Posts by Mark Darwin
Far East Hospitality Trust’s Q3 net property income falls 6.8% to S$26.2 million
FAR East Hospitality Trust (FEHT) posted a net property income of S$26.2 million for the third quarter ended Sep 30, down 6.8 per cent from S$28.1 million in the previous corresponding period. This comes amid higher property taxes and lower revenue for the quarter mainly due to an absence of a one-off contribution from the…
Read MoreBOJ to sit tight as Japan and US elections elevate uncertainty
THE Bank of Japan (BOJ) is widely expected to stand pat on Thursday (Oct 31) in the face of elevated uncertainty, as financial markets brace for the US presidential election after Japan’s polls resulted in a lack of clarity over its next government. Governor Kazuo Ueda and his fellow board members are set to keep…
Read MoreMicrosoft’s GitHub unit cuts AI deals with Google, Anthropic
MICROSOFT’s GitHub has agreed to bake artificial intelligence (AI) models from Anthropic and Alphabet’s Google into a coding assistant used by millions of software developers. At first, customers will be able to use Google’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet to chat and ask questions, GitHub said on Tuesday (Oct 29) at its Universe conference…
Read MoreCompanies must consider FX exposure risks when tapping South-east Asia’s rapid growth
FOR any company, the Asean economic bloc represents a business opportunity that cannot be ignored. The 10 countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have a combined population of 684 million people and a gross domestic product of US$3.8 trillion, making it the world’s fifth-largest economy. These countries are also growing rapidly:…
Read MoreJPMorgan reclaims top spot from Bank of America in analyst poll
JPMorgan Chase was voted the best US sell-side research firm in a widely followed investor survey, reclaiming the top spot that bank occupied for most of the past decade. Bank of America, which ended JPMorgan’s seven-year lead in 2023, slipped to the second place in the latest survey by Extel, formally known as Institutional Investor.…
Read MorePfizer’s Covid-19 drug powers strong quarterly profit as activist hovers
Pfizer, which is under pressure from activist investor Starboard, on Tuesday (Oct 29) topped third-quarter estimates as sales of its Covid-19 treatment Paxlovid blew past Wall Street expectations. The US drugmaker has struggled with a sharp fall in sales of its Covid vaccine and antiviral pill Paxlovid from pandemic levels, prompting it to launch a…
Read MoreUS dollar profits from Japan political uncertainty, pound awaits UK budget
THE US dollar hit three-month highs against the yen on Tuesday (Oct 29) as the loss of a parliamentary majority for Japan’s ruling coalition in weekend elections muddied the political and monetary picture, while sterling was firm ahead of a new British budget. The Chinese yuan, which touched its weakest level against the dollar since…
Read MoreCordlife to hold EGM to appoint new auditors, approve directors’ fees
EMBATTLED cord-blood bank Cordlife will hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) next month to appoint new auditors and approve its directors’ fees. The EGM will be held at Great World City East on Nov 14 at 10 am, during which Cordlife will seek the appointment of audit firm PKF as its external auditor until its…
Read MoreAztech Global net profit falls 55.7% to S$13.7 million as revenue slides
MAINBOARD-LISTED Aztech Global posted a 55.7 per cent drop in net profit to S$13.7 million for its third quarter ended Sep 30, 2024, from S$30.9 million in the corresponding year-ago period. Earnings per share for the quarter stood at 1.78 Singapore cents for the quarter, down from 4 cents in the same period of the…
Read MoreBP profit slumps to near four-year low as oil demand sags
BP POSTED a 30 per cent drop in third-quarter profit to US$2.3 billion – the lowest in almost four years – weighed down by weaker refining margins and oil trading results, it said on Tuesday (Oct 29). However, the fall in profit from a year earlier was smaller than expected. This comes amid a slowdown…
Read More