Posts by Yurie Miyazawa
Qantas profit falls on cost of fixing damaged reputation
QANTAS Airways said full-year profit fell as the airline invested more to repair its battered reputation and air fares declined. Underlying profit before tax fell 16 per cent in the year ended June 30 to A$2.08 billion (S$1.82 billion), Qantas said on Thursday. The result was in line with analyst expectations. The airline flagged a…
Read MoreSwifties harness their power for Kamala Harris
TAYLOR Swift has yet to weigh in on the US presidential race, but some of her superfans are already stumping for Kamala Harris. As of Wednesday midday “Swifties for Kamala” had raised more than US$140,000 in favour of the Democratic White House hopeful. They held an inaugural fundraising call the evening prior that was joined…
Read MoreBuffett’s Berkshire Hathaway hits US$1 trillion market value
WARREN Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway holding company briefly crossed US$1 trillion in market value on Wednesday (Aug 28), making it the first non-tech firm on Wall Street to pass the milestone and putting it in an exclusive club alongside tech titans like Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft. Buffett, who turns 94 on Friday, has been chair of…
Read MoreCrowdStrike cuts forecasts as Windows outage weighs on new deals
CYBERSECURITY firm CrowdStrike cut its revenue and profit forecasts on Wednesday in the aftermath of a July global outage due to its faulty software update, and said the environment would remain challenging for about a year. The outage disrupted internet services, affecting 8.5 million Microsoft Windows devices and causing mass flight cancellations. CEO George Kurtz said the…
Read MoreEurope: Insurance, chemical stocks keep Stoxx 600 at over one-month high
THE benchmark European stock index rose to its highest since July on Wednesday, boosted by insurance and chemical stocks ahead of closely-watched results from Nvidia and key economic data. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.3 per cent to 520.6 points. The chemicals sector led gains, up 1.4 per cent to a more than two-month high, with…
Read MoreSeven & i seeking protection tests Japan’s appetite for reform
SEVEN & i Holdings’ desire for government protection against Alimentation Couche-Tard’s buyout proposal suggests Japan may not be ready yet for big cross-border mergers. How the state reacts will tell the world whether the country is ready for change. The Japanese operator of seven-Eleven stores is seeking designation as a “core” company under the Foreign…
Read MoreReliance, Disney India’s US$8.5 billion merger wins antitrust nod
This paves the way for the creation of a behemoth in one of the world’s fastest-growing entertainment markets India’s antitrust regulator approved the proposed merger of local media operations of Walt Disney and billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, paving the way for the creation of an US$8.5 billion behemoth in one of the world’s fastest-growing…
Read MoreGreat Eastern group CEO Khor Hock Seng to retire; Greg Hingston to take the helm from Nov 1
THERE will be a new chief executive officer helming insurer Great Eastern from November this year. Greg Hingston will be taking over as the group’s CEO from Khor Hock Seng, who will be retiring on Oct 31 at the age of 65, said the insurer in a bourse filing on Wednesday (Aug 28). Great Eastern…
Read MoreChina proposes new curbs on grain imports to boost local prices
CHINA is asking domestic traders to buy less foreign grains as ample supplies and weaker-than-expected demand weigh on prices and threaten its longstanding policy to support local growers. Beijing this week summoned top importers for meetings and suggested they halt purchases of barley and sorghum, according to people familiar with the matter. The move, ahead…
Read MoreUS companies return to currency options to hedge election, macro risks
US CORPORATIONS are turning to foreign exchange options again to protect their cash flow as they fear the US presidential election and diverging central bank interest-rate policies could spark a period of currency volatility, bankers said. Currency swings, which can hike costs, disrupt cashflows and dent earnings, are far less pronounced than from 2020 to…
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