Starbucks sells 24 stores in Australia to 7-Eleven owner

SYDNEY (AFP) ― The owners of the 7-Eleven chain in Australia have taken control of coffee giant Starbucks’ struggling local operations in a bid to turn around its fortunes, the company said on Wednesday.While the iconic U.S. brand dominates in some parts of the world, it has failed to gain a foothold in a long robust Australian coffee market and only has 24 stores.The Withers Group, which has built its convenience store operations to include 600 outlets, has now acquired the local Starbucks lice

May 28, 2014

‘China’s golden era for property over’

China Vanke Co., the nation’s biggest developer, is focused on developing homes for owner occupiers rather than investors because the country’s property industry has passed its “golden era,” said President Yu Liang. “The period in which everybody makes money out of property is gone,” Yu told reporters May 26 in Dongguan, a southern city in Guangdong province. “Vanke will take a cautiously optimistic approach to face the slowdown and target those buyers who need homes for self-use.” Pressure on C

May 28, 2014

Pfizer ends attempt to buy AstraZeneca

Even in a high-stakes deal worth almost $120 billion, one that would create the world’s biggest drugmaker, the personal details matter. In a postmortem of the failed takeover talks between Pfizer Inc. and AstraZeneca Plc, a surprise offer, disagreement over a press release and the difference between a personal visit and a telephone chat played a big role. Chinese food had a cameo. “It’s sometimes not just about the money but about how you play the psychological issue behind a transaction,” said

May 27, 2014

Developing countries see swelling middle class: ILO

GENEVA (AFP) ― Workers in developing countries are increasingly moving to better jobs and joining the middle class, but 839 million workers still earn less than $2 a day, the International Labor Organization said. “The developing countries are generally in a process of catching up with the advanced economies,” ILO chief Guy Ryder told reporters in Geneva ahead of the release of the agency’s annual World of Work Report on Tuesday.Between 1980 and 2011, per capita income in the developing countrie

May 27, 2014

‘Sony still a Walkman in an iPad age’

TOKYO (AFP) ― Sony’s latest bid to halt years of losses and resuscitate its brand has provoked snorts of derision among analysts who say it falls a long way short.The criticism came after Sony president Kazuo Hirai on Thursday pledged to drag the electronics giant out of a painful restructuring in the current fiscal year and pointed to ultra-high-definition technology as a possible savior for its money-losing TV unit.Hirai, appointed in 2012 to revive a company mired in losses, has centered his

May 26, 2014

Pfizer on verge of ditching AstraZeneca buy

Pfizer Inc. is on the verge of abandoning, for now, its effort to buy for 69.4 billion pounds ($117 billion) in what would have been the biggest deal ever in the drug industry. The deadline for Pfizer to make a firm offer arrives Monday, and the New York-based drugmaker almost certainly will announce that it won’t do so, said a person familiar with the plan who asked not to be identified because the process is confidential. Under U.K. government rules, the two drugmakers face an at least three-m

May 26, 2014

What shopping will look like in future

NEW YORK (AP) ― One of America’s favorite pastimes is changing rapidly.When it comes to shopping, more Americans are skipping the stores and pulling out their smartphones and tablets. Still, there’s more on the horizon for shopping than just point-and-clicking.No one thinks physical stores are going away permanently. But because of the frenetic pace of advances in technology and online shopping, the stores that remain will likely offer amenities and services that are more about experiences and l

May 25, 2014

BOJ chief voices impatience with Abe policy blitz

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan’s central bank chief has forecast victory in his battle against stubborn deflation that has sapped growth for years, but expressed impatience over the pace of Premier Shinzo Abe’s policy blitz aimed at jump-starting the long-laggard economy.Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said stimulus measures had boosted economic activity and produced durable inflation. But he warned that Abe’s government needed to step up its campaign for deeper, structural reforms that go beyond moneta

May 25, 2014

Barclays fined $44m over gold fixing

LONDON (AFP) ― Scandal-hit Barclays has been fined more than 26 million pounds ($43.87 million) after a former trader at the bank attempted to manipulate the price of gold, Britain’s financial regulator said Friday.The Financial Conduct Authority said in a statement that it had fined Barclays 26 million pounds “for failing to adequately manage conflicts of interest between itself and its customers as well as systems and controls failings” in relation to a fixed London pricing of gold over a nine

May 25, 2014

Economist Piketty calls FT’s criticism ‘ridiculous’

PARIS (AFP) ― French economist Thomas Piketty hit back Saturday at criticism by the Financial Times of his best-selling book on income inequality, telling AFP the newspaper was being “ridiculous.”The FT claimed Friday there was little evidence in the 43-year-old’s original sources to underpin his argument in “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” that an increasing share of total wealth is in the hands of the richest.But Piketty said: “The FT is being ridiculous because all of its contemporaries

May 25, 2014

China manufacturing gauge rises in sign of economy stabilizing

A Chinese manufacturing gauge rose to a five-month high in May, sending Asian stocks higher on optimism the economy is stabilizing after government moves to counter a slowdown. A preliminary purchasing managers’ index from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics was at 49.7, exceeding the 48.3 median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News and a final reading of 48.1 in April. The number remained below the expansion-contraction line of 50. Communist Party leaders are betting that measures

May 22, 2014

Google overtakes Apple as world’s top brand: survey

A pedestrian walks outside Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California. (Bloomberg)PARIS (AFP) ― U.S. search engine Google has overtaken rival technology titan Apple as the world’s top brand in terms of value, global market research agency Millward Brown said Wednesday.Google’s brand value shot up 40 percent in a year to $158.84 billion, Millward Brown said in its 2014 100 Top BrandZ report.“Google has been extremely innovative this year with Google Glass, investments in artificial intell

May 21, 2014

GM recalls another 2.4m vehicles

DETROIT (AP) ― Another day, another recall from General Motors.At least that’s the way it seems as the automaker reviews safety issues across its line-up of cars and trucks in the wake of a mishandled recall of millions of older small cars.The number of recalls issued this year by the nation’s top carmaker rose Tuesday to 29 as GM announced four separate actions affecting 2.4 million cars and trucks. While no fatalities were involved in the latest recalls, the problems were serious enough that G

May 21, 2014

Obama hosts CEOs investing in U.S.

WASHINGTON (AP) ― President Barack Obama played the role of business pitchman Tuesday, saluting executives whose companies have chosen to gain or expand their footprint in the United States.Obama, at the White House, welcomed leaders of 11 foreign and U.S.-based firms that have opened new plants in the United States or brought back overseas operations.Obama cited low energy costs, a productive workforce and a “dynamic economy” as major U.S. attractions for corporate investment.“We want folks to

May 21, 2014