Bottomline

DOHA:

Qatar Airways said on Thursday it had acquired a 49 percent stake in AQA Holding, the new parent company of Italy’s Meridiana, adding to its growing portfolio of investments in foreign airlines.

Previous sole owner Alisarda retains 51 percent, the major Middle East airline said in a statement.

Loss-making, Sardinia-based Meridiana is Italy’s second largest carrier behind Alitalia, which is partly owned by Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways. Alitalia filed for administration earlier this year.

The value of the Meridiana acquisition was not given, and the deal was finalised after protracted negotiations that formally started more than a year ago. (RTRS)

NEW YORK:

Shares of Roku, an early player in streaming-video gadgets, soared Thursday after its initial public offering of stock raised $219 million.

The shares priced at $14 each, the top of the company’s expected range, suggesting strong demand from investors and valuing the company at $1.3 billion. The shares rocketed to more than $22 in Thursday afternoon trading, a gain of 60 percent.

The Los Gatos, California, company is known for its boxes and sticks that let users watch Netflix, Hulu and the growing universe of streaming-video options on their TVs. It has the biggest share of the streaming-gadget market, but has deep-pocketed competitors in Amazon, Google and Apple.

Most of Roku’s revenue comes from sales of its streaming players, but it’s seeking to capitalize on its “platform” by making money from showing ads to its users. (AP)

WATERLOO, Ontario:

BlackBerry Ltd on Thursday reported fiscal second-quarter net income of $19 million, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based company said it had net income of 4 cents per basic share. On a diluted basis — assuming conversion of the company’s convertible debentures — the loss was 7 cents per share. Adjusted for one-time gains and costs, income was 5 cents per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of 1 cent per share.

The cybersecurity software and services company posted revenue of $238 million in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $249 million.

BlackBerry expects full-year adjusted revenue in the range of $920 million to $950 million. (AP)

PARKERSBURG:

Japanese truck maker Hino Motors Manufacturing said Wednesday it is moving its West Virginia assembly plant about 20 miles to a larger location at a former retail distribution center.

Hino (HEE’-no) Motors Manufacturing President Takashi Ono said the $100 million investment could create up to 250 new jobs.

Upscale retailer Coldwater Creek closed its nearly 1 million-squarefoot distribution center near Mineral Wells in 2014 after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Wood County Development Authority owns the property.

Hino currently assembles mediumduty trucks at a 245,000-square foot facility that opened in 2007 in the Wood County community of Williamstown. That facility currently employs about 300. (AP)

NEW YORK:

Rent-a-room giant Airbnb is now in the restaurant reservation business, hoping to provide customers with a memorable meal before they drift off in their home away from home.

The travel accommodations startup that launched in 2008 has teamed up with Resy, which will be a minority shareholder in the new venture, to offer table reservations at 700 restaurants in 16 US cities.

“They make world class restaurant software, and we don’t necessarily want to go in that business,” Airbnb executive Joe Zadeh said. (AP)

LOS ANGELES:

STX Entertainment may be edging closer to an initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, early in 2018.

The company could raise $500 million of fresh capital and achieve a valuation of $3.5 billion, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal that cites unnamed sources.

STX, which was founded some three years ago by Robert Simonds and Bill McGlashan, has indicated on several previous occasions that it is aiming for Hong Kong listing. The scale of the capital raising and implied valuation were not previously known. Contacted by Variety, STX had no comment on the matter. (RTRS)

LONDON:

British financial spreadbetting firm CMC Markets said first-half profit would be significantly higher than a year earlier, as increased client trading volumes helped offset challenges from a sector-wide regulatory clampdown.

The company, set up by Chief Executive Peter Cruddas as a foreign exchange broker with a 10,000 pound investment in 1989, said net operating income and revenue per client in the six months ending Sept. 30 were higher than a year earlier. (RTRS)

LONDON:

Jaguar Land Rover will stop sourcing petrol engines from Ford’s plant in Bridgend, Wales, and end its current contract earlier than expected in 2020.

“We have informed our unions that Jaguar Land Rover intends to end our petrol engine supply arrangement slightly earlier than expected in late 2020,” Ford said in a statement.

“Given our long-established and successful relationship in the delivery of world-class engines, this is disappointing news for the Ford Bridgend Engine Plant.” (RTRS)

STOCKHOLM:

Swedish fast fashion giant Hennes and Mauritz reported lower quarterly earnings Thursday as rising web sales failed to offset a slowdown in store turnover.

Net profit for the three months to end-August, the third quarter of the retailer’s financial year, came in at 3.84 billion kronor (400 million euros, $470 million), a drop of 20 percent. Sales grew 4.6 percent to 51.23 billion kronor.

The results were in line with analysts’ forecasts, but the retailer’s shares dropped sharply in Stockholm in reaction. (AFP)