CHINA
Industrial profit drop slows
The fall in profits of industrial enterprises last month narrowed from March, as the nation’s economy gradually recovered from a COVID-19-induced slump. Industrial profits last month dropped 4.3 percent from a year earlier, National Bureau of Statistics data showed yesterday. That was much smaller than the almost 35 percent drop in March. Profits contracted 27.4 percent in the first four months of this year and were down 46 percent at state-owned enterprises and 17.2 percent at private companies.
FRANCE
Caution about recovery
Economic activity is making a clear if cautious recovery after lockdown measures were relaxed earlier this month, but the nation is still heading for about 20 percent contraction this quarter, the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies said yesterday. That would be “the severest recession since the creation of the national accounts in 1948,” it said, adding that the forecast should be considered with caution given uncertainty about the pace of economic recovery in the coming weeks. The nation’s GDP fell 5.8 percent in the first quarter.
RETAIL
UK grocery sales rise 14.3%
UK grocery sales rose 14.3 percent in the 12 weeks to Sunday last week, the fastest rate since comparable records began in 1994, as Britons adapted to a national lockdown, data from market researcher Kantar showed yesterday. Of Britain’s big four grocers, industry leader Tesco PLC was the best performer with sales up 12.7 percent, closely followed by No. 2 player Sainsbury’s PLC with a 12.5 percent increase. No. 4 Morrisons Supermarkets PLC’s sales rose 9.8 percent, while Walmart Inc-owned Asda Stores Ltd was the laggard with a 6.5 percent increase.
TRANSPORTATION
Amazon in talks to buy Zoox
Amazon.com Inc is in talks to buy robo-taxi start-up Zoox, accelerating its efforts in self-driving vehicles, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. Amazon and Zoox are in advanced negotiations of a deal that would value the start-up at less than the US$3.2 billion it was estimated to be worth in a funding round two years ago, the newspaper said, citing unnamed people with knowledge of the matter. The takeover talks could yet break down, it added.
HEALTH
Buyer to expand gym chain
A consortium that acquired Anytime Fitness Inc’s business in Asia is betting that people would flock to gyms when they reopen to boost their immunity from the novel coronavirus. Inspire Brands Asia acquired the master franchise for Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Southeast Asia, where Anytime Fitness has more than 250 gyms. The consortium expects to double the number of its gyms to more than 500 in the next three years, CEO Luke Guanlao said in an interview. He did not disclose the purchase price.
INVESTMENT
KKR to invest in data center
KKR & Co Inc yesterday said that it would put US$1 billion into a new data center venture in Europe, as private equity firms chase returns in the growing market for digital infrastructure assets. The investment firm is teaming up with industry veteran Franek Sodzawiczny to launch Global Technical Realty, which is to develop and build data centers for large technology companies in Europe, it said in a news release, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic gas stations are to fall NT$0.2 and NT$0.1 per liter respectively this week, even though international crude oil prices rose last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices continued rising last week, as the US Energy Information Administration reported a larger-than-expected drop in US commercial crude oil inventories, CPC said in a statement. Based on the company’s floating oil price formula, the cost of crude oil rose 2.38 percent last week from a week earlier, it said. News that US President Donald Trump plans a “secondary
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