Author: Arabian Media staff
This article is an on-site version of our FirstFT newsletter. Subscribers can sign up to our Asia, Europe/Africa or Americas edition to get the newsletter delivered every weekday morning. Explore all of our newsletters hereToday’s agenda: Trump’s UK state visit; Air India findings; Gaza “death traps”; investment banking’s bad runGood morning, and welcome back to the working week. We start with an exclusive interview with Germany’s defence minister Boris Pistorius ahead of talks with the US over European security.Re-arming Europe: Weapons makers should stop complaining and “deliver”, Pistorius told the Financial Times, as his government’s booming defence spending plans have…
Luxury brands are reinventing their approach to packaging as sustainability becomes a key differentiator in the high-end sector, according to a joint report released by Bain & Company and Fedrigoni Group. The report, Luxury Packaging: Resolving the Tension Between Creativity and Impact, forecasts that more than 30 per cent of all luxury packaging sales will adopt sustainable solutions within the next three years. Based on a survey of over 500 industry executives across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the report was launched at the “Explore – Fedrigoni Creative Summit” held in Paris last month. “Packaging is evolving from a…
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.French telecoms operators Orange, Bouygues and Iliad-owned Free are exploring a carve-up of Patrick Drahi’s rival telco SFR, in what would be a landmark deal to consolidate the country’s mobile market. Dividing up the group, which would probably be led by Bouygues or Iliad, would result in SFR’s assets being split between the companies, according to two people familiar with the matter.Blackstone, KKR and Ardian are among the investment groups to have recently held preliminary talks over financing options with SFR’s potential…
Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the US banks myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Investment banking is on course to extend a record streak of underperformance, supplying less than a quarter of Wall Street revenues at the biggest US banks for the 14th quarter in a row. Traders are due to come to the rescue of their advisory colleagues once again when the banks report second-quarter results next week, with total trading revenues at the five largest Wall Street banks forecast to be $31bn — more than three times the figure for investment banking. Analysts expect…
Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Pensions industry myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.The City of London Lord Mayor has criticised British companies for picking pension providers that charge the lowest fees, arguing more expensive managers who invest in alternative assets will deliver better returns. “We’ve ended up with pension pots that have lots of equity trackers and lots of fixed income because it’s a cheap way of doing it,” Alastair King said in an interview with the Financial Times, adding that there had been an industry “fixation” on costs over the past 10 years. King, who…
Images: Supplied Step into the sleek, fragrance-dotted offices of Sterling Perfumes in Dubai, and you’re immediately hit with the unmistakable notes of tradition, innovation and grand ambition. At the heart of it all is Dr Ali Asgar Fakhruddin, who has turned a family-run fragrance operation into a global brand. As chairman and CEO, Dr Fakhruddin isn’t merely following trends; he believes in meticulously setting them – in exquisitely designed glass bottles, in lingering scent trails, and in immersive experiences that resonate deeply with consumers long after the first spritz. “If your ambition isn’t audacious, you’re playing it too safe,” he…
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Chinese biotech shares are surging this year on growing optimism over innovative cancer treatments being licensed to western pharmaceutical companies. The Hang Seng Biotech index, which reflects the performance of the 50 largest such companies listed in Hong Kong, has returned 61.8 per cent so far this year, well ahead of the 20.6 per cent return on the city’s benchmark Hang Seng index. The rally marks the end of a prolonged bear market for China’s biotech industry. Interest in the sector faded…
After warm relations during his first term, Tokyo has not adapted to Donald Trump’s transactional approach in trade and defence Source link
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The EU is to pursue more subsidy investigations against foreign companies investing in the bloc as it steps up efforts to combat what it sees as unfair competition, its antitrust chief has said.Although not specifically aimed at China, the EU’s foreign subsidies regulation, which came into force in 2023, has been used to target many Chinese companies amid growing concern that oversupply by the world’s largest manufacturer is jeopardising European industry.Asked whether there would be more such probes under the regulation, Teresa…
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.MPs have accused the chair of the Financial Ombudsman Service of “disrespectful” behaviour, saying she tried to stop them finding out that the body’s chief executive was sacked after a “mutual collapse in confidence”.The scathing findings by the House of Commons Treasury select committee add to a deepening crisis at the FOS. Its powers are set to be curbed by chancellor Rachel Reeves in her Mansion House speech on Tuesday after it became a lightning rod for City criticism of regulators.MPs have…