UNITED STATES
Economy to grow: poll
Nearly two-thirds of respondents said that the US economy would keep growing this year, a survey by the Washington-based National Association for Business Economics found. The survey results, which were to be released yesterday, also showed that, compared with the association’s previous survey in October last year, a smaller proportion of economists said companies’ sales were rising and fewer expected profit growth to increase. Corporate investments in new equipment has also cooled, the survey showed.
NETHERLANDS
EU economy ‘OK’: banker
Central bank President Klaas Knot said that Europe’s economy was “very much okay,” despite worries over trade, slowing growth and uncertainty over Brexit. Speaking on Dutch television on Sunday, Knot, who also sits on the European Central Bank’s governing council, said subdued inflation was troubling, but it was “premature” to talk about a possible recession. Knot, usually viewed as one of the more hawkish members of the governing board, said the bloc would see “a few quarters of slightly lower growth, and that’s mostly due to foreign trade.”
PHILIPPINES
Growth rebound tipped
Economic growth, which last year weakened to a three-year low, would rebound this year, boosted by spending for elections in May and helped by moderating prices, Secretary of Economic Planning Ernesto Pernia said. “With the declining inflation, domestic demand will strengthen,” Pernia said in an interview on Friday last week. Hitting the low-end of the 7 percent to 8 percent growth target this year would be “good enough” and can be done, he said. The nation’s GDP expanded 6.2 percent last year.
RETAIL
Tesco to cut jobs
Tesco PLC is to cut about 15,000 jobs and close meat, fish and delicatessen counters, the Mail on Sunday reported, citing unidentified industry sources. The retailer would also overhaul in-store bakeries and replace staff canteens with vending machines, the newspaper said. The plans are expected to affect the majority of Tesco’s 732 larger stores, the report said. A spokesman for Tesco told the Mail on Sunday that the company was always looking at ways to run its business more simply and efficiently.
ENERGY
Varo bid explored
The family of Hong Kong billionaire Henry Cheng (鄭家純), which controls a real-estate and jewelry empire, is exploring a bid for European fuel supplier Varo Energy BV, people with knowledge of the matter said. The companies have held talks about a deal that could value Varo Energy, backed by investors including Carlyle Group LP, at about 2 billion euros (US$2.3 billion) including debt, the people said. No final agreements have been reached, the people said.
CEMENT
LafargeHolcim gets boost
LafargeHolcim Ltd’s listed Philippines unit soared the most in more than a decade, after people with knowledge of the matter said the cement giant is exploring options for its business in the country. LafargeHolcim is weighing options for Holcim Philippines Inc, including a potential sale, the people said. The seller might seek to value the Philippines assets at about US$2.5 billion, although some suitors have indicated they think the business is worth less, the people said.
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
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