Year: 2020

(Bloomberg) — Vodafone Group Plc kept its sales growing in the three months to March and pressed ahead with plans to bring in new investors for its wireless towers next year. The shares rose as much as 8.8%.Chief Executive Officer Nick Read said Vodafone’s go-it-alone strategy in the U.K. was still the right one, after rivals Liberty Global Plc and Telefonica SA announced a $39 billion merger of their British operations.The international mobile carrier reported organic service revenue growth of 1.6% in its financial fourth quarter, stronger than the 0.9% consensus of analyst estimates gathered by the company, and kept …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Saudi Arabia’s state-controlled oil giant retained its massive dividend despite a 25% plunge in profit, and signaled it would keep spending in check as it braces for deeper damage from the oil crisis.Saudi Aramco, the world’s most valuable company, will pay a dividend of $18.75 billion for the first three months of 2020. That would leave it on track to meet its full-year goal of $75 billion, though the company didn’t specify if it was still committed to that number.The dividend is crucial for the kingdom, which holds about 98% of Aramco and is facing its worst financial …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — An indicator of China’s coal demand surged almost a third above levels last year as hotter-than-usual weather and factories rushing to make up for lost orders boosted power demand, spurring a rebound in prices.Coal use by coastal power plants at five major utilities rose for an eighth day to 577,100 tons as of Monday, more than 30% higher than the same period last year and the most since Jan. 12, data from China Coal Transport & Distribution Association showed. The figure eased slightly to 562,300 tons Tuesday.China is recovering from the slump in February, when much of the …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — European stocks rose on Tuesday while U.S. equity futures declined alongside Asian shares as investors weighed fresh trade tensions and an up-tick in coronavirus infections in several nations. The dollar rose for a second day.The Stoxx 600 Index swung from a loss to a gain as advances for telecom and healthcare shares helped lift the gauge. S&P 500 futures retreated after the Trump administration moved on Monday night to block investments in Chinese equities by a government retirement savings fund. European government bonds dropped and Treasuries drifted.Global equities have recouped almost half of the plunge from their March …read more […]