REAL ESTATE
London house prices slump
London house prices are falling at the fastest pace since the depths of the recession almost a decade ago, with the UK capital’s most expensive areas seeing the biggest declines. Average prices fell 2.6 percent to ￡593,396 (US$820,000) in January, the biggest annual decline since August 2009, according to a report published by Acadata yesterday. London’s highest-priced boroughs were the biggest losers, led by Wandsworth’s 24.9 percent slump and Southwark’s 12.2 percent drop.London prices fell 0.8 percent in January alone, equivalent to almost ￡5,000, showing that the weakness that was present for much of last year continued into this year. The market has been hurt by slower growth and faster inflation since the Brexit vote, while the Bank of England has signaled it would continue raising interest rates.
FINANCE
Golden Gate plans third fund
Singapore’s Golden Gate Ventures is raising a US$100 million third fund to continue investing in Southeast Asia’s burgeoning market for e-commerce, payments and mobile apps, a person familiar with the matter said.The new fund is expected to have a first close before the end of this month and the final close by the end of this year, said the person who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Founded by former Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Vinnie Lauria, Jeffrey Paine and Paul Bragiel in 2011, Golden Gate Ventures was one of the earliest venture capital firms to target the region’s nascent technology sector. It has since launched two funds and invested in more than 30 firms, including online classified app Carousell, Jakarta-based healthcare platform Alodokter and Vietnamese mobile platform Appota Corp.
AIRLINES
piceJet, CFM ink deal
SpiceJet Ltd, one of India’s fastest-growing airlines has signed a US$12.5 billion deal with CFM International Inc for engines and a 10-year services contract for an incoming fleet of more than 150 Boeing Co 737 MAX aircraft. SpiceJet has agreed to buy the LEAP-1B engines and spare engines from CFM, which is a joint venture between France’s Safran Aircraft Engines SAS and General Electric Co’s GE Aviation, the two companies said in a statement on Saturday. The deal also includes a 10-year services contract for maintenance of the CFM engines, which are to be billed on an hourly basis, the statement said. The deal provides engines and maintenance that will underpin SpiceJet’s existing US$22 billion order for 155 Boeing aircraft, marking the Indian budget carrier’s biggest expansion plan yet. SpiceJet has been trying to claw back market share from the nation’s leading discount airline, IndiGo, which is operated by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd.
CAMERAS
Leica fetches US$2.9m
A 1923 Leica camera on Saturday fetched a world record 2.4 million euros (US$2.9 million) at an auction in Vienna, the Westlicht museum said. The minimum price had been set at 400,000 euros, but the Leica 0-series No. 122, one of a 25-strong series of prototypes made two years before the reputed German marque began retailing, was the subject of ferocious bidding given its pristine condition. It went to an Asian bidder, the museum said, adding that only three of the series remained in their original condition. The previous record for a 1923 Leica saw a buyer spend 2.16 million euros in 2012, Westlicht said.
Sweeping policy changes under US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr are having a chilling effect on vaccine makers as anti-vaccine rhetoric has turned into concrete changes in inoculation schedules and recommendations, investors and executives said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has in the past year upended vaccine recommendations, with the country last month ending its longstanding guidance that all children receive inoculations against flu, hepatitis A and other diseases. The unprecedented changes have led to diminished vaccine usage, hurt the investment case for some biotechs, and created a drag that would likely dent revenues and
Macronix International Co (旺宏), the world’s biggest NOR flash memory supplier, yesterday said it would spend NT$22 billion (US$699.1 million) on capacity expansion this year to increase its production of mid-to-low-density memory chips as the world’s major memorychip suppliers are phasing out the market. The company said its planned capital expenditures are about 11 times higher than the NT$1.8 billion it spent on new facilities and equipment last year. A majority of this year’s outlay would be allocated to step up capacity of multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory chips, which are used in embedded multimedia cards (eMMC), a managed
CULPRITS: Factors that affected the slip included falling global crude oil prices, wait-and-see consumer attitudes due to US tariffs and a different Lunar New Year holiday schedule Taiwan’s retail sales ended a nine-year growth streak last year, slipping 0.2 percent from a year earlier as uncertainty over US tariff policies affected demand for durable goods, data released on Friday by the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed. Last year’s retail sales totaled NT$4.84 trillion (US$153.27 billion), down about NT$9.5 billion, or 0.2 percent, from 2024. Despite the decline, the figure was still the second-highest annual sales total on record. Ministry statistics department deputy head Chen Yu-fang (陳玉芳) said sales of cars, motorcycles and related products, which accounted for 17.4 percent of total retail rales last year, fell NT$68.1 billion, or
In the wake of strong global demand for AI applications, Taiwan’s export-oriented economy accelerated with the composite index of economic indicators flashing the first “red” light in December for one year, indicating the economy is in booming mode, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Moreover, the index of leading indicators, which gauges the potential state of the economy over the next six months, also moved higher in December amid growing optimism over the outlook, the NDC said. In December, the index of economic indicators rose one point from a month earlier to 38, at the lower end of the “red” light.
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