Adidas share price up as sales growth in third-quarter boosts revenue November 6, 2014 German sports conglomerate Adidas yesterday outperformed analysts’ expectations by posting a nine per cent constant currency sales growth in its third-quarter results. The company saw a 21 per cent sales increase in retail over the period and a six per cent boost in wholesale. Warburg Research analyst Jorg Philipp Frey said the company’s “third-quarter, top-line [...]
Rolls-Royce share price jumps as it announces plans to cut 2,600 jobs November 4, 2014 Shares in Rolls-Royce jumped 2.63 per cent in mid-afternoon trading after it announced plans to lay off 2,600 staff – including its finance director. In a statement to the stock market today, the company said the cuts, which will mainly take place in its aerospace division, were "consistent" with plans announced last month. It added [...]
Watch: Russian Steve Jobs monument dismantled after current CEO Tim Cook comes out as gay November 4, 2014 A St Petersburg monument in memory of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs has been dismantled following the current CEO of the tech giant, Tim Cook, coming out as gay. The iPhone-shaped monument is two metres high and had sat outside the State University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics. However, ZEFS, the Russian group [...]
Qatar Air may replace Emirates as airline ends Fifa sponsorship November 3, 2014 AIRLINE Emirates has become the first top-tier sponsor to end its deal with football’s governing body Fifa following allegations of corruption surrounding bids for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. The world’s largest international carrier said it would not renew its four-year contract with Fifa, which expires at the end of the year, but did [...]
Diageo lands Tequila Don Julio in exchange for Bushmills Irish whiskey November 3, 2014 UK drinks giant Diageo has secured a deal with Casa Cuervo, owner of leading tequila brand Jose Cuervo, to acquire full ownership of tequila Don Julio. Don Julio is produced in Mexico and is the eighth biggest tequila brand in the US. In exchange for the brand, Diageo will sell off Irish whiskey Bushmills to [...]
Russian central bank hikes interest rate by 1.5 percentage points to stave off rouble slide October 31, 2014 So much for the softly-softly approach to monetary policy taken by most central banks at the moment. Russia has hiked interest rates by 1.5 percentage points to 9.5 per cent, in an effort to stave off further slides in the rouble. The value of Russia's international reserve stockpile has fallen more than $30bn since the [...]
EU brokers Russia, Ukraine gas deal after months of negotiation October 30, 2014 Russia has agreed to resume supplies of natural gas supplies to Ukraine until March 2015 following months of negotiations brokered by the European Union. The deal will also include EU funds to assist Ukraine in paying off its debts to Russian energy giant Gazprom so gas will be delivered to the war-torn country in time [...]
Small is beautiful: Why the age of big business and big government is over October 29, 2014 THE CORPORATION has never been less fashionable. Politicians are falling over themselves to tell voters how they will constrain, bully and regulate large companies. It makes sense. The polls tell them that trust in the corporate world is at derisory levels. A recent Populus survey found 61 per cent wanted the government to be tougher [...]
BP slumps to a loss as Russian arm struggles October 28, 2014 UK OIL company BP yesterday reported a loss of $335m (£207m) during the third quarter of 2014, down from a $1bn profit in the same period of last year. The firm’s Rosneft business in Russia took a major hit, with profit plunging to $107m, compared with $792m. BP said that this result was “principally affected [...]
The art of theft: Why do thieves steal famous paintings when they’re so hard to sell? October 28, 2014 On a freezing Stockholm evening just before Christmas 2000, a group of six to eight Middle Eastern men put into action a plan they’d been working on for months. The group parked cars in the middle of the three central roads leading to the Swedish National Museum and set them ablaze. As fire engines [...]