Posts by Mark Darwin
Disney lays off hundreds in film, TV as industry woes linger
[LOS ANGELES] Walt Disney is laying off several hundred employees across its film and TV businesses, cuts that underscore the entertainment industry’s contraction is far from over. The staff reductions began on Monday (Jun 2) and are falling on employees in marketing, publicity, casting and development, along with corporate financial operations, according to the company. …
Read MoreGoogle to spend US$500 million revamping compliance in shareholder settlement
[NEW YORK] Google agreed to spend US$500 million over 10 years to overhaul its compliance structure, to settle shareholder litigation accusing the search engine company of antitrust violations, settlement papers show. The preliminary settlement of so-called derivative litigation against officials at Google parent Alphabet, including chief executive Sundar Pichai and Google co-founders Sergey Brin and…
Read MoreSingapore shares fall after Trump vows to double steel tariffs; STI down 0.1%
[SINGAPORE] Shares on the Singapore bourse ended lower on Monday (Jun 2), after US President Donald Trump said last week that he would double tariffs on steel and aluminium to 50 per cent to “even further secure” the US steel industry. The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.1 per cent or 4.02 points to…
Read MoreDBS, UOB, OCBC return surplus capital with over S$700 million of buybacks
[SINGAPORE] In the first five months of 2025, 63 primary-listed Singapore companies conducted share buybacks through open market acquisitions, spending a total of S$930 million – an 84% jump from S$505 million in the same period last year. This was the highest buyback level for the first five months of a year since 2020, based…
Read MoreDBS mobile app customers face intermittent access on Monday
More than 1,000 reports have been made on outage tracking site Downdetector since around 2 pm DBS and POSB customers had difficulties accessing the bank’s mobile apps on Monday (Jun 2) afternoon. More than 1,000 reports were made on outage tracking site Downdetector since around 2 pm, mostly for mobile login and mobile banking issues.…
Read MoreCitigroup names Bank of America veteran Zhang as new China country head
Published Mon, Jun 2, 2025 · 01:50 PM [HONG KONG] Citigroup said on Monday (Jun 2) that it had appointed Wenjie Zhang as its new country officer and banking head for China, after the exit of its former China head in November. Zhang was also named president and executive director of Citibank China, the company…
Read MoreECB expected to cut rates again as Trump trade war rumbles on
[FRANKFURT] The European Central Bank (ECB) is expected to deliver its seventh-straight interest rate cut this week as US President Donald Trump’s volatile trade policies add to headwinds for the sluggish eurozone. Even before Trump unleashed his on-off tariff onslaught on the world, the ECB had been bringing borrowing costs down as inflation eased. Worries…
Read MoreGrand Venture Tech shares up 11.9% on paused Malaysian listing amid potential share offer
It had announced that it was pausing the proposed secondary listing of its shares on the Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad [SINGAPORE] Grand Venture Technology (GVT) shares soared on Monday (Jun 2) morning after the company said it would pause its proposed secondary listing in Malaysia amid a potential transaction that could lead to an offer…
Read MoreTung Lok Restaurants H2 profit falls 52.1% to S$853,000 amid F&B industry woes
[SINGAPORE] Tung Lok Restaurants on Friday (May 30) posted net profit of S$853,000 for its second half ended March, a 52.1 per cent decline from S$1.8 million in the year-ago period. This translated to earnings per share of S$0.0031, a 52.3 per cent fall from S$0.0065 previously. Revenue for H2 was down 8 per cent…
Read MoreStamford Land H2 profit falls 14.2% to S$17.6 million amid softer market, Australian dollar depreciation
[SINGAPORE] Property company Stamford Land reported a 14.2 per cent fall in net profit to S$17.6 million for its second half ended March, from S$20.6 million in the year-ago period. Earnings per share (EPS) stood at S$0.0119, down from S$0.0138. This came amid a 6.5 per cent decline in revenue, which came in at S$78.3…
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