A business of Anheuser-Busch InBev is nearly ready to bring cannabis-infused drinks to the Canadian market.
The announcement was made by Fluent Beverage Company, a joint venture between A-B InBev and Tilray, a company that researches, cultivates and distributes cannabis.
Fluent said it intends to have CBD-infused beverages available for sale in Canada as early as December 2019, but that timeline could be impacted by regulatory approval.
A-B InBev participated through its Canadian business, Labatt Breweries of Canada.
The companies announced last year that they would research cannabis-infused non-alcoholic beverages in Canada. At the time, A-B InBev and Tilray said they each planned to invest up to $50 million in research.
“We have assembled a team with best-in-class expertise from the beverage and cannabis industries and together we are reaching higher for our consumers, with a shared commitment to setting the standard for product quality and responsible marketing,” said Fluent CEO Jorn Socquet.
FCC approves merger of T-Mobile, Sprint
The Federal Communications Commission has approved the $26.5 billion combination of Sprint and T-Mobile on a 3-2 party-line vote.
The wireless merger still faces opposition from a coalition of state attorneys general, who argue the deal is bad for competition. The companies won’t merge while litigation persists.
The antitrust trial is scheduled to start in New York in December, an unusual situation given that the Trump administration’s Justice Department approved the deal.
The FCC chairman, Ajit Pai, a Republican, backed it months ago citing the companies’ promise to build out a next-generation 5G network to many rural areas, improving internet access.
The Democratic commissioners say going from four to three major wireless companies will mean higher prices for consumers. They say it will be difficult to enforce promises made by T-Mobile and Sprint.
CSX profits drop as shipments fall
CSX’s profit declined 4% in the third quarter, but tight cost controls helped the railroad weather a 5% decline in volume.
The Jacksonville, Florida, based railroad said it earned $856 million, or $1.08 per share, during the quarter. That was down from last year’s $894 million, or $1.05 per share.
The results topped Wall Street expectations. The analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research expected CSX to report earnings of $1.01 per share.
The railroad’s revenue decreased 5% to $2.98 billion, which was roughly in line with analyst expectations.
CSX said its expenses declined 8% to $1.69 billion in the quarter as it continued working to improve efficiency.
CSX Corp. is more than two years into an operational overhaul designed to enable the railroad to handle more volume with fewer locomotives and employees by operating on a tighter schedule.
Cuba to allow foreign currency
The Cuban government says it will allow citizens to use 10 foreign currencies to buy products like televisions and air conditioners at state stores in an attempt to compete with a multi-billion-dollar informal market in imported goods.
The communist state has a monopoly on most forms of retail sales and all wholesaling, import and export. The only legal vendors of appliances like refrigerators and air conditioners are state stores that charge as much as 200 percent of the average global price for generally low-quality Chinese-made products that are often out of stock.
That has led to an illegal but tolerated black market in goods purchased abroad by individual Cubans and resold at a profit on the island. Thousands of Cubans each year fly to shopping districts catering to them in countries ranging from Panama to Haiti to Russia. By some estimates, the sellers known as “mules” spend some $2 billion a year overseas, a major outflow of hard currency from an island already in a serious cash crunch.
Cuban officials announced Tuesday night that the prices of some consumer goods would drop for Cubans who create special new hard-currency bank accounts denominated in U.S. and Canadian dollars, Euros, British po