December, 2021

• 11 December

  Toyota chooses North Carolina for first US battery plant

  

  Bloomberg Toyota Motor Corp will break ground on its first battery factory in the US at a mega-site in North Carolina, joining an industry-wide push as automakers accelerate efforts to electrify their fleets. The Japanese company will invest $1.29 billion in the automotive battery manufacturing facility, which is scheduled to start production in 2025, the company said. It is the …

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• 11 December

  Volvo Cars seeks growth amid chip crunch

  Bloomberg Volvo Car AB said it’s confident it can improve sales and profitability this year even as the global shortage in semiconductors continues to weigh on auto production. The manufacturer owned by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co lost output of 50,000 cars in third quarter compared to the year-earlier period, it said. It reiterated its full-year outlook despite preliminary …

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• 9 December

  Omicron’s high-speed spread shreds recovery in air travel

  

  Bloomberg Rapid and still-evolving border restrictions in response to the omicron variant have submerged air-travel demand yet again, throwing a long-awaited recovery into uncertainty. The emerging coronavirus wave has put airlines under even more pressure as they navigate rules that vary by country and are being revised daily as more information about the strain comes to light. Carriers slashed 151,000 …

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• 9 December

  HNA cedes control of core airline operations

  

  Bloomberg HNA Group Co has officially handed over control of its core airline operations to Liaoning Fangda Group Industrial Co, marking the end of an era for the Chinese conglomerate as it continues to restructure one of the country’s biggest piles of corporate debt. Gu Gang, head of a government taskforce in charge of HNA’s restructuring, will no longer serve …

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• 9 December

  Tata to hire new management for Air India as sale proceeds

  

  Bloomberg Tata Sons Pvt is considering hiring several key executives for Air India, according to people familiar with the matter, as the nation’s biggest conglomerate works to finalise a turnaround plan for the indebted carrier it’s in the process of taking over from the state. The group, which in October won a bid to regain control of the airline it …

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• 9 December

  Rising food prices yet to change shopping habits in Britain

  

  Bloomberg Grocery price increases in the UK aren’t yet denting shoppers’ festive spirit, according to data-tracking firm Kantar. Christmas dinner staples are becoming pricier as grocery inflation reached 3.2% in the past month, the highest rate since June 2020. Still, Kantar said it has not noticed a shift in consumer habits yet, such as swapping branded products for own label …

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• 9 December

  Labour shortage spreads to Santa Claus economy in US

  Bloomberg America’s labour shortage has spread to the Santa Claus economy. Like other industries, demand for workers in this sector has surged as Americans try to return to pre-pandemic life. There are about 3,000 open positions across the country for Kris Kringle look-a-likes at malls, homes and corporate events, according to Mitch Allen, founder of Dallas-based talent agency HireSanta. The …

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• 9 December

  Kroger raises its profit forecast again

  Bloomberg Kroger Co raised its profit forecast for the third straight quarter, propelling shares back near the record heights they attained in September. Adjusted earnings in the current fiscal year will be in the range of $3.40 to $3.50 a share, Kroger said in a statement as it reported earnings. That followed increases to the grocer’s outlook in June and …

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• 8 December

  China cuts cash reserve ratio, releasing $188bn of liquidity

  

  Bloomberg China cut the amount of cash most banks must hold in reserve, acting to counter the economic slowdown in a move that puts the central bank on a different policy path than many of its peers. The People’s Bank of China will reduce the reserve requirement ratio by 0.5 percentage point for most banks on December 15, releasing 1.2 …

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• 8 December

  Indonesia’s central bank buys $4bn bonds in debt monetisation

  

  Bloomberg Indonesia’s central bank bought 58 trillion rupiah ($4 billion) of government bonds, the first transaction in its latest round of debt monetisation. Bank Indonesia purchased 14.5 trillion rupiah each of four series of notes due in five to eight years via a private placement, the finance ministry’s debt management office said. Future bond-buying by the central bank will be …

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