China says Canada's attempt to link US trade matter with other issues doomed to fail

BEIJING (REUTERS) – China’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday (Dec 20) Canada’s attempt to link Sino-US trade matters with other issues is doomed to fail.

Mr Geng Shuang, spokesman at the ministry, made the comment at a regular media briefing when asked about Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s latest remarks on the China-US trade talks.

Mr Trudeau said on Thursday that the US government should not finalise a trade deal with China unless the pact also secured the release of two Canadians detained by Beijing.

In Pictures: Wildfires ravages Australia's most populous state

Modi goes all out to ‘pacify’ Corporate India

Speaking at an Assocham event, Modi said the recent cut in corporate tax has brought rates to all-time low for businesses, adding that labour force should also be taken care of.

Hardselling his administration’s pro-business approach, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the government is working to decriminalise provision of Companies Act to make it easier to do business in the country.

Speaking at an Assocham event, he said the recent cut in corporate tax has brought rates to all-time low for businesses.

He, however, said labour force should also be taken care of.

Modi said time taken to register companies has been cut to few hours from months and better infrastructure has enabled the cut in turnaround time at airports and ports.

Dynamic changes have been made in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on suggestion of trade and industry, he said adding India is among the top 10 nations which have in last three years made the maximum improvement in ease of doing business ranking.

From 142 rank, India has climbed to 63rd position in three years, he said.

Modi said many provision of the Companies Act have been decriminalised and work is on to bring in more provisions.

Photograph: ANI

Quest Diagnostics – Growing & Gaining

Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (DGX), which touched a 52-week high of $108.95 in intraday trading yesterday, are up nearly 35 percent year-to-date.

The Company provides clinical laboratory and anatomic pathology testing, and related services to a broad range of customers, including patients, clinicians, hospitals, independent delivery networks (“IDNs”), health plans, employers and accountable care organizations (“ACOs”) within the United States.

For full-year 2019, Quest Diagnostics expects revenues to be approximately $7.72 billion. This compares with annual revenue of $7.52 billion in 2018 and $7.40 billion in 2017.

Earnings for this year are expected to be between $5.48 and $5.53 per share, with adjusted earnings, excluding amortization expense, forecast in the range of $6.45 to $6.50 per share. Adjusted earnings were $6.31 per share in 2018 and $5.40 per share in 2017.

The Company has consistently increased its quarterly common stock dividend since 2011 when the dividend payout was $0.10 per share.

On November 2, 2019, Quest Diagnostics’ Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.53 per share, payable on January 29, 2020, to shareholders of record of Quest Diagnostics common stock on January 14, 2020.

DGX has traded in a range of $78.95 to $108.95 over the last 52 weeks. The stock closed Thursday’s trading at $107.99, up 0.73%.

Stock Alert : Corning Inc.

Shares of Corning Incorporated (GLW) closed Thursday’s trading at $28.92, up 2.15%. The stock has been trading in the range of $26.74- $35.34 over the past 52 weeks.

Corning Incorporated is a material science company specializing in specialty glass, ceramics, and technologies including advanced optics for industrial and scientific applications. For the full-year 2019, Corning expects all business segments to perform better, except optical communications.

The optical fiber maker had some notable achievements in the last few months, that could help the company achieve its long-term goals. In October, Corning Valor Glass got FDA approval to be used as packaging material for drugs. In September, Corning received 250 million investments from Apple, to whom Corning supplies precision glass for iPhone, Apple Watch, and iPad. In May 2017, Corning had received an investment of $200 million from Apple.

Recently, Chengdu CEC Panda Display Technology Co., Ltd., (CCPD), one of the leading oxide panel makers has chosen Corning Astra Glass for its line of oxide-TFT LCD panels used in high-performance, large-size TVs and monitors. Verizon and Corning are working together at Corning’s optical cable manufacturing facility in Hickory, North Carolina, to co-innovate new 5G-enabled solutions.

In October, when the company reported third-quarter results, earnings of $0.44 per share beat analysts’ estimate of $0.39. This compares with $0.51 in the same quarter a year ago. Net sales, however, decreased to $2.934 billion from $3.008 billion in the same quarter last year.

LondonMetric Sells Four Distribution Assets For Combined £145.3 Mln

LondonMetric Property plc (LMP.L) announced Friday that it has sold two mega box warehouses and two regional distribution warehouses, in three transactions. The value of the combined consideration is 145.3 million pounds, of which LondonMetric’s share is 141.9 million pounds.

In Newark, the company sold a 726,000 sq ft mega warehouse to an international investor for 80.8 million pounds. The asset was acquired in 2014 for 68.5 million pounds and is let to Dixons Carphone for a further 14 years.

In Doncaster, two distribution assets have been sold to an overseas buyer for 51.2 million pounds. The 330,000 sq ft mega warehouse was acquired in 2015 for 29.0 million pounds and is let to Next for a further four years. The 176,000 sq ft regional warehouse, which LondonMetric’s DFS joint venture acquired in 2013 for 16.6 million pounds, is let to DFS for a further 10 years.

In Rotherham, a 152,000 sq ft regional distribution warehouse has been sold to a global investor for 13.3 million pounds.

The four properties have a WAULT of 10 years and generate a rent of 8.3 million pounds per annum. Of this, 3.9 million pounds is subject to delayed completion until June 2020.

The total consideration reflects a 2.6 percent discount to 30 September book value.

Andrew Jones, Chief Executive of LondonMetric, said, “The sales further improve the income diversification of our largest occupiers and provides headroom to invest further into urban logistics, which continues to offer superior income growth prospects.”