December, 2016

• 29 December

  Toshiba’s ‘writedown’ wipes out gain from 2016 share rally

  

    Bloomberg Toshiba Corp.’s impending multibillion-dollar writedown has triggered one of the worst-ever share declines for a major Japanese company, with ratings downgrades and investor pessimism erasing almost all of its 87 percent rally this year. Shares in the electronics and industrial conglomerate fell 17 percent to 259 at the close on Thursday. Toshiba said it may write down billions ...

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• 29 December

  Toyota’s hybrid bet pays off as Dieselgate spurs Europe demand

  

    Bloomberg For years, Toyota Motor Corp. focused on pushing its hybrid models in Europe, avoiding a diesel-for- diesel competition with market leaders including Volkswagen AG. The Japanese carmaker’s strategy is finally paying off. In the first full year since Volkswagen’s emissions scandal threw the German giant into disarray, Toyota is on track for roughly a 40 percent jump in ...

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• 29 December

  Call for constitutional right to clean air, water in New York

    ALBANY / AP Environmental and public policy groups in New York are calling for a state constitutional amendment that would guarantee residents a right to clean air and water. Environmental Advocates of New York and EffectiveNY are promoting the proposed amendment with online video ads on Thursday featuring children from Hoosick Falls, where water wells have been contaminated by ...

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• 29 December

  London house-price growth lags behind UK

  

    Bloomberg London’s housing market underperformed the rest of the UK for the first time in eight years as buyers increasingly found themselves stretched by affordability, according to Nationwide Building Society. Home prices in the capital rose 3.7 percent in 2016 from a year earlier, down from 12.2 percent in 2015, the mortgage lender said on Thursday. Across the U.K., ...

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• 29 December

  Volkswagen buys PayByPhone for parking services

  

    Bloomberg Volkswagen AG bought North American parking-payment operator PayByPhone in the latest move by Europe’s biggest carmaker to expand from manufacturing into mobility services. The purchase of Vancouver-based PayByPhone, which processed more than $250 million in transactions this year, will turn the German company’s Volkswagen Financial Services unit into the leader in mobile payments for parking, the automaker said ...

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• 29 December

  Britian’s CFOs brighten even as uncertainty becomes ‘new normal’

    Berlin / AFP Britain’s chief financial officers are turning optimistic as they head into the new year, though they intend to be cautious amid the cloudy economic outlook, according to Deloitte. The number of CFOs that are more positive about the prospects for their companies outweigh those who are more pessimistic by the most in 18 months, the fourth-quarter ...

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• 29 December

  German rail plans to steps up ‘Silk Road’ freight line to China

  

    Berlin / AFP German state rail operator Deutsche Bahn said on Thursday it planned to significantly ramp up cargo transport to China following a record year, using the world’s longest train line in a modern-day revival of the Silk Road route. More than 40,000 containers were transported between the two countries in 2016, up from 35,000 a year earlier ...

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• 29 December

  Mideast markets end year with firm tone after big swings

  

    Reuters Most Middle Eastern stock markets closed higher on Thursday after a tumultuous year in which many bourses were hit hard by low oil prices, then recovered in the final few months as the economic outlook improved. Fund managers generally expect a stronger performance in 2017 because of the rebound in oil prices over the past couple of months, ...

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• 29 December

  Dollar slips as US stocks rebound, metals gain

  

    Bloomberg The dollar dropped the most in two weeks while oil retreated from its highest close in 17 months as investors prepared to close out a volatile year for financial markets. US stocks rebounded from the biggest slide in two months. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell for the first time in four days after reaching the highest level ...

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• 29 December

  Faster than Zara? Boohoo’s online fashion fuels 260% return

  

    Bloomberg Many investors in retail stocks will be happy to see the back of 2016. But not those who bet on Boohoo.com Plc. The online fashion merchant’s shares have soared about 260 percent in 2016 as fashion-conscious youngsters snapped up garments such as bomber jackets and shoulder dresses for 15 pounds ($18.42) apiece. The stock’s rise is the biggest ...

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