Posts by Kim Browne
Wing Tai’s Amara foray may not help its own minorities
[SINGAPORE] Minority shareholders of hotel and property group Amara Holdings who did not accept an earlier offer by Amethyst Assets, which closed in early 2024, have reason to cheer. Last week, Amara’s minority investors received a far superior voluntary conditional general offer at S$0.895 per share from DRC Investments, compared with the S$0.60 per share…
Read MoreChina’s Garment Factories Face a Tipping Point After New Tariffs
Liu Miao has sold clothing on Amazon to wholesale buyers in the United States for the past five years. That trade has come to an abrupt stop. Mr. Liu owns a small factory in Guangzhou, long the center of China’s highly competitive garment industry. He and other factory managers, already dealing with tight profit margins,…
Read MoreTrump rules out firing Powell while pushing him to cut rates
[BRUSSELS] US President Donald Trump insisted he does not plan to fire Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell despite his sustained criticism over the pace of interest rate cuts. “Why would I do that?” he said in an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press with Kristen Welker that aired on Sunday (May 4). “I get to…
Read MoreOil Prices Slide Further on Plans to Increase Supply
Oil prices resumed their downward slide after the OPEC Plus cartel of oil producers said over the weekend that it would pump more oil, despite concerns that President Trump’s trade war will curb demand. The U.S. benchmark oil price fell to around $56 a barrel, from $58 on Friday. For many companies, the steady decline…
Read MoreOil drops more than US$2/barrel as Opec+ accelerates output hikes
Published Mon, May 5, 2025 · 10:17 AM [SINGAPORE] Oil prices fell more than US$2 a barrel in early Asian trade on Monday as Opec+ is set to further speed up oil output hikes, spurring concerns about more supply. Brent crude futures dropped US$2.04 a barrel, or 3.33 per cent, to US$59.25 a barrel by 2240 GMT while US…
Read MoreBHP partner says Filo copper discovery is largest in 30 years
Copper mines are getting harder and much more costly to develop, even as global demand for the metal is projected to increase given its role in the energy transition Published Mon, May 5, 2025 · 09:47 AM [MELBOURNE] BHP’s joint-venture partner Lundin Mining declared that the companies’ Filo del Sol project in South America to…
Read MoreAjisen Ramen operator Japan Foods warns of ‘substantial’ full-year loss
This is based on a preliminary review of the unaudited management accounts of the group [SINGAPORE] Japan Foods announced on Monday (May 5) that it expects to report a “substantial net loss” for FY2025 ended Mar 31, based on a preliminary review of the group’s unaudited management accounts. The food and beverage group – whose…
Read MoreNew Zealand central bank sees AI adoption posing risk to financial stability
Published Mon, May 5, 2025 · 09:01 AM [WELLINGTON] The rapid acceleration of artificial intelligence adoption in financial services presents a risk to financial stability, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand said in a report on Monday. “Errors in AI systems, data privacy concerns and market distortions could amplify existing risks,” the report said. “The…
Read MoreStocks to watch: CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Japan Foods
[SINGAPORE] The following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Monday (May 5). CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT): The manager of the trust on Friday announced the sale of its stake in the serviced residence component of CapitaSpring. CICT owns a 45 per cent interest in Glory SR Trust, which…
Read MoreIndonesia seen to cut rate twice this year amid US tariff talks
[JAKARTA] Indonesia’s central bank is expected to resume monetary easing after holding its rate unchanged for three consecutive meetings, moving to bolster economic growth against the backdrop of rising tariffs and trade policy uncertainty. Economists predicted a quarter-point reduction in Bank Indonesia’s benchmark rate to 5.5 per cent by the end of the second quarter,…
Read More‘Set up the robot and go for coffee’: ISOTeam bets on automation in its next stage of growth
[SINGAPORE] Anthony Koh may already be 59 years old, but the chief executive officer of ISOTeam is still enrolling himself in artificial intelligence (AI) courses. The head of the facilities management company is banking on automating his workforce through the use of drones, robots and AI to help take his company to the next level…
Read MoreMichael Lewis’s Paean to Federal Workers Hits Differently Under DOGE
The pressures American civil servants face also stem from the fact that, contrary to the right’s nightmare, the U.S. bureaucracy is distinctively nonautonomous—uniquely permeable by and subject to the influence of outside political forces and organized interests. (This is true even under normal circumstances, when a world-historically rich tech oligarch isn’t empowered to wander agency…
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