January, 2019

• 9 January

  Fed’s Bostic trims his rate outlook for 2019 to one hike

  

  Bloomberg The US central bank should only raise interest rates once this year but keep going with its plan to gradually shrink the balance sheet, said Raphael Bostic, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and one of the Fed’s more dovish policy makers. “Coming into this year, a year ago, I saw two moves for 2019. Right now, ...

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• 9 January

  Ex-BOJ official sees yen rising to 100

  

  Bloomberg There is a good chance the yen will strengthen to 100 against the dollar in coming months as slowing global growth and US-China trade tensions keep investors on edge, a former senior Bank of Japan official said. While that level would be tolerable, there is little the depleted BOJ can do about further yen strength or a serious downturn ...

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• 9 January

  SEB to launch new sustainability push

  

  Bloomberg Swedish lender SEB AB plans to hire 10 advisers to kick start a new push into all things energy. The bank is building a new unit within investment banking to focus on energy, an area that for SEB involves the shift away from fossil fuels to renewables, sustainable infrastructure projects, electrification and building sustainable societies, Chief Executive Officer Johan ...

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• 9 January

  Barclays raider’s strategy is wrong, say analysts

  

  Bloomberg Analysts at Citigroup Inc and Berenberg poured cold water on Edward Bramson’s plans to obtain a seat on Barclays Plc’s board and shift its strategy away from the investment bank. “We believe Mr Bramson will ultimately prove unsuccessful in his objective to obtain a board seat,” said ana- lysts at Citigroup including Andrew Coombs. He “would need a shareholder ...

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• 9 January

  Thailand bank merger could give Scotiabank path to exit from nation

  

  Bloomberg A bank merger in Thailand may finally give Bank of Nova Scotia a path to retreat from the Southeast Asian nation after three years of trying. Thai lenders Thanachart Bank Pcl and TMB Bank Pcl are in talks to merge in a deal supported by Thailand’s government. Such a transaction could give Canada’s Scotiabank — which owns 49 percent ...

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• 9 January

  HSBC reveals gender pay gap widened to 61 pct

  Bloomberg Pay for female staff at HSBC Holdings Plc’s UK business fell further behind male colleagues’ in the last year, according to new figures from the London-based bank. Women at HSBC earned 61 percent less on average compared with male employees at the lender, a wider gap than the 59 percent difference the firm reported a year ago, already the ...

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• 9 January

  Heathrow resumes flights after latest drone menace

  

  Bloomberg Heathrow airport resumed flights after being partially shut for more than an hour as drone sightings near its runways raised safety concerns, marking the second time in a month that a London hub has had to suspend flights because of dangers from the modern-day gadgets. Departures were halted after the sightings in the vicinity of Europe’s busiest airport after ...

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• 9 January

  Air France growth lags behind KLM

  

  Bloomberg Air France-KLM Group’s annual traffic figures show that the company’s Dutch arm again grew faster than its French sister carrier, where flights were disrupted by strikes as pilots pushed for higher pay. KLM boosted revenue passenger kilometres — the number of customers times the distance flown — by 4 percent in 2018, compared with a gain of just 1.9 ...

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• 9 January

  Vegan roll maker a rare bright spot in UK retail

  

  Bloomberg UK bakery chain Greggs Plc provided some relief to the country’s beleaguered shopping districts with a bullish update on sales performance as year-end demand for its festive pastries surged. The shares rose as much as 7.7 percent to a record as the company raised its outlook for full-year adjusted pretax profit to at least 88 million pounds ($112 million), ...

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• 9 January

  Sainsbury sales fall as consumers hold back

  

  Bloomberg J Sainsbury Plc’s Christmas sales fell more than analysts expected as price-conscious UK shoppers turned to discounters for their turkey and stocking stuffers. The supermarket chain became the second of the big four UK grocers to highlight consumer unease over the holiday season, with Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc warning that the political stalemate over Brexit was making shoppers rein ...

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