RETAIL
Tesco to reshuffle workers
Tesco PLC, the UK’s biggest supermarket group, yesterday said that it was changing the way it manages its larger stores, affecting about 1,750 workers. All of the UK’s major grocers are seeking to save on costs as they try to keep a lid on rising prices. Tesco said that it would introduce about 1,800 “shift leader” roles in its larger Superstores and Extra stores, and would reduce the number of “lead” and “team managers” in its large stores. The affected workers would have the option of moving to shift leader vacancies or taking redundancy. Localized changes across the UK business would affect a further 350 jobs.
FRANCE
GDP increases 2.6 percent
The economy grew 2.6 percent for the whole of last year, data released by the government’s National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies statistics office found. Household spending dropped 0.9 percent in the final quarter, but imports fell 1.9 percent, outweighing a 0.3 percent dip in exports. Minister of the Economy and Finance Bruno le Maire said the result was “testimony to the strong rebound of our economy after the COVID shock and its resilience in the face of the energy crisis.” Allianz economist Maxime Darmet was more skeptical. “It is a superficial resistance by the French economy. Consumption is not doing well, and such a fall in imports is not a good sign as that is saying that internal demand is really very weak,” he said.
BANKING
UBS beats forecasts
Swiss banking giant UBS Group AG yesterday reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, although its investment bank revenues took a hit. Net profits at Switzerland’s largest bank soared 23 percent to nearly US$1.7 billion in the final quarter of last year, while its revenues came in at just more than US$8 billion, marking an 8 percent year-on-year drop. “We delivered good full-year and solid fourth-quarter results in a difficult macroeconomic and geopolitical environment,” UBS chief executive officer Ralph Hamers said in a statement. UBS has likely benefited from what is believed to be a significant exodus of clients from its scandal-plagued Swiss rival, Credit Suisse Group AG.
UNITED KINGDOM
NZAOA bans carbon removal
The Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA), which is committed to climate change and controlling US$11 trillion in assets, has banned members from counting carbon removal schemes toward their emissions reduction targets before 2030. The move reflects broad concerns about the quality of some carbon removal schemes and criticism of companies that buy carbon credits instead of improving their own carbon footprints, but runs counter to the UN’s message that carbon removal is required to slow or stop climate change. In the longer term, the NZAOA still wants members to invest in and support the development of a liquid and fully accountable market for carbon removal certificates.
E-COMMERCE
Shein to hire Marcelo Claure
Online retailer Shein plans to appoint former Softbank Group Corp chief operating officer Marcelo Claure to help run its Latin American business, a signature hire that could accelerate a global expansion by one of world’s most valuable start-ups. Claure is to lead the region’s operations and made a roughly US$100 million personal investment in the company, a person familiar with the matter said, declining to be identified as they were discussing a private deal.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer specializing in server chips, expects revenue to decline this year due to sagging demand for 5-nanometer artificial intelligence (AI) chips from a North America-based major customer, a company executive said yesterday. That would be the first contraction in revenue for Alchip as it has been enjoying strong revenue growth over the past few years, benefiting from cloud-service providers’ moves to reduce dependence on Nvidia Corp’s expensive AI chips by building their own AI accelerator by outsourcing chip design. The 5-nanometer chip was supposed to be a new growth engine as the lifecycle
RSS