Bottomline
NEW YORK:
Global sports gear titan Nike reported solid revenue growth and beat analyst earnings forecasts for its fiscal first quarter Tuesday, despite a cost surge tied to the Brazil Olympics.
Nike reported revenues for the quarter ended August 31 up 7.7 percent from a year ago to $9.1 billion, around $200 million higher than expected.
Earnings per share, bolstered by share buybacks, came in at 73 cents, compared to 67 cents a year ago and well past the 56 cents analysts had predicted.
“Fueled by an incredible summer of sport, Nike delivered strong global growth and led the industry through disruptive innovation,” said Mike Parker, Nike chairman, president and chief executive. (AFP)
LONDON:
Phoenix Group Holdings, Britain’s largest owner of life assurance funds closed to new customers, said it would buy Deutsche Bank AG’s British insurance business Abbey Life Assurance Co for 935 million pounds ($1.22 billion) in cash.
Phoenix said it would raise 735 million pounds via a rights issue and use 250 million pounds from a new bank facility to fund the purchase.
The company said the deal would add 10 billion pounds of assets under management and approximately 735,000 policyholders. (RTRS)
TORONTO:
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau approved Tuesday a $27 billion liquefied natural gas project on British Columbia’s northwest coast in a decision that’s considered a litmus test for a government that has vowed to do more for the environment.
It is Trudeau’s first decision on a major energy project. It comes ahead of some important pipeline decisions that will cause him problems from either industry or environmentalists and aboriginals.
“Helping to get Canada’s resources to market is a key responsibility,” Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr said, announcing the decision alongside two other cabinet ministers in Richmond, British Columbia. “At the same time we said that economic prosperity must go hand in hand with environmental responsibility.” (AP)
BERLIN:
German carrier Lufthansa on Wednesday said it would buy the 55 percent of Brussels Airlines it does not already own, completing a longmooted takeover and stepping up its battle against low-cost rivals.
Shareholders in Brussels Airlines must still agree to the deal, the statement said, adding that managers expect to complete the transaction by early 2017.
Lufthansa has owned 45 percent of Brussels Airlines owner SN Airholding since 2009 and kept an option to buy the rest from around 30 remaining shareholders.
The companies did not reveal the price Lufthansa would pay for the remaining stake.
The Belgian carrier returned to profitability for the first time in years in 2015. (AFP)
FRANKFURT:
Germany’s Deutsche Post, owner of express delivery service DHL, on Wednesday said it had agreed to buy UK Mail in a push to strengthen its European foothold, while taking advantage of a post-Brexit vote slump in the pound.
The German logistics giant said it would pay 440 pence a share for UK Mail, valuing the company at 242.7 million pounds (281 million euros, $316 million). (AFP)
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia:
The owner of Malaysian national carmaker Proton said Wednesday it has shortlisted five potential foreign partners for a tie-up that includes an equity sale aimed at reviving the loss-making company.
Syed Faisal Albar Syed Ali Rethza Albar, managing director of conglomerate DRB-Hicom, says it will remain a “substantial” shareholder of Proton but doesn’t rule out selling a majority stake.
DRB-Hicom, which is involved in the auto, banking, services and property sectors, took over Proton from the government in 2012 but has failed to resuscitate the carmaker. The government had to give Proton a 1.25 billion ringgit ($312 million) loan earlier this year on condition that it seeks a strategic partner. (AP)
NEW YORK:
China’s Dalian Wanda Group is in talks to buy Dick Clark Productions, the TV company that produces the Golden Globes and the “Miss America” pageant.
The deal could be worth $1 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the situation. Wanda did not return a request for comment.
Eldridge Group, which owns Dick Clark Productions, said in a statement that the TV company agreed to enter into exclusive talks with Wanda. If the deal gets finalized, it would be the latest US entertainment deal for the Chinese company which owns property, cinema and sports holdings. In September it said it would partner with Sony Pictures to make big-budget movies. It owns AMC Theaters and bought Legendary Entertainment for $3.5 billion in January. (AP)
SAN FRANCISCO:
Microsoft and Bank of America Merrill Lynch on Tuesday announced they are working together to make financial transactions more efficient with blockchain technology — the foundation of bitcoin digital currency.
The companies said they will build and test frameworks for blockchainpowered exchanges between businesses and their customers and banks.
Blockchains are considered tamperproof registers in which entries are time-stamped and linked to previous “blocks” in a data chain.
Blockchains serve as public ledgers considered easy to audit and verify. They are also automated, speeding up transactions and limiting potential for error or revision. (AFP)
NEW YORK:
Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf will forgo $41 million in compensation, the bank’s board of directors announced Tuesday, as punishment for a bogus accounts scandal that has rocked the company.
The bank has already apologized and said it fired 5,300 employees tied to the illegal conduct, which saw employees boost sales figures by opening unauthorized deposit and credit accounts and then covertly fund them with customers’ money.
An independent investigation into the vast fraud practices will be carried out in-house, with Stumpf receiving no salary during the probe, the board said. He will also be denied a bonus for 2016. (AFP)