Wednesday 2 March 2018

Apple has reported its best ever second quarter financial
results, posting revenue of $61.1bn (£44.9bn) for the first three
months of the year, up 16% on the same time a year ago. The tech
giant said it sold 52.2m iPhones during the quarter, slightly below
expectations. Shares rose 3% in afterhours trading. “It looks like
on pretty much every front Apple has had a win,” an analyst told
the BBC.

The chief executive of Sainsbury’s has claimed that his job is
to “go to bat” for customers. Mike Coupe also insisted the merger
with Asda would generate £350m of synergies through enhanced buying
power that would improve choice and prices for punters. If
approved, the merger will create a group with sales of £51bn,
330,000 staff and more than 2,800 UK stores.

Facebook’s has unveiled a dating service at its annual F8
developers conference in San Jose, California. Mark Zuckerberg said
that the match-making feature would consider privacy issues and
would launch “soon”. He added: “There are 200m people on Facebook
who list themselves as single.” The social network’s founder
admitted that 2018 has been an “intense year” for his firm.

Gibson has filed for bankruptcy protection as it struggles with
$500m (£367m) of debt. The Nashville-based firm said the chapter 11
filing would assure the company’s “long-term stability and
financial health”. Analysts are blaming an ill-fated acquisition of
Philips’ consumer audio division four years ago for $135m. Gibson’s
iconic guitars have been played by stars including Elvis, Keith
Richards and Jimmy Page. 

Ofcom is investigating whether the takeover of the Express and
Star newspapers is likely to damage free expression and impact
editorial decision-making. The media watchdog will also examine
whether the purchase of the titles by Trinity Mirror could lead to
an insufficient variety of views in newspapers. Ofcom is due to
report to the government by the end of this month.

“There are few better warning signs of top of the market froth
than an outbreak of the merger mania we are seeing
today.” Jeremy Warner of The Times says we must “stop this
merger madness”.

FTSE 100: up +0.15 to 7520.36
Dow Jones: down -0.27 to 24099.05
Dax: up +0.25 to 12612.11
Cac 40: up +0.68 to 5520.50
Nikkei: down -0.21 to 22460.43
Hang Seng: down -0.67 to 30603.26
US dollar: buys €0.8331 and £0.7351
Sterling: buys $1.1335 and €1.3607
Oil: $73.19 up +0.06