UNITED STATES
Economists project growth
Economic growth should accelerate in the second quarter and remain healthy for the rest of the year, according to a forecast made by a group of business economists. Still, full-year growth will likely come in lower than they previously estimated. Job growth should remain steady and consumer spending will also likely pick up, according to a survey by the National Association of Business Economists released yesterday. The survey of 47 economists from companies, trade associations and academia was conducted from May 8 to May 21. The survey also found that economists increasingly agree that the Federal Reserve will end its bond-purchase program by the end of this year.
BANKING
Lloyds to sell TSB shares
Lloyds Banking Group yesterday said it plans to sell one-quarter of its shares in TSB through a listing on the London stock market priced below the business’ book value. Lloyds, which must sell the business as a condition of the UK government bailout it received during the financial crisis, said the shares would be sold at between £0.220 and £0.290 each. The mid-point of the range values the business at £1.3 billion (US$2.1 billion), below its book, or net asset value, of £1.6 billion. The final pricing is to be announced on June 20, with initial dealings to start on that day.
PROPERTY
China home prices to drop
Chinese home prices are to fall this year as developers cut prices to meet sales targets amid a cooling property market, Standard & Poor’s predicted yesterday. Home prices will fall 5 percent this year from the 11.5 percent gain they posted last year, the New York-based ratings company said in an e-mailed report. According to the report, sales volume in the sector will improve in the second half of the year and rise 10 percent for the full year, boosted by price cuts. “Prices are likely to continue to slide because of large inventory in some markets,” S&P said in the report. “Many small unrated developers will feel the heat the most because their sales and financing capacities are substantially weaker than their larger peers’. Some lower-tier cities with limited demand and abundant supply could see deeper downward price adjustments.”
MEDIA
Time to trade in New York
Time Inc, the magazine company that is home to People, Sports Illustrated and Time, was to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday, amid the serious hurdles facing print-based companies. The US firm is spinning off from parent Time Warner Inc and will operate as a stand-alone public company. Time Inc said revenue fell about 2 percent last year to US$3.35 billion compared with the previous year. Its adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization dropped 5 percent to US$587 million and its free cash flow declined 10 percent to US$384 million over the same period.
TRADE
China freezes DDGS permits
China’s quarantine agency suspended the issuance of permits to import US-produced animal-feed ingredient made from corn, three trading executives who had their applications denied said. Effective from Friday last week, US shipments of dried distillers’ grains (DDGS) can no longer enter China, because Beijing deems them to have a high risk of containing MIR 162, a genetically modified variety of corn that the country has not approved, said the executives, who asked not to be identified.
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
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last