January, 2023

• 19 January

  Amazon layoffs set to affect 18,000 workers

  

  Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc is set to begin a round of layoffs ultimately affecting more than 18,000 employees in the largest job cull in its history, which it announced earlier this month. The cuts come as the retailer grapples with slowing online sales growth and braces for a possible recession affecting the spending power of its customers. The eliminations started last ...

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• 19 January

  Electrolux plunges on mounting loss in North American business

  

    Bloomberg Electrolux AB fell the most in six months in Stockholm trading after the Swedish appliance product maker reported a loss that was about four times bigger than estimated. The Stockholm-based company expects a fourth-quarter operating loss of about 2 billion kronor ($190 million), according to a statement. That compares with an average loss estimate of 575 million kronor ...

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• 19 January

  Aritzia sales boom in US by luring Gen Z with super puff jacket

  

  Bloomberg Aritzia Inc is winning over American teens and 20-somethings with a playbook that looks out of step with today’s often bleak retail environment. The company offers high-touch service, including personal shoppers. Discounts are rare. And it’s making locations bigger instead of shrinking them. “The stores are beautiful, and the service is excellent,” said Mark Petrie, analyst at CIBC World ...

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• 19 January

  Budget grocers Lidl, Aldi hike prices

    Bloomberg German discounters Lidl and Aldi raised prices more sharply than other supermarkets in the UK last month as food inflation spreads to every area of grocery. Shoppers at Lidl saw their bills rise by 21.1% last month versus a year earlier and Aldi was close behind with a 20.8% increase, according to a report from Which, a consumer ...

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• 19 January

  Britishvolt’s debacle reinforces UK car sector’s existential dread

  

    Bloomberg The writing was on the wall when Britain finalized its break from the European Union: The UK sorely lacked the battery manufacturing capability that would be absolutely critical to the auto industry’s future, leaving the country’s already declining car sector in a make-or-break bind. The failure of Britishvolt Ltd. to get past the stage of developing prototypes for ...

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• 19 January

  US overspent because of its fractured politics, Raghuram Rajan says

    Bloomberg Public borrowings in the US and elsewhere have swelled because of overspending partly fueled by fractured politics, said former International Monetary Fund Chief Economist Raghuram Rajan. “The size of the debt has gone up tremendously,” he told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “Part of the problem that’s going on is clearly there is a ...

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• 19 January

  Jobs market is still tight despite layoffs, EY CEO

    Bloomberg EY Chief Executive Officer Carmine Di Sibio said “it’s business as usual” when it comes to hiring, with a tight jobs market even as several big firms begin to cut staff. “We’re not struggling to source talent, but it’s not like we’re seeing a rash of talent that’s all of a sudden available,” Di Sibio said in an ...

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• 19 January

  EU needs to ask member states to replenish bloc’s budget: official

  

    Bloomberg The European Union will need to ask member states to make fresh contributions to the bloc’s budget to fund a growing list of priorities, including support for its industries and addressing fallout from the war in Ukraine, the EU executive arm’s top economy official said. “We need in a sense to replenish the EU budget, because many of ...

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• 19 January

  Ericsson CEO welcomes critic Cevian’s bid for board seat

  

  Bloomberg Ericsson AB Chief Executive Officer Borje Ekholm welcomed one of his company’s staunchest critics, activist investor Cevian Capital AB, which is seeking a seat on the 10-person board. Cevian, which first invested in the Swedish telecommunications networks maker in 2017 and now has a stake of about 5%, is looking to name a director to the board at an ...

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• 19 January

  Student halls attract £7 billion in UK

    Bloomberg The cost-of-living crisis is driving demand for Britain’s student halls, as undergraduates hunt for tenancy agreements that lock in the price of their bills. Some £6.9 billion was invested in purpose-built student accommodation in 2022, a 62% year-on-year rise, according to broker Knight Frank. What’s more, £3.8 billion was spent in the final quarter, boosted by the £3.3 ...

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