Rolls-Royce cuts dividend 1st time in 25 years

LONDON: British engine maker Rolls-Royce on Friday cut its shareholder dividend for the first time in almost 25 years and said 2016 would be “challenging”, but its shares nevertheless soared.

The firm, which makes engine systems for aircraft and sea vessels, announced in its annual results statement that it has reduced its full-year dividend to 16.37 pence in 2015, from 23.1 pence for 2014.

That was the first reduction in the group’s shareholder dividend since 1992.

However, Rolls’ share price rallied more than 16 per cent as investors were relieved the dividend had not been scrapped, and also welcomed news of a healthy order book.—AFP

Commerzbank quadruples profits in 2015

FRANKFURT: Commerzbank, Germany’s second biggest bank, said Friday that its profits quadrupled in 2015 and it would resume dividend payments as it expects to see further profit growth this year.

Investors welcomed the strong 2015 showing by Germany’s second-biggest lender which posted a net profit of 1.06 billion euros ($1.2bn), compared with 266 million euros the year before.

“2015 has shown that our strategy is right and that the implementation has been successful,” boasted chief executive Martin Blessing.—AFP

Uber gets another $200m

WASHINGTON: Global ridesharing service Uber said Friday it had raised $200 million in additional funding to help its push into emerging markets.

The latest round comes from Luxembourg-based investment group LetterOne (L1), according to a joint statement.

“Our goal is simple: reliable and affordable transportation everywhere, for everyone, at the push of a button,” said Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick.

“L1’s knowledge of emerging markets will be crucial in helping us make cities more accessible, opening up more possibilities for riders and more opportunities for drivers.”—AFP

GSK fined $54.5m over ‘pay-for-delay’ deals

LONDON: Britain’s competition watchdog on Friday fined drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline 37.6 million pounds ($54.5m) for entering into deals which delayed generic cheaper versions of its anti-depressant Seroxat.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said in a statement that GSK colluded from 2001 to 2004 with potential suppliers of a generic version of Seroxat, paying them a total of 50m pounds to delay production of cheaper versions.

The watchdog added that GSK’s so-called “pay for delay” deals had resulted in higher costs for the state-run National Health Service. GSK’s Seroxat was a blockbuster drug in 2001 when a number of firms were seeking to produce their own generic product.—AFP

AT&T testing superfast 5G mobile network

WASHINGTON: AT&T announced plans Friday to begin testing a superfast fifth generation, or 5G, mobile network with speeds up to 100 times faster than the most rapid existing connections.

The US telecom group said it would begin the field tests later this year in collaboration with US semiconductor giant Intel and Swedish networking group Ericsson. Global telecom operators are readying for 5G deployment in 2020 but some carriers appear to be moving ahead of schedule.

The new 5G networks could open up a range of services by delivering data at much faster speeds, enabling services such as remote surgery or driverless cars and allowing customers to experience video and virtual reality with ease.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2016