Page 2255 - Business Finance

J&J beats profit estimates, lifts outlook on pharma unit strength

(Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson reported slightly better-than-expected third quarter profit and raised its full-year forecast on Tuesday as increased demand for cancer drugs and immune disorder treatments powered strong results for its pharmaceutical unit.

Strong blue-chip results power Wall Street rally

(Reuters) - The three main Wall Street indexes rose more than 1 percent on Tuesday as upbeat earnings from blue-chips such as Johnson & Johnson and Goldman Sachs eased jitters over the impact of rising interest rates and tariffs on corporate profits.

U.S. judge approves SEC settlement with Tesla, shares jump

(Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Tuesday approved a settlement between a federal regulator, Tesla Inc and its chief executive officer, Elon Musk, over his tweets promising to take the company private, signaling an end to a tumultuous period for investors.

Investors gloomiest on world growth in decade, cut US equity holdings: BAML poll

LONDON (Reuters) - Global investors have the most pessimistic outlook on the world economy since the 2008 financial crisis, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch's monthly survey, which also showed a sharp fall in U.S. equity allocations.

Johnson & Johnson edges past profit estimates, lifts outlook

(Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson reported slightly better-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday and pushed its full-year forecast higher, as demand for its cancer drugs Zytiga and Imbruvica helped offset falling sales of arthritis treatment Remicade.

Made in India Honor 8X to hit retail market by Oct-end: Huawei

Chinese handset maker Huawei expects to start selling its India-made Honor 8X smartphones by the end of this month, a senior official said Tuesday. "As we unveil Honor 8X here, its production has already started at Chennai plant. The initial lot will have to be imported but the made in India Honor 8X will be available for sale by the end of this month," P Sanjeev, Vice President Sales, Huawei India-Consumer Business Group said. The company unveiled three models of dual 4G sim enabled Honor 8X with 4GB RAM and 64 GB internal storage for Rs 14,999, 6GB RAM with 64GB storage variant for Rs 16,999 and 6GB RAM with 128GB storage variant for Rs 18,999 a unit. The smartphones will be available for sale on e-commerce portal Amazon from October 24. Sanjeev said that the company witnessed over 400 per cent jump in sales in third quarter over the second quarter of 2018 and expect to achieve the target sale during the ongoing quarter too.

Amazon in talks with Biyani's Future to buy stake

Online retailer Amazon is said to be in advance talks to acquire stake in Kishore Biyani-led Future Retail and the deal could be worth over Rs 2,000 crore, according to sources. Amazon, which is looking to expand its presence in India, already has stake in Shoppers Stop and More. The sources said Amazon and Future Retail have been in talks for few months now and a decision is likely to be made in the next 3-4 weeks. The deal could be worth well over Rs 2,000 crore, they added. When contacted, Future Retail and Amazon refused to comment. If the deal is through, this would be the third investment by the US-based company in the Indian brick-and-mortar retail ecosystem. Last year, retail major Shoppers Stop had announced raising Rs 179.26 crore from Amazon through an issue of equity shares on preferential basis. The deal with Amazon.com Investment Holdings LLC translated into just over 5 per cent shareholding for Amazon in Shoppers Stop. In September this year, Amazon said it has ...

Walmart warns investors it will 'test a lot and fail a lot;' cuts profit forecast

(Reuters) - Walmart Inc's chief executive officer on Tuesday urged investors to rethink the company's business, touting its various tech investments to grow online sales at a time it is battling Amazon.com for market share.

Tough markets hit BlackRock results; shares slump 4 percent

(Reuters) - BlackRock Inc's quarterly revenue fell short of Wall Street's expectations on Tuesday as the world's biggest asset manager reported its lowest sales of equity, bond and other long-term investments since the second quarter of 2016.

Hero MotoCorp's Q2 dips over 3%

Two-wheeler major Hero MotoCorp on Tuesday reported a decline of over 3 per cent in its net profit for the quarter ending September 30, 2018.

Cong accuses govt of destroying public sector, seeks SC-monitored probe into ONGC affairs

The Congress Tuesday demanded a court-monitored probe by experts to look into the affairs of ONGC in the past 52 months as it alleged a "systematic and calibrated" attempt by the government to destroy the country's public sector. Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said ONGC Employees Mazdoor Sabha has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging that the public-sector oil giant has been turned from a cash-rich company to totally debt-ridden that has to resort to avail overdraft facility in order to discharge the salary obligation of employees. "We would like to demand that in the light of these very-very serious facts which have been put on the record by the ONGC Mazdoor Sangh, the Supreme Court must appoint a panel of experts to go into the entire gamut of what happened to the ONGC in the past 52 months," he told reporters. "Our fear is that possibly what has been detailed in the letter, far-far more will emerge because this points to a systematic pattern to demolish the public .

Infosys Q2 net profit up 10.3% to Rs 4,110 cr; sees strong demand outlook

The India's second-largest software services exporter Infosys Tuesday posted a better-than-expected 10.3 per cent net profit growth in the second quarter after margins were boosted by large deal wins and reiterated its revenue forecast for full year. Net profit in July-September rose to Rs 4,110 crore, or Rs 9.45 per share, from Rs 3,726 crore, or Rs 8.15 a share, a year ago, the company said in a statement. Revenue from operations grew 17.3 per cent to Rs 20,609 crore. Infosys lifted the number of USD 100 million-plus clients to 23 from 19 in the previous quarter and said it stands by the previously projected 6-8 per cent revenue growth in constant currency terms for the full year ending March 31, 2019. "We are delighted with our broad-based growth across all business segments and geographies during the quarter. This is a testimony to our strong client relationships, digital led full-service capabilities, and intense focus on the needs of our clients," said chief executive Salil ...

Infosys net, revenue grow double-digit in Q2

Global software major Infosys on Tuesday reported double-digit annual growth in net profit and revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2018-19.

Global Markets: Stocks rebound with earnings in focus; oil slips

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks bounced back on Tuesday across the world, supported by earnings expectations, while oil prices fell on evidence of higher U.S. oil production and increasing U.S. crude inventories.

India has comparative edge over China in Africa: Tanzanian minister

India has a "comparative advantage" over China in building connectivity projects and trade corridors in Africa due to its compatibility and proximity to the continent, Tanzanian Foreign Minister Augustine Mahiga said Tuesday. Delivering a lecture at a prominent think tank, the minister, however, added that "there is room for everyone" in Africa. Earlier in the day, he held wide-ranging talks with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj focussing on stepping up cooperation in trade and investment, defence and security and oil gas sectors among others. In his address, Mahiga said usage of the term 'Indo-Pacific' is a recognition of India's pivotal role in establishing trading regimes and rules-based maritime freedom of navigation, and noted that Africa "counts" on India to play a very important part strategically and politically for the same. Responding to a question on connectivity projects by China in Africa, Mahiga said the Chinese model of investment is about not just creating ...

Omnicom beats on profit after digital shift, shares surge

(Reuters) - U.S. advertising company Omnicom Group Inc topped Wall Street expectations for profit in the third quarter as it cut jobs and shifted focus towards digital marketing to better compete with Google and Facebook.

UnitedHealth forecasts 2019 profit gains after earnings beat

(Reuters) - UnitedHealth Group Inc on Tuesday backed Wall Street's 2019 earnings forecast, citing momentum in newer businesses like providing medical services and traditional areas, including managing U.S. government Medicare health insurance plans.

U.S. judge approves settlement between SEC, Tesla and Musk

(Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Tuesday approved the settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission, Tesla Inc and its Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk.

Policies restricting data flow 'barriers' to growth of payments market in India: USIBC

With the RBI standing firm on its data localisation stance, the US-India Business Council (USIBC) Tuesday cautioned that policies restricting flow of data can act as "barriers" to expansion of services in India, impacting not only consumers but also growth of Indian payments market. The statement comes just a day after the expiry of RBI-imposed deadline on data localisation for payments companies operating in India. Nearly 80 per cent players in the payment industry, including Paytm and WhatsApp, have complied with the RBI norms for storage of payments-related data, but some debit/credit players are yet to fall in line, having reportedly sought more time. "USIBC seeks to continue working with Indian policy makers to address the concerns behind the data localisation policies and deepen the ability of American companies to serve the growing needs of Indian consumers in the payments markets," Nisha Biswal, president of US-India Business Council at US Chamber of Commerce, said in a ...

IIFL's subsidiary to acquire WAI for Rs 235 cr

IIFL Holdings said Tuesday its arm IIFL Wealth Management will acquire Wealth Advisors India Private Limited (WAI) for Rs 235 crore. In a stock exchange filing, the company said a share purchase agreement with WAI and its shareholders was entered on Tuesday "to acquire 100 per cent of the paid share capital of WAI, at a consideration of INR 235,00,00,000 (plus cash and cash equivalents of INR 18,58,74,000/- to be adjusted as on the closing date)." Upon execution of the , WAI will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of IIFL Wealth Management Limited (IIFLW). Employees of WAI will become part of IIFLW, entitled to agreed employment benefits, the filing said. "WAl's acquisition will bring on board its highly qualified management team, provide an immediate boost to the client-range of IIFLW and further its expansion into portfolio management and investment advisory business in southern India," IIFL said. WAI is a Chennai-based wealth management company primarily providing portfolio ...