Business this week

In by far the largest foreign takeover bid by a Chinese company to date, ChemChina offered $43 billion to buy Syngenta, which is based in Switzerland and is one of the world’s biggest providers of agricultural chemicals and seeds. It is the second big acquisition in the chemical industry in recent months, after the merger announcement of Dow Chemical and DuPont. Syngenta’s board recommended shareholders accept the bid from ChemChina, which is state-controlled. The deal will be scrutinised by antitrust regulators in several countries, especially America, which accounts for a quarter of Syngenta’s sales. See article.

The decline in oil prices was reflected in a gloomy set of earnings from oil companies. Chevron reported its first quarterly loss since 2002. Exxon Mobil’s annual profit fell by half, to $16.2 billion; it is slashing capital spending by 25% this year. BP posted an annual headline loss of $5.2 billion, its worst ever. See article.

Positive negative

The Bank of Japan cut its benchmark interest rate below zero, to -0.1%. Japan has joined the European Central Bank, Switzerland and others by implementing a negative rate, though its policy applies only to new reserves that banks place with the BoJ.

Credit Suisse reported an annual pre-tax loss of SFr2.4 billion ($2.4 billion), its first since 2008, mostly because it booked a hefty write-down in the fourth quarter related to the restructuring of its business. Pre-tax profit at the Swiss bank’s investment-banking division was down by 90%.

There was more management turmoil at Luxottica, an Italian maker of eyewear and owner of the Ray-Ban and Oakley brands, as its third chief executive in 18 months resigned. Leonardo Del Vecchio, the company’s 80-year-old founder, will again reassert control by taking the CEO’s job on an interim basis.

Sumner Redstone stepped down as chairman of CBS, after months of pressure from investors worried about his ability to perform his duties at the American broadcaster. For years questions have been raised about the health of the 92-year-old mogul, whose position as chairman of Viacom, a big media group, has also come into question.

Alphabet, the holding company that Google created last year, reported a bumper set of annual earnings. Revenue at its internet and Android businesses climbed to $74.5 billion, pushing operating profit up to $23.4 billion. Its Other Bets projects, such as self-driving cars and smart thermostats, made a $3.6 billion loss, but that was not as steep as had been feared. Alphabet’s share price rose, briefly nudging it past Apple to become the world’s most valuable listed company. See article.

The French finance minister, Michel Sapin, dismissed suggestions that he would reach a deal with Google over paying back taxes, saying that France “does not negotiate” over money it is owed. Critics contend that the agreement Google recently struck to pay £130m ($190m) in back taxes in Britain let it off the hook.

Yahoo announced a strategic review of its core internet business, acknowledging that it might examine the option of selling the unit. Yahoo is to shed a further 15% of its workforce to cut costs. It reported a quarterly net loss of $4.4 billion, mostly because it wrote down the value of some of its assets, including Tumblr, a blogging site.

Sharp, a struggling Japanese maker of electronics goods, was reportedly holding takeover talks with Foxconn, a Taiwanese firm that assembles the iPhone. Foxconn is one of two suitors to have emerged: a Japanese government-backed fund is also interested in Sharp, though its bid is lower.

Once lauded for its fresh ingredients, Chipotle Mexican Grill, a fast-food chain, said the publicity from an outbreak of E.coli at some outlets had hit sales in the last quarter of 2015, contributing to a 44% drop in profit. This week federal health authorities in America declared that the E.coli scare appears to be over.

Ferrari’s share price slid after it issued a disappointing earnings forecast. Despite a strong order book, profits at the Italian maker of luxury cars are projected to be only slightly higher than those it made last year. Ferrari’s share price has fallen by a third on the New York Stock Exchange since its IPO there last October. An announcement of a racy new convertible might turbocharge its share price.

It’s good to be the king

A venture capitalist who wrote an open letter online criticising the launch event for Tesla Motors’ Model X said his order for the car has been cancelled by Elon Musk, Tesla’s founder. Mr Musk tweeted that he was surprised at the fuss over “denying service to a super-rude customer”.