CHINA
Bank lending nearly doubles
The nation’s banks last month lent nearly twice as much money as in February, official data showed yesterday, as Beijing beefed up efforts to bolster a faltering economic recovery. Banks granted a total of 1.06 trillion yuan (US$171 billion) in new loans last month, up from 620 billion yuan in February, the central People’s Bank of China said in a statement. Total social financing, a broader measure of credit, surged to 2.54 trillion yuan, it said, more than doubling from 1.07 trillion yuan in February, although that month had fewer working days because of the Lunar New Year holiday.
AUSTRALIA
Unemployment rate rises
The nation’s unemployment rate jumped 0.2 percentage points to 5.6 percent last month with 36,100 fewer people employed, following a sharp rise in positions created the previous month. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the unemployment rate was up from 5.4 percent, defying analysts, who had broadly tipped the rate to remain steady. The number of jobs lost, seasonally adjusted, was nearly half the upwardly revised 74,000 gained in February, a result that was a near 13-year high and smashed forecasts.
AVIATION
Korean Air inks CSA deal
South Korean flag carrier Korean Air said yesterday it had finalized a deal to buy a 44 percent stake in troubled Czech Airlines (CSA) in a bid to expand lucrative long-haul routes to Europe. With the deal signed on Wednesday, Korean Air has become the second-largest shareholder in the state-run carrier following Czech Aeroholding, which holds a 51.7 percent stake, Korean Air said in a statement. Korean Air paid 2.64 million euros (US$3.44 million) for the stake.
RETAIL
Fast Retailing lifts forecast
Fast Retailing Co, Asia’s largest clothing retailer, raised its forecast for annual profit as the seller of Uniqlo apparel expanded overseas and benefited from the yen weakening to a three-year low. Net income will probably be ¥91.5 billion (US$918 million) for the year ending August, higher than its previous forecast of ¥87 billion, the company said yesterday in a statement. The company has said it expects to have 1,000 stores in China, matching the number in Japan, by 2020. Outlets would total 1,000 in the rest of Asia, matching the combined number in Europe and the US, according to the company.
TELECOMS
T-Mobile bid sweetened
Deutsche Telekom AG on Wednesday said it submitted final, sweetened terms it hoped will win shareholder backing for a merger of subsidiary T-Mobile USA with rival wireless carrier MetroPCS. Under the revised terms, Deutsche Telekom would trim US$3.8 billion from the debt load carried into the union by T-Mobile, reducing to US$11.2 billion the amount of “shareholder loans” to the company. Deutsche Telekom also said it would lower the interest rate charged on the loans.
INSURANCE
Axa agrees to sell unit
Axa SA, Europe’s second-largest insurer, agreed to sell a US unit and transfer certain obligations to Protective Life Corp for US$1.06 billion. Axa is selling Mony Life Insurance Co to Birmingham, Alabama-based Protective, which will reinsure some life policies, the companies said yesterday in separate statements. Axa said it will still offer life insurance and retirement products in the US and the agreement does not include the Mony distribution network.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained