Brussels / AFP Belgium on Saturday officially signed the landmark EU-Canada trade accord after a drama that saw Belgian regions threaten to torpedo years of negotiations. “Nothing is simple in Belgium but few things are impossible,†tweeted Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders after signing the pact on behalf of his country. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malstrom, who negotiated the ...
Read More »News
VW labour boss to block investment without production accord
Bloomberg Volkswagen AG’s worker representatives will block investment decisions unless the German carmaker’s management commits to production programs that secure jobs, top labor leader Bernd Osterloh said in an interview. The hard-line stance sets up tense negotiations in the coming weeks over the so-called Future Pact. The labor agreement at Volkswagen’s namesake brand is aimed at cutting costs to ...
Read More »Apple, Electrolux lift UK prices in Brexit X’mas pinch
Bloomberg The Brexit squeeze on UK consumers tightened as Apple Inc. and Electrolux AB responded to the falling pound by charging more for their products in Britain. Apple quietly raised the cost of some of its machines including the “Mac Pro†by 20 percent overnight, while Sweden’s Electrolux said it’s boosting the prices of its home appliances by 10 ...
Read More »Exxon may face historic reserves reduction
Bloomberg Exxon Mobil Corp. warned it may be facing the biggest reserves revision in its history as production sank to a seven-year low and profit slid amid a prolonged slump in energy markets. About 3.6 billion barrels of reserves in the Canadian oil sands and the equivalent of another 1 billion barrels of oil in other North American fields may ...
Read More »â€˜Nissan informed UK that car plant would be closed’
Bloomberg Nissan Motor Co.’s decision to keep investing in Britain came after the carmaker told the government it might shut down manufacturing in the country after Brexit, according to a person familiar with the private discussions. The Japanese automaker announced it would start making the X-Trail sport utility vehicle and the next-generation Qashqai at the Sunderland plant. But only ...
Read More »PetroChina profit dips as oil & gas earnings slide
Bloomberg PetroChina Co. posted a 77 percent decline in third-quarter profit as a suppressed international oil market and lower domestic natural gas prices eroded earnings at the country’s biggest producer. Net income fell to 1.2 billion yuan ($177 million) in the July-September period, the Beijing-based company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Friday. Higher ...
Read More »Turmoil deepens at India’s Tata group
Bloomberg The acrimonious battle at India’s largest conglomerate is showing no signs of resolution as more officials resigned amid reports that an attempt at mediation between the scion of the founding family and ousted head of Tata Sons Ltd. has started. Tata Group Chief Human Resources Officer N.S. Rajan resigned on Friday, according to a company spokesman. On Saturday, ...
Read More »S’pore mall vacancies jump to highest in a decade
Bloomberg Singapore mall vacancies rose to the highest level in a decade in the third quarter as an oversupply of shop spaces added to muted spending by shoppers. A gauge of mall vacancies rose 0.6 percent to 8.4 percent in the three months ended Sept. 30, even as rents declined 1.5 percent in the quarter, data from the Urban ...
Read More »Rule changes help India’s oil market act its size
Reuters Freed from a layer of fusty bureaucracy, India’s state refiners are helping the country evolve an oil market that reflects its status as both the world’s fastest growing major economy and oil consumer. Changes to import rules mean officials from India’s state-owned oil refiners no longer have to stand in the corridors of the Oil Ministry waiting for ...
Read More »Mubadala supports strategic objectives of Abu Dhabi Government, says Al Mubarak
ABYAN/ WAM The late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan laid a solid foundation for governance that led to remarkable socio-economic development and Mubadala is proud of being part of it, Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Mubadala, Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, has said. In his a statement during the golden jubilee of the Government of Abu ...
Read More »