and said it was not enough to meet the military's needs.The proposed rise in the Pentagon budget to $603 billion comes as the United States has wound

By Caroline Valetkevitch | NEW YORK NEW YORK U.S. stocks ended slightly higher on Monday and the Dow closed at a record high for a 12th straight session, as President Donald Trump said he would make a "big" infrastructure statement on Tuesday.The Dow's streak of record-high closes matches a 12-day run in 1987, with Boeing (BA.N) and UnitedHealth (UNH.N) among the

FRANKFURT Daimler (DAIGn.DE) will pick a new head for its truck operations in the coming days, sources close to the matter said, as the manufacturer aims to avoid a lengthy search for a successor to departed chief Wolfgang Bernhard. Bernhard, once seen as a candidate to succeed Daimler Chief Executive Diete Zetsche, stepped down a year before his contract was due to expire, the carmaker said this month.Stuttgart-based Daimler aims to decide on a successor to Bernhard before auto executives

By Sam Forgione | NEW YORK NEW YORK Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N), told CNBC on Monday that his conglomerate had purchased about 120 million shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL.O) in 2017 and that U.S. stocks were not in "bubble territory." "Apple strikes me as having quite a sticky product," Buffett said. He said Berkshire's

LONDON/FRANKFURT The London Stock Exchange (LSE.L) has all but ended a planned merger with Deutsche Boerse (DB1Gn.DE) to create Europe's biggest stock exchange by ruling out meeting a European antitrust demand, saying it has strong prospects alone.In a bid to create a European trading powerhouse that would better compete against U.S. rivals making inroads on their home turf, the two exchanges struck a 29 billion euro ($30.1 billion) deal just over a year ago.But in a highly unusual step, the

By Eric Auchard | BARCELONA BARCELONA Nokia (NOKIA.HE) sees demand for higher speed 4G network equipment starting to recover this year, led by Japan, the company's chief executive Rajeev Suri said on Sunday as he announced a series of contracts with telecom operators.Speaking at a news conference ahead of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Suri also predicted a new

By Trevor Hunnicutt and Jonathan Stempel | NEW YORK NEW YORK Billionaire Warren Buffett, whose stock picks over several decades have enriched generations of Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) shareholders, delivered a black eye to the investment industry on Saturday, urging ordinary investors to buy plain-vanilla index funds."When trillions of dollars are managed by Wall Streeters charging high fees, it will usually

BARCELONA, Spain Blackberry Ltd (BB.TO) may have exited the device business, but fans of the pioneering email machine need not despair as Chinese smartphone maker TCL Communication (TCCLF.PK) has introduced its first Blackberry-licensed phone with the physical keyboard that was long its key allure. The KEYone combines a touch display with a physical keyboard to give users more useable space for typing than a typical 5.5-inch all-touch smartphone, along with BlackBerry Ltd's security and software, TCL said.

By Trevor Hunnicutt | NEW YORK NEW YORK Billionaire investor Warren Buffett on Saturday attacked what he saw as tricks used by U.S. companies to boost earnings and stock prices, but he defended one oft-criticized practice: share buybacks."As the subject of repurchases has come to a boil, some people have come close to calling them un-American –characterizing them as corporate misdeeds

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) on Saturday said fourth-quarter profit rose 15 percent from a year earlier, helped by gains from investments and derivatives.Net income rose to $6.29 billion, or $3,823 per Class Ashare, from $5.48 billion, or $3,333 per share, in the comparable quarter the previous year. Quarterly operating profit fell 6 percent to $4.38billion, or $2,665 per share, from $4.67 billion, or $2,843 pershare.

Citigroup Inc (C.N) on Friday said that U.S. government and regulatory agencies are investigating the bank's hiring practices.U.S. agencies, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, are looking into whether or not the bank hired candidates "referred by or related to foreign government officials" over other candidates, the filing said. (bit.ly/2mmiCe4)"Citigroup is cooperating with the investigations and inquiries," the company said in the filing with the SEC.

By Alexandria Sage | SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Waymo self-driving car unit sued Uber Technologies [UBER.UL] and its autonomous trucking subsidiary Otto on Thursday over allegations of theft of its confidential and proprietary sensor technology.Waymo accused Uber and Otto, acquired by the ride services company in August, with stealing confidential information on Waymo's Lidar sensor technology to help

By Lewis Krauskopf | NEW YORK NEW YORK U.S. President Donald Trump's planned economic agenda has fanned the flames for Wall Street's record-setting run, but some investors worry that his first major address to Congress next week risks dousing it if his plans look slow to execute or are overly vague.The benchmark S&P 500 .SPX has surged 10 percent since Trump's

By Caroline Humer | NEW YORK NEW YORK The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, which represents insurers in every state, Cigna Corp and Humana Inc said on Friday they would attend a meeting between the health insurance industry and President Donald Trump on Monday. Cigna's chief executive officer, David Cordani, and Humana CEO Bruce Broussard will attend, spokesmen for both companies

The Dow was on track to break its 10-day record-setting streak on Friday, as investors turned cautious after recent comments from Trump administration suggested that pro-growth policies may take longer to be implemented.Wall Street is trading at record levels since the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president, spurred by his promises of tax reforms, reduced regulations and increased infrastructure spending.However, with Trump giving scant detail on his plans – including one on Thursday to bring millions of jobs back

BERLIN All A400M transport plane engines affected by an order from European safety regulators have been inspected and no further cracks were found in their combustion chambers, a spokesman for the European planemaker Airbus (AIR.PA) said on Friday."All the engines affected have been inspected and this is a unique incident," Airbus spokesman Florian Taitsch told Reuters.Taitsch said the European Aviation Safety Agency ordered the inspections and follow-up checks after unexplained cracks were discovered in the combustion chamber of an A400M

TOKYO Asian shares took a breather on Friday, slipping from 1-1/2-year highs as material shares were hit by sudden falls in copper and other commodity prices while investors assessed Washington's stance on tax and currency policies.MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was down 0.5 percent, giving back part of this week's gains, though it is likely to log its fifth straight weekly advance. Material and resource shares were the biggest drag as they were spooked by big

SEOUL Two senior Samsung Group [SAGR.UL] executives have offered to resign to take responsibility for the conglomerate's involvement in the graft scandal involving South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Yonhap news agency said on Friday, without citing sources. The report said Vice Chairman Choi Gee-sung and President Chang Choong-gi have offered to resign. Both executives were identified as suspects by the South Korean special prosecution

TOKYO Toshiba Corp (6502.T) said on Friday it was not aware that its U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse was considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.The Nikkei business daily reported earlier that a Chapter 11 filing was one of the options that Toshiba was considering.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co, the corporate hardware and enterprise software business of Hewlett-Packard Co, reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue and cut its full-year profit forecast.The company's shares were down 5.6 percent at $23.22 in after-market trading on Thursday.HPE said it expected full-year adjusted profit of between $1.88-$1.98 per share, down from $2-$2.10 it forecast earlier.Analysts on average were expecting a profit of $2.05 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.HPE cited increased pressure from a strong dollar, higher commodities pricing and

By Lucia Mutikani | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose slightly last week but the four-week average of such claims, considered a better gauge, fell to a 43-1/2-year low in a sign of a strengthening labor market.Other data on Thursday showed house prices increasing solidly in December amid strong demand for housing even as mortgage rates