May, 2016

• 7 May

  Wal-Mart brings back greeters at the store door

  

    NEW YORK / AP Those smiley door greeters are back at Wal-Mart. The US’ largest retailer said in a blog post this week that it’s bringing back door greeters to a majority of its 5,000 stores by mid-summer to improve customer service. For stores which have been selected as higher risks for thefts, Wal-Mart will position a “customer host,” ...

  Read More »
• 7 May

  Marketing push helps Alibaba to post increased sales

  

    Bloomberg Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. posted a 39 percent surge in revenue as China’s dominant e-commerce operator shrugged off a slowing economy with promotions to woo cash-rich consumers. Asia’s largest internet company posted better-than-expected sales of 24.2 billion yuan ($3.7 billion) in the March quarter and said it will start providing annual forecasts. Alibaba shares jumped 4 percent to ...

  Read More »
• 7 May

  HNA Group to weigh bid for Singapore firm

  

    Bloomberg HNA Group Co., the acquisitive owner of China’s fourth-largest airline, has approached the biggest shareholder of CWT Ltd. to express interest in a possible bid for control of the Singapore logistics company, people with the exact knowledge of the matter said. The Loi family that controls CWT will discuss HNA’s interest in coming days and could enter exclusive ...

  Read More »
• 7 May

  Amazon steps up air game with new cargo deal

  

    San Francisco / AFP Online retail colossus Amazon has boosted its fledgling air cargo service as it moves to gain more independence from freight firms for delivery of online purchases. Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings will provide air cargo services to Amazon, which also obtained an option to buy a stake in the New York-based company, the companies said in ...

  Read More »
• 7 May

  Goldman cuts HK property foreseeing 20% drop in price

  

    Bloomberg Hong Kong property stocks were downgraded by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which predicts a 20 percent decline in home prices as borrowing costs rise. The drop will be “driven chiefly” by a potential 150 basis points to 200 basis points increase in interest rates and the “limited prospect of any loosening of government cooling measures in the near ...

  Read More »
• 7 May

  Qatar in talks for St. Regis NYC, San Francisco hotels

  

    Bloomberg The Qatar Investment Authority( QIA) is in advanced talks to buy the luxury St. Regis hotels in New York and San Francisco from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., according to people with knowledge of the discussions. The properties may be worth as much as $1 billion, though they could sell for less, said the people, who asked ...

  Read More »
• 7 May

  Lone Star, Oaktree to bid for NAMA loans

    Bloomberg Lone Star Funds and Oaktree Capital Group LLC are among bidders shortlisted for two portfolios of soured loans with a combined face value of 4.7 billion euros ($5.4 billion) being sold by Ireland’s so-called bad bank, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. Cerberus Capital Management LP is also bidding for both the Project Ruby and ...

  Read More »
• 7 May

  Stubborn Shanghai residents hold a line drawn in rubble

  

    Reuters In a corner of Shanghai, surrounded by a cement wall, lies one of the world’s most valuable fields of debris and garbage. On paper, the Guangfuli neighborhood is a real estate investor’s dream: a plot in the middle of one of the world’s most expensive and fast-rising property markets. But the reality is more like a developer’s nightmare, ...

  Read More »
• 7 May

  RBA unlikely to hit target in 2016

  

    Sydney / BLOOMBERG Australia’s central bank forecast core inflation is unlikely to reach the bottom of its target this year and will probably only do so in the ensuing two years as the developed-world disinflation quandary emerges Down Under. The central bank, in its quarterly statement, left estimated economic growth at 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent this year and ...

  Read More »
• 7 May

  Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo beats expectations in Q1

  

    Milan / AFP Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo reported earnings ahead of market expectations as bad loan risks on its books diminished. Net profit fell 24.2 percent in the first quarter to 806 million euros ($920.4 million), which compares with forecasts by analysts of around 708 million. Operating profit dropped on the back of falling interest income and earnings from ...

  Read More »