November, 2017

• 21 November

  Bidvest Bank keen to boost financial services offering

  

  Bloomberg Bidvest Group Ltd.’s banking unit agreed to buy FinGlobal, a provider of financial services to South Africans living outside the country, as part of an acquisition drive to expand and diversify its business. Bidvest Bank will fund the purchase out of its 2 billion rand ($142 million) in cash reserves, Managing Director Japie van Niekerk said by phone on ...

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• 21 November

  RBA’s Lowe sees rates rising as patience pays off

  

  Bloomberg Australia’s central bank chief said interest rates will likely rise eventually as policy makers’ patience is finally rewarded with unemployment falling sufficiently to spur wage growth and faster inflation. “We’re not too far away from 2 percent and I think we’ll get there, we’re just not getting there as quickly as we would like to,” Governor Philip Lowe said ...

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• 21 November

  EasyJet fares to gain in winter, buoyed by collapse of ‘carriers’

  

  Bloomberg EasyJet Plc said its fares are set to gain this winter, buoyed by the collapse of carriers including UK-based Monarch Airlines Ltd. and capacity cuts at main European rival Ryanair Holdings Plc. The demise of Monarch and Germany’s Air Berlin Plc, a bankruptcy filing at Italy’s Alitalia SpA and Ryanair’s move to scrap part of its timetable amid a ...

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• 21 November

  Pilots in Ryanair’s home market join union push

  

  Bloomberg Ryanair Holdings Plc, which doesn’t recognise trade unions, lurched further towards collective bargaining after pilots in its home market of Ireland founded a new body and demanded negotiations with the discount operator. Management should engage exclusively on national matters with the “Ryanair Company Council,” the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association said in a letter to Michael O’Leary, the carrier’s ...

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• 21 November

  Swiss watch exports see biggest monthly gain since four years

  

  Bloomberg Swiss watch exports rose at the fastest monthly pace in more than four years in October, helped by an easy comparison with last year and fuelled by Asian demand for higher-priced timepieces. Shipments increased 9.3 percent to 1.85 billion francs ($1.9 billion) in October, the sixth consecutive monthly increase, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said on Tuesday. ...

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• 21 November

  EgyptAir to swing to a profit this year: Chief

  Reuters EgyptAir will swing to a profit this year, buoyed by an increase in passengers and cost cutting, the chairman of the state-owned airline’s holding company said. EgyptAir has struggled to rebound from the 2008 global financial crisis and two revolutions that have hobbled Egypt’s economy since. “This year the company will transfer from a loss,” EgyptAir Holding Chairman Safwat ...

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• 21 November

  Aping Amazon, retailers play loyalty card in holiday season

  

  Bloomberg After years of watching shoppers flit from store to store in search of the biggest deals, US retailers are hoping their attempts at building some loyalty will finally pay off this holiday season. Chains have aggressively rolled out rewards programmes in recent years, and there are signs that the efforts are beginning to get results. Hollister’s stunning 8 percent ...

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• 20 November

  ADNOC could float up to 30% of distribution unit

  ABU DHABI / Reuters Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has embarked on a major shake-up plan to priv- atise its services businesses, venture into oil trading and expa- nd partnerships with strategic investors, its chief executive said on Monday. The partial privatisation plan marks a major shift by the state energy company that was founded in 1971. It aims ...

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• 20 November

  Central Bank gross bank assets hit AED2.6trn

  ABU DHABI / WAM The Central Bank’s gross bank assets, including bankers’ acceptances amounted to around AED2.639 trillion during the month of October against AED2.643 trillion that was recorded in September. According to the CB statistics released on Monday, gross credit increased to as much as AED 1.584 trillion during October, two percent up from AED1.58 trillion in September. The ...

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• 20 November

  Global M&A sector to top $3trn in ’18

  

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business The easing of key economic and political risks and the emergence of positive macroeconomic deal drivers will accelerate global deal activity in 2018, reveals the third edition of the Global Transactions Forecast issued by Baker McKenzie. Baker McKenzie’s global head of M&A, Michael DeFranco, said, “2017 played out as we predicted and there have been ...

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