business
Global business
- Updated: September 17, 2012 - 5:51 PM
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Deutsche Bank will conduct less business in Europe's troubled southern economies in the future and focus more on lending in Germany and in Asia, according to a new strategy presented by co-chief executives Jurgen Fitschen and Anshu Jain. The bank also slashed its targets for returns on equity, reflecting pressures on banks' profitability from regulations and subdued markets.
Britain's BAE Systems and EADS, which makes Airbus jets, confirmed they were discussing combining the companies. A deal would shake up the global aerospace industry, but the companies said certain defense contracts "would be ring-fenced ... particularly in the USA."
Japan Airlines priced its forthcoming initial public offering at $49 a share, the top end of its pricing range. After three years of restructuring in bankruptcy protection, JAL's $8.5 billion offering will be the world's second-biggest this year -- behind only Facebook's -- with the proceeds repaying a bailout. The offering is scheduled to price Wednesday.
The drama surrounding Glencore's mega-bid for Xstrata took a twist when former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was parachuted in to smooth 11th-hour negotiations with Qatar's sovereign-wealth fund, Xstrata's second-biggest shareholder. Glencore, the world's largest commodities trader, already owns a 34 percent stake in the mining company. After the talks it improved its offer to 3.05 Glencore shares for every Xstrata share, from a previous ratio of 2.8.
Burberry surprised markets with a profit warning. The British luxury-goods company gave notice that it had seen a "deceleration" in sales in recent weeks. Its share price fell by 21 percent. Around 40 percent of Burberry's revenue comes from Asia, where once-hot economies are cooling rapidly.
Apple launched the iPhone 5, which has a larger screen and a faster chip. An analyst at J.P. Morgan Chase estimated sales of the new iPhone could boost American GDP by $3.2 billion in the fourth quarter, adding 0.33 percent to the annualized rate of growth for the period.
Political economyChina announced a second, larger auction of shale-gas sites, to take place next month. China holds the world's largest shale-gas reserves, but the domestic industry is in its infancy and lacks the expertise of the U.S. industry. To address that deficiency, China is for the first time allowing joint ventures with foreign partners to tender bids for shale-gas sites, though the Chinese partner has to control the venture.
The European Commission unveiled formal proposals for a banking union for the eurozone, which would hand new supervisory powers, such as the ability to close poorly performing banks, to the European Central Bank. If adopted, the plan would be a precursor to allowing distressed lenders to tap the European bailout fund directly, rather than through sovereign funds, thus relieving pressure on government debt.
With Spanish bond yields retreating from summer highs, Prime Mariano Rajoy of Spain suggested his country might not need a bailout, saying he would "see how the risk premium evolves."
Somalia's new parliament elected a civil-rights campaigner, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, as the country's new president, promoting a rare wave of hope for national recovery. Two days later a suicide bomber loyal to the Shabab, an extreme Islamist militia, killed several people outside a hotel in Mogadishu where Hassan was holding a meeting.
Anglo American, the world's biggest platinum-mining company, suspended its operations in Rustenburg, South Africa. It did so to protect its staff, as protests spread against last month's shooting of 34 miners by police at a pit operated by a different company.
China sent two patrol ships near disputed islands in the East China Sea after Japan bought them from a private owner. Chinese media warned Japan that it was "playing with fire" in the quarrel over claims to the islands, known as the Senkakus by Japan and Diaoyus by China.
In the latest of several steps to reduce business costs, Brazil's president, Dilma Rousseff, announced cuts in taxes on electricity that should shave as much as 28 percent from energy bills.
President Francois Hollande of France provided some details of his government's eagerly awaited budget for 2013, due on Sept. 28. He will stick to the deficit target of 3 percent of GDP, despite growth of only 0.8 percent forecast for next year. Hollande also said he will push for labor reforms.
President Vladimir Putin of Russia issued a decree that limits the information that "strategic" Russian companies can give to foreign regulators. This came a week after the European Union launched an antitrust investigation into Gazprom, Russia's state gas company, which supplies countries in Eastern Europe.
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