December, 2018

• 8 December

  Kenyan bank-merger plan creates bigger rival for West Africa lenders

  

  Bloomberg Plans to merge two Kenyan banks will create a lender that can compete adequately with West African banks that are expanding into the region, Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich said. NIC Group Plc, one of Kenya’s mid-sized publicly traded banks, is in merger talks with Commercial Bank of Africa Ltd., the nation’s biggest closely held lender, the two said. The ...

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• 8 December

  ‘Germany willing to merge Deutsche, Commerzbank’

  Bloomberg The German finance ministry is willing to “orchestrate” a mer-ger between Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG, according to Focus magazine. Various scenarios have been discussed, including one in which the German state would become Deutsche Bank’s largest shareholder for about five years before merging the two banks, Focus reported without saying how it got the information. Alternatively, Deutsche ...

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• 8 December

  Boeing 737 gets Garuda vote as Lion warns to scrap order

  

  Bloomberg Indonesian flag carrier Garuda will keep taking deliveries of Boeing’s 737 Max jet, giving the new aircraft a vote of confidence while local rival Lion Air threatens to cancel its $22 billion order after suffering a plane crash in October. “Our Max jet has been performing well, we have no significant issue with it,” PT Garuda Indonesia President Director ...

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• 8 December

  Airbus firms up $11.5bn plane order from HNA’s Avolon

  

  Bloomberg Airbus SE firmed up an order for 100 single-aisle aircraft from Avolon, the aircraft-leasing company owned by China’s HNA Group Co. The deal, worth $11.5 billion before discounts, seals an outline accord unveiled at the Farnborough Air Show in July, the Irish lessor said in a statement. Aircraft orders typically come in stages, and aren’t counted against order totals ...

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• 8 December

  Hawaiian Air warns on ‘pricing’ outlook

  

  Bloomberg Hawaiian Holdings Inc. cut its outlook for a key revenue measure, citing low fares and sluggish demand — the second US airline to issue a gloomy forecast in as many days. “Year-over-year visitor growth from North America to Hawaii remains positive, but at a slower pace than industry capacity growth,” the parent of Hawaiian Airlines said. Revenue for each ...

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• 8 December

  UK plows $160mn into electric jets, drones

  

  Bloomberg The UK will plow 125 million pounds ($160 million) into electric planes and drones to ease congestion in urban areas, Business Secretary Greg Clark announced. The funding — to be matched by the private sector — aims to develop new technologies to cut pollution from the aerospace industry, as well as to ease congestion in London and other urban ...

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• 8 December

  Ikea parent builds $1.2bn China mall

  Bloomberg Ingka Holding BV, parent of the world’s largest home-furnishings retailer Ikea, has started construction on a $1.2 billion shopping mall in Shanghai that the company says is its single biggest investment. The mall, Ingka’s fifth in China, will span 430,000 square metres and house more than 300 local and foreign merchants, as well as an Ikea store, Ingka said ...

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• 5 December

  Opec+ recommends oil cuts

  

  Bloomberg A meeting of Saudi Arabia, Russia and other members of the Opec+ group recommended an oil production cut, but didn’t agree on how big any reduction should be. The group secured Russia’s participation in six months of output curbs starting in January, Oman’s Oil Minister Mohammed Al Rumhy told reporters in Vienna as he left the meeting on Wednesday. ...

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• 5 December

  China sending strong signals post trade talks, says Trump

  

  Bloomberg US President Donald Trump said China is sending “very strong signals” following weekend trade discussions in Argentina, as uncertainty remains over what commitments were made between the two nations. “Not to sound naive or anything, but I believe President Xi meant every word of what he said at our long and hopefully historic meeting,” Trump said on Twitter on ...

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• 5 December

  ECI, French bank partner to help UAE businesses expand globally

  

  Dubai / WAM Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), the UAE Federal export credit company, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with French bank Natixis, a subsidiary of Groupe BPCE, the second-largest banking group in France, to strengthen UAE’s exporters’ capability to trade globally, assist businesses to expand internationally and support the UAE’s non-oil diversification strategy. The areas of cooperation between ECI and ...

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