January, 2019

• 26 January

  India’s IL&FS may appoint auditor soon

  Bloomberg Beleaguered Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services may appoint an auditor to look into the financial statements of the company and its subsidiaries dating back five years, the Economic Times reported, citing people with direct knowledge of the matter. The newly appointed company would also scrutinise the role of IL&FS’ previous auditors, EY, Deloitte, and KPMG. The report would have ...

  Read More »
• 26 January

  Malaysia to cancel China-backed rail link

  

  Bloomberg Malaysia will terminate a $20 billion rail project with contractor China Communications Construction Co, Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali said. The Cabinet decided the East Coast Rail Link project was “beyond the government’s financial capability,” he said. Malaysia Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng wouldn’t corroborate Azmin’s comments, saying an official announcement would be issued if necessary by next ...

  Read More »
• 26 January

  Starbucks growth in China keeps investors happy

  

  Bloomberg As China goes, so goes Starbucks. The chain, which helped introduce Americans to European coffee culture, is under pressure from Wall Street to do the same in China. It’s opening stores at a rate of nearly 600 a year, but an economic slowdown there, exacerbated by the trade war with the US, have curbed its previously breakneck sales growth. ...

  Read More »
• 26 January

  Postponing Brexit may leave UK worse off than May’s deal

  

  Bloomberg The prospect of a delayed Brexit may be pushing up the pound, but it’s not the best news for the UK economy. Sterling has rallied above $1.30 this week amid increasing signs of support from lawmakers across Parliament for extending the negotiating period set to expire on March 29. While that would remove the imminent possibility of a chaotic ...

  Read More »
• 26 January

  Verizon to cut 7% of media staff as it revamps business

  

  Bloomberg Verizon Communications Inc is cutting 7 percent of its media staff, part of a bid to overhaul a struggling operation that includes the former online icons AOL and Yahoo. The cuts would represent about 800 jobs at the division, which previously went by Oath. Verizon dropped that short-lived name, which was ridiculed on social media, earlier this month. Some ...

  Read More »
• 26 January

  US jobless claims fall to 49-year low

  

  Bloomberg Filings for US unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level since 1969, signalling the labour market remains tight. Jobless claims declined 13,000 to 199,000 in the week ended January 19, bucking economist forecasts for an increase, Labor Department figures showed. The four-week average, a less-volatile measure, decreased to 215,000, the lowest since early November. The surprise drop ...

  Read More »
• 26 January

  Johnson & Johnson plans to buy Auris Health

  

  Bloomberg Johnson & Johnson, the world’s largest maker of health-care products, is pursuing an acquisition of Auris Health Inc in a deal that would bring it cutting-edge surgical robotics technology, people with knowledge of the matter said. J&J is seeking to purchase Auris at a premium to the valuation from its latest funding round, according to the people, who asked ...

  Read More »
• 26 January

  California utilities risk junk-debt status as PG&E unravels

  

  Bloomberg California’s utilities could get closer to junk-bond status as PG&E Corp’s collapse highlights the hazards of wildfire liability in the state. Edison International’s Southern California Edison Co as well as Sempra Energy’s San Diego Gas & Electric Co were downgraded by S&P Global Ratings. The credit grader cited the continued risk of climate change crises and the absence of ...

  Read More »
• 26 January

  How the US could lose tech Cold War with China

  

  In 1962, at the height of the Cold War, the US sought to rally its allies to block construction of a Soviet oil pipeline that would supply Red Army forces in Eastern Europe. It was an exercise in futility. West Germany grudgingly agreed not to supply high-technology pipes for the project. But Britain, Italy and Japan all rebuffed Washington’s appeals. ...

  Read More »
• 26 January

  Citigroup’s Brexit warning for London

  

  If you weren’t listening extremely carefully, you’d be forgiven for missing it. But slipped into a broader conversation about Brexit’s impact on banking, a global finance chief has signaled that one of most dreaded, longer-term effects on the City of London is a real possibility. Asked about Citigroup Inc.’s Brexit plans, Chief Executive Officer Michael Corbat confirmed what is, by ...

  Read More »