International News

Bloomberg As many as 7% of French firms could be in financial trouble when the government rolls back the blanket support it has provided during the pandemic, according to research by Bank of France economists. The estimate is based on an analysis of over 200,000 balance sheets received as part of the central bank’s annual ratings exercise. It identified firms ...

Bloomberg California is bracing for another afternoon of blistering weather and potential blackouts as officials urge people to conserve power and forecasters warn of a brutal summer ahead. Grid officials said they don’t expect rolling outages, either. Still, they’re urging consumers to curb power use, especially in the early evening when solar production fades and temperatures are expected to be ...

Bloomberg PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) is investing $12 billion across its global business in an overhaul targeting better audits, digitisation of services and greener operations. The professional-services provider will hire 100,000 employees and develop the skills of existing staff over the next five years as it seeks to respond to the post-pandemic operating environment, it said in an emailed statement. “We will ...

Bloomberg Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s plan to conquer the Indian market with a locally assembled Google-powered smartphone is facing headwinds, with supply-chain disruptions and rising component prices suppressing production volumes, people familiar with the matter said. Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd originally envisioned sales in the hundreds of millions in the first years for the inexpensive device but now targets a small ...

Bloomberg Mark Zuckerberg’s approval among some Facebook Inc employees has slipped, dislodging him from Glassdoor’s ranking of the Top 100 CEOs, a list he’s been on annually since 2013. Zuckerberg put on his game face to convince a skeptical Congress that his company’s ambitious plans for a cryptocurrency will benefit millions of poor and underbanked people around the world, and ...

Bloomberg KKR & Co is considering a sale of Marelli Corp’s suspension systems business as the private equity firm shifts the focus of the car parts company towards more profitable products, according to people familiar with the matter. The buyout firm is working with an adviser on the potential disposal, which has drawn preliminary interest from private equity and strategic ...

Bloomberg Lordstown Motors Corp jumped after saying it has enough money to make its battery-powered trucks through May of next year, paring a record decline the previous day following the departure of two top executives. The automaker is actively raising additional funds and has reconfirmed orders for its debut vehicle, President Rich Schmidt said at an Automotive Press Association event ...

Bloomberg Swedish steelmaker SSAB AB is teaming up with Volvo Cars to develop fossil-free steel for use in the automotive industry. Volvo Cars will be the first carmaker to secure the greener steel, SSAB said in a statement on Wednesday. Volvo Cars will use the material for testing and possibly in a concept car, it said. For the automaker, the ...

Bloomberg The first megawatts of electricity was expected to flow between Norway and the UK on Wednesday along the longest submarine power cable in the world. Once fully operational Britain is expected to import supplies of low carbon power on a regular basis. Tests on the 1,400-megawatt, 450-mile long cable will be complete in time to transport power from Norway’s ...

Bloomberg Chinese ride-hailing company Didi revealed a $1.6 billion net loss for 2020 as it moves ahead with plans for a US initial public offering. The company in its first public filing for the IPO listed the offering as $100 million, a placeholder that will change when the company discloses terms for the share sale. Didi filed under the business ...