AVIATION
Iran finalizes Airbus deal
Iran has finalized an agreement with Airbus Group SE to acquire 100 jetliners, the first of which is tentatively expected to be delivered in the middle of next month, a senior official said yesterday. The deal, split roughly equally between narrow-body and wide-body aircraft, will be signed in coming days, possibly as early as today, Iranian Deputy Roads and Urban Development Minister Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan said. Under the agreement, Airbus will supply four types of aircraft — its medium-haul A320 and A321 aircraft and the long-haul A330 and A350 — he said, in remarks confirming Iran’s decision to drop the A380 from a draft deal signed in January. Previously, Iran had set sights to order 118 jets, including 12 A380s.
TOURISM
Electra to sell Parkdean
British buyout fund Electra Private Equity said its portfolio manager Epiris had agreed to sell Parkdean Resorts, an operator of caravan holiday parks, to private equity firm Onex Corp for £1.35 billion (US$1.69 billion). The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of next year, Electra said yesterday, adding that it would receive about £405 million from the sale, taking its total proceeds from the investment to £515 million.
FOOD
Danone to miss sales target
Danone, the world’s biggest yogurt maker, said sales growth will be slightly below its target for this year as its fresh dairy business shrinks for a third year, hurt by weak demand in Spain and a slower-than-expected revamp of the Activia yogurt brand across Europe. Revenue growth will miss the 3 to 5 percent goal, Danone said in a statement yesterday. Sales increased 3.2 percent on that basis in the first nine months. The stock fell as much as 3 percent in Paris.
JAPAN
Yen’s slide boosts exports
The nation yesterday posted its third consecutive trade surplus as last month’s exports held up, boosted by a sharp slide in the yen. The upbeat official data came less than a week after a closely watched Bank of Japan survey showed confidence among some of the country’s biggest firms rebounded for the first time in over a year. Yesterday’s export data showed a pickup in demand for Japan-made auto parts, although shipments of vehicles and steel fell. While total shipments overseas inched down 0.4 percent from a year ago, it was the smallest fall since September last year.
MALAYSIA
Ringgit hits 18-year low
The ringgit touched the lowest level since the Asian financial crisis as investors continue to sell down emerging-market assets and after a crackdown on currency speculators last month exacerbated outflows. The ringgit declined as much as 0.1 percent to 4.4805 per US dollar, a level unseen since January 1998, according to prices from local banks compiled by Bloomberg, before paring losses to trade little changed at 4.48 at 9:52am in Kuala Lumpur. The ringgit has lost more than 6 percent since the US election, the biggest decline in emerging Asia, as expectations that US president-elect Donald Trump will stoke inflation with his fiscal policies spurred outflows from the region. Sentiment toward Malaysian assets has also been hurt by the central bank’s move last month to clamp down on trading of non-deliverable forwards even as it provided greater onshore hedging flexibility with revised regulations.
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