December, 2022

• 14 December

  High court approves Hong Kong Air’s $6b debt restructuring

  

    Bloomberg Hong Kong’s High Court approved Hong Kong Airlines Ltd’s HK$49 billion ($6.3 billion) debt restructuring plan, boosting the carrier’s chance of survival after years of financial turmoil. At a hearing, Justice Jonathan Harris said the court was sanctioning a so-called scheme of arrangements for Hong Kong Airlines. Counsel for the carrier, which is backed by bankrupt Chinese conglomerate ...

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• 14 December

  TUI agrees to repay German pandemic bailout package

    Bloomberg TUI AG agreed on a plan to repay a chunk of its bailout package from the German government, the latest sign of the travel sector’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. The pickup in travel means the company can repay most of the remaining aid by the end of 2023, TUI said in a statement. The repayments will be ...

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• 14 December

  Train strikes damage Britain’s retailers more than omicron

  

    Bloomberg A fresh wave of train strikes has hit Britain’s retailers even harder than the omicron variant of Covid-19 that threatened to ruin Christmas last year, according to fresh data showing a steep drop in the number of shoppers. Almost 10% fewer people visited high-street stores— the first day of a string of strikes across the rail network — ...

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• 14 December

  Taco Bell says Gen Z wants chicken

  

    Bloomberg Taco Bell’s Gen Z diners increasingly want to eat chicken instead of beef. The Yum! Brands Inc chain said this creates an opportunity for Taco Bell to introduce more chicken-based items, especially for those younger customers. There’s also room for the Mexican-themed restaurant to boost sales with its breakfast and lunch businesses, said Mark King, chief executive officer ...

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• 14 December

  Honest names former Amazon executive as new CEO

  

    Bloomberg Honest Co, the personal-care company founded by actress Jessica Alba, appointed former Amazon.com Inc and General Mills Inc executive Carla Vernón as its new chief executive officer. Vernón assumes the role starting from January 9 and will replace Nick Vlahos, who has led the company since 2017 and took it public last year. Vlahos will remain on Honest’s ...

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• 14 December

  China’s new Covid approach is to ‘let it rip,’ says analyst

  

    Bloomberg China seems to be embracing a fast and explosive Covid reopening, a risky approach that’s worrying observers given the vast country’s vulnerabilities. Since embarking on a landmark shift away from its zero-tolerance policy just a week ago, China has dismantled most of its internal restrictions, casting aside the stringent playbook used to eliminate the virus for the past ...

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• 14 December

  Mahindra to build $1.2bn electric SUV plant in Pune

  

    Bloomberg Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd plans to invest 100 billion rupees ($1.2 billion) in a plant to make electric sports utility vehicles, a significant shift for a company that has been heavily reliant on gas-powered cars. Mahindra will invest the funds over eight years to build the factory in Pune, western India, according to an exchange filing. It will ...

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• 14 December

  Sony PlayStation 5 sales surge in US after supply issues ease

    Bloomberg Sony Group Corp led a big jump in video-game hardware sales in the US last month, in the latest sign of improving PlayStation 5 supply. The Tokyo-based entertainment giant drove a 45% spurt in US games hardware sales to $1.3 billion in November, according to the NPD Group. Back home in Japan, the company’s in-demand console can now ...

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• 14 December

  Indian farmers encouraged to sell crop waste to fight smog

  

  Bloomberg Farmers in India are being encouraged to sell their crop waste rather than burn it to help accelerate progress on curbing fires that spread a deadly, choking smog across key cities. Smoke from the burning of crop stubble lingers over most of north India for weeks during the cold months of November and December, with air quality deteriorating to ...

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• 14 December

  Takeda to pay $6bn for Nimbus drug

    Bloomberg Takeda Pharmaceutical Co agreed to pay as much as $6 billion for an experimental immune therapy from Nimbus Therapeutics, part of the Japanese drugmaker’s hunt for promising new products. Takeda will pay $4 billion upfront for the drug, which is called NDI-034858 and will be renamed TAK-279, the companies said in a statement. Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Nimbus is also ...

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