Bloomberg Gap Inc.’s plans to spin off Old Navy made two things clear: The long decline of its namesake brand is accelerating, and its Athleta chain is its best chance of a future. The company’s signature Gap banner, which turns 50 this year, has posted just one quarterly sales gain in five years. That’s in stark contrast to Athleta, a …

DUBAI / Emirates Business Middle East and North Africa (Mena) IT spending is projected to reach $160 billion in 2019, a 1.8 percent increase from 2018, according to the latest forecast by Gartner Inc. “In 2019, businesses in Mena are set to increase their IT spending in all segments except for the devices segment,” said John Lovelock, distinguished research vice …

ABU DHABI / WAM AbdulAziz Al-Ghurair, Chairman of UAE Banks Federation, together with CEOs of leading UAE banks, received Sigal Mandelker, the US Under Secretary of the Treasury, and Paul Khuri, the recently-appointed US Treasury Attache to the UAE and the Sultanate of Oman, along with other high-level delegates from the US Treasury. The meeting addressed ways of increasing consultations, …

Bloomberg Oil climbed as the US and China were said to near a deal on trade that would underpin the outlook for crude demand, while supplies around the world showed signs of tightening. Futures in New York rose as much as 1.1 percent after a drop of 2.6 percent last week. The world’s two biggest economies are approaching an accord …

Bloomberg The Trump administration imposed a tariff on steel imports last year to get companies to buy more American metal. In some ways, the duty has the US solar business doing the exact opposite. Consider the case of PanelClaw Inc., a supplier of steel racks that hold solar panels in place. Since President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on steel and …

Bloomberg Husky Energy Inc. fell the most in nearly five months after posting what its chief executive officer called “tough and noisy” fourth-quarter results, which were hurt by a plunge in Canadian crude prices and a spill in its offshore operations. Net earnings dropped 68 percent from a year earlier, to C$216 million ($164 million), as falling crude and fuel …

Bloomberg About 18,000 megawatts of coal and nuclear plants — enough to power 13.5 million homes — are slated to permanently shut across the eastern US grid. And the region still has enough electricity to keep the lights on, according to the chief executive officer of the grid operator. In fact, “we could sustain essentially in the 30,000 megawatt range,” …

Bloomberg Nordea Bank Abp sank as much as 6.5 percent on Monday ahead of report due to be broadcast this afternoon that will focus on the biggest Nordic lender’s alleged involvement in money laundering. The news appeared to drag down a number of other Nordic bank shares with DNB ASA, Norway’s largest lender, falling as much as 4.6 percent. SEB …

Bloomberg BNP Paribas SA won dismissal of a German lawsuit by a trader seeking 163 million euros ($186 million) for a “fat-finger” mistake in a 2015 transaction. The Frankfurt Regional Court on February 26 ruled it can’t look into merits of the case, which involved an error on the bank’s system that displayed derivatives priced at 108.80 euros each instead …

Bloomberg Dalton Investments stepped up its pressure on Shinsei Bank Ltd., continuing a years-long effort to bring change at the Japanese lender. The US investment firm is proposing that its co-founder, Jamie Rosenwald, be put on Shinsei’s board, according to a copy of a letter to Shinsei provided by Dalton to Bloomberg. Dalton also renewed its call for the bank …