NEW ZEALAND
Minister touts economy
The economy is doing better than predicted, thanks to an early economic and health response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Minister of Finance Grant Robertson said yesterday. The government announced plans to tackle a potential second wave of infections by setting aside NZ$14 billion (US$9.16 billion) from a COVID Response and Recovery Fund included in this year’s budget in May, Robertson told a news conference. He also said that the government was no longer considering “helicopter” cash handouts, or the direct distribution of free cash to individuals as a form of policy stimulus for the economy.
RETAILERS
M&S to cut jobs: report
British retailer Marks and Spencer Group PLC (M&S) plans to announce hundreds of job cuts this week, Sky News reported on Sunday, citing sources. The cuts would be part of redundancy plans that the company would be announcing in the next few days, part of a restructuring that could affect several thousand employees in the next few months, Sky said. The report did not specify the number of jobs at risk. “We don’t comment on speculation and, if and when we have an announcement to make, our colleagues will be the first to know,” a Marks and Spencer spokeswoman said.
BANKING
HK banks close branches
HSBC Holdings PLC, Standard Chartered PLC and other banks in Hong Kong closed branches or curtailed their working hours yesterday after a spike in the number of new COVID-19 cases in the Asian financial hub. Bank of China (Hong Kong) Ltd (中國銀行香港) said in a statement that it would suspend services at nine branches due to the spread of the virus. HSBC said in a separate statement that it would temporarily close two business centers for commercial banking and three mobile branches operating from trucks, and shorten operating hours at all branches. Standard Chartered and Bank of East Asia said they would shorten branch opening hours.
BANKING
Emirates profit plunges
Emirates NBD, Dubai’s largest bank, yesterday said that its net profit plunged in the second quarter as it made huge provisions to counter the potential effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The United Arab Emirates’ second-largest lender saw its net profit in the second quarter this year dive by 58 percent to US$545 million from US$1.3 billion a year earlier. Its net profit in the six months ending last month slumped by 45.3 percent to US$1.1 billion from US$2 billion in the same period last year, it said in a statement. The bank said it has set aside US$1.14 billion in impairments for potential risks from the pandemic.
AUTOMAKERS
Xpeng raises US$500m
Electric-vehicle maker Xpeng Motors (小鵬汽車) raised about US$500 million from a group of venture investors, showing that Chinese start-ups with promising car models can attract funding even as the industry’s sales slump. Investors in the Series C+ financing round include Aspex Management, Sequoia Capital China, Hillhouse Capital and Coatue Management, Xpeng said in a statement yesterday. The fundraising follows a US$400 million round in November last year. Xpeng delivered 5,185 units of its first vehicle, the G3 SUV, in the first half. It started deliveries of its second model, the P7 sedan, last week.
It was late morning and steam was rising from water tanks atop the colorful, but opaque-windowed, “soapland” sex parlors in a historic Tokyo red-light district. Walking through the narrow streets, camera in hand, was Beniko — a former sex worker who is trying to capture the spirit of the area once known as Yoshiwara through photography. “People often talk about this neighborhood having a ‘bad history,’” said Beniko, who goes by her nickname. “But the truth is that through the years people have lived here, made a life here, sometimes struggled to survive. I want to share that reality.” In its mid-17th to
‘MAKE OR BREAK’: Nvidia shares remain down more than 9 percent, but investors are hoping CEO Jensen Huang’s speech can stave off fears that the sales boom is peaking Shares in Nvidia Corp’s Taiwanese suppliers mostly closed higher yesterday on hopes that the US artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer would showcase next-generation technologies at its annual AI conference slated to open later in the day. The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in California is to feature developers, engineers, researchers, inventors and information technology professionals, and would focus on AI, computer graphics, data science, machine learning and autonomous machines. The event comes at a make-or-break moment for the firm, as it heads into the next few quarters, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) keynote speech today seen as having the ability to
NEXT GENERATION: The company also showcased automated machines, including a nursing robot called Nurabot, which is to enter service at a Taichung hospital this year Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) expects server revenue to exceed its iPhone revenue within two years, with the possibility of achieving this goal as early as this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said on Tuesday at Nvidia Corp’s annual technology conference in San Jose, California. AI would be the primary focus this year for the company, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), as rapidly advancing AI applications are driving up demand for AI servers, Liu said. The production and shipment of Nvidia’s GB200 chips and the anticipated launch of GB300 chips in the second half of the year would propel
The battle for artificial intelligence supremacy hinges on microchips, but the semiconductor sector that produces them has a dirty secret: It is a major source of chemicals linked to cancer and other health problems. Global chip sales surged more than 19 percent to about US$628 billion last year, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, which forecasts double-digit growth again this year. That is adding urgency to reducing the effects of “forever chemicals” — which are also used to make firefighting foam, nonstick pans, raincoats and other everyday items — as are regulators in the US and Europe who are beginning to
RSS