介绍： Business
From The Economist 20161105

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Mark Carney, said he would continue as the governor of the Bank of England until 2019, a year beyond the end of his five-year term. Speculation had mounted that he would quit the role early. Mr Carney has come under pressure from some pro-Brexit MPs, who...

介绍： Business
From The Economist 20161105

Audio:

0:00



Mark Carney, said he would continue as the governor of the Bank of England until 2019, a year beyond the end of his five-year term. Speculation had mounted that he would quit the role early. Mr Carney has come under pressure from some pro-Brexit MPs, who say that he crossed the bounds of political neutrality before the referendum by warning of the economic repercussions of leaving the European Union. Mr Carney’s announcement was welcomed by Theresa May, the prime minister, who said it would bring much-needed stability. See blog.


Facebook announced that its quarterly revenue had increased by 56% compared with the year before. The social-media giant now controls more than 13% of the worldwide digital-ad business, second only to Google. But it has recently been dogged by a succession of controversies, including overstating how much time people spend watching videos on the site, censoring a famous photograph of a naked young napalm victim from the Vietnam war, and revelations that advertisers can choose to exclude certain racial groups from targeted messages.

Three Japanese shipping firms are to merge their container divisions. Nippon Yusen, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha will control around 7% of the world shipping market if the deal goes ahead.

Google must respond next week to antitrust allegations levelled by the European Commission. The commission has brought three charges: that the technology giant has abused the dominance of its Android operating system; that it has been blocking rivals in online-search advertising; and that it favoured its own shopping-comparison services over competitors’. Google, which could face hefty fines, seems unwilling to settle the case.

Definitely maybe

Japan’s central bank pushed back the date it expects to meet its inflation target once again. It said it now expects inflation to hit 2% by March 2019, a year later than it had hoped. A bold monetary-easing policy, introduced in 2013, has proved only a limited success. The Bank of Japan insists it can ease further if necessary.

There were contrasting results for two oil majors. Royal Dutch Shell said underlying profits had risen by 18% to $2.79bn in the third quarter, compared with the same period last year, well ahead of market expectations. BP, however, revealed its profits had fallen almost by half to $933m over the same period. Many energy firms’ results have been affected by lacklustre oil prices, which averaged $47 a barrel during the third quarter.


General Electric is to merge its oil-and-gas business with Baker Hughes, a Texas-based firm. The deal could be worth $30bn if it goes through. A proposed merger of Baker Hughes with Halliburton, its main rival in oilfield services, was thwarted by regulators in May.

Separations

Three senior executives at Tata Group resigned, deepening the turmoil at India’s largest conglomerate. The departures follow the sacking of the group’s chairman, Cyrus Mistry, who was fiercely critical of the decision by Ratan Tata to remove him.

Canada and the European Union finally signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, which removes almost all tariffs on trade between the pair. The deal had been vetoed by the Belgian region of Wallonia. It dropped its opposition after being given assurances on labour and environmental standards.

America’s central bank kept short-term interest rates unchanged, but implied that a rise in December is now likely. The Fed is keen to tighten policy rather than risk overshooting its 2% inflation target. The announcement followed news that America’s economy grew strongly in the third quarter: GDP increased by 2.9% compared with a year earlier.

Standard Chartered and UBS revealed that they are being investigated by regulators in Hong Kong. Reports suggest that there are concerns about their role in the 2009 flotation of China Forestry Holdings, which was co-sponsored by the banks.

Pills ‘n’ thrills and bellyaches

Reports suggested that Valeant, a Canadian drugs firm, was close to selling its Salix division to Takeda, a Japanese rival. Salix specialises in gastrointestinal drugs. It is thought that any deal might be worth around $10bn. Valeant could use the money: it has debts of some $30bn.

Gannett, publisher of USA Today, abandoned its pursuit of Tronc, owner of the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune. The two firms had agreed on a purchase price, but the deal fell apart after Gannett’s uninspiring quarterly earnings last week.


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