ECONOMY
Singapore returns to growth
Singapore’s economy returned to growth in July-to-September, reversing contraction in the previous three months, owing to a pick-up in the city-state’s key manufacturing sector, the government said yesterday. Compared with the second quarter, GDP expanded 1.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, advance estimates by the trade ministry showed. GDP shrank 0.1 percent in the three months to June. However, officials estimate the economy grew 2.4 percent year on year, which is below analysts’ forecasts of 2.8 percent.
INDIA
Consumer inflation falls
Consumer price inflation slid unexpectedly last month to its lowest in nearly three years, data showed on Monday, giving greater scope for an interest rate cut that could spur a stuttering economy. Consumer inflation tumbled to 6.46 percent last month, down from August’s revised 7.73 percent, and far better than a consensus market forecast of 7.1 percent.
INVESTMENT
Fidelity names new CEO
Fidelity Investments named Abigail Johnson chief executive of the financial services company, the third chief executive officer of the company founded by her grandfather. Johnson, 52, is replacing her father, 84-year-old Edward Johnson, who has been head of Fidelity since 1977. He plans to stay on as chairman of the company’s board. The changes were announced on Monday in a memo to Fidelity shareholders. The company is one of the world’s biggest investors, managing 401(k)s and other retirement and investment accounts for 23 million people.
ENTERTAINMENT
Taj Mahal casino could close
The parent company of Atlantic City’s Trump Taj Mahal is asking a bankruptcy court judge to let it terminate its union contract. Trump Entertainment Resorts says it needs relief from pension and health insurance costs in order to keep the casino open past mid-November. A judge in Delaware was scheduled to hear the request yesterday morning. However, it was not clear whether a decision would be made yesterday. If the judge rules against the company, it could decide fairly quickly to shut down the Taj Mahal, its lone remaining casino.
BANKING
UBS ex-CEO trial to begin
Jury selection has begun for the trial of a former top executive at Swiss bank UBS AG on charges of helping thousands of wealthy Americans conceal some US$20 billion in assets from the Internal Revenue Service. Former UBS global wealth management chief executive officer Raoul Weil faces up to five years in prison if convicted of fraud conspiracy. Jury selection began yesterday morning in Fort Lauderdale federal court for a trial expected to last several weeks. Weil was originally indicted in 2008 and was a fugitive until his arrest in Italy last year. He pleaded not guilty after his extradition to the US.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Steris to take over Synergy
US pharmaceuticals firm Steris Corp on Monday said it has agreed a US$1.9 billion takeover of Britain’s Synergy Health, in a deal which plans to cut its tax bill. The new company is set to establish its joint tax headquarters in Britain under the terms of the cash-and-shares offer, which values the sterilization services group at £19.50 per share. That is 39 percent higher than Synergy’s closing share price on Friday.
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