SRI LANKA
Electric to replace gas fleets
Sri Lanka on Thursday announced plans to replace all state-owned vehicles with electric or hybrid models by 2025, a move that is to be extended to private vehicles by 2040. Sri Lankan Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera said the government would phase out its fleet of diesel and gasoline vehicles including buses over the next eight years, switching to electric or hybrid models. Private owners have until 2040 to replace their cars, tuk-tuks and motorcycles, when the country plans to no longer allow any fossil fuel-burning vehicles on its roads, he said.
EU
Growth forecast up sharply
The EU on Thursday sharply raised its eurozone growth forecast for this year, confident that the economic recovery was gathering pace despite the uncertainties of Brexit. The 19-country eurozone is to grow by 2.2 percent this year, its fastest pace in a decade, the European Commission said in its autumn economic forecasts. This was substantially higher than the previous forecast of 1.7 percent. For next year, the European Commission said growth would edge lower to a still strong 2.1 percent, followed by 1.9 percent in 2019.
BANKING
Credit Suisse lifts outlook
Credit Suisse Group AG raised its outlook on equities to positive from neutral, predicting that global stock markets are to continue to rise into next year. “The new development here is the rise in corporate guidance and revenue beats, which can justify further momentum into year-end, typically a seasonally positive time for the market,” Global chief investment officer Michael Strobaek said in a note on Thursday. The Swiss bank also raised its growth forecast for the world economy next year to 3.8 percent from 3.6 percent. Risks to the more optimistic view include the longevity of the global equity rally, the CIO said.
ENTERTAINMENT
Struggles sap Disney profits
Walt Disney Co on Thursday posted disappointing results due to struggles at television networks and profits falling at its movie studio, but the company announced a new Star Wars trilogy in the works. Chief executive Bob Iger said Disney had struck a deal with Rian Johnson, director of the upcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi, to create a new trilogy of the science fiction blockbuster. The company said subscribers and advertising revenue fell at ESPN, but affiliate revenue rose and overall results at ESPN were comparable to the previous year, Disney said. Total revenue from Disney’s cable business, the largest unit, which includes ESPN and the Disney Channel, fell marginally to US$3.95 billion in the fourth quarter.
BANKING
Standard eyes new deals
Standard Chartered PLC’s loss-making private equity unit is planning an investment in a Singaporean crane firm, signaling that it is still open to deals even as the business shrinks. Standard Chartered Private Equity has proposed to buy shares of publicly listed Tat Hong Holdings Ltd, the Singapore-based company said yesterday. The London-based bank’s buyout unit has offered to pay S$0.50 (US$0.37) per share, subject to conditions, Tat Hong said in the statement, without specifying the number of shares involved. That is 28 percent higher than the year-to-date average price of the firm, which has a market value of US$347 million.
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Taiwan’s property market is entering a freeze, with mortgage activity across the nation’s six largest cities plummeting in the first quarter, H&B Realty Co (住商不動產) said yesterday, citing mounting pressure on housing demand amid tighter lending rules and regulatory curbs. Mortgage applications in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung totaled 28,078 from January to March, a sharp 36.3 percent decline from 44,082 in the same period last year, the nation’s largest real-estate brokerage by franchise said, citing data from the Joint Credit Information Center (JCIC, 聯徵中心). “The simultaneous decline across all six cities reflects just how drastically the market
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer
RSS