COST Financial News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Your next pack of cookies could be lighter than the one you got for the same price last time. Welcome back to shrinkflation, where manufacturers reduce pack sizes to make up for costlier ingredients.

Investment bankers are urging Toronto-listed companies to buy a business or raise some money as deal volumes in Canada have fallen to their lowest levels in 23 years.

Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Catalyst is awarding US$40 million to Montreal-based Deep Sky to help it test its carbon removal technology in Alberta.

A protracted downturn in natural gas prices has battered the balance sheets of some oil and gas producers in Western Canada, driving insolvencies in the sector to their highest level in three years.

Poonawalla Fincorp is implementing Artificial Intelligence (AI) in human resource (HR) processes, including managing potential risks and ensuring accuracy in AI-driven hiring. The company, which saw a top management rejig earlier this year including appointment of new MD and CEO Arvind Kapil who took charge in June, has undertaken an AI led transformation of talent acquisition. “AI is a critical development and one of the big bets for a managing director,” said Kapil. “We thought the first project that we would implement should be in the realm of HR.” “We will slowly step by step work towards different departments. For example, customer service business departments, compliance, credit and others,” he said. The company has also partnered with IIT Bombay for AI implementation.

Imagine it: You buy a house, and the bank offers you a single rate of interest that will keep your mortgage payments steady for the next 30 years.

The U.K.’s central bank warned Thursday of “heightened uncertainty” as it kept interest rates on hold after inflation moved further above target, even at a time when the British economy is flatlining at best.

As part of the liquidation process announced today (19 December), shareholders can choose either to roll over their investments into units in the Jupiter Ecology fund, or to opt for an uncapped cash exit at a modest discount to net asset value. James Carthew, head of investment companies at QuotedData, criticised the board's offer to clients, stating «why should investors wanting their own cash back be penalised by getting less than 100% of NAV after costs? Shareholders should complain to the board about this». Outlook 2025: What next for investment trusts according to the AIC, Winter...

mass deportations of undocumented immigrants immediately after Trump is sworn in as president. In a CNN interview, Homan said Wednesday night that plans are underway to deport undocumented immigrants at large scale and that he’ll need funding from Congress to do so. Tom Homan said he will need a minimum of 100,000 beds to detain undocumented immigrants – more than doubling the 40,000 detention beds ICE is currently funded for – and needs more Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to carry out the president-elect’s mass deportation plans. ALSO READ: US Government shutdown: Know what closes and what stays open

Lamb Weston is naming a new CEO as the frozen French fry maker moved to a loss in its second quarter and trimmed its fiscal 2025 forecast

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared in no hurry to seek an end to the war in Ukraine during his annual set-piece television event Thursday, seeking instead to project Russia’s strength despite President-elect Donald Trump’s stated goal of achieving a quick peace. The carefully choreographed question-and-answer session saw Putin field queries from chosen media sources and ordinary Russian citizens, during which he repeatedly portrayed Russia as resistant to the effects of the conflict, which is now nearing the three-year mark.

Bharti Airtel has prepaid Rs 3,626 crore to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), clearing all liabilities relating to airwaves bought in the 2016 auction. This will help India’s second-largest telco save on interest costs annually and boost cash flows as it rapidly expands its countrywide 5G network and ramps up 4G rural coverage. “With this, Airtel has cleared all liabilities for spectrum it had acquired in 2016 and prepaid all its spectrum dues that had interest costs higher than 8.65%,” the Sunil Mittal-led telco said in a statement Thursday. The company added that following the latest payment, it has prepaid Rs 28,320 crore of spectrum dues in calendar 2024.

Shares of the company rose 5% in premarket trading.

LONDON — The U.K.'s central bank has kept interest rates on hold as inflation moves further above its target rate, even though the British economy is flatlining at best.

Geothermal energy startups are on the upswing with big tech companies looking to feed their power-intensive AI data centres, but long-term investments remain uncertain as oil majors double down on natural gas. Meta and Alphabet's Google are among the tech companies partnering with startups proposing to produce geothermal electricity, to power their data centres. Large data centre operators are also racing to meet the energy needs of artificial intelligence, accelerating a range of clean technologies in the process.

Indian software engineer, Sayani B, shared that relocating from Bengaluru to London has made her generally happier, despite London’s high cost of living. Posting on X, she sparked a lively debate about the advantages and challenges of living in India versus abroad. Sayani revealed that although she couldn’t pinpoint a specific reason, her overall sense of happiness had increased since moving to London a few months ago. “I’ve been living in London for a couple of months now, and I’m generally happier. I can’t exactly say why, but it’s an overarching feeling,” she tweeted. Commenters on her post shared their thoughts on why she might feel happier abroad.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Investors shuddered on Wednesday after Chair Jerome Powell suggested the Federal Reserve was ready to take a break from cutting rates—and that the total quantity of reductions might be shallower than previously thought. Powell has described recent rate reductions as an effort to recalibrate borrowing costs to a more “neutral" setting.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. It's not every day that you get to see or interact in person with Bollywood superstar andKaun Banega Crorepati anchor Amitabh Bachchan. But if you visit the Juhu branch of IDFC FIRST Bank in Mumbai, you can engage with an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered holographic avatar of the veteran actor, who is the bank's brand ambassador.

Micromax Informatics has inked a joint-venture partnership with Taiwan-based Phison to design and manufacture storage modules, in a bid to boost the country’s electronics component ecosystem. The collaboration will leverage Micromax’s customer relationships within India and Phison’s expertise in NAND storage technology for offerings across enterprise, consumer, embedded, AI, and security applications within India’s burgeoning tech ecosystem and specific agreed-up regions, the two companies said in a joint statement. The joint-venture entity, called MiPhi, will also offer support and RMA services, along with a sales channel to India and other agreed-upon regions.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. For more than two years, Russia’s expanding war economy fueled consumer spending and juiced company profits. But latterly, the conflict has pumped up inflation and interest rates, pummeling bottom lines and leaving a trail of disgruntled Russian oligarchs and executives in its wake.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The Indian textile industry plays a pivotal role in the nation’s economy. The sector contributes 2.3% to India’s GDP and generates 10.5% of export revenue, according to India Brand Equity Foundation.