Morning News | Swissquote

Pernod Ricard FY 2021 Margins Bolstered by Cost Control, Sales Volumes; Invests in US Peer

Cost discipline helped Pernod Ricard expand its margins in fiscal 2021, the French drinks group said Wednesday, as it revealed that it is taking a minority stake in a U.S. premium-focused peer. Pernod Ricard's operating margin expanded by 213 basis points in the 12 months to end-June, the company said. This was driven by a 64-basis-point increase in the gross margin on stable pricing and better absorption of fixed costs thanks to volume growth, Pernod said.

02.09.2021

Arkema to Buy Ashland Adhesives Business for $1.65 Bln

Arkema has agreed to acquire the performance-adhesives unit of Ashland Global Holdings Inc., the French specialty-chemicals company said. The deal values the business at $1.65 billion, around 15 times estimated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization this year, adjusted for related tax benefits, Arkema said. The acquisition will be fully funded by cash, the company said.

01.09.2021

Baxter Nears $10 Billion Purchase

Baxter International Inc. is in advanced talks to buy medical-equipment maker Hill-Rom Holdings Inc. for around $10 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. A deal that values Hill-Rom at around $150 a share could be reached by midweek assuming the talks don't fall apart, the people said. The talks follow an earlier bid from Baxter worth $144 a share that Hill-Rom rebuffed. Hill-Rom shares jumped in late July on news of that bid and have remained elevated, closing Friday at $132.90. Hill-Rom currently has a market capitalization of nearly $9 billion.

31.08.2021

Powell Says Fed Could Start Scaling Back Stimulus This Year

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reaffirmed the central bank's emerging plan to begin reversing its easy-money policies later this year while explaining in greater detail why he expects a recent surge in inflation to fade over time.

30.08.2021

Bouygues Plans to Make Bid for Engie's Technical Service Provider Equans

French construction-and-media conglomerate Bouygues SA (+1,1%) intends to make an independent bid for Equans in early September, its Chief Executive Officer Olivier Roussat said Thursday. Bouygues was initially considering a bid for Equans in partnership with U.S. private equity firm Apollo Global Management Inc., according to sources close to the company quoted last month by French financial media group L’Agefi.

27.08.2021

Western Digital in Advanced Talks to Merge with Kioxia

Western Digital Corp. (+7.8%) is in advanced talks to merge with Japan’s Kioxia Holdings Corp., according to people familiar with the matter, in a deal that could be valued at more than $20 billion and further reorder the global chip industry. Long-running discussions between the companies have heated up in the past few weeks and they could reach agreement on a deal as early as mid-September, the people said.

26.08.2021

Best Buy Just Keeps Getting Better

Best Buy (+8,4%) has gone from Amazon’s showroom to a rising competitor to the e-commerce giant. The consumer electronics retailer handily beat Wall Street expectations on both the top and bottom lines in the quarter ended July 31, with net income 56% higher than analysts were penciling in. Even compared with the pre-pandemic year, its revenue grew 24%.

25.08.2021

FDA Approves Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 Vaccine for People 16 and Older

The Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc. and partner BioNTech SE received full approval from U.S. regulators Monday, which many public health officials and vaccine experts hope will encourage hesitant populations to get the shot. Pfizer rose $1.21, or 2.5%, to $49.93 and BioNTech climbed $33.42, or 9.6%, to $382.10. The Food and Drug Administration's clearance of the shot for people 16 years and older is the agency's first full approval of a Covid-19 vaccine.

24.08.2021

U.K. Regulator Calls for Probe of Nvidia's $40 Billion Deal to Buy Chip Designer Arm

A U.K. regulator has serious concerns about whether Nvidia's $40 billion plan to buy British chip designer Arm would choke competition and wants an in-depth investigation of the deal. Any probe, however, would have to be ordered by the government's digital chief. "We're concerned that Nvidia controlling Arm could create real problems for Nvidia's rivals by limiting their access to key technologies, and ultimately stifling innovation across a number of important and growing markets," said the authority's chief executive, Andrea Coscelli.

23.08.2021