WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy shrank at a 1.6% annual pace in the first three months of the year, the government reported Wednesday in a slight downgrade from its previous estimate for January-March quarter. It was the first drop in gross domestic product — the broadest measure of economic output — since the second…
(Reuters) -Bed Bath & Beyond Inc Chief Executive Mark Tritton has stepped down as part of a management shake-up, which the home goods retailer said on Wednesday was needed to reverse several quarters of weak sales. Shares fell 9% after the company reported a 23% slide in quarterly comparable sales. It named independent director Sue…
PRAGUE (AP) — Budvar, the Czech brewer that has been in a long legal dispute with U.S. beer giant Anheuser-Busch over use of the Budweiser brand, increased its net profit by some 10% for the second straight year as it saw record output and exports despite the coronavirus pandemic. Budejovicky Budvar NP, a 126-year-old state-owned…
By Nqobile Dludla JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – With two days to go until opening to the public, workers rush to put the finishing touches on the Kwena Square shopping complex, a shiny $13 million sign that South Africans are defying the global “retail apocalypse”. Not even COVID-19 could separate them from their beloved malls. “I love…
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Three Chinese companies – a chip maker, a beverage producer and an electronic firm said on Wednesday they plan to issue Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) on overseas stock exchanges, in a bid to broaden their financing channels and ramp up global expansion. Will Semiconductor Co Ltd Shanghai and Eastroc Beverage Group Co…
BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union countries reached a deal following hard-fought talks that dragged into early Wednesday to back stricter climate rules that would eliminate carbon emissions from new cars by 2035. The 27 EU members found agreement on draft legislation aimed at slashing EU greenhouse gases by at least 55% in 2030 compared with…
By Hyunjoo Jin SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Tesla has shuttered its office in San Mateo, California and laid off roughly 200 employees working on its Autopilot driver-assistant system there, one of the people told Reuters, in a move seen as accelerating cost-cutting. Most of the laid-off people had been hourly workers, that person said. Early…
MADRID (Reuters) -Spanish 12-month inflation rose to 10.2% in June, the first time it has surpassed 10% since April 1985, from 8.7% in the previous month, preliminary data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) showed on Wednesday. The reading was higher than the 9.0% forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll. Core inflation, which strips…
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Chamila Nilanthi is tired of all the waiting. The 47-year-old mother of two spent three days lining up to get kerosene in the Sri Lankan town of Gampaha, northeast of the capital Colombo. Two weeks earlier, she spent three days in a queue for cooking gas — but came home…
BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets were mixed Thursday after the U.S. economy contracted and China reported stronger factory activity. Shanghai and Hong Kong gained, while Tokyo and Seoul declined. Oil prices advanced. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index edged down 0.1% on Wednesday after data showed the U.S. economy shrank in the first quarter…