1 Japan’s biggest bank plans to cut 10,000 jobs
(Straits Times) Japan's biggest bank is set to undergo the most dramatic
reduction in headcount since it was formed after the nation's banking crisis
shook the industry almost 20 years ago.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is considering
eliminating about 10,000 positions - about 7 per cent of its workforce - over a
decade as low interest rates and intensifying competition squeeze profit,
people with knowledge of the matter said. That's more than double the 3,500
full-time roles that President Nobuyuki Hirano said last year MUFG would cut
from its main banking unit through natural attrition and less hiring.
The move is a striking example of how Japanese banks
are struggling with an increasingly challenging business environment as the
central bank's negative-rate policy erodes margins and a shrinking population
curtails credit demand. MUFG is seeking to reshape itself by closing branches
and boosting technology investment - a strategy that peers at home and abroad
are also pursuing as digital advancements transform the financial industry and
provide an opportunity to save costs.
MUFG, established in 2005 from a merger, employs about
147,000 people worldwide. MUFG's main lending unit had 766 branches in Japan
and 75 abroad as of March 2015, according to its website. The group projects
net income will climb 2.5 per cent to 950 billion yen in the year ending March,
the first increase in three years.
2 Spotify hits more than 140m users (BBC) Spotify now
has more than 140 million active monthly users, but the music streaming firm is
still deeply in the red. The Swedish firm had revenues of more than 2.9bn euros
(£2.6bn) last year, up more than 50% compared with 2015.
However, operating losses rose at nearly the same
pace to 349.4m euros (£305.7m). Spotify is considering going public and listing
on the stock market, so its latest figures will be under scrutiny.
Spotify reported a net loss of 539.2m euros
(£471.6m), more than double the figure for 2015.
Nevertheless the number of
people listening to music on the platform continues to rise rapidly. Paying
subscribers to its premium service, which does not have advertising, rose by 20
million to 48 million.
Apple Music, a key competitor, now has 27 million
subscribers, almost double the number 12 months ago. Unlike Spotify it does not
offer a free tier. More than 30 million tracks are available on Spotify, which
has signed deals committing it to to pay a minimum of 2bn euros in royalties to
record companies over the next two years.
3 Amazon to buy Whole Foods Market (Sarah Butler
& Zoe Wood in The Guardian) Amazon, the world’s most powerful online
retailer, has taken a giant stride into traditional retailing, spending $13.7bn
to take over organic food chain Whole Foods Market.
The all-cash deal could be game-changing for the
traditional supermarket business. Amazon has long had ambitions to move into
the grocery business and launched its food delivery service, Fresh, in the US
10 years ago. It introduced the service in the UK last year after signing a
wholesale deal with British supermarket Morrisons.
Amazon is the fourth biggest business in the US and
accounts for 43% of online sales there. Whole Foods, founded in 1980, has about
460 stores, including nine in the UK where it has operated since 2004.
“This deal is potentially terrifying for other
grocers,” said Neil Saunders from retail analysis firm GlobalData. “Although
Amazon has been a looming threat to the grocery industry, the shadow it has
cast has been pale and distant. Today that changed: Amazon has moved squarely
onto the turf of traditional supermarkets and poses a much more significant
threat.” Until now, Amazon has had a limited impact on the grocery market. In
the US, it still only accounts for less than 0.5% of grocery spending,
according to GlobalData.
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