International News

Bloomberg For nearly a decade, Trafigura Group Chairman Claude Dauphin coveted a zinc deal with Europe’s top smelter. The commodities trader finally got across the threshold in 2015, months after its co-founder’s sudden death. Just a few years later, it’s become one of Trafigura’s biggest headaches. Nyrstar NV shares have plu-nged to record lows as falling zinc prices squeeze profit ...

Bloomberg Japan’s top diplomat says it is up to South Korea to resolve forced labour claims looming over dozens of Japanese companies that are threatening to upend ties between the two neighbours. Foreign Minister Taro Kono said in an interview that the South Korean Supreme Court’s decision ordering a Japanese company to pay compensation to people forced into its service ...

Bloomberg Indian billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla’s Hindalco Industries Ltd. reported a jump in quarterly profit driven by higher revenue at its aluminum operations even as it flagged risks from higher raw-material costs and rising imports. Net income, including that of its Utkal Alumina unit, rose to 7.3 billion rupees ($100 million) in the three months through September from 4.7 billion ...

Bloomberg A South African mining contractor owned by the Gupta family has been put into liquidation, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Westdawn Investments, which does business as JIC Mining Services (Pty) Ltd., has debt of almost 60 million rand ($4.2 million), said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. The company ...

Bloomberg The turmoil in India’s credit markets, brought on by defaults at a major infrastructure financier, will benefit the nation’s largest developer, allowing it to sell homes while peers struggle to get money to finish their projects. Gurugram-based DLF has adequate liquidity and access to capital to meet all of its obligations on time. It believes that it is well ...

Bloomberg A Hong Kong exhibition featuring an artist critical of China — as well as the band Pussy Riot and former protest leader Joshua Wong — has been cancelled because of “threats” by the Chinese authorities, the organier said. “The decision follows threats made by the Chinese authorities relating to the artist,” the organiser, Hong Kong Free Press, said in ...

Bloomberg Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s insurers dodged the worst of losses caused by Hurricane Florence as the businesses kept up their rebound from a rough 2017. The company’s operating profit doubled last quarter, capitalising on trends ranging from more train traffic on its railroad to a surge in demand for electronic components. The biggest boost came from the insurance division, where ...

Bloomberg WPP Plc Chief Executive Officer Mark Read is off to a disappointing start for investors with a cut to the ad giant’s outlook, triggering the company’s biggest share slump in almost two decades. The owner of Ogilvy, Grey and J. Walter Thompson said it now expects sales to fall this year and its profit margin to decline as it ...

Bloomberg Apple Inc. shares had their worst day since 2014 amid concerns that growth in its powerhouse product, the iPhone, is slowing. In the fiscal fourth quarter, Apple said iPhone unit sales barely grew from a year earlier, even though new flagship devices came out in the period. At the same time, Apple said it would stop providing unit sales ...

Bloomberg German business sentiment deteriorated amid signs economic growth ground to a temporary halt and as risks surrounding a US-China trade spat and a disorderly Brexit increased. The Ifo institute’s gauge of corporate confidence fell to 102.8 in October after a drop to 103.7 in Sep- tember. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey was for a decline to 103.2. ...