News

Bloomberg Thailand is set to increase minimum wages for a second straight year as it looks to attract workers amid an aging population and shortage of labour in key industries. A subcommittee to decide on the extent of increase will meet in the next one to two months to assess the revision based on the state of the economy and ...

Bloomberg A tiny company linked to Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s closest business ally agreed to take over a much bigger unit of Deutsche Telekom AG’s local subsidiary in Hungary, in the most high-profile acquisition to date for the premier’s circle of business partners. 4iG, partly owned by Lorinc Meszaros, a former gas fitter from Orban’s home village, signed the deal ...

Bloomberg The German cancer-treatment researcher BioNTech raised $325 million from investors, one of the largest financing rounds ever by a European biotechnology company. The second-round haul brings closely held BioNTech’s total fundraising to more than $1.4 billion, according to Sean Marett, the company’s chief business officer. The figure is high even by standards in the US, where the valuations of ...

Bloomberg PepsiCo Inc reported quarterly profit that beat estimates with brands including Mountain Dew soda and Doritos chips boosting results. Second-quarter earnings, excluding some items, amounted to $1.54 a share, compared with projections of $1.50. Revenue of $16.44 billion was narrowly ahead of estimates. PepsiCo has boosted its marketing spending as it tries to drive growth in an increasingly competitive ...

Bloomberg Workers from ethnic minority groups in London are paid 21.7 percent less on average than white employees, according to Office for National Statistics data. The capital — which is home to the highest proportion of workers identifying as being from an ethnic minority group — had the largest pay gap in the country last year, figures drawn from the ...

Bloomberg Italy’s construction industry is crumbling after years of recession and bad investments, but now the sector’s biggest player is betting it can be rebuilt. Salini Impregilo SpA, whose projects have included expansion of the Panama Canal to a new subway line in Riyadh, plans to create a 1.5 billion-euro ($1.7 billion) construction hub dubbed “Progetto Italia,” or Project Italy, ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) has launched the recent edition of the UAE Financial Stability Report (FSR). The report provides relevant information, financial data, and stability assessments related to the UAE financial system, reinforcing the confidence and transparency in the banking and financial system across the Emirates. According to the report, CBUAE noted that ...

Bloomberg DP World Plc mandated banks to raise about $1 billion of bonds to finance the acquisition of Topaz Energy & Marine Plc, according to three people with knowledge of the plans. The world’s largest port operator hired Citigroup Inc., Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC (DIB) and Standard Chartered Plc to arrange investor meetings in Hong Kong, Singapore and London from ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The UAE provided $5.59 billion in foreign assistance to Yemen between April 2015 and June 2019, which was used to help rebuild various sectors in the country, including vital infrastructure and to restore health and social services. In data obtained by Emirates News Agency from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, a breakdown of ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Costa Rica Embassy in the UAE discussed available mutual economic and investment opportunities in Abu Dhabi and Costa Rica. Their discussion took place during a meeting between Mohammed Thani Murshid Al Rumaithi, Chairman of the Chamber, and Francisco Chacon Fernandez, Ambassador of Costa Rica to the ...