July, 2017

• 22 July

  Next scandal looms large for German carmakers

  

  Bloomberg Another week, another scare from the German car industry. What began with Daimler AG’s massive recall of more than 3 million diesel cars to lower their emissions, ended with Audi also embarking on a voluntary recall of 850,000 vehicles. Adding to the spate of bad news was a report in Der Spiegel magazine that the biggest car manufacturers — ...

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• 22 July

  Mangrove Capital raises $170mn for startups, not sell outs

  

  Bloomberg Mangrove Capital Partners, the Luxembourg-based venture capital firm, has raised a $170 million fund to invest in European startups. But its outspoken founder has no interest in startups looking for a quick buck. The fund, which is Mangrove’s fifth since its founding 17 years ago, will invest in early stage companies, said co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Tluszcz ...

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• 22 July

  McCormick buys Reckitt Benckiser food unit

  

  Bloomberg McCormick & Co. agreed to acquire Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc’s food business for $4.2 billion, adding French’s mustard and Frank’s RedHot sauce to its lineup of spices and seasonings. The deal brings a stable of well-known condiments to Sparks, Maryland-based McCormick. For Reckitt Benckiser, unloading the products continues an overhaul that began with an expansion into baby formula through ...

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• 22 July

  China artificial intelligence bid seeks $59bn industry

  

  Bloomberg China aims to make the artificial intelligence industry a “new, important” driver of economic expansion by 2020, according to a development plan issued by the State Council. Policy makers want to be global leaders, with the AI industry generating more than 400 billion yuan ($59 billion) of output per year by 2025, according to an announcement from the cabinet. ...

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• 22 July

  An app that tells you when you’re depressed

  Bloomberg A Facebook message pops up on my phone screen. “What’s going on in your world?” It’s from a robot named Woebot, the brainchild of Stanford University psychologist Alison Darcy. Woebot seems to care about me. The app asks me for a list of my strengths, and remembers my response so it can encourage me later. It helps me set ...

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• 22 July

  Qualcomm sees steep profit decline amid its legal scuffle with Apple

  

  Bloomberg Qualcomm Inc., the biggest maker of chips used in mobile phones, forecast steep declines in profit and licensing sales, underscoring its dependence on the royalties that one of its largest customers, Apple Inc., has stopped paying. Sales in the company’s licensing division, which collects fees for use of its mobile technology, will sink as much as 47 percent in ...

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• 22 July

  Microsoft regains turnaround momentum on ‘cloud sales’

  

  Bloomberg Microsoft Corp.’s turnaround plan got back on track in the latest quarter, buoyed by rising sales of internet-based software and services. Profit in the fiscal fourth quarter exceeded analysts’ estimates and adjusted sales rose 9 percent as demand almost doubled for Azure cloud services, which let companies store and run their applications in Microsoft data centers. A tax-rate benefit ...

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• 19 July

  Aramco mulls Zuluf oilfield expansion

  

  KHOBAR / Reuters State oil firm Saudi Aramco is considering building new facilities to add production of Arabian Heavy crude from the Zuluf offshore oilfield, industry sources said. The central processing plant is expected to have two units, known as trains, with a total capacity of 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) to process Arabian Heavy crude supplied by electrical submersible ...

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• 19 July

  Emirates NBD posts AED3.9bn H1 profit

  

  Dubai / WAM Emirates NBD recorded half-year net profits of AED3.9 billion, up 5 percent on higher net interest income, lower expenses and lower provisions. Net interest income improved 2 percent year-on-year due to loan growth and helped by a recent improvement in margins. Net interest margin improved since the beginning of the year as loans reset at higher rates ...

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• 19 July

  World’s first floating wind farm on its way to Scotland

  

  Abu Dhabi / WAM The first of five turbines for the Hywind Scotland commercial-scale floating offshore wind farm has now sailed away from Stord in Norway to its final destination, Buchan Deep, 25 km east of Peterhead in Scotland. Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, announced that it had acquired a 25% stake in the Hywind Scotland project during Abu ...

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