FRANCE
Business activity stays flat
French business activity was flat in the second quarter of this year compared with the first three months of the year, final data released by the national statistics office confirmed yesterday. It marked the third consecutive quarter of stagnation for France, the second biggest eurozone economy. If activity remains flat for the rest of the year, France would post annualized growth of 0.2 percent, the INSEE statistics office said, just below the government’s target of a 0.3 percent rise in GDP.
SPAIN
Inflation spikes up to 3.5%
Spanish inflation spiked to 3.5 percent on an annualized basis this month, its highest level since April 2011, provisional data from the national statistics institute Ine showed yesterday. Ine did not give a breakdown of the result, noting only that it was “the consequence of generalized price increases in a majority of categories,” following an increase on Sept. 1 in Spain’s value-added tax (VAT). Prior to the same level of 3.5 percent in April last year, the last time Spain has witnessed such strong inflation was in October 2008.
SOUTH KOREA
Industrial output declines
South Korea’s industrial output contracted for the third month in a row last month as demand remained sluggish because of the eurozone crisis, government data showed yesterday. Production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries fell 0.7 percent from a month earlier, following a revised 1.9 percent drop in July. It was the third straight month that output has fallen, starting with a 0.6 percent contraction in June. From a year earlier, last month’s industrial production inched up 0.3 percent.
VIETNAM
Credt rating downgraded
Moody’s yesterday downgraded Vietnam’s credit rating, citing weaknesses in the country’s banking system that are likely to hit growth. The agency cut Hanoi to “B2” from “B1” and gave it a “stable” outlook. It warned there was a “higher likelihood that contingent risks to the government’s balance sheet will be realised due to more pronounced weaknesses in the banking system.” Moody’s also slashed Vietnam’s long-term foreign currency deposit ceiling to “B3” from “B2.”
INDIA
Starbucks to open store
Starbucks is to open its first outlet in India by the end of October in an upscale neighborhood of Mumbai and has appointed a chief executive to head its India joint venture, the company said yesterday. The store will be in Mumbai’s Horniman Circle neighborhood, which boasts an Hermes store and a stately neighborhood park. It will feature coffee sourced locally, through an arrangement with Tata Coffee Ltd. Starbucks is operating in India through a 50-50 joint venture with Tata Global Beverages, called Tata Starbucks Ltd.
APPAREL
Nike reports income drop
Nike said on Thursday its fiscal first-quarter net income fell 12 percent as higher sales of its clothing and footwear brands was offset by higher costs and increased ad spending. The world’s largest athletic shoe and clothing company says net income for the three months ended Aug. 31 fell to US$567 million, or US$1.23 per share. That compares with net income of US$645 million, or US$1.36 per share, last year. Revenue rose 10 percent to US$6.67 billion from US$6.08 billion last year.
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
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
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