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

Hiroshi Mikitani, founder of Japanese e-commerce empire Rakuten Group Inc, is keeping investors on hold while his own fortune declines. Once ranked the 25th richest person in Asia, Mikitani no longer even features in the top 140, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. It’s not hard to see why: Rakuten shares are trading near levels last seen in 2010 as ...

  By early next year, the US government will likely run out of money to pay for Covid-19 vaccines, tests and treatments. Although President Joe Biden has requested an additional $22 billion from Congress, Republicans are in no mood to continue splurging on the pandemic — not least because so much relief money has already been misspent. Shifting more costs ...

  It’s a deal which until recently was hard to imagine. Buying Albertsons Cos triggers major antitrust risks for any of its obvious industry suitors. But on Friday the US grocery chain agreed to be acquired by larger rival Kroger Co at a $25 billion enterprise value, with the duo outlining a seemingly cunning plan to assuage the competition authorities. ...

Bloomberg Airbus SE is poised to carry out its first cargo flights for an external client using a fleet of giant Beluga jets originally built to ferry wings between the planemaker’s European factories. The assignment with the model, named due to the resemblance of its domed fuselage to the white Arctic whale, will be performed before the end of this ...

Bloomberg Boeing Co. is getting new questions from US aviation regulators about the Max 7 aircraft, making it more likely the company will be unable to complete the certification process by late December and have to undertake a costly redesign. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in a letter ordered the planemaker to study the impact of pilot performance on a ...

  Bloomberg Deutsche Lufthansa AG said full-year earnings will be twice as high as expected after higher ticket prices and a rebound in demand sparked an accelerated recovery from the coronavirus crisis. Germany’s flagship carrier now expects 2022 adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of more than €1 billion ($981 million), according to a statement. That compares with previous guidance ...

  Bloomberg India’s gold sales during the festival period that ends the year may shine less brightly after a massive jump in 2021, and customers won’t be rushing to stores this time around, according to the World Gold Council. Demand for gold jewelry, coins and bars typically peaks in the world’s second-biggest consumer over October to December, driven by festivals ...

  Bloomberg Pick n Pay Stores Ltd. will more than double the pace of low-cost food and clothing store openings over the next year as living costs rise and cash-strapped shoppers turn to cheaper alternatives. The South African grocer plans to open 61 of its discount Boxer food stores in the fiscal year through August, from 36 in the previous ...

Bloomberg President Vladimir Putin spent years racing against Russia’s demographic clock, only to order an invasion of Ukraine that’s consigning his country’s population to a historic decline. Besides casualties in the thousands on the battlefield, the enlistment of 300,000 reservists to join the fight — and an even bigger flight of men abroad — is derailing Putin’s goals of starting ...

  Bloomberg Japan and Australia are expected to sign a new security agreement during a visit by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to Perth on Saturday, strengthening ties between the long-time partners amid rising tensions in the Asia-Pacific region. The new plan would update a previous agreement signed in 2007 under Kishida’s predecessor Shinzo Abe and then-Australian Prime Minister John Howard, ...