The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.

Frankfurt The German economy is “in good shape overall,” the head of the country’s central bank or Bundesbank said on Wednesday, waving away suggestions that clouds could be building over Europe’s biggest economy. Speaking at the Bundesbank’s annual news conference, president Jens Weidmann pointed to record high employment last year and falling unemployment. “While wage growth was marked, inflation remained ...

Bloomberg Euro-area consumer prices rose less than initially estimated in January, increasing the pressure on the European Central Bank to take steps to sustain the region’s recovery. The inflation rate was 0.3 percent, less than the 0.4 percent reported on Jan. 29, data from the European Union’s statistics office showed on Thursday. ECB policy makers will review their stimulus package ...

BLOOMBERG Barclays Plc cut the bonus pool for its investment bank by about 10 percent to 12 percent, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Individual employee variable pay for 2015 would have dropped more if the London-based bank wasn’t cutting 1,200 jobs worldwide and closing operations across Asia, said the people, who asked not to be identified because ...

Wellington / Bloomberg Air New Zealand more than doubled first-half profit and said it expects full-year earnings to surge at least 70 percent as lower fuel prices and growing passenger numbers boost revenue. Net income jumped 154 percent to NZ$338 million ($225 million) in the six months to December 31, the Auckland-based airline said Thursday. Pretax earnings climbed to NZ$457 ...

London / Bloomberg China’s HNA Group and a consortium led by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board and Borealis Infrastructure are in the lead to buy London City Airport from its US owners, people familiar with the matter said. The central London airport, owned by Global Infrastructure Partners, could fetch more than 2 billion pounds ($2.8 billion), the people said, asking ...

Bloomberg Airbus Group SE announced plans to lift output of the aging A330 jet and predicted higher annual deliveries, indicating its confidence weeks after US rival Boeing Co. shocked investors by flagging a drop in output. The European planemaker said it will restore A330 production to seven a month in 2017, suggesting it has come to terms with a demand ...

Bloomberg Target’s heavy discounting during the crucial holiday season squeezed fourth-quarter profits. But its trendy assortments and spiffed up presentations induced shoppers to spend more. The company, based in Minneapolis, also offered an upbeat outlook, sending shares more than 3 percent higher. The results show Target has made solid progress in reinvigorating its business and winning back shoppers. It initiated ...

Beijing / Bloomberg Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin’s Dalian Wanda Group Co. is planning to invest billions of euros in a retail and leisure development outside of Paris, according to two people familiar with the matter. An announcement may come as soon as on Friday, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the project is confidential. Wang ...

AFP As the world’s largest mobile phone fair hosts the “creme de la creme” in Barcelona, activists slam the dark side of a sector accused of ignoring rights abuses in Chinese factories and Congolese mines. “Behind this modern, progressive industry lurk dark themes like labour exploitation or minerals stained with blood that come from conflict zones,” says Alba Trepat, campaigns ...

Bloomberg Drowsy German bureaucrats in Hamburg will soon have one less option for a mid-afternoon caffeine jolt, after the city banned single-serve coffee machines such as Nespresso from government buildings. The new regulations have a worthy purpose. They hope to defend the environment, under the assumption that the use and disposal of thousands of tiny coffee capsules or pods leads ...