SOUTH AMERICA
Tax could close Coke plants
Coca-Cola Beverages Africa, the bottling joint venture between the US beverage maker and brewer SABMiller PLC, might close plants and see profit in the country dip by more than half if the government pushes ahead with a proposed sugar tax aimed at reducing sugar consumption and lower sugar content in products. The National Treasury last month recommended a levy on sugar-sweetened beverages that would generate almost 11 billion rand (US$807 million) in government revenue. The newly created bottler’s volumes would probably drop by at least 25 percent if the tax were implemented as proposed, Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa managing director Velaphi Ratshefola said.
BANKING
GFH in talks with Alkhair
Bahrain’s GFH Financial Group is in talks to buy a majority stake in Islamic lender Bank Alkhair. Bank mergers in the Gulf are expected to increase following Abu Dhabi’s decision to combine its two largest banks, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and First Gulf Bank. That could pressure other lenders in the United Arab Emirates to pursue deals, Dubai-based investment bank Arqaam Capital Ltd said in June. Khaleeji Commercial Bank abandoned plans to merge with Bank Alkhair in 2014 after failing to agree a structure for the transaction. The value of the potential deal was not disclosed.
BANKING
Equity Group profits rise 18%
Equity Group Holdings Ltd, Kenya’s biggest bank by market value, said first-half profit grew 18 percent as its income from loans jumped. Profit increased to 10.1 billion Kenyan shillings (US$99.7 million) in the six months through June as the lender’s net interest income rose 37 percent to 21.2 billion shillings, chief executive officer James Mwangi told reporters yesterday in the capital, Nairobi. Operating income climbed 22 percent to 32.1 billion Kenyan shillings. The lender, which has operations in six African countries, almost tripled loan-loss provisions to 1.93 billion Kenyan shillings. Non-performing credit jumped 29 percent to 10.8 billion Kenyan shillings.
CURRENCY
Yuan dips on rate rise rumor
The yuan fell to its lowest level in almost two weeks as increasing speculation that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year drove up the US dollar. The Chinese currency declined 0.09 percent to 6.6607 against the US dollar as of 3:25pm in Shanghai, according to prices from the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. A gauge of US dollar strength was headed for the biggest two-day advance since June, with comments from two Fed officials fueling speculation that an increase in borrowing costs this year is still on the table.
AUTOMAKERS
FAW to sell Toyota stake
China FAW Group (第一汽車), one of Toyota Motor Corp’s automaking partners in China, announced plans to sell a 15 percent stake in its joint venture to its parent, to raise money for updating products and restructuring. Tianjin FAW Xiali Automobile Co (天津第一夏利) would book a 2.5 billion yuan (US$376 million) gain on the transaction, the company said in a statement on Saturday. The transaction would cut FAW’s stake in the venture with the Japanese automaker to 15 percent. Sales have been shrinking because the company, which reported a net loss in the quarter ended March, failed to keep pace with restructuring and new products at rivals, FAW said.
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