Source: AFP ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel maker, reported a 22-per cent drop in 2011 profit to US$2.3 billion owing to a difficult end to the year but forecast an improvement for 2012. “Looking ahead to 2012, the situation in Europe remains a live concern,” Lakshmi N. Mittal, ArcelorMittal’s chairman and chief executive said in ...
by Jared Heng International visitor arrivals in Singapore totalled 13.2 million last year, up 13.8 per cent from 2010, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said on Tuesday. The figure also beat the official forecast of between 12 million and 13 million, with the majority of visitors coming from Asia. Tourism receipts were estimated at a ...
Source: Bloomberg Toyota Motor Corp. raised its profit forecast 11 per cent as rebounding sales in the US help Japanese carmakers emerge from a year marred by natural disasters. Net income will be JPY200 billion (US$2.6 billion) in the 12 months ending March 31, versus the JPY180 billion projected in December, Asia’s largest carmaker said ...
Source: Reuters The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will unveil proposals aimed at stabilising money-market funds in the event of another financial panic, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The SEC looks to minimise any losses for shareholders of the money funds, which invest in short-term debt ...
Source: AFP Swiss-based commodities trader Glencore said it had reached agreement with Swiss mining group Xstrata on a merger that would create a global group worth US$90 billion. “The Glencore directors and the independent Xstrata directors have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended all-share merger of equals,” a statement issued by Glencore said ...
Source: Bloomberg UBS AG, Switzerland’s biggest bank, has announced that fourth-quarter profit dropped 76 per cent after its investment bank reported a second consecutive quarterly loss. Net income fell to CHF393 million (US$427 million) from CHF1.66 billion in the year-earlier period, the Zurich-based bank said in a statement Tuesday. Earnings missed the CHF721-million average estimate ...
Source: AFP Australia’s central bank left official interest rates steady at 4.25 per cent on Tuesday, saying global conditions had, on balance, improved and local growth and inflation were close to target. Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens said interest rates for borrowers had “declined to be close to their medium-term average” after two ...
Source: Bloomberg China’s industrial output growth is likely to slow this quarter as the world economy cools and Europe’s debt crisis worsens, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said. “The global economy is slowing down, Europe’s sovereign debt crisis is deepening and the downside risks to the world economy are rising with international ...
by Jared Heng Singapore Airlines’ (SIA) budget carrier Scoot has added Australia’s Gold Coast as its second destination, it said on Tuesday. The wholly-owned SIA subsidiary had already picked Sydney as its first destination for daily flights from Singapore. Scoot is set to begin operations in June this year with an initial fleet of four ...
by Jared Heng The Casino Regulatory Authority of Singapore (CRA) has fined casino operators Marina Bay Sands (MBS) and Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) for breaching social safeguard requirements. MBS and RWS were slapped with a financial penalty of S$255,000 and S$130,000 respectively. CRA said the casino operators were fined for breaching regulations under the Casino ...
