October, 2019

• 12 October

  UK’s PizzaExpress is about to be sliced up

  

  A troubled British consumer brand with an illustrious past. Too much debt. A big Chinese investor. Sound familiar? Pizza Express Ltd., which is preparing for debt talks with creditors, is being compared to Thomas Cook Group Plc, the travel operator that collapsed last month. The 54-year-old restaurant chain isn’t in as precarious a state as Thomas Cook was for much ...

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• 12 October

  India’s quashed bank merger fans contagion risks

  

  The contagion risk from India’s year-old shadow banking crisis has suddenly turned much graver. What investors don’t know yet is whether the new problem is a $4 billion headache, a $16 billion migraine, or a life-threatening tumor. On October 9, the Reserve Bank of India quashed a proposed merger of Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd., one of the country’s largest real-estate ...

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• 12 October

  Samsung is pouring $11b into ‘displays’

  

  Bloomberg Samsung Display Co plans to spend 13.1 trillion won ($11 billion) developing and building next-generation displays, responding to a flood of supply and price pressure from fast-moving Chinese rivals. In an announcement event attended by Korean President Moon Jae-in and Samsung Electronics Co Vice-Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the investment was presented as a move to reorganise the display industry while ...

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• 12 October

  Consumer Reports calls Tesla Smart Summon feature ‘glitchy’

  

  Bloomberg Tesla Inc’s Smart Summon, the semi-autonomous feature some owners can use to fetch their cars, doesn’t live up to the Model 3 maker’s marketing hype, Consumer Reports magazine said. The magazine spent several days testing the feature, which allows Tesla owners to tap their smartphone and remotely call for their car to pick them up. Tesla customers have flooded ...

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• 12 October

  Sony plans to launch PlayStation 5 in 2020

  Bloomberg Sony Corp’s highly anticipated next-generation PlayStation will go on sale in time for the holiday season next year. The PlayStation 5 will come with a high-speed solid state drive, Ryzen processor and Radeon graphics cards from Advanced Micro Devices Inc, 8K resolution video and a unit for processing 3D audio, the company said in a release. The new gaming ...

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• 12 October

  US regulators want to know if cameras can replace car mirrors

  

  Bloomberg Drivers in the US may one day no longer have to crane their necks to check their blind spots if regulators agree to let high-tech cameras and screens replace the humble side-view mirror. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said in a notice that is seeking public and industry input on whether to allow so-called camera monitoring systems ...

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• 12 October

  Cracks found on 5% of older Boeing 737 jets in inspections

  

  Bloomberg More than 5% of older Boeing Co 737 jets that underwent urgent inspections worldwide have cracks in a structure connecting the wings to the fuselage and will have to be temporarily grounded. So far, 36 of the workhorse Next Generation models have evidence of cracking out of 686 that have been inspected, Boeing said in an email providing updated ...

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• 12 October

  Uniqlo sister brand’s 9-month profit up 75%

  

  Bloomberg As fashion franchises like Forever 21 struggle globally amid changing shopping habits and competition from e-commerce, Uniqlo-owner Fast Retailing Co has managed to turn around a second clothing line into a profit driver. Its more experimental and stylish GU brand is expected to be a highlight of its full-year earnings to be reported. The sister brand, which sells at ...

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• 12 October

  Thomas Cook can thrive without airline costs, says Hays Travel

  

  Bloomberg Hays Travel Ltd, the UK booking agent that’s buying 555 shops from Thomas Cook Group Plc, said the stores can turn profitable without the hefty airline costs that helped bring down the 178-year-old tour operator. Hays will add the outlets to its existing 190 shops to expand a business that’s more online-focussed than Thomas Cook was, founder and Managing ...

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• 12 October

  Shiseido inks $845m deal for skincare firm

  Bloomberg Shiseido Co agreed to buy skincare brand Drunk Elephant for $845 million as the Japanese beauty company seeks to appeal to younger consumers in the US. The deal for Drunk Elephant Holdings LLC won’t have a significant impact on full-year earnings, Shiseido said in a statement. It will be financed with a combination of cash and credit, and is ...

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