CHINA
Forex reserves rise US$20bn
Foreign exchange reserves last month unexpectedly rose by US$20 billion to US$3.21 trillion, central bank data showed yesterday, rebounding from a five-year low in May. Foreign exchange reserves totaled US$3.21 trillion at the end of last month, the People’s Bank of China reported on its Web site. Economists polled by Reuters had predicted reserves would fall by US$20 billion to US$3.17 trillion. China’s reserves, the largest in the world, fell by US$27.9 billion to US$3.19 trillion in May, their lowest since December 2011.
GERMANY
Factory output drops 1.3%
Industrial production contracted 1.3 percent in May, government figures showed yesterday, falling well short of expectations. Analysts surveyed by Factset had been penciling in a much shallower decline of 0.1 percent in the closely watched indicator in May after output rose by 0.5 percent in April. Monthly data compiled by the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy showed that output in the manufacturing sector declined 1.8 percent and construction output shrank 0.9 percent, while energy output increased 3.9 percent.
UNITED STATES
Trade deficit grows 10.1%
The trade deficit grew more than expected in May as imports jumped and exports slipped, and the gap with China widened sharply, government data released on Wednesday showed. The chronically deficit trade balance with the rest of the world climbed 10.1 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted US$41.1 billion, the largest month-over-month increase since July last year. The politically sensitive goods trade gap with China soared 19.3 percent to US$29 billion in May.
APPAREL
Marks & Spencer sales fall
Marks & Spencer Group PLC yesterday reported its steepest drop in clothing sales in eight years. Same-store sales of clothing and home goods fell 8.9 percent in the 13 weeks ended on Saturday last week, the London-based company said, worse than the 5 percent drop analysts expected. About 5 percentage points of the decline were due to a reduction in the number of promotional offers and a delayed clearance sale, CEO Steve Rowe said in a conference call.
RECYCLING
Shanks eyes Dutch recycler
Britain’s Shanks Group PLC yesterday said it was in talks to buy Dutch recycler Van Gansewinkel Groep BV in a deal valued at about 440 million euros (US$487.83 million) on a debt-free, cash-free basis. Shanks Group said the deal had a “compelling” strategic rationale, with significant potential cost synergies. A combination of Van Gansewinkel with Shanks or Suez Environment SA would bring together two of the three largest players in the Dutch recycling market, a consolidation analysts said is needed to reduce overcapacity.
SOFTWARE
Avast Software to buy AVG
Avast Software agreed to buy AVG Technologies NV for US$1.3 billion in cash to add software to protect mobile phones from malware. Avast, which is backed by private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, is to begin a tender offer for Amsterdam-based AVG at US$25 per share in cash, the companies said yesterday. That is 33 percent above AVG’s closing price on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. Avast plans to fund the transaction using cash on hand and debt financing.
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