TRADE
Japan logs export surplus
Japan yesterday said it had logged a surplus of ¥113.6 billion (US$1 billion) last month as exports rose 18 percent year-on-year on brisk shipments of automobiles and electronic parts. The figure was much lower than market expectations of a ¥356.7 billion surplus. Exports rose for the ninth consecutive month on robust shipments of automobiles and electronic parts, including semiconductors. Imports grew 15.2 percent for an eighth monthly rise, boosted mainly by higher bills for coal, liquefied natural gas and crude oil.
UNITED KINGDOM
Business optimism tumbles
A lobby group for small businesses said rising prices and a stuttering domestic economy are driving confidence down and prompting an increase in the number of entrepreneurs considering selling their firms. In a quarterly survey of its members, the Federation of Small Businesses yesterday said it found that optimism has tumbled to its lowest since the immediate aftermath of last year’s vote to leave the EU. Mike Cherry, the federation’s national chairman, said one bright spot is that exporters remain “bullish.” Exports have been helped by the pound’s post-Brexit fall. According to the organization, 22 percent of small businesses export.
LOGISTICS
FedEx cuts profit forecast
FedEx Corp on Tuesday cut its annual profit forecast, citing the US$300 million cost of a June cyberattack on its TNT Express unit. It now expects to earn no more than US$12.80 a share in the fiscal year ending in May next year after excluding certain items, it said in a statement. That is down from an original projection of as much as US$14 and less than the US$13.10 average of analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. FedEx also said results at its ground-shipment unit weighed on results, as did Hurricane Harvey.
CREDIT DATA
Canadians at risk from leak
Equifax Ltd said on Tuesday that about 100,000 Canadian consumers might have had their personal data compromised in the massive cyberattack on the credit data company that was revealed this month. It said the information that might have been compromised included names, addresses, social insurance numbers and in some cases credit card numbers.
BEVERAGES
Diageo maintains forecast
Britain’s Diageo PLC, the maker of Johnnie Walker whisky and Smirnoff vodka, said it expects its organic first-half sales growth to be impacted by the timing of Lunar New Year and a ban on selling alcohol along highways in India. However, it stood by its target for sales growth at a mid-single digit rate and its organic operating margin improvement objective of 175 basis points over the three years to June 2019.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Sunac loans on hold
China Huarong Asset Management Co (中國華融資產管理) is temporarily suspending new loans to Sunac China Holdings Ltd (融創中國控股) as debt and leverage in the financial system comes under regulatory scrutiny, according to people familiar with the matter. Huarong’s risk department ordered a suspension of any new loans to Sunac as of Monday that have not been signed, according to an internal e-mail. The e-mail also called for heightened risk monitoring and attention to existing loans, and said any projects deemed necessary would need approval from Huarong’s headquarters.
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