By Safiyah Riddle (Reuters) – U.S. small businesses are paying the most for loans in 16 years as borrowing costs have skyrocketed under the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes, but new data shows they have yet to face a widely predicted credit crunch. The average rate paid on short-term loans for small businesses shot…
By Aatrayee Chatterjee and Mehr Bedi (Reuters) -Conagra Brands Inc on Thursday forecast annual sales and profit below Wall Street estimates, in a sign that the packaged food giant was starting to face some pushback to higher prices from inflation-weary customers. Persistent inflation has eroded budgets at many American households and forced consumers to trade…
(Reuters) – Cintas Corp beat quarterly profit and revenue expectations on Thursday, helped by demand for its pricier rental uniforms across segments and easing input costs pressures. Shares of the company rose 1% in early trading. The Mason, Ohio-based company had raised product prices in the last few quarters to protect margins from the impact…
By Horacio Soria and Lucinda Elliott MONTEVIDEO (Reuters) – Uruguayans are crossing into Argentina to shop for cheap food and fuel in their economic crisis-hit neighbor, but the trend is plunging businesses near the border into a crisis of their own. Uruguayan supermarket manager Noelia Romero said that sales were falling fast as her customers…
DAKAR (Reuters) -The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has raised concerns about reports in Ghana that hundreds of citizens seeking refuge from an insurgency in neighbouring Burkina Faso were being deported, an allegation that Ghana denies. Burkina Faso is one of several West African countries fighting armed groups that took root in north Mali and…
By Ananya Mariam Rajesh (Reuters) – PepsiCo Inc on Thursday raised its annual revenue and profit forecasts for the second time this year after the snacks and beverages giant comfortably beat quarterly estimates on price hikes and resilient demand. Shares rose about 2% in early trading as the upbeat performance also eases investor worries over…
DAKAR (Reuters) – Senegal’s navy has intercepted a boat with around 70 migrants risking the perilous Atlantic route to Spain, the army said on Thursday, the third reported crossing this week as attempts from West Africa pick up in the warmer summer months. The vessel was caught late on Wednesday night at the mouth of…
By Sarah Marsh and Andreas Rinke BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany on Thursday published its first and long-awaited China strategy which was unflinching in its appraisal of Beijing’s “increasing assertiveness” but vague on policy measures to reduce critical dependencies. The 64-page document comes amid a broader push in the West to reduce strategic dependencies on a China…
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -The European Central Bank may need to continue raising interest rates beyond this month to bring inflation back to target, ECB policymakers said at their last meeting according to an account published on Thursday. The ECB raised its interest rates to their highest level in 22 years at the June 14-15 meeting and…
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. producer prices barely rose in June and the annual increase in producer inflation was the smallest in nearly three years, more evidence that the economy had entered a disinflation phase. The producer price index for final demand nudged up 0.1% last month, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Data for May…
