LONDON (Reuters) – Vitol’s former chief executive and chairman Ian Taylor has died at the age of 64 from cancer, according to an internal memo and four sources familiar the matter. Taylor joined Vitol [VITOLV.UL] in 1985 and became group President and CEO in 1... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Mira Robotics developed its “ugo” robot to reinforce greying Japan’s shrinking workforce, but as the coronavirus threat persists, the Japanese startup is offering its machine as a tool in the fight against the outbreak, the company’s CEO said... More »
(Reuters) – AstraZeneca ANZ.L said on Tuesday it expects to move two COVID-19 antibody therapies it has licensed from U.S. researchers into clinical studies in the next two months as the drugmaker ramps up efforts to help combat the health crisis. The British ... More »
(Reuters) – South Africa’s Life Healthcare said on Tuesday its southern African operation was hit by a cyber attack affecting its admissions systems, business processing systems and email servers, but is yet to determine the extent to which data has been compr... More »
HSINCHU, Taiwan (Reuters) – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) (2330.TW) could quickly fill any order gap should U.S. restrictions against Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL] prevent sales to the Chinese firm, the company’s chairman said on Tuesd... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – A South Korean court on Tuesday denied an arrest warrant request for Samsung Group heir Jay Y. Lee after prosecutors accused him of accounting fraud and stock manipulation. The ruling provided temporary relief for the vice chairman of Samsung... More »
HSINCHU, Taiwan (Reuters) – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) (2330.TW) is still in talks with the U.S. government about subsidies for its new plant in Arizona, chairman Mark Liu said on Tuesday. “We hope federal and state governments could make... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. units of China Telecom Corp’s (0728.HK) and China Unicom (0762.HK) urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) not to revoke the company’s nearly two-decade old authorization to provide international telecommunications ser... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N) disclosed Monday it will no longer offer facial recognition or analysis software in a letter to Congress calling for new efforts to pursue justice and racial equity, new Chief Executive Office... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Alibaba Group said its cloud unit aims to recruit 5,000 staff globally from now until the end of this financial year, in areas including network, database, servers, chips and artificial intelligence, it said in a statement on Tuesday. “The... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The European Central Bank beefed up its bond-buying programme on Thursday in its latest effort to support a euro zone economy pummelled by more than two months of shutdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic. HIGHLIGHTS: ** ECB increases size o... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – French government and industry officials are negotiating a 1-billion-euro, privately led investment fund for small aerospace suppliers in which major manufacturers could invest 200 million euros, people familiar with the proposals said on Wed... More »
BOSTON (Reuters) – William Ackman’s hedge fund is boasting double-digit gains at a time many portfolios have sunk along with the economy during the coronavirus pandemic, after the billionaire investor plowed cash into a number of companies he already owned and... More »
(Reuters) – Hedge fund Starboard Value LP is close to having eight directors elected to the board of GCP Applied Technologies Inc (GCP.N) at the chemical company’s annual meeting, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. While not all votes have been... More »
BOSTON (Reuters) – Northern Trust Corp’s decision to liquidate a $1.8-billion prime money market fund was seen as an outlier event by industry analysts on Wednesday, but one that could portend more problems depending on how the economy fares. Money has rushed ... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways has laid off hundreds of employees this month, including cabin crew, after the coronavirus pandemic forced it to ground flights, according to industry and company sources. The state-owned airline, which had 20,530 e... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Mitsubishi Motors Corp (7211.T) on Tuesday posted an 89% drop in annual operating profit in the year ended March as the Japanese automaker took a hit from falling vehicle sales as the coronavirus pandemic takes its toll on global demand for c... More »
FRANKFURT/DUESSELDORF (Reuters) – Thyssenkrupp’s CEO on Tuesday said there were no taboos in plans to consolidate its steel unit, marking a break with tradition under which the business had been sacrosanct for centuries. “Nothing is off-limits anymore,” Martin... More »
MILAN (Reuters) – The auto industry represents a significant share of Italy’s economy and it is right to support those who create jobs, Deputy Economy Minister Laura Castelli said when asked about Fiat Chrysler’s (FCHA.MI) request for state-backed loans. The I... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan may lift its state of emergency in more regions this week as new coronavirus infections drop, the Asahi newspaper said on Tuesday, moving to resume sorely needed activity in the world’s third-largest economy, battered by containment mea... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss telecoms operator Sunrise Communications Group and French billionaire Xavier Niel’s Salt Mobile on Tuesday pledged to invest up to 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.09 billion) in a broadband partnership aimed at reaching 1.5 million homes by... More »
BENGALURU (Reuters) – WeWork’s India franchise said on Tuesday it laid off 100 employees, or 20% of its workforce, as the office-sharing startup joins a slew of firms that are cutting costs and revamping operations as a prolonged nationwide lockdown to curb th... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) suffered a slump of 64% in car registrations in China in April on the month, data from auto consultancy LMC Automotive showed. Tesla’s China registrations, including imported cars, fell to 4,63... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The United States has overtaken China as the most attractive country in the world for renewables investment and the global clean energy sector is expected to bounce back quickly despite the coronavirus pandemic, research showed on Tuesday. I... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – A spike in trading volumes boosted margins for wealth manager Julius Baer (BAER.S) in the first four months of the year, even though markets slid and a strong Swiss franc ate into assets under management. Baer attributed a 16% rise in gross ... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – Novartis won European approval for its gene therapy Zolgensma for the hereditary disease spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), the Swiss drugmaker said on Tuesday, adding it is in talks over price with countries in hopes of a quick launch. The Euro... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Sony Corp (6758.T) will turn its financial arm, Sony Financial Holdings Inc (8729.T), into a wholly owned unit through a tender offer worth about 400 billion yen ($3.72 billion), the Japanese electronics and entertainment giant said on Tuesda... More »
PRAGUE (Reuters) – Czech car production fell 31.1% year-on-year in the January-April period to 337,497 cars, the Automotive Industry Association said on Tuesday. In April alone, when the country ground to a standstill due to measures aimed to curb the coronavi... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Worldwide electric car registrations are set to fall 18% this year, but those of combustion engine cars are set to drop even faster, analysts BloombergNEF (BNEF) said on Tuesday, as the automotive sector is hammered by the coronavirus cri... More »
YUYAO, China/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – In the eastern Chinese city of Yuyao, a group of five face-masked workers at a Geely auto plant, stood almost shoulder to shoulder behind an SUV as they conducted paint and other quality checks. That scene would not have been ... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – The chariots of 1959 epic “Ben Hur” and the yellow brick road of 1939 fantasy “The Wizard of Oz” are back on the big screen in Japan as cinemas begin reopening from the coronavirus crisis with a slate heavy on Hollywood classics. James Dean s... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany rose by 513 to 175,210, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Tuesday, with new infections accelerating after decelerating the previous four days. The... More »
(Reuters) – Walt Disney Co’s (DIS.N) top streaming executive, Kevin Mayer, will leave the entertainment and theme parks giant to become the chief executive officer of TikTok, the popular video app owned by China’s ByteDance Technology Co, the companies said on... More »
(Reuters) – Chinese search engine giant Baidu Inc forecast second-quarter revenue above expectations on Monday, as businesses reopen in the world’s second-largest economy after strict lockdowns to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Baidu’s U.S.-listed shares ... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – SoftBank Group Corp is in talks to sell “a significant portion” of its T-Mobile US stake to controlling shareholder Deutsche Telekom AG, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing unidentified sources. A deal would see Deutsche Teleko... More »
(Reuters) – Uber Technologies Inc (UBER.N) will concentrate on its core businesses in ride-hailing and food delivery and cut 23% of its workforce in an attempt to become profitable despite the coronavirus pandemic, Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi sai... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – NASA on Friday set the stage for a global debate over the basic principles governing how humans will live and work on the moon, as it released the main tenets of an international pact for moon exploration called the Artemis Accords. The ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Travel group TUI (TUIGn.DE) will cut 8,000 jobs and look to shed 30% of its costs as it gears up for a July restart to European tourism, the German company said on Wednesday. Holiday plans have been put on hold in the face of travel restrict... More »
FRANKFURT/DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) – German conglomerate Thyssenkrupp (TKAG.DE) on Tuesday warned its operating loss could swell to 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in the current quarter citing the coronavirus pandemic. The group, whose operations range f... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) on Tuesday said it expects profit to drop 80% to its lowest in nine years, as Japan’s biggest automaker grapples with the impact of the novel coronavirus which has sapped global demand for vehicles. Global automaker... More »
(Reuters) – Logitech International (LOGN.S) reported a 13.6% rise in quarterly sales on Tuesday as more people used its computer products while working from home due to the coronavirus crisis. Logitech said demand accelerated in the three months to the end of ... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Smartphone shipments from China’s factories to vendors rose 17% in April compared to the same month a year ago, according to government data released on Tuesday. The numbers suggest an early domestic rebound for smartphone makers such as A... More »
(Reuters) – Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Elon Musk on Monday said production was resuming at the automaker’s sole U.S. vehicle factory, in California, defying an order to stay closed and saying if anyone had to be arrested it should be him. The move come... More »
(Reuters) – China’s Tencent Music Entertainment (TME.N) narrowly missed market estimates for quarterly revenue on Monday as the COVID-19 crisis hurt the company’s social entertainment services business, sending its shares down 4.5% in extended trade overnight.... More »
(Reuters) – Hyatt Hotels Corp (H.N) said late Monday it would lay off 1,300 people globally as it tries to cope with the coronavirus crisis, which has virtually halted global travel by keeping people indoors. Hyatt said it had also cut pay for senior managemen... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 933 to 170,508, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Tuesday. The reported death toll rose by 116 to 7,533, the tally showed. Source: ht... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Tim Hortons China said Tuesday it received an investment from Chinese tech giant Tencent, as the Canadian coffee brewer seeks to expand in the Chinese market. Tim Hortons said in a statement on its Weibo it will use the funds to upgrade d... More »
BOSTON (Reuters) – Sandwich maker Potbelly Corp on Monday promised to reimburse activist shareholders’ expenses with stock not cash, creating a situation that lawyers call an outlier for now but which they said could find traction in tough economic times. The ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A federal judge in Montana on Monday upheld his ruling last month that canceled an environmental permit for the long-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline and threatened other oil and natural gas pipeline projects with delays. Chief U.S. Dist... More »
(Reuters) – A special committee of WeWork board members filed a motion in Delaware on Monday to prevent it from being disbanded, as it pursues legal action against majority owner SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) over an abandoned $3 billion tender offer for the of... More »
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday declared gyms and hair salons as essential services that can stay open through the new coronavirus outbreak, easing measures to control the disease despite new cases and deaths surging in the co... More »
(Reuters) – Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) will add labels and warning messages on some tweets with disputed or misleading information about COVID-19, the company said on Monday, as part of a new approach to misinformation that will eventually extend to other topics. Tw... More »
(Reuters) – Tesla Inc sued local authorities in California on Saturday as the electric carmaker pushed to re-open its factory there and Chief Executive Elon Musk threatened to move Tesla’s headquarters and future programs from the state to Texas or Nevada. Mus... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Fans may have to wait until the fall for the “Friends” reunion special as HBO Max executives are holding out hopes of filming it before a live audience rather than shooting the much-anticipated get together remotely with stars under qua... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Thousands of visitors streamed into Shanghai Disneyland on Monday for the first time in three months as the Chinese park became the first reopened by Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) after the coronavirus pandemic brought the Magic Kingdom to a stan... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – The runaway success of Nintendo Co Ltd’s (7974.T) island life simulator Animal Crossing: New Horizons has overshadowed an uncomfortable fact for fans of the Switch console – it lacks upcoming titles. Nintendo on Thursday said Animal Crossing,... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Nintendo Co Ltd (7974.T) said on Thursday its fourth-quarter profit soared 200% due to surging demand for its Switch games console, and that title Animal Crossing: New Horizons shifted a record 13.4 million units in its first six week... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Hydrogen has long been touted as a clean alternative to fossil fuels. Now, as major economies prepare green investments to kickstart growth, advocates spy a golden chance to drag the niche energy into the mainstream of a post-pandemic world.... More »
MONTREAL (Reuters) – The major Canadian province of Quebec, among the worst hit by the coronavirus, started gradually restarting its economy on Monday while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau maintained his cautious stance. Quebec is allowing stores with an outside... More »
(Reuters) – J. Crew Group Inc filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday with a plan to hand over control to lenders, adding to a list of brick-and-mortar retailers pushed to the brink by widespread store closures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The New Y... More »
MILAN (Reuters) – Luxury sports car maker Ferrari (RACE.MI) still expects to make more than $1 billion in core profit this year, providing a relative beacon of stability in an auto industry ravaged by the coronavirus crisis. The company, known for its red Form... More »
BERLIN/MUNICH (Reuters) – The business climate in Germany’s auto sector suffered its biggest slump in April and hit its lowest level since 1991, when the Ifo economic institute began collecting data post-reunification, a survey showed on Monday. The news came ... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – The French government has rejected a request by Amazon (AMZN.O) to tap a state partial unemployment scheme for employees at its six warehouses in the country, a spokeswoman for the labor ministry said on Monday. The e-commerce giant has shut ... More »
PRAGUE (Reuters) – Czech carmaker Skoda Auto, part of the Volkswagen Group (VOWG_p.DE), reported a 25% drop in first-quarter operating profit on Monday, but said the biggest hit from the coronavirus outbreak would come in the second quarter. Skoda, the Czech R... More »
(Reuters) – Insurers are normally great with numbers. But the coronavirus pandemic has them struggling to estimate how many billions of dollars in losses they face, and what the fallout will be for their massive investment portfolios. Executives, lawyers and a... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Like the myriad approaches governments are taking to tackle the coronavirus crisis, the way the world’s top banks are calculating their potential losses also differs widely, with puzzling outcomes for investors. These discrepancies are roote... More »
BERN (Reuters) – Environmental activists delivered a petition to a special session of the Swiss parliament on Monday demanding that a government aid package should promote a “green recovery” from the coronavirus crisis. With some lawmakers wearing protective f... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Oil and gas output from some of the world’s top oil companies is set to drop by over 12% in the second quarter of 2020 to levels not seen in at least 17 years, according to Reuters calculations. The output cuts are driven by an unprecedented... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Uber Technologies’ Careem subsidiary said on Monday it was cutting 536 jobs this week, representing 31% of the Dubai-headquartered company’s workforce. The announcement came hours after Uber said it was shuttering its Eats delivery business i... More »
BENGALURU (Reuters) – Indian gym and wellness startup cure.fit has laid off as many as 800 of its staff across the country and permanently closed a number of fitness centres to cut costs amid the world’s biggest coronavirus lockdown, sources familiar with the ... More »
(Reuters) – General Electric Co (GE.N) said on Monday it was planning to cut the global workforce of its aviation unit this year by as much as 25%, or up to 13,000 jobs, including both voluntary and involuntary layoffs, citing prolonged aircraft reduction sche... More »
(Reuters) – Shares of the top four U.S. airlines dropped on Monday after billionaire investor Warren Buffett said Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) offloaded its entire stake in the carriers last month, adding to the sense of crisis around the industry. U.S. airline... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday said bipartisan discussions are underway over whether more U.S. government relief funding is needed amid the nation’s novel coronavirus outbreak, but that President Donald Trump is focused on t... More »
(Reuters) – Vir Biotechnology Inc and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc plan to begin human testing of their COVID-19 drug candidate by the end of the year, as drugmakers across the globe scramble to find therapies for the highly-infectious virus. The are currently ... More »
(Reuters) – Tyson Foods Inc expects to continue idling meat plants and slowing production because of the new coronavirus, the company said on Monday, signaling more disruptions to the U.S. food supply. Tyson reported lower-than-expected earnings and revenue fo... More »
OSLO (Reuters) – Norwegian Air (NWC.OL) shareholders backed its financial survival plan on Monday, with more than 95% of votes cast supporting the conversion of nearly $1 billion of debt into equity and raising more cash from its owners. The approval follows w... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Walt Disney Co’s (DIS.N) acquisitions spree that included swallowing much of Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox last year, and a reputation for operational excellence, turned the company into the world’s most powerful entertainment machi... More »
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Mobile operator Vodacom Group said on Monday it had switched on Africa’s first live 5G mobile network in three cities in South Africa, with further rollouts planned in other parts of the country. Vodacom was recently assigned temporary... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s ITV said its popular dating show Love Island would be cancelled this year because of the coronavirus pandemic and there would not be a new series until 2021, in a big setback for the broadcaster’s advertising revenues. ITV said in ... More »
ROME (Reuters) – Russia and China are taking advantage of the coronavirus emergency to put their interests forward in Europe, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Monday, describing Chinese efforts to promote Huawei mobile phone network equipment as malig... More »
(Reuters) – IG Group (IGG.L) said on Monday Charlie Rozes, former finance director of Jardine Lloyd Thompson, will join the online trading group as chief financial officer, at a time when the sector is benefiting from strong volatility due to a coronavirus-ind... More »
TEL AVIV (Reuters) – Chipmaker Intel Corp is in advanced talks to acquire Israeli public transit app developer Moovit for $1 billion, financial news website Calcalist reported on Sunday. Moovit has raised $133 million from investors including Intel, BMW iVentu... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court are typically a formal affair, dictated by adherence to tradition by an institution historically resistant to altering its ways. Come Monday, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, all that chang... More »
(Reuters) – Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) owned NBCUniversal is evaluating a significant reduction of staff across its portfolio of media and entertainment properties as part of a cost-cutting effort, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar... More »
(Reuters) – For a glimpse at how Disney recovers from the coronavirus pandemic, look no further than Shanghai, where the entertainment giant has staged a limited reopening of Shanghai Disney Resort. Adults, kids and senior citizens wear masks while wandering a... More »
((This April 30 story has been corrected to say Starship can carry more than 100 metric tonnes of cargo, not 100 pounds in paragraph 9. The error occurred in a previous version as well.)) By Joey Rouelette (Reuters) – NASA on Thursday selected space firms Spac... More »
(Reuters) – Moderna Inc and Swiss contract drugmaker Lonza Group AG said on Friday they would accelerate the manufacturing of the U.S. drug developer’s potential coronavirus vaccine. The announcement comes at a time when drugmakers are pausing clinical trials ... More »
NEW YORK, April 29 (Reuters) – U.S. money market fund assets increased by $72.69 billion to $4.652 trillion in the week ended April 28, the Money Fund Report said on Wednesday. Taxable money market fund assets increased by $74.71 billion to $4.515 trillion, wh... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s economy minister urged the country’s 16 federal states on Monday to go slowly in lifting coronavirus restrictions to avoid the outbreak spreading further and being forced to backtrack later. Under Germany’s decentralised political ... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (MUFG) (8306.T) expects countries in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to be in deep recession this year with overall real GDP contracting 3.7% from a previous growth forecast of 2.9%. Th... More »
OSLO (Reuters) – Norwegian Air (NWC.OL) could run out of cash by mid-May unless its proposed financial rescue plan is approved by creditors and shareholders, the budget carrier warned on Monday. If approved by bondholders, leasing companies and shareholders, t... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s airlines want the government’s coronavirus wage support scheme to be extended beyond June, maintaining the assistance for longer with a only slow recovery in air travel expected. Airlines UK, the industry’s representative body, wro... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Luckin Coffee (LK.O) said on Monday China’s State Administration for Market Regulation was carrying out work to understand the coffee chain’s operating situation and added that it was actively cooperating. It also said in a statement poste... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – The German government and the federal state of Hesse have agreed to provide Condor with loans worth 550 million euros ($596.31 million), the economy minister said on Monday, after the owner of Poland’s LOT pulled out of a deal to buy the air... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Healthcare and clinical diagnostics company Novacyt has signed a supply contract with the UK’s Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC) for its product aimed at testing for the presence of the coronavirus, the company said on Monday. Under t... More »
(Reuters) – Troubled hospital operator NMC Health (NMC.L) on Monday said it requested London Stock Exchange to delist its shares after they remained suspended for two months. The UAE-based company was placed into administration earlier this month, on the appli... More »
(Reuters) – Holiday Inn-owner InterContinental Hotels (IHG.L) said on Monday it had raised 600 million pounds ($747 million) from Bank of England loans under the government’s coronavirus aid scheme as it estimated a 25% plunge in global revenue per available r... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Adidas (ADSGn.DE) reported a 93% plunge in first-quarter profit and sales off 19%, missing forecasts, and warned of a deeper hit to second-quarter revenue as lockdowns forced the German sportswear maker and other retailers to close stores. F... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices fell on Monday on signs that worldwide oil storage is filling rapidly, raising concerns that production cuts will not come fast enough to fully offset the collapse in demand from the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. oil futures led l... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German companies including ThyssenKrupp, Salzgitter, Bayer, Covestro, E.ON, HeidelbergCement, Puma, Allianz and Deutsche Telekom have called for coronavirus-related state aid to be tied to climate action, daily Handelsblatt reported. “We ... More »
