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Publicis boosts growth target, asserts market leader status

Bloomberg Publicis Groupe SA, the world’s third-largest advertising company, lifted its outlook for growth on the conviction that it’s the best placed to triumph over structural changes in the industry. “We believe that we are the only ones who have the right assets to succeed,” Publicis Chief Executive Officer Arthur Sadoun said in an interview ahead of an investor presentation ...

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Europe is only halfway to the healthier banks

Last week, the European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) announced new rules on how banks should treat dud loans. The good news is that the changes will help make European banks more resilient in the future. The bad news is that the euro zone banking system remains insufficiently equipped to deal with a new crisis. European banks are ...

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Indian tycoon and the bankruptcy law

Kumar Mangalam Birla just treated India’s new bankruptcy law with utter disdain. But before you dismiss this as yet another instance of a billionaire behaving badly, think of the huge favour he’s doing the legal system. Normally, Birla’s 72.7 billion rupee ($1.1 billion) offer to Binani Industries Ltd. for its 98.4 percent stake in Binani Cement would be unremarkable. Birla’s ...

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A Latvian bank proves the ECB needs new powers

Without a doubt, the European Central Bank is the euro zone’s most powerful policy-making institution: It sets monetary policy for 19 member states and supervises the bloc’s most important lenders. Even so, the failure of a Latvian bank shows that the ECB doesn’t have all the powers it needs. Gaps remain, and they put Europe’s financial system at risk. At ...

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US economy is in a boom, but wages aren’t rising much faster

It’s now safe to say that the US economy is in a boom. Small business leaders are saying it. Measures of business optimism, tracked by the National Federation of Independent Business, are at all-time highs. These heady survey measures haven’t yet been matched by hard data, but the hard numbers are looking good too. Business investment as a percent of ...

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A yen above 100? Bet your bottom dollar

Imagine a world in which the Japanese currency strengthens past the psychologically important level of 100 yen per dollar. It wouldn’t be so bad. With Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s approval rating edging toward July’s low, traders are doing a U-turn on their yen bets. Hedge funds are now in favour of a stronger Japanese currency for the first time since ...

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Walmart shows online groceries are having their moment

Take note of this moment. This is a tipping point for online grocery shopping in the US. Food and beverage retail is one of the largest categories of consumer spending, accounting for yearly sales of $800 billion or more in the US. And it has been stubbornly immune to e-commerce. Last year, Kantar Worldpanel estimated online shopping for groceries and ...

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Supermarket casualties begin to pile up in Amazon-fuelled battle

Bloomberg This is how the grocery industry lives now. Regional chains are filing for bankruptcy. European-born discounters are expanding, forcing competitors to keep their own prices low. And Kroger Co. and Walmart Inc., the two largest grocers in the US, are investing in technology and expanding delivery as they try to fend off an incursion by Amazon.com Inc. It’s a ...

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Pratt to ship spare engines for grounded IndiGo jets

Bloomberg Pratt & Whitney will provide spare engines within 40 days to get all grounded Airbus SE A320neo aircraft at India’s IndiGo flying again, with the first delivery scheduled for Wednesday, people with direct knowledge of the matter said. The engine maker communicated its plan on Tuesday to the jet’s biggest customer, the people said, asking not to be identified ...

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