We need to find a fairer way of providing Goods and Services to the rest of the people on Earth.Cryptocurrencies and/or Gold Standard of money....maybe the answer to fight hyperinflation caused by too much printing of paper/fiat currencies by Governments and Central Banks all over the World. (https://nomorefiatmoneyplease.blogspot.com)
Asia-Europe container freight rates fall 8.1%: source
Shipping freight rates for transporting containers from ports in Asia to Northern Europe fell by 8.1 per cent to $431 per 20-foot container (TEU) in the week ended on Friday, one source with access to data from the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index told Reuters.
PHOTO: NURIA LING
[COPENHAGEN] Shipping freight rates for transporting containers from ports in Asia to Northern Europe fell by 8.1 per cent to $431 per 20-foot container (TEU) in the week ended on Friday, one source with access to data from the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index told Reuters.
It was the fifth consecutive week of falling freight rates on the world's busiest route, and the current level is widely seen as loss-making to shipping companies.
In the week to Friday, container freight rates dropped 7.0 per cent from Asia to ports in the Mediterranean, fell 4.8 per cent to ports on the US West Coast and were down 5.1 per cent to ports on the US East Coast.
Maersk Line, the world's biggest container shipper with more than 600 container vessels, in November reported a 61 per cent drop in net profit for the third quarter.
The Danish shipping company controls around a fifth of containers transported from Asia to Europe and will report fourth quarter results on Feb 10.
Sharp shows Japan Inc may be more open to foreign interest
[TOKYO] If Sharp Corp's rescue plans are anything to go by, Japan's insular technology sector is finally opening up to foreign investors, spurred by a shift in political thinking and a drive for improved corporate governance.
Battered by losses in display panels even after two bank bailouts, Sharp has opted for Taiwan's Foxconn as its preferred suitor, paving the way for the biggest foreign takeover of a Japanese tech company - at around US$5.6 billion.
Japanese policymakers, especially bureaucrats at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry which supervises the Innovation Network Corp of Japan (INCJ), initially hoped the fund would buy Sharp and broker multiple mergers among weaker domestic tech companies, said people with knowledge of the matter.
But, over time, those close to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe set aside concerns about Sharp's technology falling under foreign ownership, and warmed to the idea that a Foxconn deal could help Japan boost foreign direct investment, political sources said.
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Abe has said he wants to double Japan's inbound foreign direct investment to 35 trillion yen (US$300 billion) by 2020.
A person close to Abe said Nissan Motor Co's turnaround following a 1999 rescue by French automaker Renault was raised as a positive example. "Nissan's corporate culture may have changed, but its performance didn't deteriorate after that deal," the person said, also citing the "Wimbledon Effect", a mixed economy/tennis analogy highlighting Britain's success in attracting foreign talent while producing few of its own champions. "Opening doors the way the UK did is one way of bolstering an economy," the person said.
Japan's push to attract foreign investment included a corporate governance code to encourage board members to be held accountable to shareholders. Japanese firms have long been criticised for neglecting their stockholders.
That focus played a part in persuading Sharp's board, which may otherwise have sought to please trade ministry officials, to opt for the higher, and foreign, offer. "We finally saw a situation in which Sharp realised it needs to be accountable to shareholders, and would need to take offers into serious consideration even from overseas," said a mergers and acquisitions banker.
Singapore-based activist fund, Effissimo Capital Management, urged Sharp last month to explain clearly to shareholders how it would decide between the offers from Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, and the INCJ, then the frontrunner.
The vote by Sharp's board on Thursday to go with the Foxconn talks spurred a 29 percent jump in Sharp shares over two days. "Sharp's decision to choose Hon Hai over a state-backed fund sent a message to foreign investors that it left the decision to the market," said Takatoshi Itoshima, chief portfolio manager at Commons Asset Management. "The move can boost investor confidence ... foreign investors may increasingly feel it's worth investing in the Japanese market."
There will still, though, be parts of Japan Inc that are off-limits to foreign buyers - including some telecommunications technology and that related to possible use by military intelligence, such as sensors.
But sectors such as household appliances, struggling against cheaper Asian rivals, are likely to attract more foreign interest.
The INCJ had been expecting to broker a deal between Sharp's household appliances business and that of Toshiba Corp, which was hit by an accounting scandal last year.
Toshiba CEO Masashi Muromachi said he hadn't entirely given up on a deal with Sharp, but remains open-minded. "If that doesn't pan out, a sale to a foreign manufacturer is also an option," he told reporters on Thursday.
A surge in operating profits from bus operations offset a plunge in rail profits to lift net earnings of transport operator SBS Transit for the year ended Dec 31, 2015.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
A SURGE in operating profits from bus operations offset a plunge in rail profits to lift net earnings of transport operator SBS Transit for the year ended Dec 31, 2015.
Net earnings jumped 17 per cent to S$16.7 million, said SBS Transit after markets closed on Friday.
Revenue for the full year rose 7.7 per cent to S$1.02 billion as average daily ridership and fares increased for its bus and rail operations. In particular, revenue for its bus segment increased by 7.5 per cent to reach S$810.5 million, while its rail segment raked in 8.3 per cent in revenue to S$213.4 million.
But operating profit from buses saw a massive surge of 78.2 per cent, hitting S$22 million for 2015 "due mainly to higher revenue and lower fuel costs", said SBS Transit.
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Rail operating profits on the other hand slumped by 61.9 per cent to hit S$$3.2 million. SBS Transit attributed it to higher staff costs from Downtown Line 2, higher premises costs and higher other operating costs.
Earnings per share rose to 5.41 cents, up from 4.62 previously. Net tangible asset per share rose to S$1.10 from S$1.
The 75 per cent-owned subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Corp improved its margin before tax, depreciation and amortisation to 10.8 per cent, from 9.6 previously.
Directors are proposing a final dividend of 1.05 cents per share, unchanged from 2014.
Airbus in talks to delay some A320neo deliveries: sources
[PARIS] Airbus is renegotiating delivery schedules for its revamped A320neo jet and has told some airlines the aircraft will be delayed by around two months, industry sources said.
The European planemaker missed a 2015 target for delivering the first aircraft, an upgraded fuel-saving version of its best-selling medium-haul jet, due to what it described as issues with documentation for its new Pratt & Whitney engines.
Industry sources have also pointed to delays in deliveries of the newly developed Geared Turbofan engine from its US manufacturer, a subsidiary of United Technologies.
Airbus and Pratt & Whitney confirmed they are in talks with airlines over deliveries, but declined further comment.
