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HONG KONG:
Banking giant HSBC said on Monday that pre-tax profit rose 4.58 percent to $10.7 billion in the first six months of the year and voiced “cautious optimism” despite the China-US trade row.
After wide-ranging cutbacks that saw 50,000 jobs axed in an overhaul announced in 2015, the bank said it was now hiring again as it seeks new growth areas.
“We are investing to win new customers, increase our market share, and lay the foundations for consistent growth in profits and returns,” said CEO John Flint.
He added that investments in the first half of the year included “hiring more frontline staff in our strongest businesses and expanding our digital capabilities in core markets”, saying that the aim was to improve customer service. (AFP)
TOKYO:
Japanese technology company SoftBank says its net profit soared more than 50-fold from a year earlier to 313.7 billion yen ($2.8 billion) in the latest quarter thanks to gains in its main investment fund.
Sales in the April-June quarter edged up 4 percent to 2.3 trillion yen.
The SoftBank Vision Fund rose in value by 244.9 billion yen, driven by higher valuations for its holdings in Indian online retailer Flipkart and American shared office provider WeWork. The value of the fund’s stake in Flipkart increased 164.3 billion yen after Walmart agreed in May to buy it.
Sales were flat at SoftBank’s US mobile provider Sprint, dropping 0.4 percent to $8.1 billion.
The Tokyo-based company realized a one-time gain of 161.3 billion yen from the sale of a large share in the Chinese operations of its British-based Arm Holdings semiconductor business to Chinese investors. (AP)
PARIS:
Carrefour and Tesco, two of Europe’s largest retailers, said Monday they had finalised a purchasing alliance to increase their leverage with suppliers in the fiercely competitive supermarket sector.
The French and British supermarket giants said in a joint statement that they expect the alliance to become operational in October.
Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis said in June when the plan was announced that the alliance would enable the supermarket chains to “serve our customers even better, further improving choice, quality and value.”
Other European rivals are similarly scrambling to reduce supply costs.
Britain’s second and third-biggest supermarket chains, Sainsbury’s and Walmart-owned Asda, have agreed to merge. (AFP)
HONG KONG/MOSCOW:
Russian aluminium giant Rusal’s quarterly profit surged thanks to higher market prices for the metal, despite sanctions imposed by Washington.
Recurring net profit of Hong Konglisted Rusal, the world’s largest aluminium producer outside China, was up 75 percent from a year ago in the second quarter, but 17 percent lower than this year’s first quarter, the company said on Monday.
Recurring net profit is defined as adjusted net profit plus the company’s net effective share in Norilsk Nickel’s results.
Its results, the first since April 6 when Washington imposed sanctions on it and Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, are seen as an initial indication of how Rusal is weathering curbs which have caused worldwide supply disruption.
Washington said the sanctions, which struck at allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, were designed to punish Moscow for its alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election — something Russia denies — and other “malign activity”. (RTRS)
NEW YORK:
The real estate company run by White House adviser Jared Kushner’s family has signed a deal to lease the office space at the moneylosing Manhattan skyscraper that serves as the company’s headquarters.
The Canadian firm Brookfield Asset Management announced Friday it had signed a 99-year lease at 666 Fifth Avenue. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The deal eases the pressure on Kushner Cos, the real estate firm run by Jared Kushner’s father, Charles. The building has been losing money since Jared Kushner bought it for a record $1.8 billion in 2007. About a third of the office space is empty and a $1.2 billion mortgage is coming due early next year.
Representatives for Kushner Cos did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Jared Kushner sold his personal interest in 666 Fifth Avenue before joining the White House as a senior adviser to Republican President Donald Trump, his father-in-law. (AP)
TAIWAN:
A company that makes semiconductors for Apple iPhones says it is recovering from a virus outbreak but expects the incident to delay shipments and raise costs.
Taiwan Semiconductor Co Ltd said 80 percent of the fabrication tools affected by Friday’s virus had been recovered by Sunday. TSMC expects full recovery on Monday.
The company didn’t detail the impact on Apple or other customers. Apple Inc did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
The semiconductor company blames the outbreak on a mistake during installation of software for a new tool, which was then connected to its computer network. It says confidential information was not compromised. (AP)
BERLIN:
Munich Re, the world’s biggest reinsurer, will stop investing in bonds and shares of companies that generate more than 30 percent of their sales with coal-related business, its chief executive said, caving to pressure from investors.
“In the individual risk business, where we can see the risks exactly, we will in future in principle no longer insure new coal-fired power plants or mines in industrial countries,” Joachim Wenning added in a commentary to be published in German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Monday.
Policymakers are pushing companies to do more to help meet a target, agreed in Paris in 2015, to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius. Investors are increasingly using their financial muscle to reward those at the forefront of that transition. (RTRS)