elean

Debenhams in 11th-hour rescue talks with Frasers Group

elean 7 12 月

3 minutes

LONDON (BLOOMBERG) - Mike Ashley's Frasers Group is in last-ditch talks to buy the ailing Debenhams department store in a move which could save thousands of jobs. The owner of the Sports Direct brand confirmed it was in negotiations in an emailed statement and said "we hope to be able to save as many jobs as possible" at Debenhams, one of the UK's most iconic retail brands. News of Mr Ashley's interest comes just a few days after Debenhams said it could have to liquidate the business after talks with JD Sports Fashion ended. Debenhams has been struggling for many years, weighed down by costly stores with hefty rents and large property taxes. The failure of Debenhams, which employs 12,000 people, capped a terrible week for British retail after Philip Green's Arcadia Group, the owner of the Topshop and Dorothy Perkins brands, filed for insolvency putting 13,000 jobs at risk. Debenhams has 124 stores, all rented, and if a deal is completed Frasers could operate them on a 12-month licence while determining how many stores could be saved, said a person familiar with the matter, who declined to be identified as the matter is confidential. Debenhams declined to comment on the talks with F...

Bill Gates among star speakers at S’pore’s biggest fintech fest

elean 7 12 月

2 minutes

Singapore's biggest fintech festival and innovation week kicks off today with a star-line up of speakers, including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Google chief executive Sundar Pichai and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, who is also Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies and Minister for Finance, will open the Singapore FinTech Festival and Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SFF x Switch 2020) by speaking on the state of the economy. Owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year's festival will largely be held online from today till Friday. Events will happen round the clock and participants can visit technology exhibitions, attend masterclasses by fintech and deep tech experts, as well as network with private equity and investment firms from around the world, said a joint statement from organisers Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Enterprise Singapore. There will also be live sessions with climate scientists in the polar regions, the Amazon forest and the Himalayas. About 1,400 speakers are slated to speak, among them finance and technology leaders, entrepreneurs and policymakers, including Facebook co-founder Ed...

Bullish in the Year of the Ox

elean 7 12 月

1 minute

SINGAPORE - It's been a tough year for many around the world. But financial markets, despite their wild swings, have proven far more resilient. Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month Latest headlines and exclusive stories In-depth analyses and award-winning multimedia content Get access to all with our no-contract promotional package at only $0.99/month for the first 3 months* Subscribe now *Terms and conditions apply.

Local start-ups pursue innovation opportunities here and abroad

elean 7 12 月

1 minute

Start-ups have been actively participating in innovation calls and pursuing opportunities both locally and abroad this year. There have been 84 joint applications between Singapore firms and overseas partners for the Eureka GlobalStars-Singapore innovation call this year, more than double the number last year. Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month Latest headlines and exclusive stories In-depth analyses and award-winning multimedia content Get access to all with our no-contract promotional package at only $0.99/month for the first 3 months* Subscribe now *Terms and conditions apply.

4 money sins to avoid

elean 6 12 月

1 minute

Financial planners might roll their eyes in disbelief but it is probably fair to say that one of the key retirement strategies for many Singaporeans is to bank on hitting the jackpot in the lottery. Sadly, this is no laughing matter - almost half of the 2,000 or so adult Singaporeans polled by OCBC Bank recently admitted that gambling is one of the financial activities they dabbled in. Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month Latest headlines and exclusive stories In-depth analyses and award-winning multimedia content Get access to all with our no-contract promotional package at only $0.99/month for the first 3 months* Subscribe now *Terms and conditions apply.

‘Peter Pans’ may find themselves short of money in old age

elean 6 12 月

1 minute

They are in their 30s to 50s, mature and inching towards retirement, but they still think they are very young and can, well, live forever - so they tend to spend more rather than save. After all, they keep fit, exercise regularly and are confident they can keep working way past their 60s or even 70s. So why plan for retirement when they don't actually plan to retire at all? Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month Latest headlines and exclusive stories In-depth analyses and award-winning multimedia content Get access to all with our no-contract promotional package at only $0.99/month for the first 3 months* Subscribe now *Terms and conditions apply.

US student dorms turn trendy homes

elean 6 12 月

1 minute

When Yeshiva University in the United States got into financial trouble a few years ago, some property developers saw an opportunity. To free up cash, the oldest school in the country began selling pieces of its real estate, including the Alabama, a student housing property in Manhattan that served students at Yeshiva's Cardozo Law School. Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month Latest headlines and exclusive stories In-depth analyses and award-winning multimedia content Get access to all with our no-contract promotional package at only $0.99/month for the first 3 months* Subscribe now *Terms and conditions apply.

Four money sins to avoid

elean 6 12 月

1 minute

Financial planners might roll their eyes in disbelief but it is probably fair to say that one of the key retirement strategies for many Singaporeans is to bank on hitting the jackpot in the lottery. Sadly, this is no laughing matter - almost half of the 2,000 or so adult Singaporeans polled by OCBC Bank recently admitted that gambling is one of the financial activities they dabbled in. Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month Latest headlines and exclusive stories In-depth analyses and award-winning multimedia content Get access to all with our no-contract promotional package at only $0.99/month for the first 3 months* Subscribe now *Terms and conditions apply.

Property market’s state of play

elean 6 12 月

1 minute

The Covid-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global crisis that has overwhelmed healthcare systems and upended businesses around the world. While it has ravaged economies worldwide and consumer sentiment remains largely subdued, the skies seem brighter for Singapore's property sector so far. A surge in buying activities and an uptick in sales were observed across many housing segments after the circuit breaker period. Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month Latest headlines and exclusive stories In-depth analyses and award-winning multimedia content Get access to all with our no-contract promotional package at only $0.99/month for the first 3 months* Subscribe now *Terms and conditions apply.

Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq all end at records, extending rally

elean 5 12 月

2 minutes

NEW YORK (AFP) - Wall Street stocks surged to fresh records on Friday (Dec 4), extending a post-election rally as disappointing US jobs data boosted the prospects for fiscal stimulus. All three major indices finished the week at all-time highs, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.8 per cent to 30,218.26. The broad-based S&P 500 jumped 0.9 per cent to close at 3,699.12, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.7 per cent to 12,464.23. The rally came even following government data showing the jobs recovery stalled, as US employers added just 245,000 new jobs in November. And though the unemployment rate dipped to 6.7 per cent from 6.9 per cent, the lowest since the pandemic struck, that was due to Americans leaving the workforce. Noting that new Covid-19 cases are “raging” in the US, FHN Financial’s Chris Low warned in a note “job growth will be sluggish for the next three or four months, minimum.” Still, Low pointed out that US approval of the first coronavirus vaccine could come as soon as next week. Analysts said the weak jobs data provides further impetus for Congress to enact a new stimulus package, and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House ...

Decline in retail sales slows in October

elean 5 12 月

3 minutes

The slump in retail sales eased in October, although most segments still registered double-digit decline, according to data released by the Department of Statistics yesterday. Takings at the till dropped 8.6 per cent compared with October last year, an improvement from the revised 10.7 per cent fall in September. Excluding motor vehicles, the decline was larger, at 11.2 per cent. But when compared with the previous month, seasonally adjusted retail sales in October posted a slight growth of 0.2 per cent. Ms Selena Ling, OCBC Bank head of treasury research and strategy, said: "There is some glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel with the month-on-month improvement, but still quite distant for now. "I do not expect retail sales to revert to positive year-on-year growth territory till early 2021, possibly around Chinese New Year in February. Second-quarter retail sales for next year will also likely see a big jump due to the very low base this year." Maybank Kim Eng analyst Chua Hak Bin noted that retail sales are stagnating at about a tenth below pre-pandemic levels, after rebounding from the lows during the circuit breaker period. "The tunnel is still a long one as the vaccine wi...

What digital banks offer and how S’poreans can benefit

elean 5 12 月

3 minutes

Singapore will have four digital banks, with digital full bank licences going to the Grab-Singtel consortium and tech giant Sea. The Monetary Authority of Singapore also granted digital wholesale bank licences to Mr Jack Ma's Ant Group as well as a consortium comprising Greenland Financial Holdings, Linklogis Hong Kong and Beijing Co-operative Equity Investment Fund Management. This means that for the first time here, non-banks will be allowed to provide banking services. The eagerly awaited announcement, expected in June, was delayed after the assessment period for the award was extended due to Covid-19 pandemic. Q What is a digital full bank? A A digital full bank can serve both retail and corporate customers. Like any traditional bank, it can provide ordinary Singaporeans with banking services such as the opening of accounts, giving loans, issuing debit and credit cards and offering investment products. But all banking services will be carried out online, with the digital bank not having a physical branch or ATMs. This is different from traditional banks putting some banking services online via the Internet or mobile apps. Q What is a digital wholesale bank? A Such a bank will s...

Company briefs: Millennium & Copthorne Hotels

elean 5 12 月

2 minutes

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels City Developments' subsidiary Millennium & Copthorne (M&C) Hotels announced on Thursday that its hotels in Singapore and London have had a jump in bookings for staycations and at its restaurants, on robust domestic demand ahead of the year-end festive season and Chinese New Year next year. Singapore hotels under M&C recorded bookings for 31,480 room nights from August to last month, up nearly sevenfold from the 4,698 room nights in the four months prior. THE BUSINESS TIMES Affirm Holdings Affirm Holdings, whose major investors include GIC, has agreed to buy Canadian buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) firm PayBright for C$340 million (S$352 million), as the lending start-up looks to expand outside the United States. The deal marks the first major sign of consolidation in the BNPL sector, which is riding on an online shopping boom accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic and is now seeing intensifying competition. REUTERS Boeing Boeing sealed a landmark order for its 737 Max jet from Ryanair Holdings, boosting the United States planemaker's efforts to revive its best-selling model after a 20-month grounding. Dublin-based Ryanair will add to an existing Max purchase by...

Hiring of 200 staff for Grab-Singtel bank under way

elean 5 12 月

2 minutes

A Grab-Singtel consortium, one of two successful applicants for a digital full bank licence, has already started hiring for around 200 positions in Singapore that it intends to fill by the end of next year. About 10 per cent to 15 per cent of the roles in banking, fintech and technology have been filled. Most of the roles will see new hires, although Singtel and Grab employees are welcome to join the new entity, the consortium's new chief executive Charles Wong, who was formerly Citigroup's retail banking head, said in a media briefing last night. The consortium said it will create more opportunities for Singaporeans to take on tech and fintech roles, and will equip them with skills in areas like cyber security. The new entity will begin with a focus on young professionals, managers, executives and technicians, gig workers and small businesses. It aims to enable them to easily access transparent financial services in their everyday activities, although it does not have concrete plans yet about its future services. Grab and Singtel formed the consortium in December last year. Grab owns 60 per cent of it, while Singtel holds the remaining stake. The consortium aims to formally launch...

M&C reports spike in bookings for Singapore, London hotels amid holiday season

elean 4 12 月

2 minutes

SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - City Developments Limited's (CDL) subsidiary Millennium & Copthorne Hotels announced on Thursday (Dec 3) that its hotels in Singapore and London have had a jump in bookings for staycations and its restaurants on robust domestic demand ahead of the year-end festive season and Chinese New Year next year. Singapore hotels under M&C recorded bookings for 31,480 room nights from August to November, up nearly sevenfold from 4,698 room nights in the four months prior. M&C owns or operates over 2,000 hotel rooms in Singapore, including Orchard Hotel Singapore, Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, Copthorne King's Hotel, M Social Singapore, M Hotel and Studio M. "Across major cities, we are seeing a clear trend of travellers choosing to holiday within their home countries as air travel is likely to remain restricted through 2021 due to the pandemic," said Lee Richards, M&C's vice-president (operations) for South-east Asia. "Our hotels worldwide are responding to this trend in domestic demand with digital marketing strategies and promotions." M&C operates 66 hotels in Asia, Europe and the UK, the US and New Zealand under the Millennium Hotels and Resorts (MHR) g...

Boeing surges on a mixed day for US stocks

elean 4 12 月

2 minutes

NEW YORK (AFP) - Boeing shares jumped on Thursday (Dec 3) as it announced its first major order of the 737 Max after a lengthy grounding, while US stocks ended little changed following mixed economic data. Equities were in the green most of the day, but stocks weakened near the end of the session following a report that examined challenges in coronavirus vaccine supply chains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3 per cent to 29,969.52. The broad-based S&P 500 dipped 0.1 per cent to 3,666.72, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.2 per cent to 12,377.18, its second record high in three session. Progress on coronavirus vaccines has propelled indices to records over the last week, but the market retreated following a Wall Street Journal report saying deliveries of the Pfizer/BionNTech vaccine this year would be half the level previously thought, but that the companies expect to produce more than one billion doses next year. Markets also digested data showing slower growth in the US services sector in November and better-than-expected new unemployment claims ahead of Friday's closely-watched Labour Department jobs report. Investors have also monitored ongoing sti...

Kelley Aerospace to invest $150m in projects, train 250 locals

elean 4 12 月

2 minutes

The battered aviation industry took another step towards recovery yesterday with news that Kelley Aerospace will invest around $150 million over the next five years on initiatives, including job creation and manufacturing. The projects will be undertaken at the company's first facility in Seletar Aerospace Park, a former military airbase now home to global and home-grown firms. Kelley Aerospace said yesterday it will train and upskill at least 250 locals to retrofit private jets and manufacture carbon fibre for planes. It is also looking to open a flying academy to train pilots for its jets. The American firm is launching three programmes here. One involves buying 100 aircraft by 2024 that will fly private clients around the world, with in-flight meals prepared by Michelin chef Bruno Menard. Clients will be by invitation only for the private network, which will operate out of Singapore, South Korea, Japan and China. The second programme is to design, manufacture and assemble unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including the Arrow UAV, which has been worked on by engineers over the past few years. Kelley Aerospace said it is ready to move forward with a prototype, and will need to trai...

Two deals inked to facilitate S’pore-EU cooperation

elean 4 12 月

2 minutes

Two agreements to facilitate cooperation and business activities between Singapore and the European Union (EU) were signed yesterday. One is an administrative arrangement between Singapore and the European Commission on cluster cooperation and the other is a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and the European Chamber of Commerce in Singapore (EuroCham). They were both inked at a hybrid actual/virtual event, with the physical signing taking place at InterContinental Singapore. The event marked the first anniversary of the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA) coming into force. The EUSFTA kicked in on Nov 21 last year. The administrative agreement will provide a framework for facilitating cooperation and business activities between industry clusters in Singapore and the EU, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the European Union Delegation in Singapore said in a joint release yesterday. Activities under the framework include regular exchanges and business matchmaking events where Singapore and European business communities can connect and develop strategic partnerships. Minister for Communications and Information S. Iswaran, who ...

S’pore has to raise auditing standards, says MAS chief

elean 4 12 月

3 minutes

Singapore needs to raise its auditing and accounting standards to boost the nation's environmental, social and governance (ESG) credibility following a series of corporate scandals, according to the country's top central banker. "There have been several failures that are due to lapses in accounting, auditing and some fraudulent activities are not as easily detected," said Mr Ravi Menon, head of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). "It is an area that needs to be addressed." While Singapore's corporate disclosure level improved this year, it lags behind neighbouring countries such as Malaysia and Thailand, according to a report published in October by the Securities Investors Association (Singapore). Compliance around ESG standards is becoming an existential question for firms as sustainable investing assets swell to more than US$30 trillion (S$40 trillion), according to a report by the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance. Singapore has had its share of high-profile corporate scandals in recent years. Hyflux, a water-treatment firm, owes about $2.8 billion to some 34,000 retail investors and banks, while commodity trader Noble Group Holdings remains under investigation by t...

HSBC’s loyal Hong Kong investors find redemption in 51% share rally

elean 3 12 月

3 minutes

HONG KONG (BLOOMBERG) - Fear of owning HSBC Holdings shares is turning into a fear of missing out on a major rally. Europe's biggest lender is up 51 per cent in Hong Kong since touching its 25-year low in September, and is the best-performing stock on the Hang Seng Index this quarter. Just two months ago, investors were fretting over how mounting regulatory and economic pressures would squeeze the firm's key businesses in Asia. But a lot has changed since then. British regulators have signaled they would consider softening their stance on a dividend ban imposed on banks in March at the height of the pandemic. Also, HSBC recorded better-than-expected third quarter results on cost savings while investors have piled into financial stocks as part of a sector rotation. Shares of HSBC rallied 3.7 per cent on Wednesday (Dec 2) in Hong Kong, while the Hang Seng fell 0.1 per cent. They gained 3 per cent in London. "HSBC's fortunes have improved with a US presidency change likely to ease trade and China-US tensions, as well as increasing cost savings expectations and a likely return to dividends in 2021," said Jonathan Tyce, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. HSBC's Hong Kong-listed stock...

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