ENTERTAINMENT
Netflix secures credit line
Netflix Inc, which has been spending billions of dollars on TV shows and movies for its online video service, lined up a US$500 million revolving credit facility through five lenders including Deutsche Bank AG and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The company has the option to increase the credit line by US$250 million, according to a regulatory filing on Friday. Netflix, based in Los Gatos, California, plans to use the money for working capital and general corporate purposes.
CYPRUS
Moody’s raises credit rating
The Moody’s rating agency has raised Cyprus’ credit grade by one notch to “Ba3,” citing strong economic growth and the government’s solid fiscal performance. The agency on Friday said it is also keeping a positive outlook on the nation’s economy. Moody’s said it expects growth to be sustained by private consumption and increased revenue from record tourism that accounts for around 13.2 percent of Cyprus’ economy. Cyprus has continued to outperform fiscal targets, helping to push down a high debt burden that was 108 percent of GDP last year.
BANKING
Wells Fargo to lay off 70
Wells Fargo & Co, the lender struggling to overcome a fake-accounts scandal at its community bank, said the division’s new leader is cutting about 70 senior executive jobs. The lender is to reduce the number of regional and area presidents to 91, senior executive vice president of community banking Mary Mack said on Friday in a memo to staff. Most of the remaining managers are to be re-titled as region bank presidents with direct responsibility for more employees than before, Mack wrote.
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