March, 2023

• 19 March

  M&S gaining on John Lewis in £20b fight for UK middle class

  

  BLOOMBERG For decades John Lewis Partnership Plc has been considered the pinnacle of British retailing, overshadowing archrival Marks & Spencer (M&S) Group Plc. While the owner of the John Lewis department store and upmarket grocer Waitrose was lauded for its employee-ownership, service levels and quality, M&S struggled with never-ending turnaround plans, a revolving door of CEOs and plunging profits. But ...

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• 19 March

  Heathrow security staff vote to strike over pay

  

  BLOOMBERG London Heathrow stands to suffer severe disruptions during the busy Easter travel period after some workers at the airport voted in favour of walkouts, the latest flareup in the country that has seen months of strikes over pay amid a cost of living crisis. More than 1,400 security workers at the hub voted in favour of 10 days of ...

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• 19 March

  Port Authority to spend extra $1bn on JFK Airport project

  

  BLOOMBERG The massive renovation to New York City’s John F Kennedy International Airport has gotten even more expensive. The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey increased its funding authorisation for the infrastructure portion of the project by about $1 billion, making the new budget $3.9 billion, after costs surged due to higher inflation, soaring labour expenses and supply ...

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• 19 March

  McDonald’s faces franchisees decrying ‘destructive path’

  

  BLOOMBERG McDonald’s Corp is facing rising unrest among certain US franchisees — a potential stumbling block as the burger chain plots aggressive expansion. Squeezed by higher costs and grumbling at new operating rules, franchisees invited to a meeting with the company’s board will press their case in person. The session will give US operators “an opportunity to share with the ...

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• 19 March

  Midsize US banks ask FDIC to insure deposits for two years

  

  BLOOMBERG A coalition of midsize US banks asked federal regulators to extend FDIC insurance to all deposits for the next two years, arguing the guarantee is needed to avoid a wider run on the banks. “Doing so will immediately halt the exodus of deposits from smaller banks, stabilise the banking sector and greatly reduce chances of more bank failures,” the ...

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• 19 March

  Deutsche Bank’s global head of FX sales resigns

  

  BLOOMBERG Deutsche Bank AG’s global head of foreign exchange sales Hans Ephraimson is leaving after more than three decades at the German lender. A successor will be announced shortly and Ephraimson will “facilitate a smooth transition” of his responsibilities, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg News. There was no mention of a reason behind Ephraimson’s exit. A Deutsche ...

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• 19 March

  Credit Suisse’s First Boston plan in doubt amid crisis discussion

  

  BLOOMBERG Michael Klein, the CEO-designate of Credit Suisse Group AG’s investment-banking spin off, may struggle to realise his dream of building a new CS First Boston as the Swiss lender nears a forced sale to UBS Group AG. UBS is showing little appetite for Credit Suisse’s investment banking business as part of a government-brokered takeover, putting plans to legally and ...

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• 19 March

  Google unveils AI features for cloud customers

  

  BLOOMBERG Google announced a raft of new artificial intelligence (AI) – powered features for customers of its cloud-computing business, as the technology giant jostles for dominance in the burgeoning field with rivals such as Microsoft Corp. and startup OpenAI. As Silicon Valley buzzes about so-called generative AI — software that can create images, text and video based on user prompts ...

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• 19 March

  Audi CEO seeks to catch up in China in test of Germany’s grit

  

  BLOOMBERG Markus Duesmann, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Audi, flew to China last week to tackle a problem that’s indicative of the challenges facing Germany: how to compete with its biggest trading partner on new technology. The head of the German luxury brand went to visit Audi’s Chinese joint venture (JV) partners — China FAW Group Co. and SAIC ...

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• 19 March

  Samsung joins South Korea’s $400bn bid to lead in key tech

  

  BLOOMBERG South Korea will join its largest companies including Samsung Electronics Co to pour some $422 billion into areas such as chips and electric vehicles in its most aggressive effort yet to win a heated global race for tech supremacy. The government will focus support on chips, batteries, robots, electric vehicles, displays and biotechnology in an investment plan through 2026, ...

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