MACROECONOMICS
UK mulls rate rise
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has indicated that Britain’s record-low interest rates could start to rise at the turn of the year. Carney on Thursday said that he expected the key rate to climb over the next three years from its current level of 0.5 percent — where it has stood for more than six years to stimulate growth after the worldwide economic downturn of 2008. Carney said that rates would rise slowly before reaching a level that is about half as high as its historical average of 5 percent.
INVESTMENTS
China FDI climbs 8%
China’s foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows rose 8 percent in the first half from the same period last year, a Chinese Ministry of Commerce official said yesterday. Investment into China’s fast-growing services sector jumped 23 percent in the first half from the same period last year, accounting for more than 60 percent of the period’s total FDI, Chinese Assistant Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen (王受文) said at a news conference. The ministry did not announce the exact investment value or the monthly figures for last month. Outbound direct investment soared 29.2 percent to US$56 billion in the first six months from last year, data showed.
MINING
S African wage talks stuck
South African gold-mine workers and bosses are stuck “far apart” in their wage talks as a new offer by companies failed to impress unions, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said. Companies including AngloGold Ashanti Ltd, Sibanye Gold Ltd and Harmony Gold Mining Co offered more compensation for lost jobs, as well as raising medical payments and some workers’ retirement ages, the Chamber of Mines said in a statement on Thursday. The offer is “meaningless” as it does not talk about wages, NUM spokesman Livhuwani Mammburu said. NUM is asking for an 80 percent increase in base pay for entry-level underground workers who now earn about 5,800 rand (US$470) per month. The companies have offered a gain of as much as 13 percent.
TELECOMS
Ericsson’s profits fall
Swedish wireless equipment maker Ericsson AB yesterday said broadband demand in North America has stabilized but remains low, with second-quarter net profit falling 20 percent to 2.1 billion kronor (US$245.3 million). Overall, net sales in the second quarter grew 11 percent to 60.7 billion kronor, driven by strong development in the network segment, Ericsson said. Ericsson CEO Hans Vestberg said that the mobile broadband business in North America stabilized in the April-to-June period, but at a lower level than a year ago. The decline was partly offset by an increased pace of 4G deployments in China, he added.
BANKING
Citi profit beats estimates
Citigroup Inc, the third biggest bank in the US, posted earnings that beat analysts’ estimates, as CEO Michael Corbat cut expenses. Second-quarter net profit jumped to US$4.85 billion, or US$1.51 per share, from US$181 million, or US$0.03 per share, in the same period last year, the New York-based lender said on Thursday. Excluding accounting adjustments and one-time items, profit was US$1.45 per share, beating the US$1.34 average estimate of 27 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Total revenue, excluding accounting adjustments, fell 1.5 percent to US$19.2 billion from a year earlier, in line with analysts’ estimates.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
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