Pfizer and AstraZeneca agree antibiotic deal

Pfizer has agreed to buy a small antibiotics arm of AstraZeneca’s pharmaceutical business, just days after confirming a $14 billion takeover of Medivation.

The deal, worth $1.5 billion, will widen its antibiotic medicine offering and give access to several others still in the development stage.

AstraZeneca said the deal is unlikely to have an effect on this years figures, but pushed shares down 0.30 percent to 5,046 (LON:AZN).

Glencore profits drop 66 percent

Glencore (LON:GLEN) disclosed a 66 percent drop in first half profits on Wednesday, sending shares down nearly 5 percent.

The company said volatile commodity prices had impacted on its performance, which saw first half adjusted EBITDA fall 13 percent.

Glencore also announced a new debt reduction target, raising it to between $16.5 million and $17.5 million.

CEO Ivan Glasenberg commented, “Going forward, we continue to focus on successfully completing the balance sheet repositioning, first announced in September of 2015 and delivering industry-leading shareholder returns into the future.”

Growth slows in Germany

The Germany economy has slowed in the second quarter, with GDP increasing by just 0.4 percent between April and June.

The figure represents a 0.3 percent slowdown from the 0.7 percent growth achieved in the first quarter. The annual growth rate stood at 3.1 percent.

Growth was driven by household and public sector spending, but held back by a fall in investment.

24/08/2016