November, 2018

• 24 November

  Czech’s billionaire PM Babis survives ouster bid over fraud

  Bloomberg The Czech Republic’s billionaire prime minister survived a non-confidence vote and defeated a challenge sparked by fraud allegations. Andrej Babis, who rose to power by attacking the political establishment and campaigning against Muslim refugees, has been facing a crescendo of calls for his ouster over investigations into his conduct as a businessman. The pressure escalated this month after his ...

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• 24 November

  Rhine drought hits oil supply amid cold snap

  

  Bloomberg Germany’s industrial southwest, Switzerland and parts of France face a dearth of fuel supplies in the coming weeks just as freezing temperatures threaten to lift demand for heating oil. A prolonged drought this summer has led to record-low water levels on the Rhine river, closing many parts of the key transport artery to barge traffic. With little relief in ...

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• 24 November

  Centrica slumps as price cap to Cut Profit

  Bloomberg Embattled commodity trader Noble Group Ltd — which is pushing towards the final stages of a complex $3.5 billion debt-for-equity restructuring — reported another quarterly loss, with the result driven by costs from the revamp as well as getting caught out in the LNG market. The energy segment, which consists of liquefied natural gas, coal and oil liquids in ...

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• 24 November

  UK can shut most gas plants and keep lights on: Study

  Bloomberg Power plant developers in Britain are overestimating the need for natural gas-fired generation to back up intermittent renewable energy. The nation needs only 38 percent of the gas capacity it has now to keep the power on, according to a report by New Resource Partners, a consultancy that advises governments and investors on renewables. “Our modelling shows that the ...

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• 24 November

  Porsche plans $6.8bn profit push for e-cars

  

  Bloomberg Porsche AG has an ambitious plan to improve operating profit by 6 billion euros ($6.8 billion) over eight years by streamlining operations as the automaker spends more to develop and manufacture electric cars, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Porsche aims to increase earnings before interest and taxes by about 750 million euros annually over a timeframe ...

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• 24 November

  iDreamSky attracts Sony, JD.com to $200mn IPO

  

  Bloomberg iDreamSky Technology Holdings Ltd., a Chinese game distributor, has attracted Sony Corp. and JD.com Inc. as cornerstone investors for its planned Hong Kong initial public offering, people with knowledge of the matter said. The Shenzhen-based company plans to start taking investor orders on Monday, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. The firm ...

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• 24 November

  Philippines mall to start rolling out robots in 2019

  

  Bloomberg The Philippines’ richest man Henry Sy will start rolling out robots next year to help customers navigate his massive shopping malls. Initially three androids will be deployed in the first quarter of 2019 in SM Megamall, the nation’s second-biggest shopping centre, said Steven Tan, chief operating officer for the shopping malls of SM Prime Holdings Inc. The talking bots ...

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• 24 November

  GameStop to sell its AT&T wireless stores for $700mn

  

  Bloomberg GameStop Corp., the video-game retailer, agreed to sell its AT&T wireless stores to Prime Communications LP for $700 million, exiting a business that the company once viewed as a key source of future growth. The sale of Spring Mobile, with 1,289 stores, is expected to close by the end of January, Grapevine, Texas-based GameStop said. Proceeds from the sale ...

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• 24 November

  Retailers stumble into ‘spending’ weekend

  

  Bloomberg Black Friday is increasingly an online shopping event, and that’s not necessarily a good thing for legacy retailers, some of which found themselves falling behind during America’s annual spending spree. Chains have decades of expertise filling stores with mountains of televisions and bathroom towels while coming up with doorbuster deals to lure the masses. But e-commerce isn’t yet the ...

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• 24 November

  Rockwell soars after United megadeal gets China nod

  

  Bloomberg United Technologies Corp. secured approval in China for its $23 billion purchase of aerospace supplier Rockwell Collins Inc., clearing the final hurdle to complete a megadeal that was reached more than a year ago. Rockwell’s shares jumped as much as 9.4 percent, the most in 7 years, on Friday, and United Technologies gained 3 percent. The decision, posted on ...

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