Search - business

 
 
Sony plans to file the termination notice before a Jan. 20 extended deadline for closing the deal with Zee.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 9, 2024

Sony plans to call off $10 billion merger with India’s Zee

The plan to cancel the deal is due to a standoff over whether Zee CEO Punit Goenka would lead the merged entity amid a regulatory probe.
The Pilbara Minerals Pilgangoora lithium project in Port Hedland, Western Australia
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 9, 2024

Lithium’s promised land looks more like the old country

Two decades ago, Australia mined less than a fifth of the world’s lithium. In 2021, it dug more than every other country put together.
Elon Musk attends an interview in New York on Nov. 29.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 10, 2024

SEC’s ‘compromised’ account amplifies X mistrust, security concerns

The high-profile breach comes at a time when X and billionaire owner Elon Musk are seeking to win back trust from both users and advertisers.
Grounded Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 airplanes on the tarmac at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Monday
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 11, 2024

Boeing's latest Max problem creates more headaches for airlines

Alaska Airlines and United Airlines together have 70% of the Max 9 planes in service and have canceled hundreds of flights.
Alex Clavel, co-CEO at SoftBank Investment Advisers, won SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son's trust as a steady hand managing and fixing SoftBank's complex or troubled transactions.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 12, 2024

Behind SoftBank’s investing cleanup, a U.S. dealmaker who survived the turmoil

Unassuming problem solver Alex Clavel is Masayoshi Son's top lieutenant leading the investment group's attempt at a turnaround.
A Post Office sign at a branch in a local convenience store near Ascot, England, on Friday. The Post Office scandal, where some 980 U.K. Post Office workers were wrongfully convicted of theft and false accounting, was triggered by faults in a Fujitsu computer system called Horizon that was used by U.K. Post Offices and inaccurately reported shortfalls in their accounts, resulting in private prosecutions of innocent branch managers for theft.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Jan 13, 2024

It took a TV show to bring justice in U.K.’s Post Office scandal

After a two-decade struggle, it was a TV drama that finally prompted the government to promise a swift end to the saga in favor of the victims.
Resonac CEO Hidehito Takahashi says the company may buy a stake in chip materials maker JSR.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 15, 2024

CEO who drove $7 billion deal is eyeing Japan chip linchpin JSR

Resonac's Hidehito Takahashi believes Japan's chip materials sector needs to consolidate to stay competitive against overseas rivals.
Some 40% of the 1,656 companies on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's prime section have publicly disclosed plans, while another 9% are considering such measures.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 15, 2024

Some 40% of firms on top Tokyo bourse disclose capital plans

The list of firms with plans to improve capital efficiency did not include some of Japan's most influential companies such as Toyota Motor and SoftBank Group.
A banner for the World Economic Forum hangs on a building on the first day of the annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 16, 2024

Pre-Davos survey indicates CEOs' fears regarding AI and climate

Some 45% of more than 4,700 global CEOs surveyed do not believe their businesses will survive, barring significant changes, in the next 10 years.
Uniqlo's Round Mini Shoulder Bag on sale at a store in London
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 16, 2024

Uniqlo sues Chinese fast-fashion rival Shein to defend hit bag

Fast Retailing joins rival Hennes & Mauritz in suing Shein for copyright infringement in Hong Kong where litigation has been underway since 2021.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 17, 2024

Japanese flying bike startup A.L.I. Technologies files for bankruptcy

The Tokyo-based startup had aimed to play a key role in an expected “air mobility society.”
Toshiba went private through a takeover bid after a series of battles with activist shareholders.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 21, 2024

Management buyouts by big companies on rise in Japan

The total value of management buyout deals exceeded ¥1.4 trillion in Japan in 2023 to hit a record high.
The rupture of one of the world's busiest shipping routes has exposed the vulnerability of China's export-reliant economy to supply snarls and external demand shocks.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 22, 2024

Red Sea crisis pressures China's exporters as shipping delays mount

Further Red Sea disruptions would pile pressure on a struggling economy already contending with a property crisis and weak consumer demand.
Sompo Holdings' Kengo Sakurada is planning to step down as the company's CEO at the end of March.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 23, 2024

Sompo Holdings' CEO to resign over handling of Bigmotor wrongdoing

The Financial Services Agency has ended its on-site inspections of Sompo Holdings and Sompo Japan and is expected to issue business improvement orders.
Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank Group, during a panel session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 17
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2024

World Bank chief eyes 'bigger' institution to tackle climate crisis

Ajay Banga said the bank is working to widen the way it looks at problems and increase collaborations with other institutions.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 23, 2024

BOJ stands pat on policy as quake's economic impact remains unclear

Observers are watching for when the BOJ will start exiting negative rates, amid growing expectations it will likely seek normalization this year.
Toshinori Yashiki, deputy director-general at the Financial Services Agency, urged lenders to pay particular attention to highly-leveraged borrowers.
BUSINESS
Jan 24, 2024

Japan regulator will probe risks to banks from higher rates

The Bank of Japan is expected to make its first rate hike since 2007 within a few months, raising the possibility that borrowers will struggle with higher interest payments.
BUSINESS
Jan 24, 2024

Japanese firms and unions kick off wage talks as markets bet on bigger pay hikes

Japan's big firms are expected to offer their unions wage hikes of 3.85% on average this year, the highest wage increase in 31 years.
China Southern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft at Boeing facilities in 2019. Between 2018 and 2022, Chinese customers booked only 25 Boeing planes, with sales dominated by cargo aircraft, according to Boeing data.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 25, 2024

Boeing delivers 737 Max jet to China in vote of confidence

It's unclear whether the event represents a real reset of the planemaker's relationship with Beijing or a temporary political concession.
The U.S. push to undermine Beijing’s semiconductor ambitions has increasingly singled out ASML, drawing the ire of the Dutch company's outgoing head Peter Wennink and some local lawmakers.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 26, 2024

ASML’s China sales surged despite secret Dutch deal with U.S.

The deal, which hasn’t been reported before, stumbled as ASML turned to Beijing to compensate for weak demand elsewhere.
Tokyo Metro plans to go public in the fiscal year that starts in April.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 26, 2024

Tokyo Metro to go public as Japan seeks to reap benefits of buoyant stock market

The company, which is owned by the national government and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, will be listed in the year that begins in April.
Toyota's main Tokyo office on Wednesday
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 26, 2024

Toyota union to demand record 2024 bonuses: report

With Toyota saying it expects to post record consolidated operating profits this financial year, the union is also likely to demand high pay hikes.
A pedestrian walks outside an Aeon store near Kofukuji Matsubara shopping street in Yokohama in April 2022.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2024

Japan's Aeon in exclusive talks to buy Tsuruha stake from Oasis

An increase in Aeon's stake would add to its drugstore business, a key growth driver for the firm.
The unemployment rate fell to 2.4% in December, government data shows.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 30, 2024

Japan job market remains tight, keeping hopes for wage hikes

The Bank of Japan is watching the labor market closely as it seeks evidence of a virtuous cycle linking rising wages with demand-led price gains.
A driver for an independent contractor to FedEx delivers packages on Cyber Monday in New York on Nov. 27, 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 31, 2024

Delivery firms struggle to adopt EVs as online sales drive up demand

Many climate pledges have been scaled back as the industry fails to keep pace with climbing emissions.
As China struggles with a slumping stock market and a collapsing real estate sector, commentary and even financial analysis Beijing deems negative are blocked.
BUSINESS
Jan 31, 2024

China’s censorship dragnet targets critics of the economy

The government's new information campaign about the economy is wider than usual censorship, with efforts now extending to mainstream commentary.
Akihiko Matsuura, head of UA Zensen, has called for a standard 6% increase in total wages.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 2, 2024

Major union UA Zensen calls for 6% pay raise to support BOJ policy shift

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is also pushing for wage gains after hikes last year failed to keep up with inflation, putting a burden on household budgets.
The Aozora Bank headquarters in Tokyo. The bank surprised investors with losses tied to U.S. commercial property, sending shares down by the limit and heightening concern over global banks' exposure to souring real estate bets.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 2, 2024

Gamble on U.S. commercial property blows up for Japan’s Aozora

Shares went down by the limit and heightened concern over global banks' exposure to souring real estate bets.
Aeon is aiming to encourage male workers to take child care leave. While almost all of its female employees currently take child care leave when they have a child, the rate for male employees is only 15%.
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2024

Aeon employees to receive 100% of income during child care leave

The retailer aims to gradually roll out the program from March to some 150 group companies.
A customer tries his Vision Pro at the launch of the product at a store in Los Angeles on Friday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 4, 2024

Vision Pro headset is Apple's next Mac and TV combined

The $3,500 headset, which blends 3D content with a view of the outside world, landed in the company’s physical U.S. stores on Friday.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person