Business in 60 Seconds

Tencent blacklists 37 firms, fires more than 100 staff

Tencent has blacklisted and terminated relations with 37 partner companies over embezzlement and bribery incidents. The Chinese social media and gaming giant has also fired more than 100 staff following a series of anti-graft investigations over the past year. Tencent said it would stick to a "zero tolerance" policy towards unethical behaviour.

Ant Group reportedly agrees with regulators on overhaul

Jack Ma's Ant Group has reportedly agreed to overhaul the business after it was forced to halt plans for what was set to be the world's largest IPO. According to Bloomberg, the fintech giant will be turned into a financial holding company at the behest of Chinese regulators. Meanwhile, Alibaba which Ma also founded - has reported a 37-percent jump in fourth-quarter revenue on a pandemic-driven jump in e-commerce.

Turkey's annual inflation rises to 14.97% in January

Turkey's annual inflation rose slightly to 15-percent in January, maintaining pressure for tight monetary policy. The cost of miscellaneous goods and services jumped the most, with prices rising 24-and- a-half percent year-on-year.. In December, annual inflation stood at 14-point-6 percent.

Robinhood raises another $2.4B amid surge in trading

Robinhood Markets has raised 2-point-4 billion dollars from shareholders in a bid to shore up its finances strained by turbulent trading. That's on the top of the 1 billion dollars it raised last week. The online brokerage has been at the centre of the boom in day trading, as retail investors bet against short sellers following calls on Reddit and other platforms.

Energy giant BP reports first annual loss in decade

BP has reported its first annual loss in a decade as the COVID-19 pandemic pushed oil and gas prices lower. The British energy giant slumped to a loss of 5-point-7- billion dollars.. down from a 10-billion dollar profit in 2019. Meanwhile, US rival ExxonMobil said it lost 22-point-4- billion dollars in 2020 on a writedown and losses in oil production.

US tech billionaire buys flight into orbit with SpaceX

US billionaire is buying an entire SpaceX flight for an undisclosed sum to take three people with him to circle the globe this year. Jared Isaacman, the founder of Shift4 Payments, says he wants to use the private trip to raise 200-million- dollars for an organisation that helps young cancer patients. The flight will bolster Elon Musk's efforts to make human spaceflights more common.

Turkey's manufacturing activity expands in January

Turkey's manufacturing activity expanded at a strong pace in January with sharp upticks in orders and output. The Purchasing Managers' Index for manufacturers rose to 54-point-4 last month, well above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction. The Turkish lira rose around 2-percent on the data.. hitting its highest level in more than five months.

Asos buys Topshop and other Arcadia brands for $405M

British online fashion retailer, Asos, has agreed to buy Topshop and three other brands from Arcadia for 405-million- dollars. But the deal does not include the group's 70 High Street stores, putting 25-hundred jobs at risk. Sir Philip Green's Arcadia fashion empire went into administration last year, becoming Britain's biggest corporate casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ryanair reports annual loss of $1.2B as COVID-19 bites

Ryanair has warned that it could lose nearly 1-point-2 billion dollars in its current fiscal year ending in March. Europe's largest low-cost carrier said it faced the most challenging period in its history, as governments restrict travel to curb the spread of coronavirus. But the Irish airline is expecting a strong recovery for the next summer period thanks to the vaccine rollout.

France's economy shrinks 1.3% in fourth quarter

France's economy fared better than expected in the fourth quarter despite the resurgence of coronavirus cases. Gross domestic product shrank by 1-point-3 percent in the final three months of last year, as new restrictions weighed on consumer and business activity. For the full year, the euro zone's second largest economy contracted 8-point-3 percent.

Turkey's exports slips 6.3% to $169.5B in 2020

Turkish exports slipped 6-point-3 percent on an annual basis to around 170-billion- dollars in 2020, as the pandemic ravaged economies around the world. Imports rose 4-point-3 percent to 220-billion- dollars, bringing the foreign trade deficit to 50-billion- dollars. The top destination for Turkish goods was Germany, followed by the UK and the US.

Dr. Martens shares surge after $1.8B London IPO

Shares in Dr Martens jumped as much as 18-percent in their market debut in London after the British bootmaker priced the IPO at the top of its indicative range. Shareholders including parent company Permira Holdings raised 1-point-8 billion dollars, giving it a market valuation of more than 5-billion- dollars. The listing is the UK's largest domestic IPO since September last year.

Kenya's economy enters first recession in 20 years

Kenya's economy has slipped into recession for the first time in 20 years as measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 hit industrial output. GDP contracted by 1.1-percent in the third quarter, after sliding five-and- a-half percent in the prior period. The country's education, tourism and food businesses are among the worst affected.

Samsung phone sales drop 11% in Q4 as rival Apple gains

Samsung's fourth quarter revenues climbed 2.8-percent compared to last year, on strong demand for home appliances. But mobile phone sales fell 11-percent, as rival Apple's new line-up of smartphones pulled customers away from the South Korean tech giant. The company expects the rollout of its new Galaxy smart devices to prop-up sales in this quarter.

Toyota overtakes VW as world's highest-selling auto brand

Toyota sold 9-and- a-half-million vehicles in 2020 to become the world's highest selling automotive brand. It's reclaimed the title from Volkswagen after five years. The Japanese automaker enjoyed strong demand, including a 10-percent jump in sales in China, bucking the declining trend in global auto sales.

South Korea's economy expands 1.1% in fourth quarter

South Korea's economy grew at a faster-than- expected pace in the fourth quarter, as surging exports helped offset sagging domestic demand. GDP expanded 1-point-1 percent in the final three months of 2020 compared with the prior quarter. But for the whole of last year, Asia's fourth-largest economy shrunk 1-percent, its worst growth rate in more than two decades.

Johnson & Johnson beats fourth quarter earnings expectations

Johnson and Johnson has reported better-than- expected fourth quarter results, boosted by demand for its prescription drugs. Net profit at the pharmaceutical giant came in at almost 1-and- a-quarter- billion dollars despite litigation expenses of 2-point-9 billion dollars. J&J has also offered an upbeat outlook for its business this year, as it races to develop a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine.

UBS unveils $4.5B share buyback programme as profits jump

UBS has unveiled a 4-and- a-half billion dollar share buyback program as it reported its highest annual profit of the post-financial crisis era. Net income at Switzerland's biggest lender came in at 6-point-6 billion dollars in 2020, up by 56-percent from the year before. Earnings were boosted by its wealth management and investment divisions.

Deutsche Bank probes sales of investment banking products

Deutsche Bank says it's conducting an internal probe into the alleged mis-selling of investment bank products. The investigation codenamed Project Teal has been launched in response to client complaints last year and initially focused on a desk in Spain. The move comes as part of the German lender's efforts to improve relations with regulators.

Mastercard to increase fees for UK purchases from EU

Mastercard will increase its transaction fees for British shoppers purchasing from an EU-based company. Credit card fees will increase to 1-and- a-half percent of the value of the purchase from the 15th of October, up from the current 0-point-3 percent charge. The global credit card giant has attributed the move to the UK's decision to leave the EU.

TikTok rival Kuaishou looks to raise up to $6.3B in IPO

TikTok rival, Kuaishou, is seeking to raise as much as 6-point-3 billion dollars in its Hong Kong initial public offering. That would be the largest tech IPO since the ride-hailing company, Uber, raised 8-billion- dollars in 2019. The deal could value the Chinese short video app at up to 62-billion- dollars, up from the 28-billion- dollars it achieved in a funding round last year.

Volkswagen reports operating profit of $12.2B in 2020

Volkswagen has defied the pandemic to report an annual operating profit of 12-point-2 billion dollars. That's as a late Chinese-led sales recovery helped to mitigate the impact of a widespread shutdown of global car production. The German carmaker has also emerged with a small gain in market share, with some of its rivals hit harder by the crisis.

China fails to meet US trade deal target in 2020

China has failed to meet its commitment to buy American goods under the "phase one" trade deal it signed with the US last January. In the first year of the deal, China imported 100 billion dollars' worth of goods, which is roughly 58 percent of the targeted 173 billion dollars for 2020. As part of the deal, Beijing has agreed to buy an additional 200 billion dollars of US goods by the end of 2021.

Google threatens to shut down search in Australia

Google has threatened to shut down its search function in Australia if a controversial bill designed to benefit the news media becomes law. Under the proposal, the Australian government is aiming to make tech giants pay local media outlets for sharing their content. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said lawmakers would not yield to threats made by Big Tech.

Norwegian Air gets state backing for restructuring plan

Norwegian Air has won state backing for its restructuring plan to exit bankruptcy protection. The government says it will help to fund a hybrid loan, provided the airline raises at least 530-million- dollars from investors, and the proposal receives court approval. The struggling carrier has grounded most of its aircraft during the coronavirus crisis.

Turkey's central bank keeps policy rate unchanged

Turkey's central bank has left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 17-percent following two consecutive rate hikes. Under the newly appointed governor Naci Agbal, the bank has hiked its one-week repo rate by 675 basis points since last November, in an attempt to reduce inflation. The bank says it will keep monetary policy tight for an "extended" period.

Beckhams pay themselves $20M in dividends since 2019

David and Victoria Beckham have paid themselves almost 20-million dollars in dividends, following strong sales of the former footballer's image rights. That's despite pre-tax profits at David Beckham Ventures Limited, which is wholly owned by the couple, falling to around 15-million- dollars in 2019. Victoria Beckham's eponymous fashion label reported an increase in sales, but it continued to lose money.

International Energy Agency cuts outlook for oil demand

The International Energy Agency has cut its global oil demand forecast for the year. That's due to a coronavirus resurgence that's prompted the return of lockdown measures around the world. The Paris-based agency now expects daily demand for oil to recover by 5.5-million barrels per day, down 300-thousand from last month's assessment.

Goldman Sachs, Bank of America post upbeat Q4 results

Net income at Goldman Sachs more than doubled to 4-and- a-half billion dollars in the fourth quarter, the highest in more than a decade.. with the firm's stock traders delivering a 40-percent revenue increase. Meanwhile, a drop in interest income at Bank of America helped drag down its earnings by 22-percent last quarter. America's second-largest bank says its profit totaled almost 5-and- a-half- billion dollars.

Hong Kong's jobless rate rises to 16-year high in Q4

Hong Kong's unemployment rate has jumped to a 16-year high, as a resurgence of COVID-19 hit economic activity. The jobless rate rose to 6-point-6 percent in the final three months of 2020, up from 6-point-3 percent in the third quarter. Unemployment in the consumption and tourism-related sectors remained above 10-percent.