Glenlivet maker Pernod Ricard cuts guidance amid the coronavirus outbreak February 13, 2020 Pernod Ricard cut its annual operating profit goal blaming the coronavirus outbreak in China. The figures Profit from recurring operations was €1.8bn, up 4.3 per cent on an organic basis, slightly ahead of the 1.7bn expected by Citi analysts. Pernod Ricard’s revenue in the second quarter rose to 2.9bn, an organic sales growth of 3.8 [...]
Coronavirus latest: UK ‘superspreader’ discharged from hospital February 12, 2020 This page collects all the latest news about the coronavirus outbreak, now called Covid-19 The man connected to 11 cases of the coronavirus has been discharged from hospital having made a full recovery from the illness. Business Steve Walsh, who contracted the illness on a work visit to Singapore before passing it to others on [...]
Coronavirus has exposed the flaws of our globalised system February 12, 2020 We cannot yet be sure how many lives have already been tragically lost to the coronavirus outbreak, nor how many are still to be lost until the epidemic is brought under control — if that proves even possible. At the time of writing, the estimated death toll is over 1,000. What we do know is [...]
Western governments should have been ready for Huawei February 12, 2020 In the late 1990s, I represented Lucent Technologies, a firm focused on delivering telecommunications equipment which had been spun out of AT&T. At the time, in addition to the more familiar competitors such as Nortel Networks and Alcatel, we faced an additional threat — a relatively new Chinese competitor called Huawei. Huawei was able to [...]
Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell warns coronavirus could hurt global economy February 11, 2020 US Federal Reserve chairman Jay Powell has warned that the coronavirus outbreak could “spill over to the rest of the global economy” and said the central bank is “closely monitoring” the situation. In his semi-annual testimony to Congress, Powell said coronavirus posed a new threat to the US’s economic outlook, even as “the uncertainties around [...]
Merkel’s party set to rule out Huawei 5G ban in Germany February 11, 2020 Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative party is set to throw its weight behind a new proposal that stops short of banning Huawei from building Germany’s 5G network. Top ministers in the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) last night signed off on a four-page paper following weeks of discussions with hardline ministers who want to exclude the controversial [...]
FTSE 100 opens higher after US and Asian markets rise February 11, 2020 The FTSE 100 index has opened higher this morning, taking its cue from positive performances from US and Asian markets as investors shrug off coronavirus fears, despite the death toll from the outbreak passing 1,000. Britain’s blue-chip index climbed as much as 1.02 per cent after the open on Tuesday, following positive impetus from Monday’s [...]
FTSE 100 drops as coronavirus declared a ‘serious’ UK health threat February 10, 2020 The FTSE 100 edged down this morning as continued concern over the coronavirus outbreak knocked investor confidence around the world. London’s blue-chip index fell 0.2 per cent in early trading, landing at 7450p, as the UK declared the virus a serious and imminent threat to public health. The outbreak has now killed 908 people around [...]
Campaign against Huawei is a ‘witch hunt’, says Chinese ambassador February 9, 2020 Top Tory politicians trying to reverse the decision to allow tech giant Huawei to help build Britain’s 5G networks are carrying out a “witch hunt”, China’s ambassador to the UK has said. Senior Conservatives, including four former Cabinet ministers, have written to Tory MPs urging them to reconsider the government’s decision on Huawei, instead calling [...]
Senior Tories tell government to ‘rule out’ Huawei from 5G plans February 8, 2020 A number of senior Conservatives including four ex-cabinet ministers have written a letter to Tory MPs to raise concerns about the decision to give Huawei a role in the UK’s 5G network. Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Owen Paterson, David Davis, Damian Green, Tobias Ellwood and Bob Seely, said they “working to find a better solution” [...]