REAL ESTATE
Evergrande’s ratings down
Moody’s Investors Service on Wednesday lowered China Evergrande Group’s (恒大集團) credit rating by one notch to “B2,” the second downgrade by a global ratings company in less than two weeks. “Although Evergrande has been reducing its debt to improve its financial stability, the company still faces sizeable maturing debt and puttable bonds over the next 12 to 18 months,” Moody’s said. The Shenzhen-based developer said it has reduced its net debt-to-equity ratio to below 100 percent, and pared total borrowings to about 570 billion yuan (US$88.2 billion) from 717 billion yuan in December last year.
SINGAPORE
Housing boom eases
A housing boom took a breather last quarter, after a return to lockdown conditions amid a COVID-19 outbreak eased price growth. Private property values rose 0.9 percent sequentially from the previous quarter, when they rose 3.3 percent, preliminary estimates from the Urban Redevelopment Authority showed yesterday. It was the first time price growth slowed in five quarters. Fewer property launches also caused prices to slow, said Christine Sun (孫燕清), senior vice president of research and analytics at OrangeTee & Tie (橙易產業).
SWEDEN
Central bank keeps policies
The central bank yesterday kept its policy unchanged and said that the economy still needed support even as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic fade. “The Executive Board has therefore decided to hold the repo rate unchanged at zero percent, and that during the fourth quarter the Riksbank will continue purchasing assets within the envelope” of 700 billion kronor (US$81.62 billion), it said in a statement. The Riksbank sees the economy growing 4.2 percent this year, as inflation is above the 2 percent target and housing prices have soared.
AUTOMAKERS
Ford curtails production
Ford Motor Co is halting production for two weeks at a Michigan factory that just began building its highly anticipated Bronco SUV, citing a lack of unspecified parts. The automaker is also curtailing production at eight additional factories this month and next month due to a global shortage of semiconductors that has hobbled auto production worldwide. Ford said it is diverting its scarce semiconductor supply to finish nearly completed vehicles that are awaiting chips before being sent to dealers.
FOOD
Krispy Kreme IPO falls short
Krispy Kreme Inc on Wednesday priced its US initial public offering (IPO) below a marketed range to raise US$500 million, short of the US$640 million it had sought. The company said in a statement that it sold more than 29 million shares for US$17 each. While the size of the sale was expanded from the almost 27 million shares that Krispy Kreme had planned to sell, the offer price was well below the US$21 to US$24 marketed range. Krispy Kreme is valued in the listing at about US$2.78 billion.
TECHNOLOGY
Russia tightens IT rules
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law obliging foreign information technology (IT) firms to open offices on Russian territory, a document published yesterday by the government showed. Moscow has fined IT firms for failing to delete content it says is illegal, slowing down the speed of Twitter as punishment, and on Wednesday opened a new case against Google for breaching personal data legislation.
Zhang Yazhou was sitting in the passenger seat of her Tesla Model 3 when she said she heard her father’s panicked voice: The brakes do not work. Approaching a red light, her father swerved around two cars before plowing into a sport utility vehicle and a sedan, and crashing into a large concrete barrier. Stunned, Zhang gazed at the deflating airbag in front of her. She could never have imagined what was to come: Tesla Inc sued her for defamation for complaining publicly about the vehicles brakes — and won. A Chinese court ordered Zhang to pay more than US$23,000 in
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday held its first board of directors meeting in the US, at which it did not unveil any new US investments despite mounting tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, prompting market speculation that TSMC might consider boosting its chip capacity in the US or ramping up production of advanced chips such as those using a 2-nanometer technology process at its Arizona fabs ahead of schedule. Speculation also swirled that the chipmaker might consider building its own advanced packaging capacity in the US as part
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that its investment plan in Arizona is going according to schedule, following a local media report claiming that the company is planning to break ground on its third wafer fab in the US in June. In a statement, TSMC said it does not comment on market speculation, but that its investments in Arizona are proceeding well. TSMC is investing more than US$65 billion in Arizona to build three advanced wafer fabs. The first one has started production using the 4-nanometer (nm) process, while the second one would start mass production using the
US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose up to 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan’s semiconductor exports to the US to encourage chip manufacturers to move their production facilities to the US, but experts are questioning his strategy, warning it could harm industries on both sides. “I’m very confused and surprised that the Trump administration would try and do this,” Bob O’Donnell, chief analyst and founder of TECHnalysis Research in California, said in an interview with the Central News Agency on Wednesday. “It seems to reflect the fact that they don’t understand how the semiconductor industry really works,” O’Donnell said. Economic sanctions would
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