May, 2022

• 28 May

  Nordstrom, Ralph Lauren are winners

  

  High-end shoppers are still spending, for now at least. After Kohl’s Corp Chief Executive Officer Michelle Gass pointed to a “bifurcation” of consumers, as some Americans traded up to premium brands while others downshifted to cheaper private labels, upmarket department store Nordstrom Inc has continued the polarisation theme. The seller of $1,000 Mach & Mach shoes and $2,000 Burberry trench ...

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• 28 May

  Johnson nicks a big idea from Labour for now!

    It’s rare to see the Labour Party offer such a fulsome embrace of a set of Conservative policy announcements. Then again, opposition leader Keir Starmer’s shadow bench was really cheering Boris Johnson’s government adopting Labour calls for a windfall tax on energy companies and more help for consumers hit with cost-of-living increases. Democracy in action. Chancellor of the Exchequer ...

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• 28 May

  US’s gun debate needs to break old patterns

    The mass murder of children in Uvalde, Texas, coming just 10 days after the mass murder of shoppers in Buffalo, New York, moved former Senator Bill Frist — who was the majority leader of a Republican Senate when President George W Bush was in the White House — to issue a statement on guns: “We can find ways to ...

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• 28 May

  Delta Air Lines slashes flights to ‘relieve pressure’ on operations

  

  Bloomberg Delta Air Lines Inc is cutting flights just ahead of the busy Memorial Day weekend and through the summer to help it recover faster from bad weather, higher-than-expected worker absences and other issues that have rattled recent operations. The airline said it will trim about 100 flights a day in the US and Latin America from July 1 through ...

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• 28 May

  Alibaba surges as sales beats boost sentiment

  

  Bloomberg Alibaba Group Holding Ltd soared after reporting revenue rose a better-than-expected 9%, reassuring investors trying to come to grips with the economic cost of sweeping lockdowns intended to eradicate Covid-19. The shares rose more than 12% in Hong Kong after the company reported revenue climbed to 204.05 billion yuan ($30.3 billion) in the March quarter, beating analysts’ projections. Chief ...

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• 28 May

  Australia retail sales power ahead in sign of economic strength

    Bloomberg Australian retailers recorded a fourth consecutive month of sales gains, suggesting cashed-up households are so far weathering a spike in the cost of living from surging fuel and other prices. Sales advanced 0.9% in April to a fresh record $24.1 billion and just shy of economists’ estimates for a 1% increase, Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed. “Cost ...

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• 28 May

  Cathay tells US union of plan to close last overseas pilot base

  

  Bloomberg Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd has started a review that could lead to the shuttering of its pilot bases in the US, the Hong Kong carrier’s last overseas outpost, as it continues to cut costs to stem a cash drain from operating so few flights during the Covid crisis. Cathay has bases in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and ...

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• 28 May

  Majority of Indian airline passengers unhappy at service

  

    Bloomberg India’s flying public is becoming increasingly frustrated with the nation’s airlines, according to a survey undertaken for Bloomberg, saying that customer service and the behaviour of airline staff has deteriorated sharply in the wake of Covid-19. Some 79% of the 15,000 airline passengers surveyed by LocalCircles said they believe carriers in India are compromising on passenger comfort and ...

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• 28 May

  Issa Brothers may drop out of Boots race

    Bloomberg A consortium backed by the billionaire Issa brothers is considering dropping out of the bidding for Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc’s international arm due to disagreements over price, people with knowledge of the matter said. The Issas, who were bidding together with TDR Capital, balked at a request by Walgreens to increase their offer for the Boots drugstore chain ...

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• 28 May

  UK’s Johnson urges missiles for Ukraine to hit ‘crocodile’ Putin

  

  Bloomberg Boris Johnson urged more military support for Ukraine as it battles Russian forces, including sending advanced weapons such as Multiple Launch Rocket (MLR) Systems that can strike targets from a far longer distance. The British prime minister aired his support for more arms for Ukraine as he pushed back against the idea that, with the war now in its ...

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