Corporate Dispatch

First flashes of Brexit trade trouble appear in UK data

LONDON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Early signs of disruption caused by Britain's shift to its new, less open trading relationship with the European Union are emerging in economic data. Although…

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Swatch looking to brighter 2021 after sales collapse in 2020

ZURICH, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Swatch Group said there was a "good chance" 2021 sales could return to pre-pandemic levels after the coronavirus plunged the world's biggest watchmaker into the…

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Toyota beats Volkswagen to become World’s No.1 car seller in 2020

TOKYO, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Japan's Toyota Motor Corp overtook Germany's Volkswagen in vehicle sales last year, regaining pole position as the world's top selling automaker for the first time…

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Europe lifts flight safety ban on Boeing 737 MAX jet

Jan 27 (Reuters) - European regulators on Wednesday lifted a 22-month ban on flights of the Boeing 737 MAX after a design and pilot training overhaul in the wake of…

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Air France and Airbus face Paris trial call over deadly crash – source

PARIS (Reuters) - The Paris public prosecutor has requested that Air France and Airbus stand trial on charges of manslaughter over the 2009 crash of flight AF447 from Rio de…

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Microsoft earnings rise as pandemic boosts cloud computing, Xbox sales

Jan 26 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp on Tuesday reported its Azure cloud computing services grew 50%, the second quarter of acceleration in a business that had begun to slow as the global…

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Working from home is losing its effectiveness, bank executives say

(Reuters) - Working from home has been surprisingly successful for global banks during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic but is losing its effectiveness, two prominent industry executives said…

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Barilla boosts women’s representation in executive roles, achieves pay equality

MILAN, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Italian food company Barilla last year increased women's representation in executive roles and achieved gender pay equality for all employees, it said on Tuesday, as…

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Mastercard to increase charges for UK purchases from EU – FT

Financial Times - Mastercard will increase fees more than fivefold when a British shopper uses a debit or credit card to buy from an EU-based company, sparking alarm among companies…

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Debenhams stores in Britain to close permanently

All Debenhams stores in Britain will close permanently as part of the sale of its brand and website to online retailer Boohoo, its administrators said on Monday. "I expect that the agreement…

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Flydubai Says Catania And Naples, Salzburg And Malta Will Be Joining Its European Network

Jan 25 (Reuters) - FLYDUBAI - Flydubai, the Dubai-based airline, today announced that Catania and Naples in Italy, Salzburg in Austria and Malta will be joining its European network from…

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Godiva to close shops in U.S.

CNN - Luxury chocolatier Godiva is closing or selling all 128 of its brick-and-mortar stores in North America, it announced in a statement. It plans to complete the closures and…

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Eyeing a recovery, some U.S. airlines resume pilot hiring

American Airlines' wholly owned regional subsidiary PSA Airlines and budget carrier Frontier Airlines plan to resume pilot hiring this year, a positive sign for an industry ravaged last year by…

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No Xbox Live Gold price hike by Microsoft

Microsoft has reversed its controversial Xbox Live price increase. The company announced a price hike on Friday that would have doubled the cost of a yearly subscription to the service, which is…

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Sweden’s Trustly plans $11 billion IPO as digital payments boom

Swedish payments firm Trustly plans to take advantage of a surge in digital transactions in the COVID-19 pandemic with a second-quarter flotation that could value it at up to 9…

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Lufthansa’s Airlines to require crew, passengers to wear medical masks

From February 1, all passengers and crew members on Lufthansa flights must wear a medical mask. In a statement, Lufthansa said that passengers will be required to wear either a…

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Amazon to raise fees on Spanish vendors due to new digital tax

U.S. tech giant Amazon will raise fees for Spanish companies using its platform to sell their wares in response a digital tax imposed by the government, El Confidencial reported on…

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Skoda Auto says made less cars at Czech plants in 2020

Skoda Auto, the Czech unit of Volkswagen AG and the country's main exporter, said on Friday its output at domestic plants dropped to 753,013 in 2020, from 910,000 in 2019.…

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KLM to cut 1,000 more jobs, says mandatory COVID-19 testing will ground planes

KLM said it would cut an additional 1,000 jobs in 2021 and warned on Thursday that government plans to require all passengers and crew to pass a COVID-19 test before…

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Google says it will shut search engine in Australia if forced to pay for news

Alphabet Inc's Google said on Friday it would block its search engine in Australia if the government proceeds with a new code that would force it and Facebook Inc to…

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Glass maker Schott predicts enough vials to go around for COVID-19 vaccines

Germany’s unlisted Schott AG, the world’s biggest supplier of speciality glass for medical bottles and syringes, said it did not see any shortage of vials for bottling COVID-19 vaccines. Drugmakers…

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Norwegian Air to get financial backing from government

Norway is willing to take part in the refinancing of Norwegian Air, Industry Minister Iselin Nyboe said in a statement on Thursday, without indicating how much the government would contribute.…

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South Korea’s LG considering all options for loss-making mobiles

South Korea's LG Electronics said it was considering all options for its loss-making mobile division, which analysts said could include shutting its smartphone business or selling off parts of the…

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Google and French publishers sign agreement over copyright

In a first in Europe, Alphabet's Google and a group of French publishers said on Thursday they had agreed a general framework over copyrights under which the U.S. tech giant…

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Commerzbank deepens partnership with Microsoft

Commerzbank said on Wednesday that it would widen its partnership with Microsoft by putting a significant portion of its applications in the cloud over the next five years. The two…

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Retailer WH Smith set to lose up to 20 mln pounds a month till March

WH Smith said on Wednesday it expects to burn up to 20 million pounds a month in cash until March, eating into its remaining resources as it strives to ride…

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Italy’s Poste Italiane to buy 51% of China’s Sengi Express

Italy's Poste Italiane said on Wednesday it had agreed to buy a 51% stake in Chinese cross-border logistics company Sengi Express from Hong Kong-based Cloud Seven Holding Ltd. The acquisition…

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British Airways-owner IAG buys Air Europa in cut-price 500 million euro deal

British Airways and Iberia owner International Airlines Group has agreed to buy Spain's Air Europa for 500 million euros ($606.7 million), after the pandemic cut the price in half and…

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Air France still at risk of disappearing – finance minister

French Finance minister Bruno Le Maire reaffirmed on Wednesday Air France could disappear due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on air travel, adding the French state would continue…

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U.S. agency orders Ford to recall 3 million vehicles over air bags

Ford Motor Co must recall 3 million vehicles with potentially defective driver-side Takata air bags, the U.S. auto safety regulator said, rejecting a bid by the second-largest U.S. automaker to…

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South Korea’s Kia says looking at electric car projects with multiple firms after Apple report

South Korean automaker Kia Corp said on Wednesday it's reviewing cooperation on self-driving electric cars with multiple foreign firms, making no mention of a report linking it to a project…

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Unilever says global consumption will remain depressed in first half of year

Consumer goods maker Unilever Plc expects global consumption patterns to be suppressed in the first half of this year, even as business returns to normal in East Asia and markets…

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AT&T to cut Slovakia workforce, unions expect 300 jobs to go

AT&T plans to cut its workforce in Slovakia as the COVID-19 pandemic hits customer demand, the company said on Monday, with unions saying that 10% of jobs may be affected.…

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Lufthansa reaches deal with Eurowings on jobs

Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings will not lay off staff until March next year, trade union Verdi said on Monday, as part of efforts by the airline to rein in losses due…

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Amazon to open two new hubs in Italy this year

Amazon will open two new logistics centres in Italy this year, investing over 230 million euros ($278 million), the world's largest online retailer said on Monday. With the two new…

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Sanofi to cut around 400 job positions in pharma research

French healthcare company Sanofi has told trade unions that it is planning to cut around 400 job positions in its pharmaceutical research division, France Inter reported on Monday. In June…

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DHL Express sees strong start to year, Brexit challenges under control

DHL Express is off to a strong start to the year even as capacity remains tight due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with post-Brexit adjustments on track, Global CEO John Pearson…

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Fiat Chrysler, PSA complete merger into Stellantis

Italian American carmaker Fiat Chrysler and French rival PSA have completed their $52 billion tie-up and formally merged into Stellantis, the two automakers said on Saturday. The merger of FCA…

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Canada’s Couche-Tard drops $20 billion Carrefour takeover plan after French opposition

Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard has dropped its 16.2 billion euro ($19.6 billion) bid to acquire European retailer Carrefour SA after the takeover plan ran into stiff opposition from the French government,…

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Fiat Chrysler and PSA to seal merger to become Stellantis

Fiat Chrysler and PSA will seal their long-awaited merger on Saturday to create Stellantis, the world's fourth-largest auto group with deep enough pockets to fund the shift to electric driving…

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Samsung launches new flagship Galaxy S smartphone early, targets remote workers, gamers

SEOUL, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd on Thursday unveiled the first Galaxy S smartphone with a stylus for on-screen work called the S Pen, more than a…

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Google completes $2.1 bln acquisition of Fitbit

Jan 14 (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's Google has completed its $2.1 billion acquisition of wearable device maker Fitbit Inc, the companies said on Thursday. The deal had triggered concerns over…

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Logistics companies suspend cross-border delivery services due to Brexit red tape – FT

Financial Times - The German logistics group DB Schenker became the latest major parcels operator to suspend cross-border delivery services because of the new red tape and customs paperwork imposed…

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Bid by Alimentation Couche-Tard to buy Carrefour

European retail giant Carrefour has received a surprise merger approach from Canadian convenience-store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard, sending the French company’s shares up 13% on Wednesday. European supermarket groups have been…

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Airbnb to cancel Washington DC bookings as police warn of militia threat

Home-sharing giant Airbnb is cancelling hotel reservations in the Washington DC Metro area for the week of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration after law enforcement warned of the threat from armed…

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Air Canada to cut jobs amid COVID-19 restrictions, aid talks stalled

Air Canada announced it would cut first-quarter capacity by an additional 25% as measures to combat COVID-19 hit bookings, while two well-placed sources said talks over a federal aid package…

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Warner Bros Games delays new Harry Potter game until 2022

AT&T Inc's Warner Bros Games said it has pushed back the release of its upcoming Harry Potter role-playing videogame, "Hogwarts Legacy," by a year to 2022. The game, announced during…

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UK – Lidl report 17.9% increase in December sales

LONDON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The British arm of German discount supermarket Lidl said sales had increased by 17.9% in the four weeks to Dec. 27, driven by customers buying…

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Republicans face growing corporate backlash after Capitol assault

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. Congress faced growing blowback on Monday from businesses that said they would cut off campaign contributions to those who voted last week to…

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