GERMANY
Industrial output up 2.6%
The German industry rebounded from a summer lull with its best month in six years, keeping Europe’s largest economy on a solid footing in the second half of the year. Output, adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, last month rose 2.6 percent from July when it fell a revised 0.1 percent, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy said yesterday. That is the biggest increase since July 2011 for the typically volatile gauge and compares with forecasts for a 0.9 percent gain. Production was up 4.7 percent from a year earlier. “The data is finally catching up with some of the very positive readings we have seen in recent business surveys,” said Jennifer McKeown, chief European economist at Capital Economics in London. “Germany’s economy is on a track for a strong third quarter and given the supportive global environment and monetary policy, I don’t see much reason for any significant slowdown in growth in the second half of the year.”
SERVICES
UberPOP to halt service
Uber yesterday said it would suspend its unlicensed service UberPOP in Oslo until Norway introduces new rules, as the US ride-hailing app adopts a more conciliatory tone with national authorities. The move follows a similar one-year suspension in Finland in July to allow a new taxi law to come into effect; however, there is no set date for when UberPOP will be reintroduced in Norway. UberPOP has already been suspended in several European capitals, including Paris and Brussels, and Uber was recently humbled when it lost its license to operate in London. UberPOP will be paused on Oct. 30, while Uber’s licensed services UberBLACK and UberXXL will continue to operate as normal.
PHARMACEUTICALS
China eases drug approvals
Beijing on Sunday announced new rules that would speed up approvals of medicines and medical devices, easing bottlenecks in introducing new treatments. The move is also a growth opportunity for international and local drugmakers in the world’s second-biggest pharmaceutical market. Under the new rules, data from overseas clinical trials can be used for drug registrations in China. That removes the need for manufacturers to conduct additional tests in China after receiving overseas approvals and will likely cut delays in the launch of new drugs by several years. Faster approvals could deliver a revenue boost in coming years to multinationals, such as Pfizer Inc, AstraZeneca PLC and GlaxoSmithKline PLC that are expanding there. China spent US$116.7 billion on medicine last year, making it the second-largest market after the US, researcher QuintilesIMS said.
BANKING
Banks pass stress tests: ECB
The European Central Bank (ECB) said that banks under its jurisdiction appear well-prepared to face unexpectedly higher interest rates. The ECB’s banking supervision division yesterday released results of a stress test that showed suddenly rising rates would increase net interest income, an important part of bank finances. Earnings at some banks have lagged due to a very low interest rate environment that squeezes margins. The central bank said that in a hypothetical interest rate shock involving an increase of 2 percentage points, net interest income would increase by 4.1 percent this year and 10.5 percent next. The stress test imagined a sudden overnight increase. That is a highly unlikely scenario, but one which helps show whether bank finances are robust.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained