Thai economy expands in Q1 but set to slow due to Middle East war, central bank says
BANGKOK, April 30 : Thailand’s economy expanded in the first quarter from the previous three months, supported by domestic demand and exports before the Middle East conflict escalated, but activity is expected to slow, the central bank said on Thursday.Economic activity in March was broadly unchan ...
Thai March factory output rises 0.75% y/y, above forecast
BANGKOK, April 30 : Thailand's manufacturing production index rose 0.75 per cent in March from a year earlier, the industry ministry said on Thursday, stronger than analysts' forecasts.The March reading compared with a year-on-year drop of 1.0 per cent forecast in a Reuters poll, and follo ...
BNP Paribas reports 9% rise in Q1 profit, investment bank stutters
The bank has reported a more modest 2.5% rise in trading revenues, with fixed income, currencies and commodities broadly stable
The rise and rise of the counterfeit economy
Kwan Wei Kevin Tan and Felicia Tan - The luxury boom sparked by the pandemic has slowed. Now, counterfeit superfakes are adding a new layer of trouble. Industry experts weigh in on how brands can fight back. A luxury handbag is more than an accessory; it is a status symbol. Beyond its craftsmanship, it can give an instant boost of conf ...
Octopus’ alcohol distribution business set for expansion with partners East and West
Teo Zheng Long - Numerous Singapore-listed companies, for one reason or another, have undergone major changes to their businesses after coming under new shareholders and management. One of the most famous examples is Berkshire Hathaway, which Warren Buffett transformed from a textile manufacturing company into the d ...
Changi Airport inks deal to be first overseas hub for China logistics giant SF Group
Deon Loke - Partnership expected to augment the airport’s express cargo capacity and network
Pop Mart’s US sales fall 45% as it struggles to find next Labubu
Still, the cooldown matters because America has become the toymaker’s most important overseas market
Lum Chang Creations to hold EGM on May 25 to seek approval for transfer to Mainboard
Felicia Tan - Lum Chang Creations will be holding an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to be held on May 25 to seek shareholders’ approval for its proposed transfer to the Mainboard. Shareholders will also be voting on the proposed bonus issue where they will receive one bonus share for every one existing Lum ...
ComfortDelGro: From Singapore taxis to global multimodal transport
Julian Wong - Most investors still view ComfortDelGro primarily as Singapore’s iconic taxi operator. Group CFO Christopher White explains why the group’s successful international expansion, improving UK margins, disciplined capital allocation and attractive dividend yield present a more compelling investment ...
AI exposure: what investors are really paying for
Frankie Ho - Gradually but unmistakably, the way investors talk about Singapore stocks has changed. Companies long understood as semiconductor plays, industrial suppliers or infrastructure providers are now being framed, by analysts and investors alike, as AI beneficiaries. A precision toolmaker becomes an AI su ...
Airbus extends China winning streak with US$21.4 billion order
The European manufacturer is the biggest supplier to the Asian nation
Strengthening Singapore’s capital markets: A practitioner’s vision for a global equity hub
James Leong - Over the past few years, Singapore has signalled a renewed and vigorous commitment to revitalising its equity market. Initiatives such as the Equity Market Development Programme (EQDP) and the creation of dual-listing “bridges” with major overseas exchanges are timely catalysts. They have alread ...
After ESG fatigue, the real climate battleground is who bears the risk
Ben Chester Cheong - ESG remains a central reference point in corporate sustainability, but its practical application is entering a more complex phase. In the US, it is increasingly shaped by political and legal developments, while in Europe, regulators are recalibrating disclosure frameworks in response to concerns ove ...
Australia’s AirTrunk to invest US$3 billion in two new Malaysian data centres
The company has also said that it plans to spend US$5 billion in India
Samsung Electronics expects to win more customers for advanced logic chips
SEOUL: Samsung Electronics said on Thursday (Apr 30) it expects to win more deals to manufacture logic chips using its advanced 2-nanometer process in the near future, adding it has been in talks with big tech customers regarding the foundry contracts.Samsung, which competes with TSMC and Intel in t ...
Samsung’s chip profit soars 48-times due to AI spending frenzy
he results reflect massive spending by hyperscalers, with both Meta Platforms and Alphabet planning to plough even bigger sums into AI infrastructure
Dire Straits hasn’t stopped the flow of Money for Nothing
Chew Sutat - De-frosted from my sojourns in Bhutan earlier in April, we end the month with many markets swimmingly making new highs, ignoring the double blockade in the Strait of Hormuz by both the Iranians and the Americans. Why Worry, it seems, the markets hum, as the ripples of the energy crisis start to comp ...
AIA’s new business value climbs in first quarter on strong Hong Kong, China demand
The firm’s 18 markets in Asia include Thailand, Singapore and South Korea
The world needs an oil buyers’ club
Isabella M Weber and Gregor Semieniuk - The US blockade of maritime traffic entering and leaving Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz — a critical waterway through which Iran had previously prevented most ships from passing — is intensifying the global energy crisis. If Iran’s seaborne exports are interdicted, along with the energy ...
China's factory activity remains in expansion in April, PMI shows
BEIJING: China's factory activity expanded for a second straight month in April on firmer output and stockpiling activity, an official survey showed on Thursday (Apr 29), suggesting that growth momentum held despite external shocks stemming from the Middle East war.The official manufacturing pu ...
China's factory activity extends expansion, PMI shows, as Iran war risks mount
BEIJING: China's factory activity expanded for a second straight month in April, as manufacturers cranked up production to ship goods early to buyers worried the Iran war will further inflate costs, sending new export orders to their strongest level in two years.But the escalating Middle East c ...
The deeper forces shaping global trade
Tiago Devesa, Jeongmin Seong and Olivia White - With conflict disrupting shipping in the Middle East and the future of US tariffs still uncertain, global trade is firmly in the spotlight. But while it certainly matters how these political developments unfold, one must not lose sight of the deeper forces at work in the global economy. The past yea ...
‘Making illegal things legal’: How Estonia accelerates innovations to the market
Lin Daoyi - It is not uncommon for innovations to contravene laws and, as a result, prompt changes to products so that they adhere to the law. Estonia, however, decided to take a different approach. Instead of amending innovative products to comply with regulations, the country, which has launched unicorns such ...
Australia's AirTrunk to invest $3 billion in two new Malaysian data centers
SYDNEY, April 30 : Australia's AirTrunk said on Thursday it will invest $3 billion to build two hyperscale data centers in Malaysia, doubling its existing business in the country.The two data centers, to be located in Johor Bahru, will have a combined capacity of more than 280 megawatts and be ...
Southeast Asia’s AI push faces its scaling challenge
Nurdianah Md Nur - Across Southeast Asia, governments and enterprises are directing investment into scalable infrastructure to keep pace with rising demand for digital services. For the enterprises that rely on it, the more immediate question is whether their artificial intelligence (AI) investments are delivering res ...
Singapore’s employment growth moderates in Q1 on seasonal factors, but labour market stays resilient
Elysia Tan - Unemployment rates and retrenchment figures stay broadly similar
JLL Singapore cuts over 20 jobs or 1% of workforce; Knight Frank Singapore also lays off staff
Chong Xin Wei - Knight Frank Singapore layoffs are said to be in its marketing and communications team
JLL retrenches some Singapore staff following restructuring
The firm’s LinkedIn page suggests that there are over 1,700 employees in its Singapore offices
DBS shares up 3.4%, touch two-month high on estimate-beating Q1 earnings
Therese Soh - Its S$2.93 billion Q1 earnings beat the consensus forecast in a Bloomberg survey of six analysts
DBS soars 4.3% to two-month high on higher Q1 earnings that beat estimates
Therese Soh - Its S$2.93 billion Q1 earnings beat the consensus forecast in a Bloomberg survey of six analysts
Alphabet, Amazon outpace Meta in AI during earnings bonanza
A key question among investors and analysts is whether that massive spending is providing tangible results
Trump’s tragedy of errors
Joseph E Stiglitz - It is true, as Alexander Pope once said, that to err is human. But while everyone is fallible, some humans are more prone to error than others. That is a justification for democracy — for subjecting decisions that affect large numbers of people to deliberative processes that include checks and bal ...
Testing trust in China
Daryl Guppy - How do you test a business relationship? In the US, many would say it comes down to who calls a lawyer first. Americans may have a reputation for taking things to extremes, but the point stands: Western business is built on written contracts. This is partly due to access to a robust legal system, wi ...
Sun Tzu’s advice for Donald Trump
Stephen S Roach - Rumour has it that last year, US President Donald Trump delayed his so-called Liberation Day tariff announcement by a day, to April 2, because he didn’t want his unconstitutional trade “emergency” to come across as an April Fools’ Day hoax. This year, Trump defied the calendar with an addres ...
