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  Frankfurt / AFP German chemicals giant Bayer said it had increased its earnings and profits forecasts after signing a deal to take over US seeds and pesticides maker Monsanto. “We are optimistic for the medium-term development of Bayer and have set ourselves correspondingly ambitious targets,” chief executive Werner Baumann said in a statement. In the crop science division that ...

  Warsaw/ AFP Poland’s populist government on Tuesday suspended a new tax on supermarkets that targetted foreign-owned chains just a day after the European Union opened a probe into whether it violated competition rules. Announcing the suspension in Warsaw, Poland’s Finance Minister Pawel Szalamacha told reporters the EU investigation was “arbitrary and political”, launched “under pressure from large corporations.” Warsaw ...

  Paris / AFP France said on Tuesday it was sticking to its economic growth forecasts for this year and next, seen by some economists as too optimistic. In its 2017 budget draft law, the finance ministry said projected expansion would allow France to cut its deficit to below three percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017 as required ...

  London / AFP GlaxoSmithKline on Tuesday appointed Emma Walmsley, its head of consumer healthcare, to lead the British drugs giant and develop new treatments in a fast-consolidating sector. Walmsley, 47, succeeds outgoing chief executive Andrew Witty, who is retiring early next year after almost a decade at the helm. Walmsley, who joined GSK from French cosmetics giant L’Oreal six ...

  Bloomberg Petroleo Brasileiro SA reduced investments by 25 percent and is accelerating asset disposals in its latest business plan as it downsizes to withstand low international oil prices amid Brazil’s deepest two-year recession on record. The 2017-2021 plan, the first drafted under Chief Executive Officer Pedro Parente, focuses on accelerating debt reduction and retreating from peripheral businesses such as ...

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business With a finger on the pulse of the fast-paced consumer electronics industry, GITEX Shopper tracks top 10 trends for tech savvy consumers looking to update devices and tap into the latest developments in the industry. Visitors to the Middle East’s largest consumer IT and electronic show, which will take place from October 1-8 at ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business As much as 94% of the remittance industry remains brick and mortar, giving IMTOs (International Money Transfer Organisations) a tremendous opportunity to tap new audiences and deliver additional value to existing consumers through digital channels, says Xpress Money COO, Sudhesh Giriyan. Giriyan’s comments came during a high-powered panel discussion on e-banking and digital transformation at ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business A recent business confidence survey conducted by the British Institute of Facilities Management on the Middle East’s FM market forecasted a very positive growth, noting that 36 percent of participants intend to completely outsource their FM services, while 60 percent expect more outsourcing of FM operations in the future. Isnaad, a leader in soft FM ...

  Emirates Business “Product of the Year,” the world’s largest consumer-voted award for product innovation, organized a seminar for FMCG brands on overcoming the emerging challenges in the unfavorable market. The third edition of “POY talks” brought together a distinguished group of international speakers, consisted of four sessions that unfolded the methods to overcome the current economic challenges by optimizing ...

  Beja / AFP Activists are warning of a potential “thirst uprising” in Tunisia following protests over severe water shortages after one of the North African nation’s driest summers on record. Residents in the interior are suffering long water supply cuts, reservoirs are running dry and farmers are seeing significant losses, adding to social tensions in a country still struggling ...