Bloomberg British Airways (BA) suspended operations at its second London hub at Gatwick airport as the airline industry enters deep hibernation to weather the impact of the coronavirus. With just over a week to go until the Easter holidays, the IAG SA-owned carrier is contacting customers with the news that flights are off, a spokesperson said by email. Gatwick largely …

Bloomberg Retailers and landlords are locked in an awkward dance as April rent comes due. Major chains including Mattress Firm and Subway have told landlords they will postpone or slash payments in coming months. Mall operators say they expect to be paid. Best Buy, meanwhile, plans to pay rent, with the possible exception of locations it was forced to close. …

Bloomberg JetBlue Airways Corp expects to slash flights 70% next month and deeper cuts are likely in the carrier’s home base in New York, as the spread of coronavirus erases travel demand. Daily departures will fall to 300 from about 1,000, JetBlue said. Flights leaving New York-area airports are slated to tumble to 60 but may dip to as few …

Bloomberg Coronavirus-driven stockpiling by Britons girding for a nationwide lockdown lifted UK grocery sales to a record in March, according to research firm Kantar. Supermarket sales grew by 7.6% in the past 12 weeks, the fastest pace in more than a decade. That rate of increase nearly tripled over the past four weeks, making March the biggest month of grocery …

Bloomberg President Donald Trump said he’s concerned oil prices have fallen too far and called Vladimir Putin on Monday to discuss Russia’s oil-price war with Saudi Arabia. The leaders, who also talked about the spread of the coronavirus, agreed to discussions on oil between energy officials in the two countries, according to the Kremlin. Both leaders “agreed on the importance …

DUBAI / WAM The Board of Directors of UAE Banks Federation (UBF) held its first meeting of the year via videoconferencing to discuss the latest developments in the UAE banking sector as well as progress of key concerns. During the meeting, the Board of Directors discussed UBF’s current priorities, which in light of the worldwide outbreak of Covid-19 include ensuring …

Bloomberg A group of sixteen banks will have to provide $23 billion of loans to T-Mobile US Inc. in order to allow the mobile carrier to close its planned acquisition of Sprint Corp., after the Covid-19 outbreak disrupted plans to sell the debt to third-party investors. The banks were formally notified that they will need to make the funds available …

Bloomberg Pakistan’s central bank is said to have intervened to stop a plunge in the rupee, the worst performer in Asia this week. The South Asian nation’s currency fell to a record low 168 to a dollar in intraday trading as per traders before closing at 165.54, data posted on the website of the State Bank of Pakistan showed. The …

Bloomberg As central banks around the world reignite quantitative easing programs or adopt them for the first time, Japan’s key focus of controlling bond yields rather than a quota of purchases is being explored. When the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) broke the emergency glass on March 19, it set a target for the yield on three-year Australian government bonds …

Bloomberg UniCredit SpA suspended a dividend payment and a share buyback in a setback to Chief Executive Officer Jean Pierre Mustier’s plan to improve shareholder rewards. The decision comes after the European Central Bank recommended that lenders restrict payouts until at least October as the coronavirus pandemic wreaks havoc on markets. Its previous call for banks to be prudent on …