Business in 60 Seconds

Turkey arrests dozens in Thodex crypto exchange fraud probe Turkish authorities are seeking a so-called 'red notice' from Interpol that would help them track down and arrest the founder of one of the country's biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, Thodex. Faruk Fatih Ozer, who's said to have fled to Albania, abruptly stopped payments to its 390-thousand active users. Turkish police have detained 62 people in eight cities including Istanbul, where Thodex is based, while 16 others remain at large. UK retail sales jump in March before lockdown easing UK retail sales jumped more than expected in March - the last month before coronavirus restrictions were eased. The volume of overall sales rose by 5-point-4 percent last month, thanks to purchases at clothing and gardening stores. Sales were also 1-point-6 percent higher than in February last year, before the pandemic struck. Panasonic to buy US software firm Blue Yonder for $7.1B Panasonic has agreed to buy US supply-chain software company, Blue Yonder, for 7-point-1 billion dollars. The deal marks the Japanese electronics giant's largest acquisition in a decade, as it looks to tap growing demand for artificial intelligence technologies. Last year, Panasonic bought a 20-percent stake in the company for 800-million dollars

Turkey opens probe into cryptocurrency platform Thodex Turkish prosecutors have launched an investigation into Turkish cryptocurrency exchange platform, Thodex. That's after the exchange abruptly shut down while holding at least 2-billion dollars, leaving thousands of users unable to access their digital assets. A preliminary assessment by police suggests Thodex's founder Faruk Fatih Ozer had flown out of the country on Tuesday. US weekly jobless claims fall to lowest level of COVID-19 US jobless claims fell more than expected last week as economic activity rebounded following the further easing of the coronavirus restrictions. Another 576-thousand people filed for unemployment benefits, down from 769-tthousand in the week prior. Claims are now at the lowest level since mid-March last year, when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Credit Suisse reports $275M Q1 loss after Archegos scandal Credit Suisse swung to a loss in the first quarter as it reels from back-to-back crises involving Archegos Capital and Greensill Capital. Net loss at the Swiss lender came in at 275-million dollars, driven by a 4-point-7 billion dollar loss linked to the collapse of Archegos. The bank says it'll raise nearly 2-billion dollars in capital to rebuild its balance sheet

UAE becomes second biggest buyer of US Treasury securities The United Arab Emirates surpassed China to become the second-biggest buyer of US Treasury securities in February after the UK. The oil-rich Gulf nation has added nearly 17-billion dollars' worth of US debt since January, raising its holdings to 50-point-6 billion dollars. The monthly haul was the biggest ever for the UAE. Australia scraps Victoria's Belt and Road deals with China Australia has scrapped agreements that the state of Victoria struck with China to co-operate on Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative. Foreign Minister Marise Payne says the deals agreed in 2018 and 2019 were inconsistent with Australia's foreign policy. Two other agreements between Victoria and the governments of Iran and Syria have also been cancelled. UK sues video app TikTok over use of children's data TikTok is being sued for several billion dollars for violating UK and EU data protection laws. The suit filed in London accuses the popular video app and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, of illegally collecting the personal information of millions of children in the UK and Europe. TikTok says the claims are meritless and that it would defend itself in court.

UK's unemployment rate falls unexpectedly to 4.9% The UK's unemployment rate fell unexpectedly in the three months through February, despite the country being in a tight lockdown. The jobless rate averaged 4-point-9 percent, edging down from 5-percent in the prior quarter. The Office for National Statistics linked the fall to a large number of people leaving the jobs market altogether. Johnson & Johnson reports 7% rise in Q1 net profit to $6.2B Johnson and Johnson has reported a 7-percent rise in first-quarter net profit to 6-point-2 billion dollars, beating analysts' expectations. The US drugmaker has also said its COVID-19 vaccine - that's on hold in the US - generated 100-million dollars in revenues. Last week, US regulators halted the use of the injection following severe blood clots in seven vaccinated women. Gojek, PT Tokopedia reportedly finalise $18B merger Indonesia's two most valuable start-ups - transport and delivery provider, Gojek, and e-commerce firm, Tokopedia - are reportedly finalising an 18-billion dollar merger. According to Bloomberg, Gojek's shareholders will hold 58-percent of the combined company, while the rest will be controlled by Tokopedia investors. Gojek's co-CEO, Andre Soelistyo, will head the new entity called 'GoTo'.

Consumers stockpile $5.4T of savings since pandemic began Moody's has found that up to 5-point-4 trillion dollars has been stockpiled by consumers worldwide since the coronavirus pandemic began. That's as household incomes receive support from unprecedented government stimulus schemes designed to counter the economic downturn. The ratings agency expects a strong rebound in spending as more businesses reopen. GameStop chief executive George Sherman to step down US video-game retailer, GameStop, says its chief executive George Sherman will step down before the end of July. Sherman's departure will give incoming chair Ryan Cohen more control as he leads the company's transformation into an e-commerce business. Shares in GameStop jumped as much as 10-percent after the announcement. Shares in Trip.com rise 4.5% on Hong Kong debut Online travel agency, Trip-dot-com, has made a strong debut in Hong Kong, with shares rising more than 4-percent. The company had sold its shares at 34-point-5 dollars a piece to raise 1-point-1 billion dollars. The secondary listing is part of a wave of Wall Street- listed Chinese firms seeking a foothold in the Asian financial hub, as they face the risk of being delisted in the US.

Singapore's Grab to go public in $40B SPAC deal Southeast Asia's ride-hailing giant Grab has agreed to go public in the US through a merger with special purpose acquisition company, Altimeter Growth. The largest ever SPAC merger will value Singapore- based Grab at nearly 40-billion dollars. The deal underscores the frenzy on Wall Street involving so-called blank cheque companies that have raised around 99-billion dollars in the US so far this year. Ant Group to restructure as financial holding company The Alibaba- affiliated fintech giant, Ant Group, will transform itself into a financial holding company under a government- ordered overhaul. It comes after Alibaba was hit with a 2-point-75 billion dollar fine, as a result of an anti-monopoly investigation. In November, Chinese regulators suspended Ant Group's 37-billion dollar initial public offering Turkey's retail sales, industrial production up in February Turkey's retail sales for February climbed at the fastest pace in five months. Sales by volume jumped 4-point-6 percent from a year ago, helped by demand for computers, books, and telecoms equipment. Meanwhile, industrial production rose an annualised 8-point-8 percent in February, the ninth straight month of gains.

Microsoft agrees to buy AI firm Nuance for about $16B Microsoft has agreed to buy artificial intelligence and speech technology firm, Nuance Communications, for about 16 billion dollars. The deal marks the US software giant's largest acquisition since it bought LinkedIn for more than 26 billion dollars in 2016. Microsoft and Nuance partnered in 2019 to roll out AI systems that help doctors with administrative tasks. Alibaba shares jump after $2.75B anti-monopoly fine Shares in Alibaba have jumped as much as 16-percent, after Chinese regulators fined the e-commerce giant 2-point-75 billion dollars for abusing market dominance. The company says the penalty marks an end to investigations into its online practices. Jack Ma's business empire has come under scrutiny since the billionaire's public criticism of China's financial regulator in October. Turkey's unemployment rate rises to 13.4% in February Turkey's unemployment rate rose to 13-point-4 percent in February. The figure was recorded before authorities eased coronavirus restrictions, and marked an increase from 12-point-7 percent in the previous month. Meanwhile, the country's current account deficit widened to 2-point-6 billion dollars in the same month.

Private equity firm CVC makes $20B offer for Toshiba CVC Capital Partners has made a 20-billion dollar offer to buy-out Toshiba. The bid comes as the Japanese conglomerate faces scrutiny over a series of scandals. Luxembourg-based CVC is one of several private equity firms to submit a bid, and is reportedly planning to take Toshiba off the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Toshiba's shares surged 18-percent on the news. Samsung Q1 profit up 44% on early release of smartphone Samsung Electronics says first-quarter profit likely rose 44-percent, thanks to the early release of its flagship S-series smartphone. A surge in demand for home electronics during the pandemic has also helped to boost sales. Analysts expect the South Korean tech giant's operating profit to come in at around 8.3-billion dollars for the three months to March. UK government launches new regulator for tech giants The UK has launched a new regulator aimed at curbing the dominance of tech giants. The Digital Markets Unit will create and monitor codes of conduct for companies like Facebook and Google and their relationship with users. The regulator was announced last year as a way to enforce a new pro-competition regime for online platforms.

Cryptocurrency market capitalisation tops $2T for first time The total value of the entire cryptocurrency market has topped $2 trillion for the first time, following a recent rally in prices of bitcoin and some other tokens. Bitcoin has surged by more than 100 percent this year with a growing number of financial institutions adding it to their portfolios. The world's most popular digital coin now represents over half of the market's total value. Credit Suisse removes two execs after $4.7B Archegos losses Credit Suisse is overhauling its executive ranks after revealing a $4.7 billion dollar loss linked to the collapse of Archegos Capital. The Swiss lender says its top investment banker, Brian Chin and chief risk officer, Lara Warner are stepping down. The Archegos fallout is the second scandal to hit the bank in just over a month, after the blow-up of Greensill Capital. EU regulatory official links AstraZeneca vaccine, thrombosis A top official in the European Medicines Agency has said that there is a link between the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine and blood clots. The UK, Norway and some other European countries have reported multiple deaths from blood clots among recipients of the vaccine.The EMA has previously declared that the benefits outweigh the risks and it should remain in use.

US court sides with Google in a copyright dispute with Oracle The US Supreme Court has handed Alphabet's Google a major victory in a long-running copyright battle with Oracle. The court said Google engaged in legitimate "fair use" when it used Oracle's Java programming language for the Android mobile operating system. Oracle had claimed at points to be owed as much as 9 billion dollars. GameStop shares slide after plan to sell $1B in stock GameStop is planning to raise up to 1 billion dollars from stock sales following a historic Reddit-fueled short squeeze. The video game retailer said it will sell up to 3-and-a-half million shares and will use the proceeds to fund its transformation into an e-commerce business. Shares in GameStop fell as much as 14 percent after the announcement. Turkey's annual inflation rises to 16.19% in March Turkey's annual inflation rose to 16.19 percent in March, keeping pressure on the central bank to maintain a tight monetary policy. The cost of transportation increased the most, with prices rising nearly 25 percent year-on-year, driven by higher energy and import prices. In February, annual inflation was recorded at 15-point-61 percent.

US unemployment claims fall to 684,000 last week US jobless claims fell more than expected last week as economic activity rebounded following weather-related disruptions. Another 684-thousand people filed for unemployment benefits, down from 781-thousand in the week prior. Claims are now at the lowest level since mid-March last year, when the coronavirus pandemic began. Mastercard faces $19B class action lawsuit in UK US credit card giant Mastercard is facing a historic 19-billion dollar class action lawsuit for allegedly overcharging UK consumers between 1992 and 2008. A two-day court hearing has kicked-off in London to determine the fate of Britain's first mass consumer claim. If the court rules against Mastercard, around 46-million people in the UK could receive a payout of up to 410 dollars. Cineworld reports first annual loss, raises more debt The world's second-largest cinema operator, Cineworld, has reported its first-ever annual loss due to the pandemic. The group, which shut all of its 660 movie theatres in the US and the UK in October, suffered a pre-tax loss of 3-billion dollars in 2020. The Regal Cinemas owner has also raised a further 213-million dollars in funds to bolster its finances.

Turkey's exports rose 9.6% in February, imports up 9.4% Turkey's exports rose by 9.6 percent on an annual basis to $16 billion last month, as economies around the world gradually reopen. Imports were also up 9.4 percent to $19.3 billion, bringing the foreign trade deficit to $3.3 billion. The top destination for Turkish goods during the month was Germany, followed by the UK and the US. Huawei's profit growth slows sharply as US sanctions bite Huawei's annual profit growth slowed sharply in 2020, as US sanctions and disruptions caused by the pandemic weighed on its operations. Net profit at the Chinese telecom giant came in at $9.9 billion, up by 3.7 percent year-on-year. That's down from the 5.6 percent growth recorded in the previous year. H&M swings to quarterly loss of $122M due to store closures H&M has swung to a quarterly loss, as lockdowns forced more than a third of its stores to close. The world's second-largest fashion retailer reported a net loss of $122 million in the three months to March. Meanwhile, the company says its commitment to China remains strong, in response to a boycott launched by Chinese shoppers after H&M spoke out about forced labour in the Xinjiang region.

Turkey to take Saudi boycott to World Trade Organization Turkey's lodging a complaint with the World Trade Organisation against Saudi Arabia for forcing businesses to boycott Turkish goods. Riyadh has been ramping up pressure on Ankara after a Turkish court began hearing a case against Saudis accused of murdering journalist Jamal Khashoggi. A decision against the kingdom would force it to compensate Turkish businesses for the lost revenues. Growth in South African labour costs slows to 3.9% in Q4 Growth in South African labour costs has continued to slow from a 27-year high in the fourth quarter. The South African Reserve Bank's latest quarterly bulletin shows growth in nominal unit labour costs fell to 3-point-9 percent from 4-point-6 percent in the previous quarter. BioNTech reports $430M net profit in Q4, shares surge BioNtech has reported better-than-expected fourth quarter results, sending its shares up more than 5 percent. Net profit at the German biotech company came in at 430 million dollars in the final three months, thanks to sales of its coronavirus vaccine. The company has also projected 11-and-a-half billion dollars in vaccine sales based on its existing contracts.

J&J agrees to supply 400M vaccine doses to African countries Johnson and Johnson has agreed to supply up to 220-million doses of its single-shot coronavirus vaccine to the African Union this year. The US drugmaker says the delivery of the jabs to the 55 AU members will begin in the third quarter of 2021. A further 180-million doses could then be delivered next year. Vietnam's economy grows 4.48% in the first quarter Vietnam's gross domestic product grew nearly 4-and- a-half percent in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period a year earlier. That's as exports rose 22-percent, boosted by a surge in shipments of smartphones and personal computers to the US. The Southeast Asian nation is one of the few economies that didn't contract last year during the pandemic. China's Xiaomi opens production facility in Turkey One of China's biggest technology companies, Xiaomi, has launched a production facility in Turkey with supply giant, Salcomp. The factory in Istanbul will have an annual production capacity of 5-million smartphones and will employ around 2-thousand people. At the opening ceremony, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey offers important opportunities for foreign investors due to its dynamic labour force and strategic location.

Pfizer begins human trials of oral COVID-19 drug Pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer, has begun early-stage US trials on a coronavirus oral anti-viral drug. The pill is designed to be taken early in an infection to prevent the virus from replicating in cells before patients get very sick. The drugmaker says there haven't been any unexpected problems in the study so far, and that it could generate results within weeks. Intel to invest $20B to build two semiconductor plants in US US chipmaker, Intel, says it will spend 20 billion dollars to build two semiconductor plants in Arizona in a bid to ramp up production. The announcement comes amid a global chip shortage that's slowed manufacturing activity in the auto industry. Intel's stock jumped as much as 7 percent after its announcement, while shares in Asian rivals, TSMC and Samsung, edged lower. Tesla starts accepting bitcoin as payment for its cars Tesla has started accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment for its electric cars. The option to pay using the cryptocurrency has been offered on the company's US website and will be available in other countries later this year. In a tweet, CEO Elon Musk also said that any bitcoin paid to Tesla will be retained as Bitcoin and not converted to a fiat currency.

UK unemployment falls to 5% in three months to January Unemployment in the UK has fallen for the first time since the pandemic began, with the jobless rate slipping to 5-percent. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show the number of workers on company payrolls climbed by almost 200-thousand in the three months to February. But the ONS says people aged under 25 continue to bear the brunt of job losses during the crisis. Microsoft reportedly in talks to buy Discord for $10B Microsoft is reportedly in talks to buy messaging platform, Discord, for more than 10-billion dollars. According to a Bloomberg report, Discord has reached out to potential buyers, including the US software giant. The San Francisco-based app is best known for its free service that lets gamers communicate by video, voice and text. Twitter's Jack Dorsey sells the first tweet as NFT for $2.9M Twitter founder Jack Dorsey has sold his first tweet to a Malaysia-based businessman for just over 2-point-9 million dollars. The tweet was sold as a non-fungible token - a unique digital certificate that authenticates digital assets. The buyer - Sina Estavi - says he believes the first-ever tweet will appreciate in value, just like the Mona Lisa.

CEO Leon Black quits Apollo over Jeffrey Epstein scandal Wall Street billionaire Leon Black has quit his leadership positions at Apollo Global Management, the investment giant he co-founded. Black's departure comes amid scrutiny over his ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself while facing federal sex trafficking charges. Apollo co-founder Marc Rowan has taken over as CEO Canadian Pacific to buy Kansas City Southern for $25B Railway group, Canadian Pacific, has agreed to buy Kansas City Southern for 25-billion dollars, marking the largest takeover deal so far this year. The transaction values the US freight group at 275-dollars per share, accounting for a 23-percent premium on Friday's closing price. The acquisition will create a 32-thousand kilometre railway network linking the US, Mexico and Canada. Deliveroo targets valuation of up to $12B in London IPO Online food delivery start-up, Deliveroo, is seeking a valuation of up to 12 -billion dollars in its planned initial public offering in London. The deal could mark Britain's largest stock market debut since commodities giant Glencore went public nearly a decade ago. The plans come at a time when lockdowns have forced restaurants to close, leading to a surge in online orders.

New Zealand's economy unexpectedly shrinks 1% in Q4 New Zealand's economy suffered a surprise contraction in the fourth quarter, denting hopes of a swift recovery from the pandemic. GDP shrank by 1 percent in the final three months of 2020, following nearly 14 percent growth in the third quarter. Economists expect the economy to shrink further in the current quarter, which would put the Pacific nation in a technical recession. Credit Suisse suspends bonuses over Greensill collapse Credit Suisse will overhaul its asset management business and suspend bonuses for some senior executives as it tries to contain the fallout from the collapse of Greensill Capital. The Swiss lender had multiple ties to Greensill, including 10-billion dollars of funds that offered exposure to the company's loans and were marketed to the bank's clients as safe investments. Shares in SK Bioscience jump 160% on market debut Shares in South Korean vaccine maker, SK Bioscience, more than doubled on their market debut. The company's stock jumped 160 percent on Seoul's KOSPI exchange, boosting its market value to 11-and- a-half billion dollars. The local manufacturer of AstraZeneca's vaccine raised 1-point-3 billion dollars from the IPO, marking the biggest domestic listing since 2017.

Four US states join Texas-led lawsuit against Google Four more US states have joined a Texas-led lawsuit against Alphabet's Google, bringing the number of plaintiffs to 15 states and territories. The lawsuit accuses the internet giant of breaking antitrust laws to boost its already dominant advertising business. Filed in December, the complaint is one of three ongoing antitrust cases against the search giant. Greensill family reportedly cashed out before collapse Australian businessman Lex Greensill and his family reportedly sold about 200-million dollars of shares in their financial services firm two years before its collapse. According to the Financial Times, the family cashed-out after Greensill Capital received a 1-and- a-half billion dollar investment from SoftBank in 2019. The business filed for administration in the UK last week Samsung warns of deepening semiconductor shortage Samsung has warned that a global chip shortage that's currently disrupting carmakers could spread to the broader technology sector. The South Korean tech giant expects the shortage will impact its business in the second quarter. Suppliers are struggling to meet the unprecedented demand for semiconductors, amid a surge in sales of cars and electronics during the pandemic.

Sackler family increases opioid settlement offer to $4.3B Members of the Sackler family who own Purdue Pharma, have offered 4-point-3 billion dollars to resolve thousands of lawsuits linked to their powerful painkiller, OxyContin. Purdue is accused of fueling America's deadly opioid epidemic through the deceptive marketing of the drug. A group of around half of all US states has rejected a previous settlement offer of 3-billion dollars. Encrypted messaging app Signal blocked in China The encrypted messaging app, Signal, has stopped working in China without the use of a virtual private network. Signal is one of the last widely used apps in the country that allows users to send and receive messages that can't be accessed by a third party. The ban comes at a time of increasing internet censorship in China, where Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have long been blocked. Nokia plans to slash up to 10,000 jobs by 2023 Nokia is planning to slash up to 10-thousand jobs over the next two years as part of a wider restructuring plan. The job cuts come as the Finnish telecoms equipment maker tries to regain its competitiveness in the race to win orders for 5G networks. The company says the restructuring could cost as much as 835-million dollars by the end of 2023.