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☆ Standards organization says 99% of Singapore-listed companies adopt its 'GRI standards'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailStandards organization says 99% of Singapore-listed companies adopt its 'GRI standards'Eelco van der Enden of the Global Reporting Initiative says Singapore is "performing extremely well" in that regard, and the region's average uptake is about 70%.

☆ Singapore ride-hailing firm Grab beats on revenue, pulls forward profitability timeline
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2022 grew 310% to $502 million, up from $122 million a year ago. We should be getting back to pre-Covid levels by fourth quarter this year. The company said that it is bringing forward its group adjusted EBITDA breakeven guidance to the fourth quarter of 2023, half a year earlier than its previous guidance. Deliveries reboundDeliveries revenue increased to $268 million in fourth quarter 2022, up from $1 million in the same period in 2021. Incentives dropped to 8.2% of gross merchandise volume in the fourth quarter from 9.4% in the previous quarter.

☆ Young VCs thought the good times would never end. They did, and now they're pissed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Insider's Stephanie Palazzolo and Madeline Renbarger have a fascinating report on how young venture capitalists who came from investment banking and consulting are not having a good time. I encourage you to read Stephanie's and Madeline's story, which has all the juicy details about the current environment for young VCs. I've written a lot about how young investment bankers view their jobs as a means to an end, as opposed to an actual career. Timing has a lot to do with why young VCs are feeling like they've gotten such a raw deal. Click here to read more about why some young investment bankers are regretting their move to venture capital.

While law firms sometimes negotiate fixed fees on transactions, market participants said such deals would be unlikely on transactions that faced the amount of legal uncertainty of Rogers-Shaw. The Rogers-Shaw deal is expected to be the tenth-largest deal in Canadian history since 1995, according to data from Dealogic. Law firms Lax O’Sullivan Lisus Gottlieb represented Rogers, while Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg and Wachtell are lawyers for Shaw. None of the law firms responded to Reuters queries on the legal fee. Rogers and Shaw on Friday extended the closing deadline for the fourth time to March 31.

☆ A Balloon Engineer Explains What’s Up
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Ben Cohen | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

There are few people anywhere in the world who have had a weirder month at work than Russ Van Der Werff. He’s in the business of high-altitude balloons. His job at a South Dakota defense contractor is to lead a team of engineers responsible for designing, building and operating the kinds of stratospheric balloons that can be used for improving telecom infrastructure, monitoring agricultural crops, responding to disasters—and spying.

☆ Global Sustainability Disclosure Standards for Companies Set to Take Effect in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Dieter Holger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

The International Sustainability Standards Board said it has agreed to rules that would harmonize corporate environmental disclosures across the globe. More than 150 countries follow the IFRS, and the group will promote its sustainability disclosure standards to market regulators. For example, the ISSB standards require companies to report emissions from their direct operations, energy purchases and from their value chains, including suppliers. The ESRS is also more exacting than the ISSB standards, disclosure professionals say. “For companies reporting under multiple frameworks, this will make reporting less challenging.”Write to Dieter Holger at dieter.holger@wsj.com

☆ Household debt, credit card balances and delinquencies all rose last quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Minneapolis CNN —Americans continued to add to their debt at the end of last year — and grew their credit card balances at record rates, according to data released Thursday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Total US household debt hit $16.9 trillion during the fourth quarter, an increase of $394 billion, or 2.4%, from the prior three-month period, according to the Fed’s latest Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit. While the lion’s share of the debt is attributable to mortgages, the report showed that not only are credit card balances swelling at record levels, delinquencies are on the rise as well. Credit card balances increased nearly 6.6% to $986 billion during the quarter, the highest quarterly growth on record, according to New York Fed data that goes back to 1999. And as debt is growing, Americans are having more trouble meeting payment obligations: The share of current debt becoming delinquent increased across nearly all debt types, with credit cards and auto loans showing delinquency transparency rates of 0.6 and 0.4 percentage points, respectively.

☆ Consumer debt hits record $16.9 trillion as delinquencies rise as well
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Consumer debt hit a fresh record at the end of 2022 while delinquency rates rose for several types of loans, the New York Federal Reserve reported Thursday. Debt across all categories totaled $16.9 trillion, up about more than $1.3 trillion from a year ago as balances rose across all major categories. Auto loan debt delinquencies rose 0.6 percentage point to 2.2% while credit card debt jumped 0.8 percentage point to 4%. Student loan debt also increased for the month after staying flat during much of the pandemic amid government-backed amnesty for borrowers. Auto loan debt edged higher to $1.55 trillion while credit card balances rose to just shy of $1 trillion.

☆ U.S. household debt jumps to $16.90 trillion
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Lindsay Dunsmuir | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Feb 16 (Reuters) - U.S. household debt jumped to a record $16.90 trillion from October through December last year, the largest quarterly increase in 20 years, as mortgage and credit card balances surged amid high inflation and rising interest rates, a Federal Reserve report showed on Thursday. Household debt, which rose by $394 billion last quarter, is now $2.75 trillion higher than just before the COVID-19 pandemic began while the increase in credit card balances last December from one year prior was the largest since records began in 1999, the New York Fed's quarterly household debt report also said. Mortgage debt increased by $254 billion to $11.92 trillion at the end of December, according to the report, while mortgage originations fell to $498 billion, representing a return to levels last seen in 2019. Meanwhile credit card balances increased by $61 billion in the fourth quarter while auto loan balances rose by $28 billion, the report said. However, younger borrowers appear to be struggling more to make repayments for both credit card and auto loans.

☆ Senators pressure CFIUS to wrap up TikTok probe with strict restrictions, potentially even separating it from its Chinese parent company
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The New Economy Forum is being organized by Bloomberg Media Group, a division of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News. The company has said U.S. user data is not stored in China and that it continually tests its security measures. That kind of access would be particularly worrying since China's national security laws allow it to compel companies based there to hand over internal information if the government believes there is a national security issue at play. The group is empowered to investigate foreign investments and transactions with potential national security risks. "CFIUS is committed to taking all necessary actions within its authority to safeguard U.S. national security," a Treasury spokesperson said in a statement.

☆ China has U-turned on almost all major policies it put in place in the last 3 years — and it's not surprising, given the state of its economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

But the country reversed some major policies in response to the abysmal GDP growth. China's GDP grew by 3% in 2022 — the worst since the chaotic Cultural Revolution ended. Most recently, after three years of pandemic lockdowns and isolation, China abruptly reversed course and abolished its zero-COVID policy — leaving the world guessing why. China's GDP grew only 3.0% in 2022 — the worst in nearly half a century since the chaotic Cultural Revolution ended. China's GDP growth is vital because it is the world's second-largest economy after the US, so it's a driving force for global investment and trade.

☆ Investors turn picky in Asia after easy wins from China’s reopening
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Herald van der Linde, HSBC's head of equity strategy for Asia Pacific, points out that travel and gaming stocks have already benefited. That has led investors to hunt for sectors and companies with depressed valuations outside China. Reuters GraphicsMSCI China Vs MSCI Asean vs MSCI Asia excluding JapanGLOBAL PUSH OR CHINA PULL? After a torrid 2022, investors have been betting that a swift recovery in China's economy will somewhat cushion the impact of a global slowdown and possible recession. "China and its reopening trade, on the other hand, are in early stages and may be the additional tailwind for Asian equities later this year."

☆ How Budweiser Tackled a Beer-Free World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Katie Deighton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +9 min

In the end, the brewer found a way to navigate the World Cup beer-free and roll with the media attention that the alcohol ban generated. Soccer’s 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar ran from Nov. 20 to Dec. 18. World Cup sponsors Kia and Adidas similarly maintained their reputational scores, according to the Morning Consult data. Budweiser doesn’t pay a reported $75 million for the official beer sponsorship of the World Cup just to serve beer at stadiums. But the ban on alcoholic Budweiser undermined the impetus for being at the World Cup, Mr. Marcondes said.

☆ Mexico Pacific to sell LNG from Sonora export plant to Exxon Mobil
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 7 (Reuters) - Mexico Pacific said on Tuesday that a unit of Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) had agreed to buy liquefied natural gas from the Mexican company's proposed Saguaro Energia LNG export plant in Sonora state. Mexico Pacific also said ExxonMobil has an option for 1 MTPA from Train 3 at the plant. One MTPA of LNG is about the same as 0.13 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas. The proposed three-train Saguaro Energia LNG facility is designed to produce about 14.1 MTPA of LNG from natural gas sourced from the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico. "We look forward to working with Mexico Pacific to continue growing ExxonMobil's LNG portfolio and deliver Permian natural gas to global markets," said Peter Clarke, senior vice president of LNG for ExxonMobil Upstream Co.

One of the really interesting questions here – this will be fascinating – the core of linear TV is sports rights. When you look at the size and scope of the linear TV business, it's huge. Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty ImagesByron Allen, Entertainment Studios founder and CEO: I think linear TV will exist for a very, very long time. Simmons: I believe Apple, out of nowhere, will start making their own awesome televisions that have Apple TV embedded in them. We are witnessing early stages of this dynamic with deals like "NFL Sunday Ticket" on YouTube and the MLS deal with Apple TV.

☆ Emotional Townsend savours Calcutta Cup hat-trick
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Mitch Phillips | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"I don't know if it's this fixture. I didn’t get close to winning as a player, it was always the same result down here. Two years ago (when Scotland won at Twickenham for the first time in 38 years) there was no crowd here so this was emotional. Townsend said it reminded him of the computer game version of the late former All Black Jonah Lomu "when he ran faster than everyone else. It was one that sends the Scotland supports crazy and silences everyone else as you don’t see tries like that very often," he said.

☆ Why You Should Travel Abroad With Interior Designers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Antonia Van Der Meer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

WHEN MELANIE BURNS of Oklahoma City first entered the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, she was stunned by its sheer size and the pathways winding through its tented structures like a tangle of yarn. Though well-traveled and an old hand at hunting one-of-a-kind objets, she’d never experienced such an onslaught of potential riches. The duo led Ms. Burns to a shop layered deep behind other shops. “It was no more than about 14 feet square, and stacked high with the most beautiful hand-woven vintage tapestries I’ve ever seen,” Ms. Burns recalled. They are walking encyclopedias, they speak the language and when you shop with them, you don’t overpay.”

☆ Trump's go-to attorney Alina Habba is withdrawing from E. Jean Carroll's rape claim. Last month, a federal judge sanctioned her $1 million for bad lawyering.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | Ashley Collman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Alina Habba is withdrawing from representing Donald Trump in E. Jean Carroll's rape claim. Habba told Insider she continues to be dedicated to Trump. The move comes two weeks after a federal judge in Florida sanctioned Habba and Trump in a separate case and fined them $1 million. In a statement provided to Insider, Habba told Insider she was dedicated to representing Trump in court. "While I appreciate the left-wing media's attempt to fabricate any story to fit their narrative, I am so happy to have Joe step in and assist," Habba told Insider.

☆ Adani vs. Hindenburg: How Asia’s richest man lost his crown in just a few days
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Jihye Lee | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Gautam Adani, billionaire and chairman of Adani Group, during an event at the Port of Haifa in Haifa, Israel, on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023. According to Forbes, Gautam Adani, the founder and chairman of the group, has lost his status as Asia's richest man to Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries. Hindenburg, which said it has taken a short position in Adani Group, stands to benefit from the declining value of those stocks. Adani's battle with the short-seller firm has put the group's exposure to Wall Street — amounting to nearly $9 billion, according to JPMorgan — under the spotlight. In just one week, Indian billionaire Gautam Adani saw more than $34 billion wiped off his net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

☆ Trump hired Natalee Holloway's suspected killer's lawyer to defend him in E. Jean Carroll defamation case
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Ashley Collman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Trump hired one of the most famous criminal defense attorneys to represent him against E. Jean Carroll. Carroll has accused Trump of sexual battery and defamation. Tacopina told the Post that he has no issues defending accused criminals. I like the high stakes," Tacopina told the Times. Van der Sloot was never tried for Natalee Holloway's murder, but remains the primary suspect in the unsolved case.

☆ TikTok CEO to testify before House panel about app's security and ties to China
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The New Economy Forum is being organized by Bloomberg Media Group, a division of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News. Photographer: Bryan van der Beek/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesTikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will testify before a House panel on March 23 about the app's security and privacy practices and its ties to China through parent company ByteDance. TikTok has been engaging with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., which can determine if certain risk mitigation measures are adequate to dampen national security concerns. Still, those negotiations have reportedly been delayed at least as of last month, as officials continue to worry about the implications of the app's ownership by Chinese parent company ByteDance. Fears over TikTok's national security and privacy implications for consumers have spanned both sides of Congress, and stretched across the Trump administration into the Biden administration.

☆ Who is Shou Zi Chew? Mounting scrutiny on TikTok could put new spotlight on its CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Months later, when TikTok was grilled by Congress over privacy and security concerns, Pappas was the TikTok executive in the hot seat fielding questions. But Chew, who took over as TikTok CEO in April 2021, has largely stayed out of the spotlight at a time when the app he leads can’t seem to avoid it. He eventually went on to become the CFO of Chinese tech giant Xiaomi, which he helped take public in 2018. While Chew is not a Chinese national, Quint noted Chinese tech companies and leaders that have drawn too much attention to themselves have faced tough government crackdowns. Ultimately, Quint said, “I don’t think the CEO of TikTok has much relevance at all” for US lawmakers scrutinizing its ties to China.

☆ Chinese companies set for biggest earnings growth in 5 years in 2023-Refinitiv data
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Gaurav Dogra | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 19 (Reuters) - Chinese companies are expected to report their highest earnings growth in five years, Refinitiv data shows, as economic reopening after COVID lockdowns and accommodative monetary policy raise hopes for higher profits. According to Refinitiv IBES data, China's large and mid-cap companies' profits are seen rising 16.2% in 2023, the fastest growth since 2017. The Reuters analysis showed utilities, consumer staples and consumer discretionary sectors are expected to lead growth with their estimated profit growth of 34.5%, 33.5% and 27.8%, respectively. Meanwhile, the tech sector is expected to see earnings growth of 27% compared with 9.4% in 2022 while the property sector would witness 9.4% higher profits after a 4.9% drop last year. read more"We expect China to outperform Asia ex-Japan due to its faster-than-anticipated reopening, continuing domestic policy support, and potential for stronger earnings growth," said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, in a note this month.

☆ Jeep's first EV just won Europe's Car of the Year award — but you can't buy the Avenger in America
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Jeep Avenger has been named European Car of the Year for 2023 – but it's not on sale in the US. The Jeep Avenger was named European Car of the Year at the Brussels auto show on Friday. Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty Images)The Avenger is part of Jeep's drive to become a leader in electric SUVs. The Jeep Recon and Wagoneer S will be the first fully-electric Jeep SUVs available to American buyers, but they're not scheduled to go into production until 2024. In France, for example, buyers can receive up to 7,000 euros ($7,590) towards an electric car that costs less than 47,000 euros ($50,964).

☆ Is This the ‘It’ Chair of 2023? Interior Designers Think So
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Antonia Van Der Meer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

AN UNFUSSY and downright brutish, midcentury vintage chair design has been muscling its way into even the most traditional of homes lately. Some look like little more than two pieces of wood attached to legs, but keyhole details or sculpted backs can make them sweeter. Designers and dealers are calling the increasingly in-demand seats, which hail primarily from Scandinavia and Europe, brutalist. At online marketplace 1stDibs , searches for “brutalist chair” are up 115% year over year. “I used it as a decorative accent, as though it were a piece of art,” she said.

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