Category Archives: Business

Time running out for US financial firms to bid for ailing bank First Republic

Posted on by

Deadline of Sunday set for companies such as JPMorgan Chase to table offer for California bank whose shares have plummeted

US regulators are racing to secure the sale of California bank First Republic, which is on course to become the third American lender to fail this year, a sequence of collapses that has drawn uncomfortable parallels with the 2008 global financial crisis.

Half a dozen US banks are in the running to take over stricken First Republic, according to reports over the weekend, with leading bidders including JPMorgan Chase, Citizens Financial and PNC Financial Services.

Continue reading...

Old ghosts of Staley – and Epstein – haunt Barclays once again

Posted on by

A new lawsuit against its former boss does not involve the bank, but awkward questions may be asked at this week’s AGM

Barclays could be forgiven for thinking it was out of the woods after parting ways with its chief executive, Jes Staley, in 2021, amid regulators’ concerns over his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

At the time, the board – which had already backed the boss over a separate whistleblower scandal in 2018 – seemed assured by Staley’s account of events. The bank even expressed disappointment over his departure as he prepared to challenge a (yet-to-be-released) UK investigation into the way he had characterised his ties to the disgraced financier.

Continue reading...

Tom Ford bows out as creative director at namesake fashion label

Posted on by

Longtime associate Peter Hawkings announced as successor after sale of brand last November to Estée Lauder

The American fashion designer Tom Ford is retiring from the eponymous brand he co-founded in 2005, after its sale to Estée Lauder last November.

Ford’s longtime associate Peter Hawkings will succeed him as creative director, while Guillaume Jesel becomes chief executive and president, taking over from Domenico de Sole, the brand’s other co-founder.

Continue reading...

Silicon Valley Bank: Federal Reserve admits it failed to act forcefully enough

Posted on by

Report identifies Fed failures before bank collapse but also blames bad management, weakened regulations and lax supervision

The Federal Reserve failed to “take forceful enough action” ahead of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank last month, the Fed said on Friday in a hard-hitting report that blamed extremely poor bank management, weakened regulations and lax government supervision for the failure.

Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse triggered an ongoing banking crisis for mid-sized US banks. On Friday, trading in another mid-sized bank – First Republic – was briefly halted after its share price fell 48%. The bank revealed on Monday that it had lost $100bn in deposits during last month’s banking crisis.

Continue reading...

More fruit and veg shortages to come as weather in UK and Spain hits crops

Posted on by

Record heat in southern Europe and chilly start to British growing season spell more misery for shoppers

Shoppers have been warned they face more fruit and vegetable shortages, as temperatures in southern Spain soar to unprecedented levels while the UK growing season gets off to a late start because of cold, overcast weather.

Temperatures were expected to reach a new April record of 39C (102F) in parts of Andalucía on Friday amid a long-lasting drought that has affected the production of vegetables in Spain. Córdoba reached a record 38.8C on Thursday.

Continue reading...

HMV to return to flagship Oxford Street store after four-year absence

Posted on by

First HMV shop was opened in 1921 by British composer Sir Edward Elgar and closed in 2019

HMV is to return to its former flagship store on London’s Oxford Street after a four-year absence. It is expected to reopen towards the end of this year, in time for Christmas.

The store was empty for an extended period after the music and entertainment company vacated the site in 2019, before most recently becoming home to one of the many American candy stores that popped up on Oxford Street during the pandemic.

Continue reading...

Japan pledges to have women in third of top boardroom roles by 2030

Posted on by

Prime minister Fumio Kishida says diversity in listed companies is key to ‘achieving new capitalism and an inclusive society’

Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has said he wants almost a third of executive positions at the country’s top companies to be occupied by women by the end of the decade.

In an apparent attempt to address Japan’s poor record on gender equality ahead of the G7 leaders’ summit in Hiroshima next month, Kishida said more boardroom diversity would boost the world’s third-biggest economy.

Continue reading...

Sainsbury’s and Unilever deny claims of profiteering in cost of living crisis

Posted on by

Supermarket chain and consumer goods company insist they are protecting shoppers from inflation surge

Sainsbury’s and the Marmite maker Unilever have both insisted they are protecting shoppers from inflation, amid accusations that some companies are profiteering from the cost of living crisis.

“We are not profiteering in any form,” the chief executive of Unilever, Alan Jope, said as the consumer goods company insisted it was only passing on three-quarters of its increased costs to customers.

Continue reading...

UK and Europe are falling behind US and China in biotech, says AstraZeneca boss

Posted on by

Pascal Soriot says decline in startups across Europe differs markedly from ‘explosion’ of firms and clinical trials in China

The boss of Britain’s biggest drugmaker has said that the UK and the rest of Europe are falling behind China and the US in the creation of biotech firms and clinical trials of new medicines.

Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca, said that while China had seen an “explosion of biotech companies”, and a “rapid expansion of clinical trials” that puts it ahead of the US, the UK and EU had posted declines.

Continue reading...

UK company set up in name of top Putin official in Ukraine

Posted on by

Volodymyr Saldo, a Kremlin puppet in the Russian-occupied territories, listed as firm’s owner, despite being under sanctions

A UK company has been set up in the name of one of Vladimir Putin’s top officials in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine despite him being under sanctions.

Volodymyr Saldo, a notorious puppet of the Kremlin in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, is listed as the owner of a UK company registered in November, five months after his name was added to the sanctions list.

Continue reading...

News live: clock ticking as US coast guard scours ocean for missing Australian cruise passenger

Posted on by

Coast guard say passenger went overboard 500 nautical miles (926 kilometres) from Hawaii’s Big Island. Follow live

The US coast guard has confirmed that an Australian man fell overboard on the Quantum of the Seas cruise ship, which was travelling from Brisbane to Hawaii.

The coast guard said the passenger went overboard 500 nautical miles (926 kilometres) from Hawaii’s Big Island.

500 nautical miles south of Hawaii’s Big Island a man fell overboard on Quantum of the Seas cruise ship. He is an Australian national.

A Hercules airplane is on scene conducting a search. At the moment it is the only asset that’s on scene searching.

We’ve been on scene since 9am. And with the crew’s endurance and the fuel constraints of the vessel they should be there for about six hours since arriving on scene.

What I can confirm is the budget will have a cost of living package that is targeted to the most vulnerable. We’ve been clear about that. Obviously some of that is the assistance and support on energy relief. We’ve had the announcements around medicines in the last day.

We are focused on making sure we can do the right thing for those that are doing it tough, but within an environment where there are a lot of demands on the budget in a lot of areas.

Continue reading...

Disney sues Ron DeSantis in battle over control of Florida resort

Posted on by

Entertainment giant wants court to overturn governor’s efforts to exert control over Walt Disney World theme parks in Orlando

Disney sued Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida and presumed challenger for the Republican presidential nomination, on Wednesday, saying he had subjected it to “a targeted campaign of government retaliation”.

The entertainment giant wants a court to overturn state efforts to exert control over Walt Disney World in Orlando. The lawsuit was filed within minutes of a DeSantis-appointed oversight board voting to override agreements made in February that allowed the company to expand the theme park and maintain control over neighboring land.

Continue reading...

Heathrow remains loss-making despite rise in passenger numbers

Posted on by

Airport says people will be able to ‘travel as normal’ in peak period around coronation despite strike

Heathrow airport has warned that it is still loss-making, even as it continues to be Europe’s busiest airport, welcoming almost 17 million passengers in the first three months of the year.

The airport also said that passengers would be able to “travel as normal” during the peak getaway period around the coronation of King Charles III, taking place on 6 May, despite a fresh planned strike by security staff.

Continue reading...

Amazon workers in Coventry to request union recognition after membership doubles

Posted on by

It would be first time a UK union wins formal negotiation rights and comes after GMB-organised strikes at warehouse

Amazon workers at the delivery firm’s Coventry depot are demanding formal union recognition, after membership more than doubled during strike action.

If granted, it would be the first time a union in the UK has won the right to negotiate with the American tech firm.

Continue reading...

Duke of Westminster’s property firm pays £50m dividend despite profits drop

Posted on by

Boss of Grosvenor, which owns swathes of Mayfair and Belgravia, warns of ‘more pain’ for commercial property market

The Duke of Westminster’s property company, which owns swathes of London’s exclusive Mayfair and Belgravia districts, has paid out a £50m dividend despite falling profits.

The boss of Grosvenor, the duke’s £11.5bn property empire, warned of a period of stagflation and that UK interest rates and inflation could stay high for longer than expected, resulting in “more pain” for the commercial property market.

Continue reading...

EU firms accused of ‘abhorrent’ export of banned pesticides to Brazil

Posted on by

BASF among firms selling chemicals to sugar industry despite links to human health risks

Pesticides banned in the EU because of their links to human health risks are being exported and used on farms in Brazil supplying Nestlé, an investigation has revealed.

Europe is home to some of the world’s biggest and most profitable chemical companies, including the Swiss-based Syngenta and the German multinationals BASF and Bayer.

This article was amended on 25 April 2023. Although fipronil and triflumuron have been banned in the EU they have not been identified as potential carcinogens.

Continue reading...

First Republic Bank saw deposits fall by over $100bn as it scrambles to stabilize

Posted on by

The bank came into focus after two regional banks collapsed in April, shaking confidence in smaller institutions

First Republic Bank’s deposits fell by over $100 bn in the first quarter and it said it was exploring options including restructuring its balance sheet, overshadowing market-beating profit and sending its shares down 21% after the bell on Monday.

The results mark the most important quarter for the troubled bank as it prepares to increase insured deposits, cut borrowings from the Federal Reserve Bank and loan balances, it said, while aiming to layoff nearly 20-25% in the second quarter.

Continue reading...

Best&Less accused of putting profit before Bangladesh workers by failing to sign safety accord

Posted on by

Company says its own code of conduct goes further than the global accord prompted by the Rana Plaza disaster 10 years ago

Major clothing retailer Best&Less has been accused of putting company profit ahead of the safety of Bangladeshi garment workers by declining to sign a key international accord on worker safety and labour rights.

The Rana Plaza disaster, 10 years ago on Monday, prompted outrage at the abysmal safety standards in the Bangladesh factories supplying major clothing brands and retailers, leading to the establishment of a cross-border agreement known as the international accord.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

RBA review has ‘opened the door’ to moving away from inflation focus, panellist says

Posted on by

Renee Fry-McKibbin says panel considered ‘a lot of alternative frameworks’ but decision on shift would fall to future reviews

The review of the Reserve Bank of Australia has “opened the door” for a potential shift away from targeting inflation using interest rates, one of the review panellists says.

Renee Fry-McKibbin told an event on Monday that the panellists had examined “a lot of alternative frameworks” but it would fall to future reviews to discuss ditching the bank’s current goal of aiming to keep inflation between 2% and 3%.

Continue reading...

AstraZeneca overtakes Pfizer as crunch week for UK pharma looms

Posted on by

Driven by a revamped drug portfolio, AstraZeneca is expected to report revenues of $10.7bn in its latest quarterly results

Nearly a decade after AstraZeneca fended off a hostile takeover approach from US rival Pfizer, the British drug firm has overtaken the Viagra maker in terms of market value, marking a significant moment in its turnaround – and for UK plc.

In a week when AstraZeneca and Britain’s second-biggest pharma firm GSK release their latest quarterly results and the main industry body, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry holds its annual conference, all eyes will be on what pharma executives say about the UK as a place to operate and invest in.

Continue reading...