Billionaire Bernard Arnault and his family are shunning big external acquisitions and opting to tighten their grip on LVMH, the world’s largest luxury group by revenues, where they’re already the largest shareholder. The Arnault family is simplifying the complex corporate structure between its family holding company Groupe Arnault, Christian Dior and LVMH — in a move that will see it sell out completely of rival Hermès. “We’re […]
After yesterday’s violent gap up in stocks across the globe in response to the “expected” outcome from the French election, today the risk on sentiment has continued if to a lesser extent, with stocks in Europe, Asia all rising while S&P futures point to a higher open. Yen, gold decline, while the euro traded as high as 1.09 this morning before fading some gains; oil is up […]
By Nichola Saminather | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Asian equities advanced on Tuesday as the return of risk appetite following a centrist victory in the first round of the French presidential election lifted several regional markets to multi-year highs, while the euro retained most of its overnight gains. Safe-haven assets, including the yen and gold remained under pressure, while the Canadian dollar fell after the U.S. announced new duties […]
By Toby Sterling | AMSTERDAM AMSTERDAM U.S. paint maker PPG Industries (PPG.N) raised its proposed offer for Akzo Nobel (AKZO.AS) by about 8 percent to 26.9 billion euros ($28.8 billion) on Monday, increasing the pressure on its Dutch rival to enter into talks. PPG said its proposal was a “final” invitation to Akzo to enter negotiations and included a break fee in case the deal was rejected […]
US paintmaker PPG Industries raised the tempo in a fierce takeover battle with its rival Akzo Nobel by tabling a third bid that it said valued the Dutch company at €26.9bn. PPG on Monday made a new cash-and-stock offer for the owner of the Dulux brand of paints at €96.75 a share — a premium of 50 per cent over Akzo Nobel’s undisturbed stock price before the […]
By Yashaswini Swamynathan U.S. stock index futures rose sharply on Monday, tracking European and Asian stocks, as investors breathed a sigh of relief after Centrist candidate and market favorite Emmanuel Macron won the first round of the French election. * Polls showed pro-EU Macron is expected to beat right-wing rival Marine Le Pen in a deciding vote next month, reducing the chances of France taking a Britain-like […]
Former BP boss Tony Hayward will in June leave Genel Energy, the Kurdistan-focused oil explorer he co-founded, following several troubled years for the lossmaking company. He will be succeeded as Genel chairman by Stephen Whyte, an energy industry veteran, whose career has included a long spell at Royal Dutch Shell in various technical and commercial roles. Since 2013, Mr Hayward has been chairman of Glencore, the mining-cum-trading […]
Risk is definitely on this morning as European shares soar, led by French stocks and a new record high in Germany’s Dax, after a “French relief rally” in which the first round of the country’s presidential elections prompted investors to bet that establishment candidate Emmanuel Macron will win a runoff vote next month, and who is seen as a 61% to 39% favorite to defeat Le Pen […]
LONDON British luxury retailer Jimmy Choo (CHOO.L) is seeking offers for the company as part of a review of its strategic options to maximize shareholder value, it said on Monday. The firm, which specializes in shoes and accessories, said it had discussed the strategic review process with its majority shareholder, JAB Luxury, which has confirmed it is supportive of the process. JAB Luxury holds 67.7 percent of […]
24 April 2017 Dubai – Commercial Bank International (CBI or ‘The Bank’) today announced its financial results for the first quarter (Q1) 2017. Financial highlights – three-months ended 31 March 2017: · Operating Income increased by 9% to AED 203 million versus AED 187 million in Q1 2016. · Net profit of AED 21 million. Advertisement · Net interest income increased by 10% to AED 126 million […]
Frank Ocean performs during the 2014 Bonnaroo Festival.Image: Josh Brasted/WireImage via getty images By Nicole Gallucci2017-04-23 20:01:26 UTC Frank Ocean is back, baby, and he’s not showing signs of slowing down. Since dropping his highly anticipated album Blonde back in 2016 to end a four-year hiatus, Ocean has been unstoppable. On Saturday night the R&B star released yet another new track called “Lens.” On an episode of […]
Image: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images By Chloe Bryan, Tricia Gilbride, and Laura Vitto2017-04-23 13:09:48 UTC All dogs are good, but some dogs are the best. Using a unique and complex algorithm that we cannot disclose (just kidding, we picked 50 dogs from the American Kennel Club website, gave each a score out of 10, then argued with each other in the case of a tie), we have ranked […]
Many Starbucks lovers are crazy over trying out secret menu items that allow them to experience new ways to enjoy their caffeinated and sweet beverages, and the company knows it. That is why it comes as no surprise when Starbucks’ latest craze – the Unicorn Frappuccino – is such a hit with its patrons who love to post picture-perfect photos on Instagram. Of course, not everyone shares the excitement […]
BOSTON Officials of two large California public retirement systems said Friday they are voting against nine of 15 Wells Fargo & Co directors up for election at the bank’s annual meeting next week, citing the bank’s phony-account scandal. Leaders of the largest U.S. state pension system, known as CalPERS, said in an email it is voting about 13.9 million shares against the bank nominees, including its chairman, […]
Theranos, the embattled blood-testing start-up, set up a secret company to buy off-the-shelf machines, allowing it to hide the fact that it was generating patient results using commercial equipment rather than its own flawed devices, according to an investor lawsuit. Partner Fund Management, which invested $96.1m in Theranos in 2014, alleges the company created a wholly owned subsidiary, Protegic Procurement, to “secretly” buy the commercially available analysers, […]
While geopolitical concerns and French election uncertainty are factors, The Wall Street Journal notes that many markets are flashing red on growth as investors begin to return to pre-election bets on the ol ‘new normal’ – a persistently weak economic expansion. There are clear signs that the sugar rush of Donald Trump’s victory and global-growth hopes has faded, raising doubts among some investors about whether stocks can […]
Honeywell International Inc (HON.N) said on Friday its commercial aviation after-sales business was benefiting from robust air travel, while its energy division was getting a lift from stable oil prices, sending shares to a record high. The diversified U.S. manufacturer’s shares rose as much as 3.6 percent to $128.30 in afternoon trading. Honeywell, which made an unsuccessful bid for rival United Technologies Inc (UTX.N) last year, also […]
Investor sentiment is leaning towards a market-friendly outcome ahead of Sunday’s first round of voting in the French presidential election. The euro was on course for its best week in three months near $1.07, while a key proxy of election risk, the premium demanded by investors to own French government bonds over German Bunds, has narrowed sharply. “The most likely outcome is for a second round run-off […]
FRANKFURT German police arrested a man on Friday who is suspected of planting explosives targeting the bus of soccer team Borussia Dortmund last week, the office of the German federal chief prosecutor said. The 28-year old man, a dual German and Russian national identified as Sergei V., had bought options on Borussia Dortmund’s stock before the attack, hoping to make a profit, it said in a statement. […]
The construction of Asia-Pacific fibre infrastructure company Superloop’s Indigo subsea cable system has reached a contractually binding status following Alcatel Submarine Networks entering a system supply agreement. The agreement makes the submarine cable system supply and construction binding for all parties, as well as the process of bringing it into operation. The contract was executed between Alcatel Submarine Networks and the Indigo consortium parties including Superloop and […]
The narrative of shiny Silicon Valley topping decrepit Detroit in the race to develop self-driving cars has become a recurring theme in recent years. Just as tech companies have reinvented (dare we say, disrupted?) everything from telephones to how we consume music, the thinking goes, so too will they leave traditional automakers in the dust when it comes to autonomous cars. While it’s true that […]
US mortgage group Ocwen has lost more than half its market value after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued it over “systemic” misconduct, a reminder of the power wielded by the Washington regulator that Republicans have vowed to rein in. Several states are also taking action as they prepare to revoke operating licenses for the New York-listed company, which was founded in 1988 and employs more than […]
The London market broke a four-day losing streak as the week’s spate of sterling-induced selling eased and consumer stocks from Burberry to Unilever put in robust performances. The marginal gains for the FTSE 100 were not enough to reverse Wednesday’s fall into losses for the year for the benchmark. But UBS maintaining that Burberry was its “preferred turnround name in luxury” and top pick in that European […]
Verizon lost hundreds of thousands of customers in the first three months of the year despite resurrecting its unlimited data plan. The largest US mobile carrier that powers more than 100m US mobile devices said it lost 307,000 postpaid phone subscribers in the first quarter. Analysts had expected Verizon to add about 200,000 postpaid, or monthly, subscribers, which are viewed as the most lucrative wireless customers. Analysts […]
