Adidas posts Q1 loss

• The company booked a net loss of $43 million from January to March, compared to a profit of 482 million euros in the period a year earlier
• Its operating profit came in at 60 million euros, a fall of more than 85 percent from a year earlier, while sales were almost flat at 5.28 billion euros

Vote to decide HSBC split

• Asia-focused HSBC has urged shareholders to vote down the proposal at its annual general meeting in Birmingham, central England
• Ping An has argued that the bank lags international peers and a recent improvement in performance was tied to rising interest rates

Iran seeks trade boost with Syria during Raisi’s visit to Damascus

• Raisi said Iran and Syria had signed 15 "cooperation documents" which would allow "both countries to open a new chapter in economic relations".
• Raisi and Assad signed a deal on "long-term strategic cooperation", covering fields including oil, aviation, railways and agriculture.

ECB raises interest rate but says more steps likely to fight inflation

• It was the seventh-straight increase in the ECB's unprecedented campaign of monetary tightening that began last year after costs of everyday goods began to soar.
• Thursday's increase brings the ECB's deposit rate to 3.25 percent, its highest level since 2008.

DEWA customers can make payments via Samsung Pay

Maersk Q1 profit dips

• For the first three months of the year, Maersk had a net profit of $2.3 billion, down from $6.8 billion a year earlier.
• The result fell short of analyst expectations, as Maersk also reported a 26 percent drop in revenue to $14.2 billion.

BMW Q1 net profit at $4.1bn  

• Overall vehicle sales declined by 1.5 percent year-on-year, with a 6.6 percent slide in China and a 1.9 percent decrease in Europe.
• In Europe, "the environment was characterized by persistent inflation and high interest rates," BMW said.

SODIC posts $0.10bn Q1 sales

• SODIC's majority shareholder, Aldar, led one of the largest foreign direct investments in the Egyptian real estate sector in 2021
• The company is also expanding its landbank in multiple areas across Egypt, including West Cairo, East Cairo, and the North Coast

Shell Q1 profits jump

• Profit after tax leapt 22 percent to $8.7 billion from a year earlier, when it had faced a large $3.9 billion charge over its exit from Russia after Moscow invaded Ukraine
• Adjusted earnings rose six percent to £9.6 billion and revenue advanced seven percent to $89 billion, sparking fresh outcry from critics as Britons face a cost-of-living crisis

Microsoft expands artificial intelligence programs’ access to public

• The AI-enhanced features of the company's Bing search engine and Edge internet browser are now open for anyone to use, Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president said
• The services have been enhanced with the ability to work with images as well as text, and Microsoft intends to add video to the mix, according to the executive