(Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia’s state-controlled oil giant retained its massive dividend despite a 25% plunge in profit, and signaled it would keep spending in check as it braces for deeper damage from the oil crisis.Saudi Aramco, the world’s most valuable company, will pay a dividend of $18.75 billion for the first three months of 2020. That would leave it on track to meet its full-year goal of $75 billion, though the company didn’t specify if it was still committed to that number.The dividend is crucial for the kingdom, which holds about 98% of Aramco and is facing its worst financial turmoil in decades. On Monday, the government tripled value-added tax and cut bureaucrats’ allowances as it looks to rein in a fiscal deficit that could reach 13% of gross domestic product this year.At the time of Aramco’s record initial public offering in December, the dividend was a massive part of its...
Truck drivers have been facing a wide range of situations on the road during the COVID-19 pandemic, from appreciation for the work they're doing to not being allowed to use restrooms, as you'll see in this photo gallery. ...
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump and allies are holding off on more coronavirus-related stimulus as his team tracks the impact of some $5 trillion already poured into the economy -- and banks on an economic rebound as shutdown measures are eased.But they may find themselves under more pressure to act again, sooner than they expected, if efforts to reopen the economy don’t rapidly bear fruit.Republicans and Democrats joined together in March to fast-track three stimulus measures totaling about $3 trillion as the economy collapsed from social-distancing practices Americans adopted to protect themselves from infection. The U.S. Federal Reserve played its part with two emergency rate cuts, and worked with Treasury to offer $2.3 trillion in loans.Now, conventional partisan divisions are beginning to emerge as Washington’s policy makers grapple with whether the money was enough.Democrats and a handful of Republicans are seeking a fourth round of stimulus, particularly to help states faced...
Shares in CymaBay Therapeutics (CBAY) exploded over 105% in after-hours trading Monday after the company revealed a positive update for its seladelpar liver disease drug, which has been on clinical hold since November.Sujal Shah, President and CEO of CymaBay, stated, “Last week a panel of some of the most experienced and distinguished liver pathologists and hepatologists in the world completed an independent review analyzing findings from our Phase 2b study of seladelpar in patients with NASH.”“I am pleased to report that the panel unanimously concluded there was no clinical, biochemical or histological evidence of seladelpar-induced liver injury in the study, and as a result they also unanimously supported the lifting of the clinical hold and re-initiation of clinical development.”CymaBay now intends to reach out to the FDA to discuss all of the data it has collected to date and the results of the panel review meetings. Once initial feedback is gathered, CymaBay...
German insurer Allianz on Tuesday posted a 29% fall in net profit in the first quarter from a year earlier as the coronavirus outbreak slows business. The insurer had last month flagged the drop when it published preliminary figures, and it abandoned its profit target for the full year, blaming economic uncertainty amid the pandemic. Allianz is among a host of European insurers warning about their prospects as they face claims for business disruptions, canceled events and a lack of demand for car and travel insurance....
(Bloomberg) -- Expectations are running high for Tencent Holdings Ltd. when it reports earnings Wednesday after optimism over its video game business helped push the stock to a two-year peak.The trading volume of call options, which are bets on gains in the share price, jumped to nearly 120,000 on Monday, more than three times the 20-day average. A measure of bearish wagers relative to bullish ones is at the lowest in more than a year. The 6.3% implied move by the stock on Thursday morning would be the biggest since August 2015.Tencent is expected to report an 18% increase in first-quarter revenue, down from 20%-plus in previous periods but still decent given the virus outbreak. Investors have pushed the stock price up on bets its game business will benefit from people with extra free time at home during the pandemic, and from its growing cloud and finance services. However, analysts warn...
