GREECE
Nation to need bailout
The IMF’s board late on Monday agreed that Athens is likely to need further debt relief, but there remains a split over the appropriate goal for the nation’s finances. The board met to discuss the long-overdue review of the nation’s economy, as well as a report that describes the nation’s debt as becoming “explosive” in the long run. The IMF said most of its board members agreed that “despite Greece’s enormous sacrifices and European partners’ generous support, further relief may well be required to restore debt sustainability.” However, that debt relief must be accompanied by “strong policy implementation to restore growth and sustainability,” it said. Months of bickering have delayed progress on Greece’s 86 billion euros (US$91.7 billion) bailout program.
BANKING
BNP misses profit forecast
BNP Paribas SA posted fourth-quarter profit that missed estimates, as earnings fell at the French consumer-banking business. The lender also laid out a multi-year plan to lower costs and boost investment in technology. Net income doubled to 1.44 billion euros from a year earlier, the Paris-based bank said in a statement yesterday, falling short of the 1.63 billion euros average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. BNP Paribas raised its dividend to 2.70 euros a share and is targeting an average annual increase of more than 9 percent until 2020. Record-low interest rates and sluggish economic growth have held back consumer-banking profits at European banks. The bank said it would spend 3 billion euros over the next three years to upgrade digital-banking services and increase automation, while also seeking 3.4 billion euros in cost savings.
ENERGY
BP estimates miss mark
BP PLC reported fourth-quarter earnings that missed analysts’ estimates after higher oil prices failed to fully compensate for lower income from refining. Profit adjusted for one-time items and inventory changes totaled US$400 million, falling short of the US$567.7 million average estimate of analysts. Unlike peers Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Exxon Mobil Corp, which said cash flow now covered spending and dividends at the current oil price, BP said it would not achieve that until the end of the year and only if Brent crude rises to about US$60 a barrel. “A pattern has emerged across the industry that is reinforced by BP’s results. Profits from oil and gas production are rising with higher crude prices, but are being offset by weaker-than-expected earnings from refining and trading. Almost all of the majors have missed earnings estimates and the big theme for the quarter has been weaker refining,” London-based BMO Capital Markets analyst Brendan Warn said.
CHINA
Reserves drop to 2011 levels
The nation’s foreign-currency reserves edged below US$3 trillion last month, falling to the lowest level since early 2011 after the yuan capped its steepest annual decline in two decades. Reserves fell US$12.3 billion to US$2.998 trillion, the People’s Bank of China said yesterday. That compares with the US$3.004 trillion estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The central bank’s intervention in foreign-exchange markets drove the drop, as did seasonal factors such as high demand for other currencies during the Lunar New Year holiday, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said in a statement. Further erosion of the world’s largest stockpile might prompt policymakers again to tighten measures for controlling outflows.
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