TRADE
Dimon upbeat on talks
JPMorgan Chase & Co chief executive officer Jamie Dimon put the odds of the US and China reaching a trade deal at 80 percent, sounding a note of optimism even after the rising specter of tariffs roiled global markets. Dimon in an interview with Bloomberg Television said that it remains probable that there would eventually be an agreement, but that global growth would be hit if the talks go “really south.” “Now we have this whole kind of little bump in the road,” Dimon said. “Sometimes his [US President Donald Trump’s] tweets don’t pan out to be as bad. I don’t think they’ll get the deal done by Friday.”
INSURANCE
Munich Re profits down 25%
German reinsurance giant Munich Re yesterday said that net profits were down nearly 25 percent in the first quarter, after natural disasters battered the bottom line. Top of the list was Typhoon Jebi in September last year, the most powerful storm to strike Japan in a quarter of a century that claimed 11 lives. Jebi accounted for 267 million euros (US$299 million) out of 479 million euros of “major losses” claims Munich Re paid out early this year. From January to March, the Munich-based company posted a net profit of 633 million euros, down from 827 million euros a year before.
BANKING
Commerzbank not wavering
Germany’s second-largest lender Commerzbank AG yesterday said that it was sticking to full-year forecasts for this year, even as profits halved in the first quarter, after merger talks with rival Deutsche Bank AG fell through. Net profits were down 54.2 percent year-on-year at 120 million euros, the group said in a statement, adding that a significantly higher tax bill was largely to blame. Operating profit was down 5.6 percent at 244 million euros on revenue down almost 3 percent at 2.2 billion euros.
AVIATION
Tech issue disrupts flights
Japan Airlines Co’s domestic flights are being disrupted due to problems at its self check-in kiosks across the country, the company said. Passengers are checking in at staffed counters, which is taking time and causing boarding delays, the airline said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. The carrier had canceled 18 flights as of 9am, affecting about 740 passengers, and some flights were late by as much as an hour, the Tokyo-based company said. The check-in delays started at about 6:50am and were caused by network issues, the airline said, without giving a time for when they might be resolved.
TELECOMS
Vodafone merger blocked
A planned US$7.7 billion merger of Vodafone Group PLC’s struggling Australian business with TPG Telecom Ltd was blocked by the regulator in a bungled announcement. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission yesterday confirmed that “it has decided to oppose the proposed merger.” The antitrust watchdog had signaled its concern about the proposed deal in December last year, saying that removing TPG from the market as a standalone entity would likely result in a “substantial lessening of competition” and higher prices. The commission, which typically publishes its rulings when shares are not trading, fumbled the release of its decision, sending TPG shares tumbling 14 percent. Scheduled for release today, the decision was briefly visible on the regulator’s Web site yesterday afternoon before it was removed.
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