Lion City Life

SINGAPORE (REUTERS) – BlackRock and Royal Bank of Canada’s BlueBay Asset Management are among asset managers exposed to embattled developer China Evergrande Group, while TCW and HSBC funds have closed positions, researcher Morningstar said. In an analysis Morningstar published on Sept 24, Morningstar also said UBS Group and London-based Ashmore Group funds retained significant holdings […]

BENGALURU (REUTERS) – The East Asia and Pacific region’s recovery has been undermined by the spread of the Covid-19 Delta variant, which is likely slowing economic growth and increasing inequality in the region, the World Bank said on Monday (Sept 27). Economic activity began to slow in the second quarter of 2021, and growth forecasts […]

WASHINGTON (BLOOMBERG) – The resignation of two Federal Reserve chiefs amid a stock-trading scandal means an unexpected number of top monetary-policy jobs are coming up for grabs – and there’ll likely be an unusually intense spotlight on who fills them. Eric Rosengren and Robert Kaplan, presidents of the Fed branches in Boston and Dallas, announced […]

SHANGHAI (REUTERS) – Goldman Sachs has cut China’s economic growth forecast for 2021 to 7.8 per cent, from 8.2 per cent, as energy shortages and deep industrial output cuts add “significant downside pressures”, it said in a note on Tuesday (Sept 28). The power supply crunch, brought about by environmental controls, supply constraints and soaring […]

DETROIT (REUTERS) – Ford Motor and its South Korean battery partner SK Innovation will invest US$11.4 billion (S$15.4 billion) to build an electric F-150 assembly plant, and three battery plants in the United States, accelerating the No. 2 US automaker’s push into electric vehicles. Ford also said on Monday (Sept 27) it now expects to […]

DONGGUAN (NYTIMES, BLOOMBERG) – China’s energy crisis is shaping up as the latest shock to global supply chains as factories in the world’s biggest exporter are forced to conserve energy by curbing production. The disruption comes as producers and shippers race to meet demand for everything from clothing to toys for the year-end holiday shopping […]

KUALA LUMPUR (REUTERS) – Malaysia’s AirAsia X on Monday (Sept 27) posted a record quarterly loss of RM24.6 billion (S$7.95 billion), eight times more than a year ago, as a multi-billion-dollar provision to cover debts drove operating costs higher. It was the ninth loss in succession for the airline, an affiliate of AirAsia Group. The […]

NEW YORK (REUTERS) – The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes ended lower on Monday (Sept 27) with investors pivoting to value as tech shares, hurt by rising Treasury yields, weighed on equities in the quarter’s final week. Of the three major US stock indexes, only the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed in positive territory, […]

HONG KONG (BLOOMBERG) – China may be diving head first into a power supply shock that could hit Asia’s largest economy hard just as the Evergrande crisis sends shockwaves through its financial system. The crackdown on power consumption is being driven by rising demand for electricity and surging coal and gas prices as well as […]

NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) – Oil gained at the start of the week’s trading on signs that the crude market is tightening because of the global energy crunch. West Texas Intermediate closed in on US$75 a barrel after a run of five weekly gains, while Brent hit the highest level since October 2018. Inventories have been […]

SEOUL (BLOOMBERG) – In the world of finance, leveraged buyouts are sometimes seen as controversial – the domain of fictional villain Gordon Gekko from the movie Wall Street – where firms borrow large sums of money to buy their targets. But Mr Kyungsun Chung, a grandson of the Hyundai Motor empire founder Chung Ju Yung, is […]

HONG KONG (BLOOMBERG) – China Evergrande Group’s electric car unit will not proceed with its proposed issue of yuan-denominated shares on the Science and Technology Innovation Board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, according to a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The Hong Kong-listed unit of troubled China Evergrande Group and Haitong Securities have […]

SINGAPORE – The recent tie-ups between Singapore’s PayNow service and similar systems in Thailand and India is set to bring more competition to the cross-border payments scene. That prospect does not seem to daunt existing players in the sector, who told The Straits Times that they welcome the developments and are beefing up their operations […]

SINGAPORE – Contractors in Singapore could face yet another hurdle next month, after the temporary relief period protecting them from claims and other legal proceedings expires. Lawyers told The Straits Times that there are signs of lawsuits brewing, with contractors preparing for contract disputes when the relief period under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act ends […]

SINGAPORE – If you did not know what Evergrande was about a month or two ago, you would have had more than your fill over the past week. The debt saga involving the China-based property giant has hogged the headlines all week and rattled market sentiment, not just in China and Hong Kong, but in […]

SINGAPORE – Manpower and building material costs in the construction sector have spiked since the Covid-19 pandemic began, delaying projects and hitting the cash flow for companies in the supply chain. Here are the main costs companies are grappling with: 1. Salaries Before the pandemic, a basic-skilled worker earned about $800 a month, The Straits […]

SINGAPORE – As construction costs soar ever higher, it has become a case of every man for himself, as contractor Choo Zhan Rui has seen all too well. Five subcontractors quit on a residential project he is building in Sengkang after they failed to get their existing contracts repriced to cope with skyrocketing labour and […]

(NYTIMES) – Cryptocurrencies have emerged as one of the most captivating, yet head-scratching, investments in the world. They soar in value. They crash. They’ll change the world, their fans claim, by displacing traditional currencies like the dollar, rupee or ruble. And in the process of simply existing, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, one of the most popular, […]

SINGAPORE – Many love stories start with the usual courtship rituals, but this boy-meets-girl tale ended especially badly with an unusual twist. That the twist involved money should not come as a total surprise, of course, given the Singapore Dream often involves a property and that in turn always involves big bucks. Please subscribe or […]

SINGAPORE – Finance industry executive Lawrence Chan could probably write a book about the long-term value of bricks and mortar as an investment, but two phrases sum it up – capital gains and recurring rental income. As Mr Chan, 52, notes: “Land is scarce in Singapore and historical data has proven that real estate appreciates […]