August, 2018

• 26 August

  Airbus A320 engine fix won’t come for months: Lufthansa

  

  Bloomberg Engine glitches that have disrupted Airbus SE A320neo jet operations around the world may take at least three more months to resolve amid a scarcity of upgraded turbines, according to comments from one of the planemaker’s biggest customers, Deutsche Lufthansa. Fixes for the snags afflicting the geared turbofan, or GTF, powerplant made by United Technologies Corp.’s Pratt & Whitney …

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• 26 August

  Air France-KLM, BA pull out of Iran amid US sanctions

  

  Bloomberg Two of Europe’s biggest carriers, Air France-KLM Group and British Airways, said they’ll suspend services to Iran, citing the reduced commercial viability of the route in the wake of the latest US sanctions. Air France and Dutch sibling KLM will halt flights by the end of September due to “weak commercial results,” the group said. British Airways, IAG SA’s …

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• 26 August

  Sears plans to close 46 more unprofitable stores in November

  

  Bloomberg Sears Holdings Corp. continues to clean house, announcing plans to shutter an additional 46 unprofitable stores in November. The struggling chain informed workers at the impacted stores this week, and liquidation sales will begin as early as August 30. The move is “part of our ongoing efforts to streamline Sears Holdings’ operations, strengthen our capital position and focus on …

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• 26 August

  United sees fare gains as cheap tickets reduce

  Bloomberg United Continental Holdings Inc. is seeing improved average airfares as US rivals offer fewer bargain-basement ticket prices. “It’s not really that fares have gone up much, it’s that the $25, $30 fares that were prevalent a year ago are much more narrow today,’’ United President Scott Kirby said. The improvement is helping United weather higher fuel costs, Kirby said. …

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• 26 August

  Ryanair bans ‘wheelies’ in cabin for non-priority passengers

  

  Bloomberg Ryanair Holdings Plc is locking the cabin door on traditional carry-on suitcases for its non-priority customers and forcing them to check the luggage for a fee — or go with a smaller bag — to save time loading passengers on and off flights. Starting on November 1, Europe’s biggest discount airline will only allow travellers who pay for priority …

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• 26 August

  Nordea loses top sell-side bankers as cuts hit morale

  

  Bloomberg Nordea Bank AB has recently lost a number of its top sell-side bankers amid complaints that management’s focus on cutting 6,000 jobs is hurting morale in key parts of the business. Examples of recent departures include the head of fixed income at Nordea Markets, Torben Pedersen. He’s in the process of starting his own hedge fund with Erik Bo …

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• 26 August

  Bank of Thailand’s hawkish tilt adds new tailwind for currency

  

  Bloomberg The Bank of Thailand is giving the baht — the most-loved emerging-market currency this month — one more reason to keep up its outperformance. Piggybacking on a strong current-account surplus, the baht has braved developing-market doldrums and topped returns among 24 currencies tracked by Bloomberg. It is also the sole gainer in Asia this quarter. As investors await the …

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• 26 August

  People’s Bank of China joins forces with Fed’s Powell to hit brakes on dollar rally

  

  Bloomberg The People’s Bank of China and Federal Reserve delivered a one-two punch to the dollar, spurring the biggest selloff in a month and raising the specter of further weakness ahead. The PBOC announced that banks would resume using the “counter-cyclical” factor when calculating the yuan’s daily reference rate, restraining the influence of market forces that have been driving the …

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• 26 August

  Central banks hear warnings on trade

  

  Bloomberg A discussion of competition and “superstar” firms at an exclusive economic policy conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, threw up a spirited defense of global trade, while central bankers were also warned of the low level of trust they enjoy among the public. “We should think twice about undermining the discipline of openness” and the competition that’s created by global …

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• 26 August

  UK to end zero risk for EU state debt on no-deal Brexit

  

  Bloomberg Banks in the UK may face an unexpected hit to their finances from British regulators if there’s no Brexit deal, further quashing hopes that they can carry on with business as usual. The Treasury in London said banks won’t be able to treat debt issued by European Union governments as risk-free once the nation withdraws from the bloc. That …

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