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By Swissquote Analysts
Morning News

ABB Completes Sale of Power Conversion Division to AcBel

Technology group ABB (-1.6%) has completed the sale of its Power Conversion division to Taiwan's AcBel Polytech. The sale will result in a non-operating accounting profit for the third quarter of 2023, ABB disclosed on Monday. With the completion of the sale announced in January, ABB has now completed all divestments of businesses that were planned for at the end of 2020, the company added.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Themes Trading

Strap in for the space race

Investing in the space economy remains speculative especially in small companies, however it might not be as out-of-this-world as it seems.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

Bausch + Lomb’s CEO Inks First Big Deal Since Return

One of the drug industry’s most prolific dealmakers is striking again to revive eye-care company Bausch + Lomb. The company said it will pay $1.75 billion to acquire a dry-eye drug from Novartis, the first big move by Chief Executive Brent Saunders since he returned to the helm in March. The acquisition heralds Saunders’s return to mergers-and-acquisitions territory, which catapulted him up the ranks of pharmaceutical industry chieftains before costing him his job. Saunders previously led Bausch + Lomb from 2010 to 2013 before its sale to Valeant Pharmaceuticals International for $8.7 billion in 2013.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

H&M 2Q Earnings Beat Forecasts, Summer Collections Help 3Q Get off to Good Start

Sweden’s Hennes & Mauritz said its fiscal third quarter has got off to a good start thanks to well-received summer collections after it reported a smaller-than-expected drop in second-quarter net profit. The fashion retailer posted a net profit of 3.3 billion Swedish kronor ($306 million) for the quarter to May 31 compared with SEK3.68 billion a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected SEK2.89 billion. Sales rose 6% to SEK57.62 billion, as previously announced, and sales between June 1-27 rose 10% in local currencies on the year.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

U.S. Considers New Curbs on AI Chip Exports to China

The Biden administration is considering new restrictions on exports of artificial intelligence chips to China, as concerns rise over the power of the technology in the hands of U.S. rivals, according to people familiar with the situation. The Commerce Department could move as soon as early next month to stop the shipments of chips made by Nvidia and other chip-makers to customers in China and other countries of concern without first obtaining a license, the people said. The action would be part of final rules codifying and expanding the export control measures announced last October, some of the people said. The Commerce Department didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

UBS reportedly cutting half of Credit Suisse workforce after merger

UBS is preparing to cut more than half of Credit Suisse’s workforce and about 35,000 jobs, or 30%, of the combined staff of the two banks next month now that the merger deal has closed, according to a Bloomberg report, citing people familiar with the bank. Credit Suisse employs about 45,000 staff and the combined banking group employed about 120,000 when the merger deal closed. The job cuts will take place in three rounds starting in July, the report said.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

IBM confirms $4.6 billion all-cash deal for Apptio

International Business Machines Corp. plans to acquire Apptio Inc. in a deal that values the maker of financial and operational-management software at $4.6 billion, the technology giant confirmed. IBM IBM is purchasing Apptio from Vista Equity Partners, which took the company private back in early 2019. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that IBM’s deal for Apptio was near. Shares of IBM were off 0.4% in Monday’s premarket action.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

GSK Stock Climbs on Zantac Settlement. Drug Maker Avoids a California Trial

U.S.-listed shares of GSK were rising Friday after the pharmaceutical company said it reached a first legal settlement over claims that heartburn medication Zantac can cause cancer. GSK, the British pharmaceutical company, didn’t give any financial details of its settlement with plaintiff James Goetz, but the agreement means it will avoid a scheduled trial in California in July. Analysts at Citi said the settlement took one of the strongest cases against GSK off the table and created a precedent that could help with future cases “GSK does not admit any liability in this settlement and will continue to vigorously defend itself based on the facts and the science in all other Zantac cases,” the company said in a statement.

By
Mathieu VILLARD
Morning News

SNB Lifts Rate By 25 Bps, Signals More Tightening

The Swiss National Bank continued its policy tightening with yet another hike to its interest rates, but at a slower pace as expected, and signalled more such moves to counter the rising inflationary pressures. Switzerland's central bank hiked its policy rate by 25 basis points to 1.75 percent on Thursday. The new rate applies from June 23. This was the fifth straight rate hike. However, the bank slowed the pace of rate hikes from half a percentage point increase in both March this year and in December 2022, and by 75 basis points in September 2022. 'It cannot be ruled out that additional rises in the SNB policy rate will be necessary to ensure price stability over the medium term,' the bank repeated.

By
Nadine PEREIRA
Morning News

Fed’s Powell Says Interest-Rate Pause Is Expected to Be Temporary

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank was likely to raise interest rates in coming months after officials held them steady last week to study the effects of their previous, rapid increases to combat inflation. “Given how far we’ve come, it may make sense to move rates higher but to do so at a more moderate pace,” Powell said to the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday. Fed officials see a risk that their past rate increases, together with recent banking-industry stresses, will eventually create a sharper-than-anticipated slowdown.

By
Mathieu VILLARD