Year: 2015

Machinery company Kennametal Inc. KMT recently lowered its earnings guidance for fiscal 2016 (ending Jun 2016) citing weakening end-market conditions as the primary reason. […]

Europe’s largest oil company Royal Dutch Shell plc RDS.A has received the unconditional clearance from China to proceed with its acquisition of BG Group plc − a leading upstream energy player in the UK. The permission clears the final regulatory obstacle that was in the path of Shell’s BG buyout. Shell had announced its purchase deal with BG Group plc in the first half of this year […]

World’s leading money transfer company, Western Union Co. WU has launched online money transfer capabilities in Europe. The regions include Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Solvenia […]

MasterCard Incorporated MA announced that the online fresh food grocer, FreshDirect will now use the digital payments platform, MasterPass, of the former. Customers of FreshDirect can now expect safe online and in-app payment process by via MasterPass. FreshDirect customers can now place their order online and make payments by clicking just once […]

After a subdued Black Friday performance at brick-and-mortar stores dampened the retail fervor, the markets turned buoyant again on positive sales data for November that indicates sufficient momentum in the economy. After all, the holiday season is not over yet and Christmas is right around the corner. Retail sales were up a modest 0.2% in November, following a 0.1% rise in October, representing the largest increase since July […]

The year 2015 was a comparatively unfruitful one for GoPro Inc. GPRO , which still continues with its bumpy ride. The company’s shares have been mostly down in the latter part of the year. […]

Corcept Therapeutics Inc. CORT announced initial efficacy data from its phase I/II trial on Korlym in combination with the chemotherapy drug, Halaven, at the 2015 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. The combination is being evaluated for the treatment of patients with glucocorticoid receptor (GR)-positive, metastatic, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). […]

Renowned multinational company WPP plc’s WPPGY subsidiary Ogilvy & Mather (‘O&M’) recently announced Anthony Wong as its new Worldwide Effectiveness director. Management believes that the new leader would help improve the company’s internal working culture as well as develop a more proficient communication system for its global customers. O&M is regarded as one of the largest marketing companies in the world […]

Amgen Inc. AMGN announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with GlaxoSmithKline plc GSK . Under this agreement, the former will regain all remaining rights to its bone drugs Prolia and Xgeva as well as cancer drug Vectibix in 48 countries including Asia, South America, Europe, Australia and other regions over the world from the latter. […]

AECOM ACM recently announced some key changes in its senior leadership positions to strengthen its prospects following the integration of the acquired engineering & construction firm URS Corp. In particular, AECOM has completed the integration and co-location of 800 URS employees and also formulated a robust human resource pool comprising 4,000 employees in 25 offices across Australia & New Zealand (“ANZ”). […]

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc RBS and its subsidiary The Royal Bank of Scotland plc were upgraded to ‘Positive’ from ‘Stable’ by Moody's Investors Service, a rating arm of Moody's Corporation (MCO). Moreover, the rating agency affirmed the subsidiary’s A3 aided by long-term deposit and senior unsecured debt ratings. […]

It was a week where oil prices dropped to levels not seen since Feb 2009 and natural gas futures settled below the $2 level for the first time in over 3 years. On the news front, Chevron Corp. CVX set its investment budget for 2016 at $26.6 billion, down 24% from this year […]

Shares of General Motors Company GM dropped 3% to $34.55 on Dec 11 after the automaker approved 399 death and injury claims, and awarded $594.5 million in compensation to the victims of accidents resulting from faulty ignition switches. With the addition of this compensation, the costs incurred by General Motors for the defective ignition switches have now exceeded $2 billion. This also includes a fine of $900 million imposed in third-quarter 2015 for the Deferred Prosecution Agreement. […]

Encana Corporation ECA has decided to slash its 2016 capital spending budget by 25% from this year. The Calgary, Alberta-based oil and gas explorer also announced plans to lower its 2016 annual dividend by more than 78%. The announcements were not unforeseen as the company has been hit hard by the persistent weakness in oil price. […]

PolyOne Corporation POL recently announced that it has acquired Magenta Master Fibers (Magenta), from BASF for $22 million. The buyout is expected to add $16 million to the company’s revenues and be accretive to its earnings in 2016. […]