Asia-Pacific

China developers’ survival fight gets litmus test

15 Nov 2024

Sunac has given investors four options for restructuring $2 bln of onshore bonds, including an 82% haircut and a debt-for-equity swap. How they vote will reveal their views on both the $3.1 bln firm’s chances of survival and Beijing’s attempts to end the property slump.

Shein margin wobble takes bite out of IPO value

14 Nov 2024

The e-commerce giant’s revenue growth slumped in the first half of 2024, and the net margin fell to 2% per The Information. Even if the business recovers, it creates uncertainty that’s compounded by a protectionist US government. Investors may struggle to see the upside.

China’s stimulus priorities are plain to see

14 Nov 2024

Readouts of Beijing’s economic meetings focus on fixing local government debt and reflating asset prices, both for equities and property. Expect ongoing policies to zero in on these areas. Those waiting for heavy spending and consumer handouts will be disappointed.

At least Tencent can retreat into a virtual world

14 Nov 2024

The Chinese titan's hits like "Dungeon & Fighter Mobile" helped power a one-third rise in adjusted quarterly earnings to $8 bln. Outside of gaming, though, fintech and cloud services barely grew. Consumers and companies are holding back splurging in the real world.

Giant LBO brings barbarians to Seven & i’s rescue

13 Nov 2024

The founding Ito family has offered $58 bln to take the 7-Eleven operator private. The whopping deal would stretch Japan’s financing markets and require a management overhaul to generate decent returns. Still, it gives the board another alternative to Canadian suitor Couche-Tard.

Gulf’s AI strategy is built on more than sand

13 Nov 2024

The UAE and Saudi are raising $200 bln for artificial intelligence. A reliance on imported chips means AI superpower status akin to China or the US is unlikely. But even if the region can’t build a ChatGPT-killer, it can carve out a niche to make the exercise worthwhile.

Prosus catches a moment of relief in India

13 Nov 2024

The Mumbai listing of Swiggy, one half of a food delivery duopoly, crystallizes gains in a priority market for the $100 bln Dutch tech investor. The stock market debut of the startup is decent but Prosus' other bets in fintech and e-commerce in the country look harder to monetise.

Chinese markets hope and prepare for the best

12 Nov 2024

Stocks shrugged off both Trump’s win and an underwhelming stimulus package for growth in the People's Republic. The buoyancy reflects a risky bet the US won't apply a full 60% trade tariff and optimism that China is better equipped than most countries to deal with higher duties.

Activist hitches long ride on Nissan’s turnaround

12 Nov 2024

Fund Effissimo bought a stake in the sickly Japanese carmaker, sending shares up 13%. The $9 bln marque already unveiled bold cost-cutting plans, and there is limited scope to push for more. It’s a risky bet CEO Makoto Uchida can pull it off amid an increasingly tough market.

The power and peril of American economic warfare

12 Nov 2024

Successive US presidents have wielded sanctions and export controls against rival nations. Donald Trump promises further escalation. In this episode of the Big View podcast, political scientist Henry Farrell explains how weaponizing finance and technology can be self-defeating.

Singapore’s banking giant DBS is coming of age

12 Nov 2024

The $90 bln Singapore lender will start returning capital to shareholders through share buybacks. Incoming CEO Tan Su Shan will retain sufficient firepower to pursue bold M&A, though changing US policy in its Asian backyard may merit a cautious turn.

COP29 will highlight bifurcated energy transitions

12 Nov 2024

Donald Trump’s election victory casts a pall over the UN climate confab in Baku. It will also make raising $1 trln a year from rich states to decarbonise the developing world even harder. But his return will also hasten a shift East and South in the fight against global warming.

Trump’s ‘America First’ revival could backfire

11 Nov 2024

The returning president’s nakedly transactional approach to foreign policy and trade will further erode global principles and make the United States a less reliable ally. Its friends in Europe and Asia will be minded to hedge their bets, ultimately benefiting China and Russia.

China hands banks poor stimulus consolation prize

11 Nov 2024

Beijing pledges to recapitalise its top six lenders, though it is yet to detail how. The funding, perhaps some $140 bln of equity, will help them manage rising bad debt and falling earnings. They'll keep suffering from fresh directives to lend more including to local governments.

Trump will speed China’s journey to self-reliance

8 Nov 2024

Consumption's 59% share of GDP is rising on weak investment. Tariffs threatened by the US president-elect will accelerate the shift to domestic demand. Premier Xi Jinping desires a China less dependent on foreign markets. He may get one, though more abruptly than he envisioned.

HSBC can stand strong in a fragmenting world

7 Nov 2024

The $170 bln bank is uniquely dependent on East-West linkages at a time when global tensions are rising. Yet it weathered the last US-China tit-for-tat fairly well. And supply-chain shifts could even boost the lender, if CEO Georges Elhedery can help it adapt to new trade flows.

Taiwan’s silicon shield wants for reinforcement

7 Nov 2024

Taipei’s exports to the US are surging thanks to chip giant TSMC, but Donald Trump's threatened tariffs would undermine those. How far the president-elect would go to protect the island from Beijing, especially if trade weakens, is unclear. It's time to boost spending on defence.

China wields weak hand in Trump’s Trade War II

7 Nov 2024

The country would suffer a severe blow if the self-styled ‘Tariff Man’ imposes a 60% US levy on Chinese goods. Trade tensions will be harder to de-escalate this time, and Beijing’s reliance on exports to offset slowing GDP growth leaves the $18 trln economy highly vulnerable.

India’s stock market has a rising local flavour

6 Nov 2024

Food delivery app Swiggy is taking orders for its $1.3 bln IPO, shrugging off the risk of getting caught in any US election-induced global volatilty. It underscores both an urgency by its backers which include SoftBank and an increasingly domestic ownership of equities.

China-EU trade Plan B looks too fiddly

6 Nov 2024

The People's Republic is pushing for alternatives to the bloc's tariffs on imported Chinese electric cars. One idea is minimum pricing. But that mechanism is hard to implement and could also undermine the attraction of local manufacturing. That limits the room to manoeuvre.