February, 2021

• 10 February

  Amazon-Ambani spat tests India’s allure for investors

  

  Bloomberg The tussle between two of the world’s richest men — Jeff Bezos and Mukesh Ambani — to dominate India’s estimated $1 trillion retail market is testing foreign investor patience with flip-flopping court rulings. There have been new developments in Amazon.com Inc’s legal battle to block Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd from acquiring Future Retail Ltd’s assets, in what would be …

  Read More »
• 10 February

  Garuda Indonesia to return 12 CRJ aircraft

  

  Bloomberg Indonesia’s flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia said it unilaterally ended a Bombardier leasing contract with Nordic Aviation Capital A/S and will return a dozen CRJ jets amid an ongoing bribery probe. The airline terminated the contract after a series of negotiations on price with Nordic Aviation yielded no satisfactory results, according to President Director Irfan Setiaputra. The 12 planes …

  Read More »
• 10 February

  UK airports warn confusion threatens quarantine plan

  Bloomberg The UK’s latest clampdown on air travel was met with alarm by industry executives, who called the restrictions complex and said they fear a worsening struggle for survival. Health Secretary Matt Hancock outlined details of new restrictions, including a hotel quarantine and multiple Covid-19 tests, coming into force from February 15 in an attempt to prevent dangerous new virus …

  Read More »
• 10 February

  Singapore Air expands 777X order in boost to jumbo’s heir

  

  Bloomberg Singapore Airlines Ltd is swapping some of its Boeing Co wide-body jetliner orders for the larger 777X, giving a boost to the model as part of an agreement to slow near-term deliveries from the US planemaker. The airline will pare commitments for the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner by 14 planes, while adding 11 777-9s to its existing order, according to …

  Read More »
• 10 February

  Indonesia investigators focus on engine control in Boeing crash

  

  Bloomberg The investigation into last month’s Sriwijaya Air crash in Indonesia is focusing on the carrier’s maintenance and training procedures as well as the engine-control system of the Boeing Co 737-500 jet. While Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) is still trying to determine the exact cause of the disaster, lead investigator Nurcahyo Utomo said at a media briefing on …

  Read More »
• 10 February

  UK retail sales fall over new virus variant

  Bloomberg England’s third lockdown hit non-essential retailers harder than the previous one in November, with the new variant of the coronavirus hampering spending and confidence last month, according to the British Retail Consortium. Clothing and footwear stores fared particularly badly as retailers on the whole saw the value of sales decline from a year earlier, the business lobby said. A …

  Read More »
• 10 February

  India plans more than $41bn in sovereign bond purchases

  

  Bloomberg The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will seek to buy more than 3 trillion rupees ($41 billion) of sovereign bonds in the next fiscal year to support the government’s borrowing plans, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. That will exceed the 3 trillion rupees the RBI is expected to spend for the current year ending March. …

  Read More »
• 10 February

  SocGen to return capital to investors after first losing year in decades

  

  Bloomberg Societe Generale SA vowed to return capital to investors even as it ended its first losing year in more than three decades with a slump in trading. In contrast to double-digit trading gains at Wall Street peers, SocGen saw equities trading — its traditional strength — falls 7% from a year earlier and fixed-income revenue drop 16%. Net income …

  Read More »
• 10 February

  ABN Amro scraps 2020 dividend after first annual loss in a decade

  

  Bloomberg ABN Amro Bank NV scrapped its dividend for 2020 and posted its first annual loss in a decade as pandemic weighed on lending income and lender restructured its investment bank. An unexpected profit of about 54 million euros ($65 million) in the fourth quarter wasn’t enough to save the Dutch lender from its first negative result since 2010. The …

  Read More »
• 10 February

  Citi to refund $4.2mn to overcharged consumers

  

  Bloomberg Citigroup Inc. will refund an additional $4.2 million to some credit-card customers who were overcharged years ago. The bank reached an agreement with attorneys general from Pennsylvania, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Jersey and North Carolina to refund the money to customers in those states. The refunds follow a 2018 settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in which Citigroup agreed …

  Read More »