SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s smartphone sales fell 13% year-on-year in 2022, the largest plunge for the sector in a decade as consumers spent cautiously, market research firm IDC said on Sunday. The total number of devices shipped was 286 million, down from 329 million in 2022. That meant total 2022 sales volume was the lowest…
MANILA (Reuters) – Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos has approved a value-added tax refund programme for foreign tourists by 2024 to attract more visitors, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said on Sunday. The government collects a 12% VAT on goods consumed within the Southeast Asian country. The plan is to allow foreigners to get a VAT…
By Sabine Siebold and Anneli Palmen DUESSELDORF (Reuters) – German arms-maker Rheinmetall is ready to greatly boost the output of tank and artillery munitions to satisfy strong demand in Ukraine and the West, and may start producing HIMARS multiple rocket launchers in Germany, CEO Armin Papperger told Reuters. He spoke days before Germany’s defence industry…
By Sriram Mani and Jayshree P Upadhyay MUMBAI (Reuters) -A $2.5 billion share sale by India’s Adani Enterprises remains on schedule at the planned issue price, the company told Reuters on Saturday, while sources said bankers were considering changes due to a market rout in the group’s shares. Bankers on the deal were considering extending…
By Silvia Aloisi and Mimosa Spencer PARIS (Reuters) – French luxury goods group Kering has appointed Sabato De Sarno, a senior fashion designer at Valentino, as creative director of its top brand Gucci, it said on Saturday. At Gucci, he will be tasked with reviving the fortunes of a brand that accounted for two-thirds of…
By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) – Lawyers for Sam Bankman-Fried on Saturday urged a U.S. judge not to ban the indicted FTX cryptocurrency executive from communicating with former colleagues as part of his bail, saying prosecutors “sandbagged” the process to put their client in the “worst possible light.” The lawyers were responding to a…
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Ford executives have offered to hold talks with labour representatives over planned structural changes at the U.S. carmaker’s Cologne plant and other German sites but no concrete proposals have been put forward, a shop steward said on Saturday. Speaking at a media briefing in Cologne, the Ford site’s works council head Benjamin Gruschka said…
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s cabinet said on Saturday it would promote a consumption recovery as the major driver of the economy and boost imports, state broadcaster CCTV reported, at a time of cooling global demand as major economies teeter on the brink of recession. At a meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang, China’s state council…
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Bayer investor Deka has called for CEO Werner Baumann to be replaced ahead of his scheduled departure, adding to mounting pressure on the German drugmaker. “Bayer needs a new strategic positioning, which cannot be credibly accomplished under Werner Baumann,” Ingo Speich, head of sustainability and corporate governance at Deka, told the Frankfurter…
LONDON (Reuters) – British regional airline Flybe has ceased trading for the second time in three years, cancelling all flights to and from the United Kingdom, it said on Saturday. A statement on Flybe’s website said the airline, which operated scheduled services from Belfast, Birmingham and Heathrow across the UK and to Amsterdam and Geneva,…
