May, 2017

• 16 May

  UK’s supermarkets are having an identity crisis

  

  These days, nobody wants to be a British supermarket. Tesco Plc, the UK’s biggest grocer, is buying wholesaler Booker Plc, while J Sainsbury Plc last year snapped up catalog retailer Argos. As for Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc, it is building its own wholesale business using the manufacturing facilities that already make about half of its fresh foods. The only one ...

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• 16 May

  China’s hidden pollution oozes to the surface

  

  Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping directed his government to build a new city for the “millennium to come.” It would rise on rural land about 60 miles south of Beijing, guided by the principles of “ecological protection and green development.” And it would become a model for a new kind of urban expansion. It was an attractive vision. Over ...

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• 16 May

  Egypt EFG, TMGH diverge on MSCI changes; Gulf firm with oil at $52

  

  DUBAI / Reuters Shares of Egypt’s EFG Hermes and Talaat Mostafa diverged sharply on Tuesday on news that MSCI will swap the shares in its main Egyptian index, while Gulf equity markets were firm with the Brent oil price at $52 a barrel. Overnight, MSCI said it would include investment bank EFG Hermes in its MSCI Egypt Index but remove ...

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• 16 May

  Dollar falls as traders weigh homes data, Trump

  Bloomberg The dollar weakened for a fifth day as traders digested disappointing US housing data against a backdrop of a fresh controversy engulfing President Donald Trump. US stock futures advanced amid earnings. The greenback fell against most of its major peers after a report the president shared terrorism intelligence with Russian officials, an action he has since defended. An unexpected ...

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• 16 May

  EasyJet bets on bigger Airbus jets

  

  Bloomberg EasyJet Plc upgraded an order for 30 Airbus SE narrow-body aircraft to the biggest A321 variant in a bet that fare declines are set to ease after pushing it to record winter losses. The switch marks EasyJet’s first deal for the new plane, which has 49 more seats than the A320 model, previously the largest in its fleet. Deliveries ...

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• 16 May

  Nestlé opens AED530 million factory in Dubai South

  

  Dubai / Emirates Business Nestlé Middle East’s 18th factory in the region has been inaugurated in Dubai South by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman Dubai Airports, and Chairman & Chief Executive of Emirates Airlines & Group; and in the presence of Marco Settembri, Executive Vice President Nestlé SA and ...

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• 16 May

  Vodafone forecasts 23% surge in free cash flow

  Bloomberg Vodafone Group Plc promised to milk more of the cash that flows through the world’s second-largest mobile-phone operation and funnel it back to shareholders after years of investment and expansion. The stock rose the most in 10 months on Tuesday after the Newbury, England-based carrier forecast a 23 percent increase in free cash flow to 5 billion euros ($5.5 ...

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• 16 May

  Asia’s top carry trade stokes rupee bulls with RBI on sidelines

  

  Bloomberg Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) apparent tolerance of rupee gains is burnishing the appeal of Asia’s best carry-trade currency. RBI governor Urjit Patel already surprised analysts by raising a key interest rate last month, and now there’s little indication that officials are intervening heavily to slow currency gains—unlike some Asian counterparts. That’s all spurred Aviva investors to add to ...

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• 16 May

  GIC cuts its ownership stake with UBS by half

  

  Bloomberg Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte ceased being the biggest shareholder in UBS Group AG after cutting its ownership by almost half, saying it was “disappointed” that it lost money during nearly a decade in which it was invested in the Swiss bank. GIC sold a stake of about 2.4 percent at 16.10 francs ($16.20) a share, according to ...

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• 16 May

  Uncertainty over global economy takes its toll on Islamic banking

  Reuters Islamic banks have continued to expand their balance sheets and capital buffers, but the era of double-digit growth rates could be coming to an end while asset quality concerns creep up, an industry oversight body said on Tuesday. Islamic finance, which has its core markets in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, follows religious principles that forbid interest and ...

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