March, 2016

• 3 March

  The other side of shippers that satellites don’t capture

  

  Bloomberg For an industry that is losing money on almost every transaction, the world’s commodity shippers are remarkably busy grabbing any cargo they can get their hands on. From space, where satellites track ship movements, it all appears like the market is booming, data compiled by Bloomberg show. At giant iron-ore loading terminals in Brazil and Australia, millions of tons ...

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• 3 March

  Margin-starved Japanese banks chase automakers to Mexico

  

  Tokyo  / Bloomberg In a quest to reduce their reliance on one of the world’s least profitable banking markets, Japanese lenders are setting their sights on a much more lucrative one: Mexico. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) Inc. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. are among so-called megabanks expanding in Mexico, riding the coattails of Japanese automakers that are building factories ...

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• 3 March

  Deutsche veterans Nichol, Torres poised to depart

  

  FRANKFURT / Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG is set to lose two of its most senior investment bankers in Asia as Bill Nichol and Joaquin Rodriguez Torres plan to depart this year, people familiar with the matter said. Nichol, who runs investment banking for financial institutions in the Asia-Pacific region, plans to leave in May after more than 13 years with ...

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• 3 March

  Indonesia banks to benefit from govt plan to boost economy

  

  Jakarta / BLOOMBERG Indonesia’s top banks may get a lift from new government plans to spur the economy, which are seen boosting loan growth while allowing them to protect margins that are already among the world’s widest. The Financial Services Authority, known as OJK, will lower the ceiling for deposit rates this month for major lenders, a step it intends ...

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• 3 March

  ECB brainstorms as Draghi seeks stimulus

  

  Bloomberg One week before a long-awaited stimulus decision, European Central Bank (ECB) officials are privately deliberating over how to enhance their monetary policy stance without maiming its transmission. Committees studying how to mitigate the impact on banks have prepared potential measures that range from variations on a tiered deposit rate to techniques for countering the impact of stimulus on excess ...

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• 3 March

  BOJ’s Nakaso signals Japan may reduce rates again

  

  Tokyo / Bloomberg Bank of Japan (BOJ) Deputy Governor Hiroshi Nakaso indicated the central bank is prepared to take its benchmark rate deeper into negative territory, though not immediately. “We have designed a policy that technically allows us to cut the level further,” Nakaso told reporters in Okinawa on Thursday, referring to a minus 0.1 percent interest rate policy the ...

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• 3 March

  Singapore Air turns to new jet to lure premium flyers

  

  SINGAPORE / Bloomberg Singapore Airlines Ltd., facing competition from Middle Eastern carriers and a rash of budget airlines, is trying to revive its fortunes the way it knows best: wooing flyers with new aircraft. The carrier received its first Airbus Group SE A350 in Singapore on Thursday. While the new aircraft with its extra-wide cabins and a new entertainment system will ...

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• 3 March

  MGM close to $1.13 billion sale of Las Vegas mall to Simon

  

  LAS VEGAS / Bloomberg MGM Resorts International has reached an agreement to sell its Shops at Crystals mall in Las Vegas to a Simon Property Group Inc. partnership for $1.13 billion, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction. The deal may be completed soon, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the terms have not been ...

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• 3 March

  McKesson buys Canada’s Rexall Drugstores for $2.23bn

  

  Bloomberg McKesson Corp. agreed to acquire Rexall Health, Canada’s No. 2 drugstore chain, from its private owner for C$3 billion ($2.23 billion), as the US distributor of medical products expands its presence in Canada. Rexall operates about 470 retail pharmacies, and McKesson said it will maintain the brand in Canada. The acquisition of Rexall from Katz Group is being funded ...

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• 3 March

  Costco profit drops as demand wanes

  

  Washington / Bloomberg Costco Wholesale Corp. posted second-quarter earnings that trailed analysts’ estimates as higher-income shoppers show signs of curtailing spending. Net income fell 8.7 percent to $546 million, or $1.24 a share, the Issaquah, Washington-based company said in a statement. Analysts estimated $1.28 a share, on average. Same-store sales in the US, a closely watched measure by investors, increased ...

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