JD.com boss returns to China after being put under US arrest for sexual misconduct September 3, 2018 The top boss of Chinese retail giant JD.com has been allowed to travel back to China after his arrest in the US on suspicion of criminal sexual misconduct. Richard Liu was arrested in Minneapolis on Friday evening and released "pending complaint" the following afternoon, according to police records. JD.com said in a statement today that Liu [...]
The Hut Group wards off potential buyers as it gears up for Acheson & Acheson takeover September 3, 2018 Online beauty retail company The Hut Group (THG) has rebuffed a series of takeover deals as it looks to expand its own acquisition spending spree. A number of offers valuing the firm at almost £4bn have been turned away by the fast-growing technology company, according to reports from Sky News last night. While strategic and [...]
Ofo in £7.9m spot of hot water over unpaid bike bills September 2, 2018 Floating bike-sharing startup Ofo is being sued for defaulting on around 70m yuan (£7.9m) in payments to its supplier Shanghai Phoenix Bicycles, the company’s Shanghai-listed parent said in a filing late on Friday. Shanghai Phoenix petitioned a court in Beijing last week to demand Ofo repay 68.15m yuan as well as 1.87m yuan in losses incurred [...]
Chinese online retail tycoon released after US sexual conduct charge September 2, 2018 The billionaire leader of a Chinese web retail giant was arrested in the US on Friday on a charge of criminal sexual conduct, before being released a day later. Richard Liu, the founder of JD.com – one of China’s biggest online retailers, and a major rival to web behemoth Alibaba – was taken into custody [...]
Donald Trump threatens to pull the US out of the World Trade Organisation August 31, 2018 US President Donald Trump has threatened to pull the US out of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). In an interview in the Oval Office with Bloomberg News Trump said: “If they don’t shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO”. He said establishing the WTO, which was set up in 1995, was the “the single [...]
Dating app Grindr is planning an overseas IPO August 30, 2018 The Chinese owner of gay dating app Grindr has revealed plans to spin off the company and list it on an overseas bourse. Kunlun Technology, which bought a 61.5 per cent stake in Grindr in 2016 before acquiring the remainder in January this year, published news of Grindr's upcoming initial public offering (IPO) overnight on [...]
Margin pressure and bad weather take a slice out of Pizza Express profits but overall sales grow August 29, 2018 Pizza Express unveiled what it called a "resilient" performance today, despite pressure on margins driving down profits. The restaurant chain, which is owned by Chinese private equity group Hony Capital, has faced cost pressures as well as a significant impact from this year's changeable weather. The figures Group turnover in the 26 weeks to the beginning [...]
America’s record bull market: five charts that tell the story August 24, 2018 The US stock market is on its longest bull-run in history. It began on 9 March 2009 and, so far, has lasted nine years, five months and 13 days. As of today, it beats the great equities performance of the 1990s. A bull market is broadly defined as one that rises over time without falling [...]
US-China trade war: China promises to ‘keep retaliating’ against Trump’s tariffs August 24, 2018 China will continue to retaliate against US trade tariffs, finance minister Liu Kun said today, after talks in Washington between the superpowers fizzled out without resolving their escalating trade war. US markets fell at the end of trading last night, while the Dow closed 0.3 per cent lower, with Boeing and Caterpillar dragging the index [...]
US-China trade war: Markets feel the strain as new tariffs take hold August 23, 2018 Fresh tariffs were accompanied by a war of words between Washington and Beijing today as the superpowers' trade war threatened to escalate. Previously announced tariffs of 25 per cent applying to $16bn (£12.5bn) worth of Chinese goods came into force today, met with equivalent retaliatory measures. China has introduced duties on 333 American products, including coal, steel products [...]