Fri, Apr 10, 2020 page10

• World Business Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  APPAREL

  Uniqlo cuts profits forecast

  Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing Co lowered its full-year operating profit outlook by 41 percent, joining a string of global retailers caught up in shutdowns aimed at slowing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Asia’s largest apparel company yesterday said it now expects profit of ￥145 billion (US$1.3 billion) for the fiscal year ending August. That compares with its prior forecast of ￥245 billion and analysts’ average projection of ￥198 billion, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg. It also marks the second guidance cut; the retailer reduced its forecast in January, citing geopolitical turmoil in South Korea and Hong Kong that hurt sales. For the quarter that ended in February, operating profit was ￥45 billion. Net sales fell 6.1 percent to ￥585 billion, compared with analysts’ average prediction of ￥573 billion.

  FOREIGN EXCHANGE

  Reserves fall highlights risk

  The decade-long surge in foreign-exchange reserves among emerging markets is coming to an end, highlighting the danger posed by future currency depreciation. China’s holdings fell by US$46.1 billion last month, the most since late 2016, official data showed late on Tuesday. The drawdown accounted for the largest share of the US$110 billion that 11 emerging-market central banks, including those in Turkey, India, Brazil and Egypt, yanked from their reserves last month to stem currency losses. The declines underscore the clamor for US dollars that rocked foreign-exchange markets around the world last month, driving the MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index to its biggest retreat since May 2012. With commodity prices and export earnings in the doldrums as the COVID-19 crisis deepens, the outlook for the currencies of many emerging markets is not much better.

  AIRLINES

  EU firm extends suspension

  Air France-KLM yesterday said it expects more than 90 percent of its capacity to remain suspended through the end of next month as the coronavirus pandemic paralyzes the travel industry worldwide. For the next two months, the airline aims to continue serving only some key city pairs with a “skeleton operation,” it said in a statement, adding that projections beyond that time are too difficult to provide. Traffic last month was “strongly impacted” by the spread of COVID-19 across the globe and subsequent reductions in capacity, it said. Group passenger traffic plunged 51 percent, while the load factor dropped 20 percentage points to 67 percent. The French government, which along with the Netherlands owns a stake in Air France-KLM, has vowed to prop up the former flag carrier.

  AUTOMAKERS

  Toyota cutting 5,000 jobs

  Toyota Motor Corp is laying off about 5,000 temporary staff employed by partner agencies as it extends the shutdown of its North American auto plants a third time, citing the pandemic and weak demand. The Japanese automaker will continue to provide benefits for what it refers to as its variable workforce, and they might be eligible for unemployment, it said in an e-mailed statement. Toyota’s North American unit now intends to reopen factories in the US, Canada and Mexico on May 4, two weeks later than planned. Toyota initially announced plans to resume operations as early as March 25, but has pushed back its planned restart date three times. It is joining Japanese peers Honda Motor Co and Nissan Motor Co, and German automaker BMW AG in cutting off pay to thousands of US workers as social distancing measures force companies to stay shut.
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