GREECE
Moody’s raises rating
Credit ratings agency Moody’s on Friday raised Greece’s long-term issuer rating to “Caa2” from “Caa3” after eurozone governments extended a credit lifeline to the nation. Moody’s also changed its outlook to “positive,” up from “stable,” saying it saw signs that the heavily indebted nation’s economy was stabilizing. Moody’s said it expected Greece’s debt ratio to stabilize this year at 179 percent of GDP, adding that growth should return to the economy this year and next. Greece returned to growth in the first quarter, with a 0.4 percent increase in GDP, according to figures revised upward early this month.
RETAIL
Sears axes 20 more stores
Sears Holdings Corp is closing another 20 stores as the ailing retailer tries to turn around its business. Real-estate investment trust Seritage, which owns the 20 properties, confirmed the closings — 18 Sears stores and two Kmart stores — in a government filing on Friday. In 2015, Sears sold 235 Sears and Kmart store locations to Seritage as part of an agreement in which Sears leases the stores back from the real-estate company. Under the agreement with Seritage, if a store is unprofitable, Sears has the option to exit the lease by making a payment equal to one year’s rent. Sears said the stores will close in mid-September. Liquidation sales are to begin by the end of the month.
NIGERIA
Tax evaders get 2nd chance
The nation hopes to raise at least US$1 billion from a scheme that would give tax evaders a chance to make payments retrospectively, the Ministry of Finance said on Friday. The OPEC member is in the second year of a recession brought on by low oil prices. Crude sales make up two-thirds of national revenue and the government is seeking to boost its income from non-oil sources. The ministry said a scheme would be launched on Thursday to give evaders immunity from prosecution, penalty charges and interest if they “regularize their tax status” between Saturday and Dec. 31.
TECHNOLOGY
BlackBerry revenue weak
BlackBerry Ltd on Friday released its quarterly earnings report, which showed surprisingly weak revenue from software, marring what was otherwise shaping up to be a banner year. The Canadian company, which exited the hardware business last year, missed analysts’ estimates for total revenue, the majority of which is now made up of software sales. Revenue excluding some costs was US$244 million in the fiscal first quarter compared with the average analyst estimate of US$265.4 million. BlackBerry shares fell as much as much as 13 percent to US$9.65 in New York, the biggest decline since January 2015.
GROCERIES
Walmart will not bid
Amazon.com Inc’s path to acquiring Whole Foods Market Inc looks clear. Wal-Mart Stores Inc, one of the few retailers with the resources to mount a counteroffer, does not plan to make a Whole Foods bid, a person with knowledge of the matter said. That leaves Amazon with few likely rivals after its US$13.7 billion deal on Friday last week to buy the organic grocer. Amazon is paying US$42 a share in cash for Whole Foods, a 27 percent premium to the stock price before the transaction was announced.
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