Leading German think tank almost halves country’s growth prediction March 14, 2019 Germany has had its growth forecast for 2019 almost halved by one of the country’s top think tanks, adding to its economic gloom. GDP growth this year will be just 0.6 per cent, the Ifo Institute said today. It had previously predicted growth of 1.1 per cent. Read more: No-deal Brexit could hit Germany's economy, [...]
Volkswagen boss apologises for ‘unfortunate’ Nazi gaffe, after evoking Holocaust slogan at company event March 14, 2019 Volkswagen’s chief executive has apologised after closely echoing a Nazi slogan in an attempt to emphasise the importance of growing profit. Speaking at a company event on Tuesday, Herbert Diess used to phrase “Ebit macht frei”, referring to the acronym Ebit, which stands for “earnings before interest and taxes”. Read more: IBM's Watson supercomputer launches [...]
Pi in the sky: Google Cloud sets new Pi record with 31 trillion digits March 14, 2019 A Google employee has set a new record by calculating the value of the number Pi to more than 31 trillion digits. Emma Haruka Iwao, a developer advocate at the tech firm, beat the previous record of 22 trillion, set in 2016. Read more: IBM's Watson supercomputer launches tie-up with Volkswagen's SEAT The calculation, which [...]
Investor group Glass Lewis opposes Vivendi in Telecom Italia feud March 14, 2019 Investor group Glass Lewis has dealt a blow to Vivendi in its ongoing dispute at Telecom Italia as it became the latest proxy adviser to warn shareholders against the French firm’s proposals. Vivendi has laid out proposals to replace five Telecom Italia board members backed by rival investor Elliott and replace them with its own [...]
Ports owner DP World increases revenue growth amid global expansion March 14, 2019 DP World’s shares rose six per cent today on the Nasdaq Dubai exchange on the back of the strong revenue growth revealed in its full year results. The ports operator's revenues were boosted by its 2018 global expansion which saw it spend $2.5bn on acquisitions in India, Peru and Denmark. Read more: DP World pays £322m for P&O Ferries [...]
Google removed 2.3bn ‘bad ads’ last year in fight against fake news and fraud March 14, 2019 Google removed 2.3bn ads last year for violating its policies on fraud and misinformation, the company said today. The total number of ads removed, which equates to roughly 75 ads per second, is almost 1bn lower than last year. Read more: Google paid $105m to executives accused of sexual harassment But Google said it had [...]
Experts urge government to emphasise low-wage sectors in industrial strategy March 14, 2019 | City Talk The United Kingdom’s national productivity – which has remained relatively stagnant for almost a decade – could be substantially improved with increased government focus on productivity in low-wage sectors. This is the central tenet of a chapter, co-authored by Cass Business School academic John Forth, in the e-book What we really mean when we talk [...]
Facebook hit with US criminal investigation over data-sharing deals March 14, 2019 US prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into Facebook over a number of data deals it struck with other major tech firms. A grand jury in New York has ordered two smartphone manufacturers to hand over records, the New York Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Read more: Facebook to encrypt more messages [...]
Hammond has the cash to end austerity, IFS says March 14, 2019 The improved public finances announced in yesterday’s Spring Statement give the chancellor Philip Hammond the power to bring austerity to an end, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has said today. The think tank also said Britain’s relentless focus on Brexit has stopped it from addressing important economic and financial challenges in its analysis of the Spring Statement. [...]
Cineworld hails kingsize profits after purchase of US cinema chain Regal March 14, 2019 Cineworld’s mega £2.7bn purchase of US cinema chain Regal sent profits soaring 125 per cent in 2018 the group revealed today, even as UK cinemas struggled. Read more: Cineworld shares slide due to disappointing UK revenue growth The figures Cineworld saw profit before tax grow 125 per cent to $349m (£262.9m) last year, up from [...]