WEALTH
Macau tipped to be No. 1
Qatar is on track to lose its status as the richest place in the world to Macau. The global casino hub’s economy is to reach the equivalent of about US$143,116 per person by 2020, according to projections by the IMF. That would put Macau ahead of the current No. 1, Qatar, which is expected to reach US$139,151 in the same time frame.
ECONOMY
HK growth slows
Economic growth in Hong Kong slowed in the second quarter amid a deepening US-China trade conflict and rising interest rates that are weighing on the outlook. GDP grew 3.5 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, according to the Hong Kong government, and compared with 4.7 percent in the first. Growth fell 0.2 percent quarter-on-quarter. The government maintained its full-year forecast of between 3 and 4 percent.
ECONOMY
British activity improves
Britain’s Brexit-facing economy picked up speed in the second quarter of the year, official data showed yesterday, with activity aided by sunny weather and the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament. GDP grew 0.4 percent in the three months to June after a 0.2-percent expansion in the first quarter, the UK Office for National Statistics said in a statement.
INVESTMENT
WeWork to get more cash
As WeWork Co’s co-working business grows, so have its expenses, which means it continues to need cash. Luckily, the start-up has a willing partner: SoftBank Group Corp. The Japanese conglomerate is to invest another US$1 billion in WeWork in the form of a convertible note, WeWork said on Thursday in a discussion of its first-half performance. The New York-based company had US$1.9 billion in cash on hand as of June 30.
AIRLINES
India’s Jet shares fall
Shares in Jet Airways India Ltd yesterday tumbled to a three-year low after the airline failed to release its latest quarterly earnings as scheduled. Local media have raised concerns about India’s second-largest carrier, reporting it might cease flying in two months unless it makes major cost cuts. Jet’s stock has plunged 66 percent this year, according to Bloomberg News.
HOTELS
HNA to sell Radisson
China’s HNA Group Co (海航集團), the conglomerate shedding assets to pay down debt, agreed to sell hotel company Radisson Holdings Inc to Chinese hospitality giant Jin Jiang International Holding Co (錦江國際). For HNA, the transaction represents another step in the unraveling of a global empire built on leverage-fueled dealmaking. The sale would add to the more than US$17 billion in divestments that the company has made this year.
ENERGY
Exxon loses tax dispute
Exxon Mobil Corp lost its fight with the US government over a request for a US$337 million refund for fuel excise taxes. A Dallas federal judge on Wednesday sided with the government in a dispute over how to apply so-called mixture credits against the fuel excise tax. The decision resolves a piece of a lawsuit Exxon filed in 2016 to try to recover US$1.3 billion for “erroneously assessed and collected federal income taxes,” plus interest, for the period from 2006 to 2009.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the