Wed, Oct 19, 2016 page10

• World Business Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  BANKING

  Goldman’s Schwartz retiring

  Goldman Sachs is losing an architect of its Asia-Pacific division at the same time it confronts slowing activity in the region and a probe over its dealings in Malaysia. Mark Schwartz, 62, has decided to retire from his post as chairman of Goldman Sachs Asia Pacific, a memo on Monday from chief executive Lloyd Blankfein and president Gary Cohn said. Beijing-based Schwartz, a 27-year Goldman veteran, is to leave his post at the end of the year. He will serve as a senior director at Goldman following his departure from China. Schwartz played an “instrumental role” in building Goldman’s business in Asia, as chairman of the Asia-Pacific unit in Tokyo in the late 1990s and reprising the role again in 2012 from Beijing, the memo said.

  AIRLINES

  Kenya Air suspends strike

  Kenya Airways jumped 6.5 percent in early trading yesterday, after pilots suspended a planned strike following talks between the union, airline and government. The pilots’ union KALPA had called for an indefinite strike to demand management changes at the loss-making airline, which is partly owned by the government and Air France-KLM. The union, airline executives and government held talks on Monday to avert action that officials said would hurt the carrier’s slow recovery. A new chairman was named after the talks, meeting part of the pilots’ demands.

  ENTERTAINMENT

  Disney drops Twitter bid

  Walt Disney Co decided not to pursue a bid for Twitter Inc partly out of concern that bullying and other uncivil forms of communication on the social media site might soil the company’s wholesome family image, people familiar with management’s thinking said. The producer of family fare like Finding Dory had gone so far as to hire two investment banks, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Guggenheim Partners LLC, to help evaluate a bid for Twitter. Disney management also listened to a presentation about the business from Twitter executives, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions were private.

  GAMING

  Ladbrokes Q3 revenue up

  British bookmaker Ladbrokes yesterday reported a 12.1 percent rise in third-quarter net revenue, helped by a bookmaker-friendly and busy summer of sport. The company, which agreed an all-share merger with Gala Coral to create a ￡2.3 billion (US$3.4 billion) betting group, said net revenue for UK Retail rose 1.9 percent in the quarter ended Sept. 30, while European Retail net revenue rose 11.3 percent. Ladbrokes’ digital business revenue jumped 48.2 percent in the quarter. The company said its performance in the quarter was “supportive” of its full-year expectations.

  SHIPBUILDING

  STX bundled sale likely

  A South Korean court handling the bankruptcy case of STX Offshore and Shipbuilding Co, yesterday said that it could announce the bundled sale of the company with its profitable French shipyard unit later this week. STX France, which specializes in building cruise ships, is the only profitable unit of STX Offshore, which filed for receivership in May. Originally it was assumed that the French unit would be sold off separately, but the bankruptcy court signaled its preference for selling the two companies as a package. “The court is seeking to sell STX Offshore together with STX France as one bundle,” said Choi Ung-young, a judge who acts as a spokesman for the Seoul Central District Insolvency Court.
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