Bloomberg South African shoppers with limited spending money are turning to low-cost supermarket chains such as Shoprite Holdings Ltd. for cheaper food and eschewing new clothes to counter accelerating inflation. Africa’s biggest food retailer reported 7.4 percent half-year sales growth at South African stores that have been open for more than a year, equal to how much the company …

  Bloomberg United Continental Holdings Inc.’s fourth-quarter profit exceeded expectations as a rebound in pricing power took hold across the airline industry. Earnings excluding certain items were $1.78 a share, compared with the average analysts’ estimate of $1.75 a share. Revenue rose less than 1 percent to $9.05 billion, the Chicago-based airline said in a statement. Analysts had predicted $9.06 …

  Bloomberg Singapore Airlines Ltd. deepened its commitment to two-stop flights after deploying the world’s newest wide-body jet on services that call in at Manchester, northern England, en route to Houston, Texas. The Asian carrier this week upgraded the flight, which it operates under so-called fifth-freedom rights, to Airbus Group SE’s A350-900 jet, of which it has only 10 in …

  Bloomberg AirAsia Bhd., the region’s biggest budget airline, is likely to use most of the proceeds from a proposed sale of its aircraft-leasing arm to pay a dividend, its chief executive officer said in an interview. The airline expects to get binding bids for the unit by March and close the deal by summer, Group CEO Tony Fernandes, 52, …

  Bloomberg The world’s top oil companies are back in acquisition mode, targeting smaller exploration and development firms to boost oil and gas reserves rather than the mega-mergers that followed previous slumps in crude prices. Since late November, major oil companies have announced 11 deals worth more than $500 million each with a combined value of $31 billion, the clearest …

  Bloomberg Oil resumed gains after the biggest drop in more than a week as industry data showed US crude stockpiles declined, while OPEC and other producing nations trim production to ease a global glut. Futures rose as much as 1.4 percent in New York after sliding 2.7 percent on Wednesday amid a surge in the dollar. US crude supplies …

  Bloomberg Saudi Basic Industries Corp., the world’s largest petrochemicals maker by market value, is in talks with banks to raise as much as $2 billion of loans, according to two people familiar with the matter. At this stage, Sabic, as the company is known, has no plans to raise debt, Chief Executive Officer Yousef al Benyan told reporters in …

  Bloomberg Guards and officials at major ports in Libya’s eastern Oil Crescent say they are hoping foreign workers will soon return as they struggle to build on output gains with meagre resources. The National Oil Corporation (NOC) reopened three ports in the curve of coastline south of Benghazi in September, after the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Khalifa …

  Bloomberg As cash continues to flood out of China, expectations are growing that the authorities will erect higher barriers. With the nation’s capital outflows last year estimated at $728 billion by Standard Chartered Plc, and the yuan predicted to continue declining against the dollar in 2017, analysts have been casting forward to what the authorities may do next to …

  Bloomberg Bidders for troubled air-bag maker Takata Corp. are leaning toward a court-mediated bankruptcy in Japan to shield them from liabilities, a move that the company had opposed on concern it would disrupt the supply of replacement parts, according to people familiar with the matter. Takata, which is seeking a sponsor after triggering the biggest safety recall in automotive …