International News

Bloomberg Procter & Gamble Co. has been dinged over the years for being too big, too slow and too cautious as it tried to break out of tepid growth. It has issued a rejoinder: the largest jump in five years of a key sales measure. Investors cheered the first-quarter results, which the company says is proof its turnaround is working. ...

Bloomberg The French government told companies to begin preparing for all Brexit scenarios, including no deal between the European Union and the UK. At a closed-door meeting at the finance ministry, Secretary of State Agnes Pannier-Runacher recommended business leaders start identifying measures to limit the impact of Brexit and begin alerting their suppliers. France hopes Michel Barnier’s efforts to reach ...

Bloomberg UK employers’ economic confidence is weakening as the nation prepares to leave the European Union. The net balance of employers with a positive outlook for the economy fell to the lowest since February, the the Recruitment and Employment Confederation said on Wednesday. However, the confidence of employers to make hiring and investment decisions remained positive during the three months ...

Bloomberg Germany’s economy started the fourth quarter on the back foot, with private-sector activity slowing to the weakest since 2015 and factory orders contracting for the first time in four years. The composite Purchasing Managers’ Index for Europe’s largest economy dropped to 52.7 in October from 55.0 last month, according to a flash reading released by IHS Markit on Wednesday. ...

Bloomberg As China braces for the full impact of President Donald Trump’s trade war, it’s seeking to learn from Japan’s economic battles with the US during the Reagan years. Chinese officials, business people and academics have been pressing Japanese counterparts to share experiences from the 1980s, when Tokyo found itself in Washington’s crosshairs as its huge trade surplus and increasing ...

Bloomberg The cloud-computing arm of Chinese retail giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. opened its first data centers in the UK, with two sites operational in London. The expansion is “driven by the rapidly growing customer demand,” a spokesman for the company told Bloomberg. “The United Kingdom is one of the fastest-growing European markets for Alibaba Cloud.” Cloud-computing companies have been ...

Bloomberg Singapore plans to spur investment in much-needed infrastructure in Southeast Asia by helping to structure projects to make them more “bankable,” a senior official said. A new government agency called Infrastructure Asia will help connect the “supply and demand” for these projects, Indranee Rajah, Singapore’s second minister for finance, said. The Asian Development Bank estimates developing economies in Asia ...

Bloomberg Kazuhiko Moriyama is betting that well-rested workers are good for business. In fact, he’s placing real money on the wager. Employees who sleep at least six hours a night, for at least five days a week, are awarded points by Crazy Inc., a wedding organiser in Japan. The points can be exchanged for food in the company cafeteria worth ...

Bloomberg A consortium of Hong Kong property firms led by Henderson Land Development Co. is in talks with banks to raise about HK$46 billion ($5.9 billion) via bonds and loans to fund a residential project in the city’s Yau Tong Bay, according to people familiar with the matter. The group also includes Wheelock & Co., New World Development Co., Sun ...

Bloomberg Asia’s largest economy, China, has long had a reputation for smoggy skies. But these days, neighbouring India is fighting the far bigger battle with pollution: The South Asian country is home to the world’s 10 most polluted cities. India has long struggled to pull together the type of coordinated national approach that’s helped China reduce pollution. Prime Minister Narendra ...