Ferrexpo’s share price pops on record iron ore pellet sales and cash turnaround update January 9, 2017 Shares in FTSE 250-listed miner Ferrexpo lifted more than four per cent in afternoon trading after the Ukraine-based group reported record sales and a bolstered balance sheet. Last year, Ferrexpo sold 11.7m tonnes (mt) of iron ore pellets, which are used in steelmaking, up from 11.3mt in 2015, the group said in a trading update today. [...]
President Xi loves football, but China’s spending spree won’t last long says ex-Manchester City man Sun Jihai January 9, 2017 Premier League clubs need not worry about losing their best players to the China, says former Manchester City defender Sun Jihai who predicts a slowdown in spending from the emerging football power. Chinese teams’ spending has exploded as some of the country’s richest men acquired football clubs in the wake of President Xi Jinping revealing [...]
McDonald’s works to cut costs by selling a majority stake in its China and Hong Kong businesses January 9, 2017 McDonald's is set to sell 80 per cent of its China and Hong Kong businesses for up to $2.1bn (£1.7bn) in an effort to franchise more of its global restaurants. The deal with Chinese conglomerate Citic and US asset manager Carlyle will help McDonald's cut operating costs in its Asian businesses. Originally, the fast-food giant planned to raise up [...]
Chinese consumers lead worldwide resurgence in smartphone sales January 9, 2017 Global smartphone sales are set to rebound after dropping to a three-year low last year, according to a survey carried out by Accenture. More than half of respondents said that they planned to buy a new smartphone in the next year whereas only 48 per cent said the same last year. The Asian market will [...]
HMD launches new Nokia smartphone for the Chinese market January 8, 2017 The launch of the first Nokia smartphone produced by HMD Global was announced yesterday. Aimed at Chinese users, the new Nokia 6 will retail at 1,699 yuan (£200). It will be the first new smartphone to carry the Nokia name since 2014. In a statement, HMD said the decision to launch into China was “a [...]
Holiday Homes: We travel to one of Spain’s most exclusive sports and leisure resorts to see how it’s been transformed to appeal to modern investors January 6, 2017 When La Manga Club opened in 1972, it was at the forefront of sports and leisure destinations across Europe. It took only two years to build the ground-breaking project in Murcia, south-east Spain, but it quickly became a celebrity hangout for sports and showbiz stars alike. Guests included Kenny Dalglish, Gordon Strachan, Juliet Binoche, Salma [...]
Opinion: Agents are turning into party planners to entice buyers and investors to buy new homes in London January 6, 2017 Last year marked a shift in the central London market. The buyers are still out there – only now they have a broader choice of new homes to buy. This poses a challenge for developers: how do you target a particular group of buyers with precision and make them remember your homes above all the [...]
Bitcoin is still falling after yesterday’s three-year high January 6, 2017 What a difference a day makes. This time yesterday, bitcoin was on course to hit a three-year high. Today, it's hovering well below $1,000. Yesterday the cryptocurrency peaked at $1,151.03 before promptly falling almost 20 per cent, wiping $180-odd off its value. Today it extended those losses, falling 11 per cent to $895.19. Yikes. Read more: Buyer, [...]
This is how much UK and global deal activity dropped in 2016 after a record-breaking 2015 January 3, 2017 The UK, hit by uncertainty around Brexit, led a decline in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity last year. New figures released yesterday show that M&A deal values totalled $3.84 trillion (£3.13 trilion) in 2016, down 18 per cent from a record $4.66 trillion in 2015. Read more: After subdued 2016, these bankers are calling a 2017 [...]
China’s manufacturers’ confidence sends PMI to almost four-year high, boosting Asian shares January 3, 2017 Confidence in China’s manufacturing sector rose sharply above expectations in December, with the widely followed purchasing managers’ index (PMI) reaching an almost four-year high. Stocks across Asia gained in response to the surprise increase. The Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index rose by 1.04 per cent on Tuesday, while the Hang Seng – a measure of [...]