Posts by Mark Darwin
Apple eyes bigger slice of India’s streaming market with Airtel deal
APPLE is tying up with India’s Airtel to offer the telecom firm’s premium customers its music and video streaming services for free, potentially giving the US firm access to thousands of consumers in a price-sensitive market. The move comes as competition tightens in India’s US$28 billion entertainment market and an US$8.5 billion merger of the…
Read MoreKTL Global’s former CEO to serve eight months’ jail for false trading
THE former chief executive of mainboard-listed KTL Global, Tan Kheng Yeow, began serving his eight-month jail sentence after the High Court dismissed his appeal in July, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Singapore Police Force (SPF) in a joint media release on Wednesday (Aug 28). Tan was sentenced to imprisonment by the State…
Read MoreApple cuts jobs in digital services groups as priorities shift
APPLE took the rare step of cutting about 100 jobs in its services group, part of a shift in priorities for the critical division, according to sources with knowledge of the matter. The company informed the affected employees, who worked across several different teams in senior vice president Eddy Cue’s services group, on Tuesday (Aug…
Read MoreWarren Buffett sells more Bank of America shares, reaping US$982 million
WARREN Buffett sold an additional US$982 million of Bank of America stock as his conglomerate continues to shrink its investment in the second-largest US bank. His Berkshire Hathaway has trimmed the stake by a total of almost 13 per cent in a series of sales since mid-July, generating US$5.4 billion in proceeds. Berkshire disclosed the…
Read MoreAustralia’s Fortescue beats dividend payout view, shares rise
AUSTRALIA’S Fortescue reported a rise in annual profit on Wednesday (Aug 28), boosted by higher iron ore shipments from its Iron Bridge project, and announced a larger-than-expected final dividend, sending its shares higher. The world’s fourth-largest iron ore miner has been building out a green energy business funded largely from its profits in iron ore,…
Read MoreKeppel Infrastructure Trust’s private placement to raise S$200 million at top end of price range
KEPPEL Infrastructure Trust (KIT) has closed its private placement at S$0.438 apiece with 456.6 million new units issued, representing the top end of the price range proposed the day before. The trustee-manager on Wednesday (Aug 28) said the placement was 2.5 times subscribed, with demand from new and existing institutional investors, as well as accredited…
Read MoreIndonesia sells longest-ever 40-year bond as easing pivot nears
INDONESIA sold 40-year local-currency bonds for the first time as looming interest-rate cuts boost the allure of longer-tenor debt. The government raised three trillion rupiah (S$252 million) from the sale of debt papers due 2064 through a private placement, Finance Ministry Director Deni Ridwan said on Tuesday (Aug 27). The note, which is a record…
Read MoreAustralia’s Woolworths posts flat annual profit
WOOLWORTHS Group, Australia’s largest supermarket chain, reported a flat annual profit on Wednesday, as weak performance in its New Zealand Food and Big W divisions offset sales growth in its Australian food and Australian B2B segments. The company posted net profit after tax before significant items of A$1.71 billion (S$1.5 billion) for the year ended…
Read MoreEurope: Travel, banking stocks lift shares with data in focus
GAINS in banking stocks and airlines lifted European shares on Tuesday, though trading remained cautious ahead of key economic data later this week. The travel and leisure and banking sectors were the top gainers for the day, rising 0.7 per cent and 0.9 per cent respectively. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index edged 0.2 per cent higher to 518.88…
Read MoreUS: Stocks make small gains ahead of Nvidia results
WALL Street stocks ended Tuesday slightly higher as markets look ahead to an earnings report by chipmaker Nvidia this week. The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.2 per cent to 5,625.80, as did the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index, which closed at 17,754.82. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat at 41,250.50. Stocks are treading water as investors await AI…
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