Domino’s Pizza grows US sales on revamped menu
Bengaluru — Domino’s Pizza surpassed analysts’ expectations for second quarter US same-store sales on Monday, driven by new items on the menu and promotions, amid persisting macroeconomic uncertainties.
The world's largest pizza chain added items such as the Parmesan-stuffed crust pizza to its list, and attracted value-conscious consumers through deals under its rewards programme. That partly helped cushion the effect from US President Donald Trump’s on-and-off tariff policy and the ensuing trade war.
Domino’s posted a 3.4% rise in same-store sales in the US for the quarter ended June 15, exceeding analysts’ average estimate of a 2.21% rise, according to data compiled by LSEG. That marked its first beat in five quarters. Reuters
Musk’s X says French probe ‘politically motivated’
Paris — Elon Musk’s social media platform X on Monday accused French prosecutors of launching a “politically motivated criminal investigation” that threatens its users’ free speech, denying all allegations and saying it would not comply with the probe.
Earlier this month, Paris prosecutors stepped up a preliminary probe into X for suspected algorithmic bias and fraudulent data extraction, enlisting police to investigate alleged wrongdoing by the company or its executives.
“Based on what we know so far, X believes that this investigation is distorting French law to serve a political agenda and, ultimately, restrict free speech,” the social network posted on its Global Government Affairs account.
“For these reasons, X has not acceded to the French authorities' demands, as we have a legal right to do.” Reuters
AVZ Minerals questions Kinshasa, KoBold Metals deal
Dakar — Australia-based AVZ Minerals, which holds a majority stake in the contested Manono lithium project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, said on Monday a new deal between Kinshasa and US-backed KoBold Metals to develop part of the project breaches an existing international arbitration order.
The DRC government said on July 18 it had signed an agreement with KoBold to jointly develop the southern section of the Manono lithium and tin deposit, one of the world’s largest untapped sources of the battery metal.
The agreement commits the Congolese government to support KoBold’s plan to acquire and develop the Roche Dure deposit at Manono, effectively positioning the California-based firm as Kinshasa’s preferred partner to unlock the stalled project. Reuters
Britain to launch review on raising state pension age
London — Britain on Monday said it would launch a review into raising the state pension age — a factor for the public finances — at the same time as a fresh look at contributions by workers towards their retirement.
“Alongside reviving the Pensions Commission, I am also announcing the launch of the next statutory government review of state pension age,” work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall said in a statement.
The state pension age is 66. The previous government said in 2023 that an increase in the state pension age to 67 would be phased in during 2026-28 and that a further review on raising the age to 68 would take place within two years after the next election, which was held in 2024.
Under 2014 legislation, Britain’s government must undertake a review every six years that considers demographic and economic factors affecting retirement age. Reuters
Verizon lifts profit forecast on higher earnings
Bengaluru — Verizon raised the lower end of its annual profit forecast on Monday, as strong demand for its higher-tier plans powered better-than-expected earnings in the second quarter.
Shares of the US telecom major rose 4% in premarket trading.
The company posted a 2.2% rise in wireless service revenue as more users opted for its add-ons such as access to streaming service such as Netflix.
The carrier has launched price-lock promotions and broadband-wireless bundles to retain users as competition intensifies from AT&T and T-Mobile, as well as aggressive offers from broadband providers Comcast and Charter.
However, Verizon posted a surprise drop of 9,000 monthly bill-paying wireless subscribers in the April-June period, reeling from user churn after price hikes in January. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting an increase of 13,000 subscribers. Reuters
Daimler Truck ‘could exit manufacturing in China’
Bengaluru — Daimler Truck CEO Karin Radstrom has said the group will not rule out an exit from manufacturing in China as the company navigates US tariffs and a global down cycle, the Financial Times reported on Monday.
“Basically we’re looking at everything,” Radstrom told the newspaper when asked about the company’s future in China. Reuters
Zambia eyes 6.4% growth on mining, agriculture
Lusaka — Economic growth in Zambia is expected to accelerate to 6.4% next year from 5.8% this year, driven by its mining and agriculture sectors, the finance ministry said.
The Southern African country’s economy is recovering from a severe regional drought, which curbed growth last year after years of protracted debt-restructuring negotiations.
The finance ministry’s medium-term budget plan projected GDP would rise 6.5% in 2027 and 5.1% in 2028.
The government said it would focus on increasing electricity supply from power sources such as solar, given the severe effect the drought had on hydropower generation and productivity in major industries. Reuters
German firms aim to resuscitate investor confidence
Berlin ˛— Leading German companies including Siemens and Deutsche Bank announced a major investment initiative on Monday aimed at resuscitating investor confidence in Europe’s largest economy.
The 61 companies, which have collectively pledged €631bn of investments by 2028, are set to present their “Made for Germany” initiative to German chancellor Friedrich Merz and finance minister Lars Klingbeil later on Monday.
According to the companies, the €631bn includes capital investments, expenditure on research & development as well as commitments from international investors. It was not initially clear what proportion of these investments were already planned, and which were new commitments.
Siemens CEO Roland Busch told the Handelsblatt newspaper that companies would lobby the government for faster approvals for infrastructure projects and measures to combat the labour market shortage. Reuters
Ryanair quarterly profit doubles on ‘robust bookings’
Dublin — Ryanair’s net profit more than doubled in its April-June quarter on higher-than-expected last-minute fares and the timing of the Easter holidays, while bookings for rest of the summer are “robust”, Europe’s largest low-cost carrier said on Monday.
The Irish airline, Europe’s largest by passenger numbers, said it was not seeing a negative trend of later-than-normal bookings reported by some rivals.
“Across the piece, bookings are good,” CFO Neil Sorahan said, describing consumer confidence as “very strong”.
Shares in the airline were up 6.5% at €24.58in morning trade, just below the all-time high of €24.98 recorded on July 8. Reuters
Saudi National Bank shares rise on strong results
Dubai — Saudi National Bank (SNB) reported a 17.3% jump in second quarter net profit on Monday, driven by higher income and lower net impairment charges.
SNB’s shares jumped 1.8% at market open after the results, and have risen just over 10% since January.
The kingdom’s biggest lender by assets said it made a net profit of 6.1-billion riyals ($1.63bn) in the quarter ended June 30, higher than the 5.6-billion riyals analysts were expecting, and compared with 5.2-billion riyals in the year-earlier period.
SNB said the results were driven by higher net special commission income and operating income, in addition to lower net impairment charges for expected credit losses. Reuters
Alaska Airlines resumes flights after IT outage
Bengaluru — US carrier Alaska Airlines resumed operations late on Sunday after briefly grounding all its flights for about three hours due to an IT outage, marking the second time it has halted its fleet in just over a year.
The company requested a system-wide ground stop for Alaska and Horizon Air flights on Sunday night after it said that an outage impacted its systems, the carrier said.
“As we reposition our aircraft and crews, there will most likely be residual impacts to our flights. It will take some time to get our overall operations back to normal,” the Seattle-based company said.
Alaska did not immediately specify the nature of the IT outage. Reuters
Macquarie invests in European student housing
London — Australian finance giant Macquarie has agreed to buy two student housing businesses in Europe that manage more than 12,000 beds, in the latest sign of overseas investors pushing into the sector.
Macquarie will buy two specialist student housing investment platforms — Milestone and BaseStack Living — for an undisclosed fee, the company said in a statement. Macquarie declined to comment on the deal value.
The move is part of Macquarie’s strategy of growing its private markets unit overseas after offloading its international public assets to Nomura.
Student housing has become a hot market within real estate, with investors lured by the prospect of attractive returns at a time when prices have soured for more traditional assets such as offices. Reuters
US’s Jane Street gets nod to restart trading in India
Bengaluru — India’s markets regulator has allowed Jane Street to restart trading after the US high-frequency trading firm deposited $567m, two sources aware of the matter said on Monday.
The regulator sent an email to the firm on Friday in which it said that after the deposit of the money the restrictions imposed by its interim order are no longer applicable, said the sources who declined to be named because they are not authorised to speak to media.
In an interim order issued on July 3, the Securities and Exchange Board of India had barred the firm from buying and selling securities in the Indian market and froze $567m of its funds. Jane Street could resume trading if an equivalent amount was deposited in an account that gives the regulator rights over the money until its investigation is complete, the order stated. Reuters
Crypto custody start-up BitGo joins crypto IPO rush
Bengaluru — Crypto custody start-up BitGo said on Monday it had confidentially filed for a US listing, joining a wave of companies looking to capitalise on strong market momentum.
The crypto sector’s climb to a $4-trillion market value has reignited interest for initial public offerings, with clearer regulation, corporate treasury adoption, and institutional inflows fuelling a new wave of new listings.
Founded in 2013, BitGo is one of the largest crypto custody firms in the US. It stores and protects digital assets for clients, a role that has gained importance as institutional interest in crypto grows. Reuters
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