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☆ Student-loan borrowers are about to face more hurdles after a major company reduced its call center hours — and laid off 550 more employees
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The Education Department modified student-loan company Nelnet's contract, per SEC documents. The changes included reduced call center hours, contributing to Nelnet laying off 550 employees. It also allows Nelnet to have a higher percentage of borrowers hang up without receiving help. At the end of March, student-loan company Nelnet announced a series of changes to its contract implemented by the Education Department. But it's a critical year for student-loan borrowers, and Nelnet is just one sign that they're facing a rocky road ahead.

☆ Italian drugs cartels conceal payments via Chinese shadow banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Emilio Parodi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

[1/3] Seized drugs are seen following an investigation on drugs cartels operating in Italy increasingly using shadow networks of unlicensed Chinese money brokers to launder their proceeds in this handout photo obtained by Reuters on April 4, 2023. Carabinieri/Handout via REUTERSMILAN, April 6 (Reuters) - Drugs cartels operating in Italy are increasingly using shadow networks of unlicensed Chinese money brokers to conceal cross-border payments, according to Italian judicial and law enforcement authorities. U.S. authorities have said Chinese “money brokers” represent one of the most worrisome new threats in their war on drugs, as a Reuters investigation in 2020 found. Chinese authorities have previously vowed to crackdown on underground banking. One of the first probes to come to light involving use of Chinese money brokers by Italian mobsters was linked to the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta group, one of the largest crime gangs in the world.

☆ A tech company posted a job seeking only white applicants with the note 'don't share with candidates'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A job post from IT firm Arthur Grand Technologies went viral for specifying white candidates only. The firm later edited its apology to say an ex-employee published the job post without authorization. Arthur Grand Technologies, HTC Global, and Berkshire Hathaway did not immediately respond to requests for comment. "Every minority who ever applied for a position with Arthur Grand Technologies and was denied employment needs to lawyer up," one person tweeted. Arthur Grand Technologies / LinkedIn"A former employee took an existing posting and added discriminatory language, then reposted it through his own account.

☆ J.P.Morgan puts India's HCL on 'negative catalyst watch' ahead of Q4 results
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BENGALURU, April 4 (Reuters) - J.P.Morgan on Tuesday placed Indian IT services provider HCL Technologies Ltd (HCLT.NS) on "negative catalyst watch" ahead of the earnings season, citing the highest near-term risks for the company. The brokerage also expected Infosys to give "soft" guidance due to the uncertain macro environment and the departure of Mohit Joshi, its president and head of banking, financial services and insurance. TCS Chief Executive Officer Rajesh Gopinathan resigned last month, while Joshi was named CEO of Tech Mahindra (TEML.NS). Earlier, J.P.Morgan had said TCS and Infosys have the highest exposure to regional banks in the United States that are gripped by a financial turmoil. Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja DesaiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

REUTERS/Thomas White/IllustrationMUMBAI/NEW DELHI, April 3 (Reuters) - A surge in India's services exports, which hit a record high in the October-December quarter, is expected to shield the economy from external risks as a slowing global economy will likely weigh on the country's merchandise exports. Services exports will likely surpass goods exports by March 2025, he said. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsIT services still accounted for 45% of India's total services exports in April-December. EXTERNAL SHIELDThe continued rise in services exports is likely to help rein in India's current account deficit. There is room for further growth with India's share in world commercial services exports currently just at around 4%."

☆ Alibaba hands parched dealmakers a glass half-full
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Antony Currie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Then New York- and Hong Kong-listed Alibaba (9988.HK) revealed it was creating six independently run businesses. That will keep dealmaking teams busy for months if, as CEO Daniel Zhang envisions, multiple listed companies emerge from the $250 billion parent. And if a breakup is good for Alibaba, they can dust off pitchbooks for its domestic rivals. Follow @AntonyMCurrie on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSAlibaba CEO Daniel Zhang said on March 29 that he hopes multiple listed companies will emerge from the group. “I hope there will be multiple listed companies emerging from the Alibaba system, and that they will continue to nurture their own sons and daughters, and cultivate more listed companies”, Zhang said, according to the South China Morning Post.

☆ Virgin Orbit, Richard Branson's satellite company, is laying off 85% of staff and reportedly ceasing operations 'for the foreseeable future'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Samantha Delouya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Richard Branson's satellite company, Virgin Orbit, is ceasing operations "for the foreseeable future," according to CNBC. Virgin Orbit was spun out of Branson's space tourism company, Virgin Galactic, in 2017. CNBC reported that Virgin Orbit would offer severance packages for departing staff and a partnership with its sister company, Virgin Galactic, for hiring. Virgin Orbit spun off from billionaire Richard Branson's space tourism company, Virgin Galactic, in 2017. Branson owns 75% of Virgin Orbit, according to CNBC.

☆ Indian edtech startup Unacademy to lay off 12% of staff - document
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BENGALURU, March 30 (Reuters) - Indian edtech startup Unacademy is laying off 12% of its workforce, citing a funding winter and pressure to turn profitable, according to an internal mail from the company's chief executive seen by Reuters on Wednesday. "Today... funding is scarce and running a profitable business is key," CEO and co-founder Gaurav Munjal said in an email sent to all staff. A spokesperson for Unacademy declined to comment on the layoffs and did not disclose the number of job cuts or the current headcount. Indian business news publication Moneycontrol reported earlier in the day that the SoftBank-backed startup laid off about 380 employees, reducing its total employee count to under 3,000. Companies that have cut staff include Tiger Global-backed Vedantu and Byju's - India's biggest startup valued at $22 billion.

That should unlock value for weary shareholders, and please regulators and politicians keen to control strategic businesses. The restructuring will give each of Alibaba’s six businesses, which include its core commerce division, as well as cloud computing, games and logistics units, their own chief executive and board of directors. Investors promptly added nearly $23 billion, or 10%, to the New York-listed company’s market value, now at $250 billion, following Tuesday’s announcement. The $460 billion video-game giant also operates in sensitive areas like online media, cloud computing and mobile payments. Daniel Zhang will continue to serve as chairman and chief executive of Alibaba, which will follow a holding company management model, and concurrently serve as CEO of Cloud Intelligence.

☆ Deutsche Bank likes this consulting stock with a 'best of breed model' able to weather macro uncertainty
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Investors should consider putting their money in consulting stock Accenture, which has a "best of breed model" able to fight through the market volatility, according to Deutsche Bank. Analyst Bryan Keane lifted his 2023 earnings estimates on Accenture by 8 cents a share after the company's latest quarterly results showed strong revenue growth, an adjusted earnings per share beat and bookings momentum. At the same time, Accenture said it plans to slash 19,000 roles over the 18 months as it grapples with slowing spending for IT services and trimmed its revenue outlook. ACN YTD mountain Accenture shares in 2023 Deutsche Bank's $292 price target implies about 7% upside for shares from Thursday's close. The stock's up 1.8% in 2023, following a nearly 36% slump in 2022.

☆ Accenture trims forecasts, to cut 19,000 jobs as IT spending slows
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Chavi Mehta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Accenture PLC logo is seen on a smartphone in front of displayed same logo in this illustration taken, December 1, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoMarch 23 (Reuters) - Accenture Plc lowered its annual revenue and profit forecasts and decided to cut about 2.5% of its workforce, or 19,000 jobs, the latest sign that the worsening global economic outlook was sapping corporate spending on IT services. More than half of the jobs to be cut will be in its non-billable corporate functions, Accenture said on Thursday, sending its shares up 6.4%. Accenture now expects annual revenue growth to be between 8% and 10%, compared with its previous projection of a 8% to 11% increase. A survey of more than 1,000 IT decision makers by U.S.-based Enterprise Technology Research said they plan to reduce their 2023 budget growth.

☆ Accenture cuts jobs, trims forecasts on worries of lower IT spending
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Accenture PLC logo is seen on a smartphone in front of displayed same logo in this illustration taken, December 1, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoMarch 23 (Reuters) - Accenture Plc on Thursday lowered its annual revenue and profit forecasts and said it would cut about 2.5% of workforce, or 19,000 jobs, the latest sign that the worsening global economic outlook was sapping corporate spending on IT services. Accenture now expects annual revenue growth to be between 8% and 10% compared to the previous projection of 8% to 11% increase. Accenture said it now expects earnings per share to be in the range of $10.84 to $11.06 compared to $11.20 to $11.52 previously. Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Arun KoyyurOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UBS details how consumer spending is under pressure as inflation remains a threat — and reveals 4 top retailers worth investing in
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( James Faris | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Consumer spending hasn't collapsed due to high inflation, though pressure is building. The resilience of consumer spending might be the biggest surprise in markets in the past year. To that point, $44 billion AutoZone (AZO) indicated it hasn't seen consumer behavior change and has maintained its margins by passing on costs. 4 retail stocks to buy nowIf there's a consensus among the companies that attended UBS' conference, it's that although consumer spending has held up for now, pressure from inflation is steadily mounting. Those are listed below, along with each company's ticker and market capitalization, as well as selected insights their management teams provided at UBS' retail conference.

☆ Indian shares rise on easing global banking concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Bharath Rajeswaran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BENGALURU, March 17 (Reuters) - Indian shares advanced on Friday, aided by financials, tracking a rebound in global equities after a slew of measures to support the global banking system eased worries about a crisis in the financial sector. While the developments eased immediate concerns of a crisis in the global banking system, some analysts remained cautious. "The Fed needs to manage a delicate balancing act between price stability (inflation) and financial stability (growth) in next week's meeting." Information technology stocks (.NIFTYIT) rose over 1% with all 10 constituents logging gains. ($1 = 82.5870 Indian rupees)Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil and Janane VenkatramanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ India's TCS CEO Gopinathan to step down, veteran Krithivasan to take over
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BENGALURU, March 16 (Reuters) - India's largest IT services provider Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (TCS.NS) said on Thursday Rajesh Gopinathan will resign as chief executive officer, just a year into his second five-year term at the helm of the company. The company said Gopinathan — who was re-appointed last year as the Indian IT behemoth's CEO till 2027 — will leave TCS to pursue other interests. Gopinathan has been with TCS since 2001 and has held multiple leadership positions, including that of chief financial officer. Under his leadership, TCS shares have nearly tripled, revenue has almost doubled and profit has risen about 60%, as of last quarter. TCS shares, which have lost about 2.2% so far this year, closed down 0.4% on Thursday.

☆ The CEO of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank is asking customers to return. But spooked Americans are moving billions out of smaller banks and into Wall Street giants.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The CEO of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank asked customers to move their money back to the bank. US depositors have been moving billions of dollars from smaller to larger banks, per Reuters. The bridge bank, which opened on Monday, is a new lender created by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which took over the deposits of the Silicon Valley Bank. His statements come just as US depositors are moving billions away from smaller banks after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, New York, Reuters reported Tuesday. Both Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, New York, experienced runs on deposits that led to their closures.

☆ US SEC says IT services firm DXC made 'misleading' non-GAAP disclosures
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Kanishka Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, March 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Tuesday that IT services firm DXC Technology (DXC.N) had made misleading disclosures about its non-GAAP financial performance in multiple reporting periods from 2018 until early 2020. DXC said it had resolved the matter and cooperated with the SEC. DXC materially increased its reported non-GAAP net income by negligently misclassifying tens of millions of dollars of expenses as non-GAAP adjustments, the SEC added. "DXC Technology has resolved this legacy matter, which related to the presentation of non-GAAP M&A costs principally related to the 2017 merger that formed DXC," the company said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. DXC was founded in 2017 when Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE.N) spun off its enterprise services business.

"You're going to see every board member tell people to keep your money in multiple bank accounts," said Wesley Chan, cofounder and managing partner at FPV Ventures. "I'm not concerned about Bank of America," one business owner said as they left a Bank of America branch on Monday. Big banks can be less competitive, for example, on interest rates because of the security they offer. I think you'll see startups, in particular, questioning moving to the big banks given just how much more expensive it is," Matheson added. "The big banks are in very good shape, and so it probably is a stabilizing decision to move those deposits.

☆ Unisys, Bed Bath & Beyond slide after removal from small-cap index
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, March 6 (Reuters) - Shares of IT services firm Unisys Corp tumbled 16.7% on Monday and shares of embattled home goods retailer Bed Bath & Beyond Inc fell about 4% after it was announced they will be removed from the small-cap S&P 600 index (.SPCY) in two weeks. Shares of Unysis (UIS.N) have fallen 80% over the past 12 months. As of Friday, the company's market capitalization was $330.9 million, according to Refinitiv data, or less than the $850 million market cap required for inclusion in the small-cap index. Fair Isaac shares rose 0.25% to $707.01, on track to mark a record closing high, while Lumen shares bounced off near-record lows, up 4.57% at $3.315 a share. Reporting by Herbert Lash; additional reporting by Lance Tupper; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ There is pent-up demand for fertility benefit services, says Kindbody's Gina Bartasi
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailThere is pent-up demand for fertility benefit services, says Kindbody's Gina BartasiGina Bartasi, founder and executive chair of Kindbody, joins 'Power Lunch' to discuss the company's effort to expand access to women's health clinics, Kindbody's recent $100 million dollar debt raise, and the impact slack in the labor market could have on fertility benefits market.

☆ Racial homeownership gap larger now than a decade ago
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Anna Bahney | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The homeownership rate for White Americans in 2021 was 72.7%, but the rate for Black Americans was 44%, according to NAR’s analysis of the most recent data. The homeownership rate for Asian Americans was 62.8% and for Hispanic Americans it was 50.6%. The homeownership rate for Black Americans varies from 15% to 55% across the country. The states with the highest homeownership rate for Black Americans were South Carolina at 55%, Delaware at 54%, and Mississippi at 54%. Meanwhile, the homeownership rate for White Americans ranged from 50% to 81% across the country.

☆ Atos in talks with Kretinsky over sale of Tech Foundations business-Le Monde
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, March 1 (Reuters) - French technology consultancy Atos (ATOS.PA) is in talks with Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky about the possible sale of its Tech Foundations business, Le Monde reported on Wednesday. According to our information, the management is also talking with Daniel Kretinsky ... who for his part is interested in the group's historic business of IT services Tech Foundations," the French newspaper said. Kretinsky holds a minority stake in Le Monde. Spokespeople for Kretinsky and Atos declined to comment. In October, Atos said it had been approached by several players interested in buying Tech Foundations, which groups activities the company defines as approaching maturity, such as data centres and business process outsourcing.

☆ Indian shares struggle for direction ahead of GDP data
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Bharath Rajeswaran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BENGALURU, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Indian shares swung between gains and losses on Tuesday, as gains in auto and media stocks were mostly offset by a slide in metals, ahead of the domestic GDP data for the December quarter. Eight of the 13 sectoral indexes advanced with auto stocks (.NIFTYAUTO) adding nearly 1% ahead of the monthly sales numbers, due on Wednesday. Foreign portfolio investors have so far offloaded 325.18 billion rupees ($3.93 billion) worth of Indian equities in 2023, according to official data. Investors now await domestic GDP data for the December quarter, due later in the day, which is expected to show year-on-year growth slowing to 4.6%. ($1 = 82.7150 Indian rupees)Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Dhanya Ann ThoppilOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Stocks are reversing course as inflation looks sticky with more retail earnings on deck
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Jesse Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The optimism about inflation and the U.S. economy is quickly waning on Wall Street, and the early 2023 rally for stocks is fading. The market was under pressure again on Friday after a hotter-than-expected reading for personal consumption expenditures, sending rates higher and stocks lower. Economic updates Next week brings a new round of economic indicators to see how the sticky inflation is affecting consumers and business. Other looks at the economy will come through key earnings reports. Speech by Fed Governor Christopher Waller Friday: 9:45 a.m. Markit Services PMI 10:00 a.m. ISM Services PMI 3:00 p.m.

☆ A mom of 2 explains how she knew it was time to leave her job of 17 years due to burnout and chronic stress
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Jason Lalljee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

That, on top of a high-pressure job, caused her mental health symptoms to progress into physical pain, she told Insider. What I didn't understand at the time was that it was also affecting not just my mental health, but it was affecting my physical health." She said that she watched the people around her take their own leaves of absence for physical or mental health reasons. She's still seeking medical help from her physical health symptoms, but says they've improved a lot over the past year. A lot of times we talk about chronic stress and we think about mental health, but it's bigger than that.

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