Bloomberg Kraft Heinz Co., rebuffed in its bid to buy Unilever earlier this year, is struggling to reignite sales in the absence of a deal. First-quarter revenue dropped to $6.36 billion, the food giant said. That missed the $6.46 billion average of analysts’ projections. Earnings also fell short of estimates, suggesting that Kraft Heinz’s much-vaunted cost cutting didn’t do ...
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Drugmaker wins FDA nod for new ALS drug
Bloomberg Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp. won US approval for its medication to treat Lou Gehrig’s disease, the first new drug for the condition in more than two decades and just the second approved option for patients with the rare and deadly muscle-weakening ailment. Radicava will cost about $145,000 a year before any discounts and rebates, with assistance available to ...
Read More »US unemployment falls to pre-crisis low, jobs rebound
Bloomberg US payroll gains rebounded in April by more than forecast and the jobless rate unexpectedly fell to 4.4 percent, signaling that the labor market remains healthy and should support continued increases in consumer spending. The 211,000 increase followed a 79,000 advance in March that was lower than previously estimated, a Labor Department report showed. The median forecast in ...
Read More »Startup Zevia tops Pepsi in study of e-commerce
Bloomberg The race to sell soft drinks online has a surprising second-place winner: Zevia. The zero-calorie, sugar-free soda brand sold more online than Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Sprite or Dr Pepper, according to a new study. The Los Angeles-based company only fell short of perennial soda king Coca-Cola, according to 1010data Inc., an analytics company. From March 2016 through February, ...
Read More »Home Capital adds former banker to board to replace founder
Bloomberg Home Capital Group Inc. added a former banker to its board of directors in a move the Canadian mortgage lender called “the start of our governance renewal.†Alan Hibben, a former RBC Capital Markets managing director who specialized in mergers and acquisitions, replaces Home Capital founder Gerald Soloway, who the Ontario Securities Commission named as one of the ...
Read More »China’s risk crackdown rattles its municipal bond market
Bloomberg China’s deleveraging campaign is providing a reality check to the fledgling municipal bond market. Set up in 2015 to bring transparency to local-government borrowing practices, the new market benefited from the perception that Beijing had the provinces’ backs, with yields largely on par with the sovereign despite some weak municipal balance sheets. Not anymore — a clampdown on ...
Read More »Australia could block Elliott proposal to move BHP listing
Bloomberg Australia would block any attempt to move BHP Billiton Ltd.’s main sharemarket listing to the UK as proposed by New York-based activist investor Elliott Management Corp., Treasurer Scott Morrison said. “It is unthinkable that any Australian government could allow this original Big Australian to head offshore,†Morrison said in a statement. If BHP implemented Elliott’s proposals, “it may ...
Read More »Strong rupee could ease India ‘investment rules’
Bloomberg A surging rupee, rising currency reserves and a comfortable current-account gap could see India’s central bank consider relaxing rules on outward investments, paving the way for domestic companies to step up their shopping abroad, especially in Latin America and Africa. An uptick in overseas acquisitions would help keep a lid on the rupee, which is among the top ...
Read More »Coal India output subdued to clear mounting stockpiles
Bloomberg Coal India Ltd. may keep production subdued after it fell to the lowest seasonal level in three years as the world’s biggest miner of the fuel seeks to cut inventories. Output in April dropped to the least for the month since 2014, and shipments surpassed production by the biggest volume in records going back almost four years. The ...
Read More »India gold imports climb to nearly two-year high
Bloomberg Gold imports by India, the world’s biggest market after China, jumped to the highest level since 2014 in the first three months of the year, spurred by jewelers restocking for weddings and improving cash flow in the financial system, the World Gold Council said. Net inbound shipments more than doubled to 270.1 metric tons from 127.4 tons a ...
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