MACROECONOMICS
Ukraine rating revised
Standard & Poor’s revised its outlook on Ukraine to “stable” from “negative,” saying that the IMF program adopted in April has helped improve the economic situation in the country. However, the agency said that the IMF program could be impacted by geopolitical risks and a severe recession. “Full disbursement of the International Monetary Fund program and related multilateral lending should enable Ukraine to meet its external financing needs over the next year,” the ratings agency said in a statement. Standard & Poor’s also said the new government under Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk had been stable and “relatively cohesive.” The IMF’s board signed off on a US$17 billion two-year aid program for Ukraine in April to help the economy recover after months of upheaval.
STEEL
US slows illegal dumping
The US Commerce Department declared on Friday that South Korean steel companies and those in seven other countries were illegally dumping low-cost steel pipes and tubing into the US construction market and would be subject to additional duties. China has been the primary target of ire among steel manufacturers in the US, having exported vast quantities of steel in the last decade. In 2010, the US levied duties on the importation of Chinese steel tubes in a major victory for the US industry. However, since that ruling, South Korea and other countries have stepped into the vacuum left by a drop in Chinese imports. Last year, South Korea exported 894,300 tonnes of steel tubes into the US at a value of more than US$800 million, according to data released by the US Commerce Department.
COMMUNICATIONS
Affiliates to merge
Japan’s Softbank and Deutsche Telekom of Germany have reached a basic agreement for a merger between their US affiliates Sprint and T-Mobile US, the Nikkei Business Daily reported yesterday. Eight financial institutions, including Japan’s top three megabanks Mizuho, Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui, are to provide a credit line of around ¥4 trillion (US$39 billion) for Softbank’s purchase of T-Mobile through Sprint, according to the report. The combined subscriber base of Sprint, ranked third among US mobile phone firms, and fourth-ranked T-Mobile roughly equals those of the sector’s two leaders — top-ranked Verizon Wireless and AT&T, the daily said.
BANKING
Wells Fargo profit up 3.8%
Wells Fargo & Co said profit increased 3.8 percent on lower credit costs even as the lender’s per-share earnings failed to top the preceding quarter’s for the first time since 2009. Net income for the second quarter advanced to US$5.73 billion, or US$1.01 a share, from US$5.52 billion, or US$0.98, a year earlier, the San Francisco-based lender said on Friday in a statement. The average estimate of 31 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was US$1.01 a share excluding special items. Earnings per share fell from US$1.05 in the three months ended March 31. Chief executive officer John Stumpf has sought to counter a drop in mortgage revenue as higher interest rates crimp new home loans. He has expanded in businesses including credit-card and auto lending, investment banking and retail wealth management to help cover the shortfall.
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