CHINA
FDI rebounds slightly
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the nation rose marginally in the first quarter, led by Japanese, EU and US companies, after declining last year, the government announced yesterday. Incoming FDI, which excludes financial sectors, rose 1.4 percent from January to March to US$29.9 billion, the Ministry of Commerce said. It was also up 5.65 percent at US$12.4 billion last month, rising for the second straight month.
BRAZIL
Central bank raises key rate
The central bank has increased its key Selic interest rate for the first time in nearly two years to try to cool off inflation. A statement from the bank on Wednesday said it increased the benchmark rate from a record-low 7.25 percent to 7.5 percent. The bank said the increase was needed because of inflation’s “resistance” despite a slowing of the economy. Inflation ran at 6.6 percent in March over the previous 12 months. The government had set 6.5 percent as its target for inflation for this year.
TECHNOLOGY
EBay records profitable Q1
EBay Inc grew its earnings and revenue in the first quarter thanks to growth in its PayPal business and its e-commerce sites. However, revenue fell shy of Wall Street’s expectations and the company’s outlook for the current quarter is weaker than expected, causing investors to send the company’s stock lower in after-hours trading. EBay on Wednesday said it earned US$677 million, or US$0.51 per share, in the period between January and last month, up from US$570 million, or US$0.44 per share, in the same period a year earlier. Revenue grew 14 percent to US$3.75 billion, slightly below Wall Street’s expectations.
FOOD & BEVERAGE
Nestle posts sales growth
Swiss food and drinks giant Nestle SA yesterday reported first-quarter sales of 21.9 billion Swiss francs (US$23.48 billion), up 2.3 percent from the same period a year earlier. The company said sales in developed markets continue to be subdued by low consumer confidence amid global financial uncertainty both in the US — which is Nestle’s biggest market — and in Europe. The company expects to see stronger momentum in key emerging markets, where it reported 8.4 percent growth in the first quarter.
RETAIL
EU crisis hits Carrefour
French big-box retailer Carrefour SA saw sales slip in the first quarter due to the economic crisis in Europe and currency depreciation in Latin America. The retailer yesterday reported 20.8 billion euros (US$27.3 billion) in revenue in th eperiod between January and last month, a 1.3 percent drop when sales from discontinued operations are excluded. By pulling out of Singapore, Greece, Indonesia, Malaysia and Colombia, Carrefour tripled its profits last year, but its sales are flagging. The company’s most worrying performance is in Europe.
OIL
Shell closes Nigerian line
Royal Dutch Shell PLC on Wednesday said it has shut down a major pipeline in Nigeria’s oil-rich southern delta to remove points that thieves are using to steal crude from it. Shell said its Nigerian subsidiary shut down the Nembe Creek Trunkline, halting production of about 150,000 barrels of oil a day. Shell said it had issued a force majeure warning on its Bonny Light crude oil exports — meaning it is unable to meet the contracted demand for the crude.
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