‘Death by PowerPoint’: Next boss on Zoom and the future of remote work September 1, 2021 Next boss Lord Simon Wolfson has said endless video meetings risk “death by PowerPoint” as firms begin to feel the benefit of workers returning to the office. The retail chief, the longest serving chief executive across the FTSE 100, earlier this year likened Zoom calls to lectures – and yesterday warned digital conferences can become [...]
Absolut vodka maker sees operating profits rebound and Q4 sales rocket September 1, 2021 French spirits producer Pernod Ricard, which makes Absolut vodka, has seen its operating profits rebound over the past year due to easing Covid-19 restrictions across China and the US. Operating profit just surpassed the company’s expectation of 17 per cent growth, recording an 18.3 per cent organic rise for the full year. The spirits producer, [...]
SoftBank-backed Indian Uber rival Ola tables plans for $1bn IPO August 31, 2021 Indian Uber rival Ola is reportedly sitting on plans to raise up to $1bn through an initial public offering (IPO), joining a long line of high-ranking floats in the country. Currently finalising banks to advise on the fund-raise, Softbank-backed Ola is in talks with Bank of America and JP Morgan, three people familiar with the [...]
Prosus to pay $4.7bn for rival Indian payments firm in largest buyout yet August 31, 2021 European technology giant Prosus has reportedly put forward $4.7bn for its largest ever deal, to buy Indian payments platform BillDesk, in yet another foreign investment in the country’s blossoming tech sector. BillDesk currently competes with Prosus’s payments firm PayU in India which means the deal will open up a fair portion of the growing payments [...]
Bunzl’s UK revenue sinks amid supply chain troubles August 31, 2021 Distribution and services group Bunzl has seen its UK revenue sink amid supply chain disruptions, but keeps its sights locked on growing past 2019’s revenue. In the UK, revenue sank 10.3 per cent as Covid-19 related sales began to ween, which was knocked by a “slow return to normal activity amongst manufacturing and construction customers, [...]
Zoom bags first $1bn quarter but demand for the Covid-19 essential is fading August 31, 2021 Zoom, which became a household name amid the pandemic, has recorded its first billion-dollar revenue in just one quarter – but demand for its Covid-19 essential service is quickly weening. The company forecast revenue of between $1.015bn and $1.020bn for its third quarter, which inched past analysts’ average estimate of $1.013bn, according to Refinitiv data. [...]
BDO: A third of companies risk losing business if they ignore the rise of ESG August 31, 2021 As environmental, social and governance (ESG) measures climb higher on both the consumer and investor agenda, companies will begin to lose business if they fail to get on board, new data has found. Almost a third of mid-market companies have admitted they face a “high” or “very high” risk of losing out on business if [...]
Gyms are back: Peloton slims down bike prices for second time in a year August 27, 2021 Fitness machine maker Peloton is set to trim down the price of its bikes, as people trade in DIY home gyms for the real deal. Bikes will be some 20 per cent less expensive from this week onwards, across all its markets in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and Germany at $1,495 each. The company’s [...]
The Hut Group billionaire Moulding loaned £151m from local council August 27, 2021 The billionaire owner behind The Hut Group (THG) has been lent £151m by Warrington council, after it secured a £4.5bn stock market listing last year. THG’s Matt Moulding was given access to a £200m loan facility by the Cheshire local council in October for Icon 3 Holdco, a company he indirectly controls. In one of [...]
China targets internet algorithms that risk public order or ‘encourage addiction’ August 27, 2021 China has proposed a ban on algorithms that “encourage addiction or high consumption”, or risk national security or public order, in another round of its regulatory crackdown. In draft guidelines published by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) today, algorithm providers with “social mobilisation capabilities”, or algorithms with large public influence, should first apply through [...]