Profit margins will be more art than science this earnings season. Let’s see if investors like Picasso. In industries from consumer goods to manufacturing, virtually every line on the income statement is experiencing a degree of stress. In recent months, raw materials, labour and freight have become significantly more expensive and hard to come by. Struggling to keep up with ...

It’s almost enough to make you nostalgic for the early months of the pandemic. There was clarity of economic purpose: dramatic cuts in interest rates and big fiscal commitments. The outlook was so dire there were few plausible alternatives. Conditions are much more favourable now, and ironically, that makes the choices tougher. The economic recovery is looking a little shopworn. ...

Bloomberg Taiwan’s top military leadership warned China that the closer its aircraft and ships get to the island the harder Taipei will respond, raising the stakes for further escalation with Beijing. Taiwan will take tougher measures to fend off Chinese military sorties should they get too close to the Taiwanese mainland, according to a report by the island’s defense ministry ...

Bloomberg The International Court of Justice (ICJ) rejected Kenya’s territorial claims in a maritime border dispute with Somalia, in a ruling that may inflame tensions between the nations eyeing the area’s oil and gas reserves. The ruling read by Judge Joan Donoghue was largely in favour of Somalia, with the Hague-based court saying that there isn’t a boundary agreement between ...

Bloomberg If Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov thought winning the Nobel Peace Prize may protect him against a sweeping Kremlin crackdown on media it considers “foreign agents,” then President Vladimir Putin offered a sobering warning on Wednesday. “If he doesn’t violate Russian law, and if he doesn’t give a reason to be declared a foreign agent, then he won’t be,” Putin ...

Bloomberg The European Union will offer a new package of concessions to the UK that would ease trade barriers in Northern Ireland, as the two sides prepare for a new round of contentious Brexit negotiations. Maros Sefcovic, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, was expected to offer to cut as much as 50% of the customs checks in Northern Ireland and ...

Bloomberg German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the EU’s stalled investment accord with China, human rights and other issues in a “farewell” bilateral talk. Preparation for the G-20 summit, fighting climate change and grappling with the global pandemic were also discussed in the video conference on Wednesday, Martina Fietz, Merkel’s deputy spokeswoman, said in a statement ...

Bloomberg Bank of Korea (BOK) Governor Lee Ju-yeol gave his strongest signal yet that a rate hike is likely in the works for November as he flagged worsening financial imbalances, growing inflationary pressures and solid recovery momentum. The central bank’s decision to hold rates at 0.75% was opposed by two members who called for a back-to-back increase following August’s liftoff. Dissension ...

Bloomberg Bank of America Corp (BofA) is giving businesses new ways to transfer money to their customers. The new system, known as Recipient Select, allows consumers to choose among various options for receiving refunds, rebates and other payouts while increasing the speed and efficiency for transferring the funds, Bank of America said in a statement. The digital portal, launched this ...

Bloomberg NatWest Group Plc said it will lend 100 billion pounds ($136 billion) to customers cutting carbon emissions by the end of 2025. The British bank said it will focus on projects that help the UK move towards a net-zero economy with products including sustainability bonds and lending to firms that can show they are mostly low-carbon. NatWest has previously ...