Italy’s Saipem and Norway’s Subsea7 will combine in a merger worth an estimated $4.86 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported. The union will create a global company offering construction, drilling, engineering, and logistics services to the oil and gas industry.
Category: 4 March 2025
TOP TREND 2023: OFFICE BUILDING BUST
The Trump administration’s plan to slash the federal workforce will dump millions of square feet of empty square feet onto the office property market nationwide at a time when the sector is just beginning to stabilize after sliding for the past five years, The Wall Street Journal reported.
HONG KONG’S STOCK EXCHANGE PROFITABLE AGAIN AFTER TWO-YEAR DROUGHT
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), which operates Hong Kong’s stock exchange, booked a record profit of HK$13.1 billion, boosted by 71 new companies joining the exchange and a late-year rally after Beijing promised a major economic stimulus for the mainland.
HONG KONG CUTS CITY’S WORKFORCE, PLANS FOR A TECH-BASED FUTURE
The city of Hong Kong, facing a fifth budget deficit in the last six consecutive years, plans to chop 10,000 government workers from its payroll and embrace artificial intelligence (AI) to boost its economy.
COVID WAR PERMANENTLY REDUCED BUSINESS TRAVEL
Confirming our forecast made in “Bid Farewell to the Business Travel Economy,” (29 Sep 2020), the owner of British Airways said last week that business travel will never return to its pre-COVID volumes.
CANADIAN BUSINESSES LOSE CONFIDENCE AS TARIFFS LOOM
Confidence in Canada’s economy among small business owners sank for the third month in a row in the newest survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses (CFIB).
CHINA WILL INFUSE THREE MAJOR BANKS WITH $55 BILLION IN CASH
Following up on a broad stimulus commitment made last year to revive its torpid economy, China’s government plans to recapitalize three of its largest state-run banks in the months ahead, people familiar told Bloomberg.
GERMANY’S CENTRAL BANK REPORTS FIRST ANNUAL LOSS IN 46 YEARS
Germany’s Bundesbank lost €19.2 billion last year, its first negative year since 1979.
U.S. ECONOMIC BRIEFS
Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet’s investment vehicle, has sold all of its shares of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) managed by State Street Advisors and Vanguard, leaving it with no investments in ETFs.
GOING OUT OF BUSINESS TRENDS
The economic landscape has presented an array of challenges that will profoundly affect the business community this year.