International News

Bloomberg Standard Life Assurance Ltd. was fined 30.8 million pounds ($38 million) by UK regulators over how it handled sales of some pension products. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group Holdings Plc, offered employees “large financial incentives to sell annuities, which encouraged them to place their own financial interests ahead of their customers.” ...

Bloomberg UK manufacturers are more pessimistic than at any time in the past three years after order books shrank at a pace last exceeded during the financial crisis a decade ago, according to the Confederation of British Industry. The gloomy assessment adds to evidence that the economy suffered a Brexit hangover in the last quarter after orders were brought forward ...

Bloomberg A union at AT&T Inc is accusing the company of reneging on a labour agreement that helped gain the support of worker groups for last year’s $85 billion takeover of Time Warner. As part of a deal renewed in 2017, the Communications Workers of America pledged to support expansion efforts by AT&T and the company agreed to terms for ...

Bloomberg Harley-Davidson Inc cut its full-year operating margin outlook and 2019 bike shipment forecast after weak global motorcycle sales and the impact of tariffs dented second quarter earnings. The Milwaukee-based manufacturer slashed its shipment forecast this year to 212,000 to 217,000, from a previous range of 217,000 to 222,000. Lower shipments also prompted it to reduce its expected 2019 operating ...

Bloomberg Commodity markets are stripping away the case for coal in Europe, moving quicker than government efforts to close the most polluting power plants. A plunge in natural gas prices along with an increase in the cost of releasing carbon dioxide emissions shifted the profitability of generating electricity away from burning coal, according to data compiled by BloombergNEF. The trend ...

Bloomberg The UK’s planned exit from the European Union may have already pushed the UK into a technical recession, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. In a gloomy set of new forecasts, Niesr predicted that, even assuming a smooth exit in October, the nation will grow 1 percent in 2019 and 1 percent in 2020. There’s ...

Bloomberg German unemployment is set to rise in the next three months after a slump in manufacturing and weak exports weighed down Europe’s largest economy, according to the Bundesbank. Total output probably contracted in the second quarter, the Frankfurt-based institution said. While domestic demand likely continued to support growth, softer momentum is starting to leave its mark on the labor ...

Bloomberg Canada’s arctic port of Churchill is set to resume its first grain shipments since 2015 after a group backed by investor Prem Watsa stepped in last year to buy the facility and a related rail line linking the northern town with the rest of Manitoba. The 88-year-old port on the shores of Hudson’s Bay will resume operations in the ...

Bloomberg Royal Philips NV’s efforts to revamp supply chains to mitigate the impact of the US-China trade dispute are paying off, with the Dutch health-care company reporting better-than-estimated profit. The maker of scanners and diagnostic gear needs China as state-owned facilities invest in the latest equipment and a private healthcare sector emerges. Demand there drove a double-digit increase in orders ...

Bloomberg India successfully launched its second mission to the moon on Monday, a week after a technical snag forced the South Asian nation to postpone the attempt. The unmanned Chandrayaan-2, which means “moon vehicle” in Sanskrit, was launched at 2:43 pm local time from a tiny barrier island in southeastern India. The country is attempting to become the first nation ...