Business this week

General Electric announced a long-awaited turnaround plan. The conglomerate is to refocus its business on three core areas—power, aerospace and health care—and to retreat from other industries, such as transportation and lighting. It wants to sell $20bn-worth of assets. But the plan, coupled with only the third dividend cut in GE’s 125-year history, did not go down well with investors, who pushed its share price to a six-year low. See article.

Procter & Gamble, another giant conglomerate that is feeling the heat from investors, faced an embarrassing defeat in a proxy fight. A preliminary count of shareholders showed that Nelson Peltz, who runs an activist management fund, had won a seat on the board, reversing P&G’s claims of victory last month.

On the cusp of change

The former chief executive of Uber, Travis Kalanick, resolved a disagreement with Benchmark, a big investor, over appointments to board seats, three of which are in effect controlled by Mr Kalanick. The issue had been a stumbling block in talks between Uber and SoftBank, which is considering buying a big stake in the business.

The major credit-rating agencies declared that Venezuela, whose cash-strapped socialist government has said that it will need to restructure its debt, had defaulted on some international bonds. A first meeting with creditors in Caracas brought no tangible progress. But a loan-restructuring agreement with Russia should provide the regime with some breathing-space.

Missouri’s attorney-general launched an investigation into Google for possibly violating the state’s competition laws. The probe is wide-ranging and will look at how Google collects data and whether it has unfairly used its dominance in the search market. Missouri’s broadside could be the opening shot in a potential volley of state lawsuits aimed at the giants of Silicon Valley.

Steve Jurvetson, one of the most prominent investors in Silicon Valley, stepped down from the venture-capital firm he helped to found. He said that claims about “sexual predation and workplace harassment” were “wholly false”. Mr Jurvetson is also on leave from the boards of Tesla Motors and SpaceX until the matter is cleared up.

Altice’s share price plunged amid concerns about the amount of debt held by the telecoms group and its ability to grow in France, its biggest market. Its share price has tumbled by almost half since the start of November. The company’s chief executive has left. Patrick Drahi, who founded Altice, has been appointed president.

In an effort to comply with laws that limit short-term leases in Paris, Airbnb imposed an automatic cap on the number of days its hosts in the French capital can rent out their homes. Paris is Airbnb’s biggest market worldwide. But its cap applies only to four of the city’s most central arrondissements, which may not be enough to assuage officials.

Seasonal prices

Britain’s annual inflation rate remained unchanged in October, at 3%. The stability of the headline figure disguised some uncomfortable pressures on household finances. Until the beginning of 2017 food prices had been falling for more than two years, but they soared last month. Alcohol and tobacco prices have also risen and clothing and other household goods are also costlier. With Christmas around the corner, festive cheer may be in short supply this year. See article.

Richard Cordray said he would step down as the head of America’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The agency was created during the Obama administration, earning the wrath of many in the banking industry for its regulatory activism. Mr Cordray managed to push back against plans to curb the CFPB’s powers. His successor, who will be appointed by Donald Trump, may support them.

Singles Day in China reaped $25bn in sales for Alibaba, surpassing last year’s tally of $18bn. At its peak customers bought 325,000 items a second. The e-commerce giant hopes to make Singles Day a truly global affair, so that consumers elsewhere can participate in the orgy of shopping.

Duck and drive

Geely, a Chinese carmaker, made a bet that flying cars are ready to take off by buying Terrafugia, an American startup that hopes to bring its first aerial vehicle to the road, and the air, by 2019.

A painting of Christ attributed to Leonardo da Vinci was auctioned at Christie’s in New York for $450m, smashing the previous record for a piece of art. The provenance of “Salvator Mundi” is controversial. Many scholars believe it was painted by a follower of da Vinci and not the master himself. It was sold at an auction in 1958 for £45 ($126).

Let's block ads!(Why?)

Read again Business this week : http://ift.tt/2yOaFEf

Let's block ads! (Why?)