March, 2022

• 14 March

  UK faces $50b hit from energy bills

  

  Bloomberg UK households face a 38 billion pounds ($50 billion) hit from a surge in electricity and gas costs exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Financial Times newspaper reported. The increase for the 2022-23 year will be equivalent to a six pence rise in the basic rate of income tax, it said, citing an estimate by Aurora Energy Research …

  Read More »
• 14 March

  Siberian detour pushes airlines to retrace Cold War era routes

  

  Bloomberg Global airlines are going to great lengths to avoid Russian airspace but few to the extent of Finnair Oyj, the flag carrier of Finland. It’s flying thousands of miles around its northern neighbour, retracing routes abandoned decades ago at the end of the Cold War. The economic burden of those end-runs is measured in additional jet fuel burn, extended …

  Read More »
• 14 March

  Serbia to slash Moscow flights after criticism

  

    Bloomberg Serbia’s flag carrier will scale back flights to Moscow after criticism that it’s profiting from the service at a time when most other airlines stopped flying to Russia to comply with sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine, President Aleksandar Vucic said. Air Serbia recently increased its Moscow flights to as many as three a day from one …

  Read More »
• 14 March

  Fast Retailing’s apparel chain joins Russia exodus in reversal

  

  Bloomberg Fast Retailing Co’s Uniqlo apparel chain said it will temporarily suspend operations in Russia, joining a growing list of global companies in curtailing their activities in the country after its invasion of neighbouring Ukraine. The move is a reversal after Fast Retailing founder Tadashi Yanai said clothing is a “necessity of life” and that Russians have “the same right …

  Read More »
• 14 March

  John Lewis resumes bonus payout amid turnaround

  

    Bloomberg John Lewis Partnership Plc said it will once again pay employee bonuses as the UK retailer’s turnaround efforts start to show small signs of progress. The department store group, which also owns the Waitrose supermarket chain, said that a return to profit on an underlying basis means it will reinstate the payout, which was suspended last year for …

  Read More »
• 14 March

  Airports may be disrupted as union calls walkout in Germany

    Bloomberg Airport services and flights across Germany are likely to be affected on Monday after a union called for an all-day walkout over a pay dispute for security personnel. The Verdi union said it’s calling for protest action at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport by security staff working in passenger screening, and personnel and goods control. The walkout is part of nationwide …

  Read More »
• 14 March

  US online grocery prices surge 7.6%

    Bloomberg Prices of groceries bought online soared by a record 7.6% last month in the US, according to data compiled by software company Adobe Inc. And that’s even before accounting for the delivery costs. Overall, Adobe’s digital price index rose 3.6% in February from a year earlier, the highest rate in data going back to 2014. Clothing jumped 16.7%, …

  Read More »
• 14 March

  Deutsche Bank joins peers in winding down Russia business

  

    Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG reversed course and is now joining Wall Street banks Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. in pulling back from business in Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. “Like some international peers and in line with our legal and regulatory obligations, we are in the process of winding down our remaining business …

  Read More »
• 14 March

  ECB’s Villeroy says caution needed on monetary policy

  

    Bloomberg European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau said uncertainty about the length of the current oil shock and the economic impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine mandate a cautious approach to monetary and budgetary policies in Europe. The oil shock “is very strong in its intensity, we don’t know its duration yet,” the Bank …

  Read More »
• 14 March

  RBA deputy governor Debelle to step down unexpectedly

  

    Bloomberg Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) No. 2 Guy Debelle is stepping down from his position in an unexpected move that sees the departure of a potential future governor from the central bank. Debelle, who sits on the RBA’s policy-setting board, will join Fortescue Future Industries, a clean energy arm of iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group, as chief …

  Read More »