UOB resumes guidance for FY2025 with trimmed forecasts amid Q2 earnings miss
[SINGAPORE] UOB has resumed guidance on its full-year 2025 targets after briefly pausing them in the first quarter, but the projections are now broadly lower. The bank now expects net interest margin (NIM) for FY2025 to come in at between 1.85 and 1.9 per cent, down from its earlier forecast of around 2 per cent.…
Read MoreAsia: Markets rise as Trump chip exemptions boost tech giants
[HONG KONG] Asian equities rose on Thursday, with big-name chip firms making big gains after Donald Trump said those investing in the United States would be exempted from a threatened 100-per cent tariff on semiconductors. The advances built on a strong lead from Wall Street and extended the previous day’s rally fuelled by hopes the…
Read MoreSingPost sells 10 HDB shophouses to Union Gas chairman for S$55.5 million
[SINGAPORE] Singapore Post (SingPost) has sold 10 Housing & Development Board (HDB) shophouses for S$55.5 million, after putting them up for sale and leaseback earlier this year. The buyer is Teo Kiang Ang, the founder and non-executive chairman of Union Gas, who confirmed with Lianhe Zaobao on Monday (Aug 4) that he had purchased the…
Read MoreBlackRock’s GIP said to hire for South-east Asia infrastructure
The challenge around such ventures is creating a risk-reward structure that attracts enough private capital Published Thu, Aug 7, 2025 · 11:04 AM [SINGAPORE] Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a private markets firm that’s a unit of BlackRock, is setting up a team to finance infrastructure projects in South-east Asia that usually struggle to secure investment,…
Read MoreSouth Korea says Samsung, SK Hynix will not be subject to 100% US chip tariffs
Published Thu, Aug 7, 2025 · 10:42 AM [SEOUL] South Korea’s top trade envoy Yeo Han-koo said on Thursday that Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix will not be subject to 100 per cent US tariffs on chips. Yeo said on radio that among various countries, South Korea will face the most favourable US tariff rates…
Read MoreLyft shares slide on weak sales, disappointing ride totals
[NEW YORK] Lyft shares slid in late on Wednesday (Aug 6) trading after the ride-hailing company reported revenue that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations, stoking concerns about its efforts to expand globally. The company reported revenue of US$1.59 billion in the three months ended Jun 30, slightly missing analysts’ expectations of US$1.61 billion. And…
Read MoreManulife buys Comvest to build US$18.4 billion private credit unit
[TORONTO] Manulife Financial agreed to buy a majority stake in Comvest Credit Partners, creating a US$18.4 billion private credit platform as the insurer accelerates its expansion into alternative investments. The company will acquire 75 per cent of the middle-market lender for about US$938 million, according to a statement on Wednesday (Aug 6). The deal includes…
Read MoreUOB shares fall over 2% following lower Q2 net profit of S$1.34 billion reported
[SINGAPORE] Shares of UOB fell by more than 2 per cent on Thursday (Aug 7), on the back of the local bank’s second-quarter results, which saw a 6 per cent year-on-year decline in its net profit of S$1.34 billion for the three months ended June 2025, from S$1.43 billion in the same year-ago period. This…
Read MoreGold inches higher as US dollar weakens on Fed rate cut hopes
[BENGALURU] Gold prices edged higher on Thursday (Aug 7), helped by a weaker US dollar on growing expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut next month, while investors awaited US President Donald Trump’s nominations to the central bank’s Board of Governors. Spot gold added 0.1 per cent at US$3,372.97 per ounce as at 8.57 am.…
Read MoreDBS shares hit all-time record after higher Q2 profit, nearing the S$50 mark
[SINGAPORE] Shares of DBS soared to a record in early trade after the group posted marginally improved Q2 earnings before market open, nearing the S$50 mark. At 9.03 am it hit S$49.69, with around 615,300 shares changing hands. This was 1.7 per cent or S$0.84 higher than its S$48.85 closing price on Wednesday. By 9.19…
Read MoreCSE Global Q2 new orders rise 3.8% to S$211.3 million
[SINGAPORE] Systems integrator CSE Global has secured S$211.3 million worth of new orders for its second quarter ended June, a 3.8 per cent rise from S$203.7 million in Q2 2024. This brought its ending order book for Q2 and H1 to S$573.8 million, 17.1 per cent down from S$692.3 million in the year-ago period, the…
Read MorePrivate credit fuels a ‘buy now, pay later’ lending boom in Asia
[HONG KONG] Maria Hazel Regalado, a 48-year-old mother of four in the Philippines, needed a computer last year so she could work from home. Regalado, who helps manage rental properties in Australia, did not have the cash or a credit card. A friend suggested she get a “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) loan from Billease,…
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