INTEREST RATES
Thailand hikes key rate
Thailand raised interest rates for the seventh straight meeting as Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s plans to boost wages and rice prices heighten inflation risks even as growth eases. The Bank of Thailand increased its benchmark one-day bond repurchase rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 3.5 percent, it said in Bangkok yesterday. The move was predicted by 16 out of 20 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, with the rest expecting no change. Thailand has boosted borrowing costs nine times since the start of July last year, the longest tightening cycle since the 23 months ended June 2006.
ECONOMY
German confidence down
German business confidence deteriorated sharply this month, the Ifo economic research institute said yesterday. The monthly Ifo business climate index plunged to 108.7 points from 112.9 points last month, highlighting a sharp slowdown seen also in other recent data. The result was well below expectations of a decline to 111 points, according to a poll of economists by Dow Jones Newswires, and was the biggest drop since the index lost 4.7 points in July 2008. It was also the lowest level since June last year, when it stood at 106.5 points.
COMMODITIES
Glencore bids for Minara
Swiss-based commodities giant Glencore yesterday announced a takeover bid for Australian nickel miner Minara, its first major play since listing in London and Hong Kong. The off-market cash bid for the 27 percent share of Minara that Glencore does not already own values the cobalt and nickel firm at A$1.02 billion (US$1.07 billion), or A$0.87 a share. Glencore said the offer was a “substantial premium to Minara’s recent trading price and an attractive exit opportunity” for shareholders after the miner reported a 31.2 percent drop in half-year profit to A$27.3 million.
AIRLINES
Qantas’ profit doubles
Qantas Airways Ltd yesterday reported that annual net profit more than doubled to A$250 million, but warned that the general operating environment was challenging and extremely volatile. The Australian flagship carrier’s result for the 12 months through June compares with A$112 million in the previous year. It was also below the market consensus of A$322 million, according to a median of four analysts’ estimates published by Australian Associated Press. Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said in a statement that the “result reflects the strength of the Qantas Group’s portfolio and is our best performance since the global financial crisis.”
BEVERAGES
Heineken’s profit drops
Heineken NV, Europe’s largest seller of beer, said first-half earnings were down from the same period a year ago, when it booked a one-time gain, and that it expects flat full-year earnings. Net profit in the first half of this year was 605 million euros (US$872 million), down from 700 million euros in the same period a year ago. Sales rose 11 percent to 8.36 billion euros, mostly due to the acquisition of brands, including Dos Equis and Tecate. Sales rose 3.3 percent, it said. The family-controlled company said commodity costs, high unemployment and weak consumer confidence would remain a drag on its business in Europe and the US, offset by growth in emerging markets.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last