Spain
Recession deepens
Spain’s recession is deepening, official data showed yesterday, also revealing that the initial downturn was steeper and began earlier than first thought. The National Statistic Office said economic output slumped by 0.4 percent in the second quarter on a quarterly basis after a 0.3 percent drop in the first quarter. On an annual basis, GDP tumbled by 1.3 percent, much faster than the 0.6 percent decline registered in the first three months of the year, the figures showed. The latest figures also revealed that the Spanish recession dates back to last year, not the start of this year. Spain’s output in the third quarter of last year — previously recorded as being just above zero — had in fact slipped barely into negative territory, the statistician said.
Germany
Consumers stay confident
A survey has found that consumer confidence in Germany remains stable despite ever-increasing worries that the country’s economy, Europe’s biggest, will suffer from the debt crisis weighing on many other European countries. The GfK research institute said yesterday that its forward-looking consumer confidence indicator for next month stands at 5.9 points — unchanged from this month’s reading. The group says that consumers’ economic expectations fell significantly for the third month in a row, but their income expectations and willingness to buy were only slightly lower. It says the overall indicator was propped up by a decline in consumers’ inclination to save.
France
Job seekers increase
The number of registered French job seekers saw the sharpest monthly rise in three years, rising to 2.99 million people last month, the 15th consecutive month the country’s unemployment line increased, the labour ministry said on Monday. From the previous month, the number of registered job seekers rose by 41,300 people, the ministry said, on pace to break the three million mark next month. Including the number of people working on reduced hours, 4.45 million people were hunting for jobs in mainland France last month, the ministry said, an increase of 58,300 people from June.
Travel
Samsonite sales soar
US luggage maker Samsonite yesterday posted record first-half sales, boosted by strong global travel demand as well as growth in Asia and North America. The firm said net profit for the six months to June 30 leapt 400 percent to US$82.3 million compared with the previous first half, when it booked almost US$60 million in one-off costs including the financing of its Hong Kong float. Net sales rose 13.8 percent to a record US$846.7 million, boosted by 21.3 percent growth in Asia to US$324.6 million and 27.7 percent growth in North America to US$238.5 million.
Automakers
Carmaker’s profit drops
Chinese auto and battery maker BYD Co (比亞迪) says its first-half year profit plunged 94 percent as it faced China’s economic slowdown and tougher competition in the world’s biggest auto market.
BYD said on Monday that profit sank to 16 million yuan (US$2.5 million) or 0.01 yuan (0.02 US cents) per share on a slight dip in revenue to 21.4 billion yuan. In the same period last year, BYD reported profit of 275 million yuan or 0.12 yuan per share.
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