SRI LANKA
Electric to replace gas fleets
Sri Lanka on Thursday announced plans to replace all state-owned vehicles with electric or hybrid models by 2025, a move that is to be extended to private vehicles by 2040. Sri Lankan Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera said the government would phase out its fleet of diesel and gasoline vehicles including buses over the next eight years, switching to electric or hybrid models. Private owners have until 2040 to replace their cars, tuk-tuks and motorcycles, when the country plans to no longer allow any fossil fuel-burning vehicles on its roads, he said.
EU
Growth forecast up sharply
The EU on Thursday sharply raised its eurozone growth forecast for this year, confident that the economic recovery was gathering pace despite the uncertainties of Brexit. The 19-country eurozone is to grow by 2.2 percent this year, its fastest pace in a decade, the European Commission said in its autumn economic forecasts. This was substantially higher than the previous forecast of 1.7 percent. For next year, the European Commission said growth would edge lower to a still strong 2.1 percent, followed by 1.9 percent in 2019.
BANKING
Credit Suisse lifts outlook
Credit Suisse Group AG raised its outlook on equities to positive from neutral, predicting that global stock markets are to continue to rise into next year. “The new development here is the rise in corporate guidance and revenue beats, which can justify further momentum into year-end, typically a seasonally positive time for the market,” Global chief investment officer Michael Strobaek said in a note on Thursday. The Swiss bank also raised its growth forecast for the world economy next year to 3.8 percent from 3.6 percent. Risks to the more optimistic view include the longevity of the global equity rally, the CIO said.
ENTERTAINMENT
Struggles sap Disney profits
Walt Disney Co on Thursday posted disappointing results due to struggles at television networks and profits falling at its movie studio, but the company announced a new Star Wars trilogy in the works. Chief executive Bob Iger said Disney had struck a deal with Rian Johnson, director of the upcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi, to create a new trilogy of the science fiction blockbuster. The company said subscribers and advertising revenue fell at ESPN, but affiliate revenue rose and overall results at ESPN were comparable to the previous year, Disney said. Total revenue from Disney’s cable business, the largest unit, which includes ESPN and the Disney Channel, fell marginally to US$3.95 billion in the fourth quarter.
BANKING
Standard eyes new deals
Standard Chartered PLC’s loss-making private equity unit is planning an investment in a Singaporean crane firm, signaling that it is still open to deals even as the business shrinks. Standard Chartered Private Equity has proposed to buy shares of publicly listed Tat Hong Holdings Ltd, the Singapore-based company said yesterday. The London-based bank’s buyout unit has offered to pay S$0.50 (US$0.37) per share, subject to conditions, Tat Hong said in the statement, without specifying the number of shares involved. That is 28 percent higher than the year-to-date average price of the firm, which has a market value of US$347 million.
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