1 UK growth forecast raised sharply (Katie Allen in
The Guardian) The Bank of England has painted a brighter outlook for the UK
economy this year, with faster growth, lower unemployment and a more modest
rise in inflation.
After further signs that consumers and businesses
have shrugged off the Brexit vote, the Bank revised its earlier gloomy
forecasts to predict the economy would grow 2% this year - matching its 2016
performance.
That forecast was above the 1.4% figure policymakers
had pencilled in for 2017 in November. It was also in stark contrast to the
sharp slowdown predicted by the Bank and others in the immediate aftermath of
the vote to leave the EU.
But despite more optimistic forecasts, the central
bank highlighted risks ahead. It expects business investment to fall and
consumer spending to slow as rising inflation eats into household budgets. It
also raised concerns about households becoming overstretched, as it predicted
people would use savings to spend.
At its rate-setting meeting the Bank’s monetary policy
committee, led by governor Mark Carney, voted unanimously to hold interest
rates at the record low of 0.25% and to continue with a programme of electronic
money printing known as quantitative easing.
2 Snapchat files for $3bn IPO (Straits Times) Snap
Inc, the maker of the disappearing photo app Snapchat, filed publicly for an
initial offering, the first US social-media company to do so since Twitter more
than three years ago.
The company filed with an initial size of $3 billion,
a placeholder amount used to calculate fees that may change. Snap plans to
raise as much as $4 billion in the IPO, people familiar with the matter have
said, for a market value of as much as $25 billion.
The company's net loss widened to $515 million in
2016, on revenue of $404 million, according to the prospectus filed Thursday.
That compares with a loss of $382 million in 2015, on revenue of $59 million.
Snapchat has more than 158 million daily active
users. Quarterly average revenue per user on a global basis climbed to $1.05 in
the fourth quarter of 2016, compared with 31 cents in the fourth quarter of
2015. Snap plans to use proceeds from the offering for general corporate
purposes, which may include acquisitions.
The company said it relies on Alphabet Inc's Google
for most of its computing, storage and bandwidth, and any disruptions to
Google's cloud functioning could "seriously" hurt its business. Snap
said it plans to spend $2 billion with Alphabet over the next five years to use
Google's cloud-computing services.
In addition to Google and Apple, Snap named Facebook
Inc, including its WhatsApp and Instagram applications, and Twitter as
significant competitors.
3 Amazon wants to be its own deliveryman (San
Francisco Chronicle) Amazon isn't content just being the "everything
store." Increasingly, it looks like it wants to be its own deliveryman,
too. Its announcement of a new air cargo hub in Kentucky is merely Amazon's
latest foray into building out its own shipping and logistics unit.
If successful, the move could ultimately mean lower
costs for Amazon — and possibly faster delivery and low prices for consumers.
But it could also pit Amazon against package deliverers like FedEx and UPS.
Amazon has long plowed its profits back into its
business investments. In order to speed up its delivery, it has invested in
opening new distribution centers and leasing fleets of trucks. In May, Amazon
leased 40 Boeing jets from Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings and Air Transport
Services Group Inc., a fleet it dubbed "Prime Air."
The moves comes e-commerce continues to outpace
retail sales. Amazon said the number of items it sold in the fourth quarter
rose 24 percent compared with a year ago. Its revenue rose 22 percent to $43.74
billion, slightly missing analyst expectations. Profit rose 36 percent to $749
million, or $1.54 per share, ahead of expectations.
If Amazon succeeds in building out its delivery
infrastructure, it could ultimately reduce package volume for companies like
FedEx and UPS, Roberson said. On the other hand, ecommerce volume is growing so
fast there may be room for everyone, she said. For example, UPS reported that
55 percent of its fourth-quarter deliveries — and 63 percent of those in
December — were directly to consumers, setting records in both cases.
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