Posts by Mark Darwin
Procter & Gamble’s job cuts raise questions over possible impact on 2,300 staff and operations in Singapore
[SINGAPORE] Procter & Gamble (P&G) has so far stayed silent about how its planned reduction of about 15 per cent of its global non-manufacturing workforce over the next two years will affect its operations in Singapore. The consumer goods giant had on Thursday (Jun 5) announced at a Deutsche Bank conference in Paris that it…
Read MoreHello Kitty owner overtakes Toyota in stock turnover
Shares of Sanrio, which was added to MSCI’s Japan index last month, jumped 12% in May Published Fri, Jun 6, 2025 · 05:45 PM [TOKYO] Hello Kitty owner Sanrio surpassed Japan’s biggest company Toyota Motor in stock turnover last month on the firm’s inclusion to the MSCI index and its perceived resilience to tariff risks.…
Read MoreJapan curry shops see record bankruptcies as rice prices soar
Thirteen curry shops with more than 10 million yen (S$89,345) in debt filed for bankruptcy in the year ending in March Published Fri, Jun 6, 2025 · 03:27 PM [TOKYO] A record number of curry shops in Japan went out of business in the past year, as purveyors of one of the country’s most beloved…
Read MoreContainer shipping rates soar, impact on shippers outside China felt
[SINGAPORE] Sea cargo rates have surged, with those for the voyage from Shanghai to the US particularly steep, fuelled by pent-up demand and front-loading as shippers rush to beat the US-China trade truce expiry. However, the uncertainty on where the market heads from here has been flagged by analysts, given that new capacity has been…
Read MoreIndia focuses on growth with larger-than-expected 50 bps cut in key rate; slashes reserve ratio
[MUMBAI] The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut its key repo rate by a larger-than-expected 50 basis points on Friday, a third consecutive reduction, and slashed the reserve ratio for banks as muted inflation provided space for policymakers to focus on supporting economic growth. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which consists of three RBI officials…
Read MoreIndonesia sovereign wealth fund interested in Grab-GoTo deal: Bloomberg
[SINGAPORE] Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund Danantara is considering a stake in the Grab acquisition of GoTo for US$7 billion, reported Bloomberg. The sovereign wealth fund is said to be in preliminary discussions with GoTo to acquire a minority stake in the combined entity. The Indonesian government owning a slice of the Grab-GoTo entity could assuage…
Read MoreKeppel divests S$80 million of assets as part of multi-billion dollar monetisation programme
[SINGAPORE] Asset manager Keppel is divesting its stakes in a New-York based company and an integrated agricultural logistics park in China to unlock more than S$80 million from the monetisation of non-core assets, the group said on Friday (Jun 6). This is in line with its S$10 billion to S$20 billion monetisation target by end-2026.…
Read MoreHSBC’s Mark Tucker moves to Hong Kong insurer AIA as chairman
Published Fri, Jun 6, 2025 · 09:17 AM MARK Tucker, HSBC’s former Asia chairman, has been appointed to the same role at Hong Kong-based insurance company AIA Group, the two companies said in separate statements on Friday. Tucker, who previously served as AIA’s chief executive and president from 2010 to 2017, will replace Edmund Sze-Wing…
Read MoreGreat Eastern seeks to delist through OCBC exit offer of $30.15 per share
[SINGAPORE] OCBC has made a S$0.9 billion conditional exit offer at $30.15 per share for the 6.28 per cent stake in Great Eastern it does not own, in a bid to delist the insurer. The offer, which OCBC said on Friday (Jun 6) was made “at the request of Great Eastern”, will resolve the latter’s 11-month…
Read MoreGreat Eastern seeks again to delist with new OCBC exit offer of S$30.15 per share
[SINGAPORE] OCBC has made a S$900 million conditional exit offer at S$30.15 per share for the 6.28 per cent stake in Great Eastern it does not own, in a bid to delist the insurer. The offer, which OCBC said on Friday (Jun 6) was made “at the request of Great Eastern”, will resolve the latter’s 11-month…
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