INDUSTRY
German factory orders fall
German factory orders plunged to the lowest level since 2009, underlining the risk of a slowdown in Europe’s largest economy. Orders, adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, fell 5.7 percent in August, after climbing 4.9 percent in July, the Economy Ministry in Berlin said yesterday. Economists predicted a 2.5 percent decline, according to the median of 33 estimates in a survey. Orders fell 1.3 percent on the year. Deteriorating confidence is undermining a rebound in Germany’s economy from a second-quarter slump. The 18-nation eurozone is struggling to sustain its recovery amid rising political tension with Russia over its support of separatists in Ukraine and inflation that is running at a fraction of the European Central Bank’s definition of price stability.
RETAIL
Jimmy Choo eyes listing
Luxury shoe company Jimmy Choo is on course to join London’s main stock market with a value of up to US$1.1 billion, industry sources said yesterday. The company, whose shoes cost up to £600 (US$960) a pair is looking to use the money raised from the listing to expand, particularly in Asia. Books opened yesterday with an initial price range of £1.40 to £1.80 a share, which would mean an equity value for the company of between £546 million and £702 million. With an aim to list 25 percent of the company, that would put the deal size at between £136 million and £175 million, before any over-allotment option is exercised, which could see further shares sold, the sources said. Jimmy Choo, which recently opened a flagship store in London, had 120 directly operated shops as of the end of June and has said it plans to open 10 to 15 shops a year until 2016.
GREECE
Draft 2015 budget presented
The government plans to issue a seven-year and 10-year bond as well as a Treasury bill of over 26 weeks, the government’s draft 2015 budget projected yesterday. Athens also confirmed it expects to report a budget surplus excluding interest payments of 2.9 percent of GDP next year, just shy of the 3 percent target set under the country’s 240 billion euro (US$301 billion) EU/IMF bailout. The budget also predicted the economy would grow 2.9 percent next year, in line with the bailout target. Athens is hoping it can exit its bailout package at the end of the year, over a year ahead of its scheduled end in early 2016, in a bid to rally austerity-weary Greeks and secure the fragile coalition government’s survival. Unemployment is expected to fall to 22.5 percent next year from 24.5 percent this year, while debt is expected to fall to 168 percent of GDP from 175 percent this year, the draft budget said.
BANKING
Lloyds to cut more jobs
Lloyds Banking Group PLC, Britain’s largest mortgage provider, plans to eliminate thousands of jobs to lower costs, according to the Times newspaper, in what may be the biggest round of cuts since at least 2011. The bank will shut further branches as part of efforts to automate its entire business, with job cuts expected in areas such as mortgage processing and new account opening, the Times reported yesterday, without saying from where it obtained the information. The bank has eliminated more than 37,000 jobs in the aftermath of its government bailout in 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, with about 15,000 cuts announced in 2011 as part of an effort to lower costs by £1.5 billion (US$2.4 billion).
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