Business in 60 Seconds

7-Eleven owner to buy US petrol station chain for $21B

The owner of the Japanese retail giant, 7-Eleven, is buying the US petrol station chain, Speedway, for 21-billion- dollars. The deal will add 4-thousand outlets to the grocery chain's existing 9-thousand- 800 shops in the US and Canada. 7-Eleven's profits fell 73-percent in the second quarter compared to last year becuase of the pandemic.

HSBC's first-half profit plunges 65% to $4.3B on bad loans

Profits at Europe's biggest bank, HSBC, plummeted 65-percent to 4.3-billion- dollars in the January to June period compared to last year. The lender has had to ease repayment terms on 27-billion- dollars' worth of loans. It's also setting aside 13-billion- dollars for bad loans, as a rising number of its clients suffer during the outbreak.

US department store Lord & Taylor files for bankruptcy

And one of America's oldest department stores, Lord & Taylor, is filing for bankruptcy. Its iconic flagship store on New York's FIfth Avenue was auctioned-off last year. Now its French owner, Le Tote, is looking for a buyer for the remaining 37-outlets. Meanwhile, Texas-based Tailored Brands is also restructuring nearly 700-million- dollars in debt.