French power equipment specialist Schneider Electric has signed an agreement to acquire Spanish software firm Telvent GIT for €1.4bn ($2bn), the company said on Wednesday. Schneider, the world’s largest producer of low and medium voltage equipment, hopes to reinforce its solution capability for the smart grid electricity software according to a company statement. Telvent’s shareholders…
Unemployment in Germany fell for a 23rd straight month in May the Federal Labour Agency in Nuremberg said on Tuesday. The decline in unemployment is said to be largely due to increased spending by consumers and businesses and export driven growth according to the agency. Numbers fell to 2.96 million or 7 percent from April’s…
Japanese car manufacturers Honda and Toyota reported on Friday a global production drop of around half for April compared to figures the same period last year. Toyota reported a 47.8 percent slump in April to 308.555 vehicles while Honda announced a 52.9 percent drop year-on-year. The car manufacturers said the production decrease was due to…
French finance minister Christine Lagarde late on Wednesday formerly launched her bid to lead the IMF as managing director. Lagarde, a former corporate lawyer, is the favourite to succeed Dominique Strauss-Kahn who resigned following sexual assault allegations. Augustine Carstens, the governor of the Mexican central bank, is another key contender for the position. The IMF executive directors…
The head of Greece’s conservative party, Antonis Samaras, announced late on Tuesday that he would not back a further €6bn austerity measure to reduce the country’s deficit. The political stalemate over austerity measures is threatening to jeopardise the country’s next tranche of a €110bn bailout worth €12bn, which is due in June. Greece announced on Monday…
When planning investment in Mexico real estate, an interesting option to consider is tourist regions that have not yet registered on the international radar. Some of these locations offer a well-developed atmosphere, modern services and many activities; without much more investment, the areas are ready to take off as international locations, and are only waiting…
Electronics giant Sony announced late on Monday a revised surprise $3.18bn net loss for the fiscal year that ended in March. It originally posted a profitable projection of $857m in February. The company said the loss was triggered by the production disruptions due to the March earthquake and tsunami and the cyber attack on its online…
Low cost airline Ryanair posted a 26 percent profit increase to €401m in the year to March compared to €319m the previous year. Revenue rose 21 percent to €3.63bn from €2.98bn year-on-year due to a 12 percent jump in airfares, the company said on Monday. “We were pleased to deliver a 26 percent increase in profits…
When investing in Mexico real estate, one of the best ways to see quick and fairly certain property appreciation is by means of price reductions or “fire sales” from urgent sellers. While Mexico’s property market has, on the whole, been more stable than in the U.S., these urgent sales do arise on a regular basis,…
Tokyo Electric Power, the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant hit by the tsunami in March, announced on Friday an all time high $15bn net loss due to the disaster which destroyed four of its reactors. The news was followed by the resignation of Tepco’s president Masataka Shimuzu, and the head of the nuclear division,…
