Fresh Repayment Woes for Greece, Ryanair Waits for IAG Offer, Google Announces Android Pay
May 29, 2015 7:55 am
Greece and Europe
European markets continued to feel the ongoing effects of the situation in Greece, with fresh fears that the country will be unable to make yet another repayment due to the IMF. The Greek government has still not made it clear how it intends to make the €1.6 billion repayment, the first tranche of which falls due next Friday. The DAX is currently down by around 1.28%, with the CAC down by just over 1%.
IAG, Aer Lingus and Ryanair
The Irish Parliament voted yesterday to approve the sale of its Aer Lingus holdings of 25% to Anglo-Spanish firm IAG, owner of British Airways. However, IAG’s share price is currently down by 0.8% as attention moves to centre on the third party in this long-running affair – Ryanair. The low-cost airline owns almost 30% of Aer Lingus, and has previously bitterly fought a number of attempts to make it sell its stake. Ryanair has stated that its board will consider any offer from IAG based on its merits. On Wednesday IAG CEO Willie Walsh announced that IAG plan to submit an offer to Ryanair within 28 days.
Google
Over in the US it would appear that Google is trying to bring the fight to Apple on another front, it emerged yesterday, with the firm revealing plans for its own contactless payment scheme, with features including fingerprint scanning and no app needed to initiate payments. It is also understood that the new system, known as Android Pay, will subsume most if not all of the Google Wallet service. The company also announced upgrades to its smart-watch, known as Android wear. Another interesting move announced yesterday was the announcement by Google’s Chief Business Officer, Omid Kordestani, that a ‘buy button’ is ‘imminent’. A buy button would allow users to purchase items directly from searches without the need to visit a separate site specifically belonging to the business selling the items. The response to this so far has been relatively small, despite the possibility of this introduction curtailing businesses’ access to a significant amount of customer data. Investor sentiment to the announcement appears to be fairly muted thus far; Google’s share price is currently up by just 0.05% in pre-market trading.
Greece and Europe
European markets continued to feel the ongoing effects of the situation in Greece, with fresh fears that the country will be unable to make yet another repayment due to the IMF. The Greek government has still not made it clear how it intends to make the €1.6 billion repayment, the first tranche of which falls due next Friday. The DAX is currently down by around 1.28%, with the CAC down by just over 1%.
IAG, Aer Lingus and Ryanair
The Irish Parliament voted yesterday to approve the sale of its Aer Lingus holdings of 25% to Anglo-Spanish firm IAG, owner of British Airways. However, IAG’s share price is currently down by 0.8% as attention moves to centre on the third party in this long-running affair – Ryanair. The low-cost airline owns almost 30% of Aer Lingus, and has previously bitterly fought a number of attempts to make it sell its stake. Ryanair has stated that its board will consider any offer from IAG based on its merits. On Wednesday IAG CEO Willie Walsh announced that IAG plan to submit an offer to Ryanair within 28 days.
Google
Over in the US it would appear that Google is trying to bring the fight to Apple on another front, it emerged yesterday, with the firm revealing plans for its own contactless payment scheme, with features including fingerprint scanning and no app needed to initiate payments. It is also understood that the new system, known as Android Pay, will subsume most if not all of the Google Wallet service. The company also announced upgrades to its smart-watch, known as Android wear. Another interesting move announced yesterday was the announcement by Google’s Chief Business Officer, Omid Kordestani, that a ‘buy button’ is ‘imminent’. A buy button would allow users to purchase items directly from searches without the need to visit a separate site specifically belonging to the business selling the items. The response to this so far has been relatively small, despite the possibility of this introduction curtailing businesses’ access to a significant amount of customer data. Investor sentiment to the announcement appears to be fairly muted thus far; Google’s share price is currently up by just 0.05% in pre-market trading.
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