Author: Business News Asia

Wyndham Hotel Group has signed seven additional Ramada properties across China, in the provinces of Sichuan, Shandong, Hubei, and Jiangsu, the company said in a statement. The announcement by Wyndham, the largest hotel company in the world based on number of hotels, came after it opened the 156-room Ramada Nanjing hotel. Ramada Nanjing, developed by China Eastern Airline Jiangsu Co Ltd, becomes the latest upscale business hotel to open close to the Nanjing Lokou International Airport. The upscale business hotel features a variety of multi-function meeting spaces, in addition to its 156 well-appointed rooms. It also offers free breakfast buffet,…

Prices of oil in the world market could hit new lows this year due to increased production and peak seasonal refinery maintenance in October, JP Morgan has predicted. Reuters has reported that JP Morgan lowered its 2015 average forecast for Brent crude by USD16 per barrel and US oil by USD19 for 2016. “The pace of weakening refining margins and increase in rig counts are two key events in July that lead to a turn in our expectations,” the US investment bank said in a note. – BusinessNewsAsia.com

The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) has officially put its stake in Indonesia’s Panin Bank on a formal auction as it seeks to divest its 39 percent stake in the said bank, Australian media reported on Monday. ANZ’s stake in Indonesia’s Panin Bank, which is owned by the Gunawan family, is worth AUD1 billion, or about USD740 million, and the Australian bank wants to accelerate its exit to focus on other units and boost its capital position. The sale also ends ANZ’s attempt to buy full control of the Indonesian bank, the report said, quoting unnamed sources. Sources…

HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS – A police stand-off in a Harris County home in Texas Saturday night resulted to the death of five children and three adults, police said. A 49-year-old male suspect was arrested but his relationship to the victims has not been established as of this time. Deputy Thomas Gilliland told the police that details about the gruesome death have been limited as of this posting. How the victims died was also still not disclosed. “The police are still searching for a motive,” Gilliland told reporters. Officers who were called to the Harris County house to arrest the suspect…

CEBU CITY – The Philippine Government has ordered the Department of Tourism (DOT) to investigate reports that some hotels in Cebu have increased their rates for the upcoming Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Senior Officials Meetings (SOM). Reports said delegates of the APEC SOM have complained that hotel rates in Cebu have been increased way higher than the original rates due to the gathering, which is expected to be participated by at least 3,000 delegates. Communications Secretary Sonny Coloma said the DOT, being a member of the national organizing committee of the said event, will conduct an investigation to determine…

DAVAO CITY, PHILIPPINES – Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, one of the early beats for the 2016 Presidential elections, revealed that the Philippines now have three million drug addicts and around 30,000 drug pushers. Duterte, however, did not reveal the sources of his information and instead challenged the national government to address the war against drugs. “It will be bloody to win the war against illegal drugs if you have that number,” Duterte said during his visit in Camiguin. The Davao City mayor also criticized President Benigno Aquino III for not mentioning the government’s efforts against what he described as…

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The Philippine government is closely monitoring the situation and condition of the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Taiwan following the onslaught of super typhoon Soudelor. Communications Secretary Sonny Coloma told reporters that the Department of Foreign Affairs (FDA) is closely monitoring the sitution in Taiwan and that the government is ready to provide any assistance that may be required by the OFWs. Coloma added that the DFA still has not recieved any report on OFW casualty in Taiwan. The government, he said, is hopeful that every Filipino in Taiwan is safe and unharmed. At least six persons…

MANILA – The National Food Authority (NFA) has revealed that there is no fake rice in the Philippines, based on a series of laboratory examination that it conducted on various rice samples. The NFA downplayed earlier reports of alleged fake rice in Davao and some parts of the country as its laboratory tests showed the samples taken from the alleged fake rice turned out to be just tainted rice. NFA administrator Renan B. Dalisay told reporters that the 25-gram sample of allegedly fake rice from Davao City was found to have traces of dibutyl phthalate (DBP), a chemical compound used…

An US soldier was likely to be among those killed in an attack on an American military base in Kabul, Afghanistan, CNN and Fox News have reported. The US government, however, has not confirmed the nationality of the NATO coalition soldier who was killed along with nine Afghan contractors. Reports said hundreds of NATO soldiers and foreign contracted civilians were wounded in the night attack on Friday, Col. Brian Tribus, NATO spokesman, told the Associated Press. The attack occurred on Camp Integrity, an American base in Kabul. Camp Integrity is run by U.S. security contractor Academi, which was known as…

The Australian government is intensifying its crackdown on illegal purchases of residential properties in the country, focusing on foreign buyers. Australia’s Treasurer Joe Hockey announced on Saturday that officials are working on hundreds of cases of illegal purchases even as foreigners who purchased six properties illegally have already come forward. “Through the information provided by the public together with our own inquiries, we now have 462 cases under investigation for breaches of the law by foreign nationals in the purchase of residential real estate,” Hockey said during a press conference in Sydney. Majority of cases under investigation are from New…

China’s Anbang Insurance Group could enter Japan in its first real estate foray in the country if its USD1 billion bid for Japanese property asset manager Simplex Investment Advisors yield positive result. Reuters reported, quoted unnamed sources, that Anbang, China’s biggest offshore buyers of financial insitutions, has officially made its bid to acquire Simplex. Analysts, however, said that it could not be very easy for Anbang to acquire the Japanese asset manager because other big investors are also seeking to acquire Simplex. Anbang’s competitors include US investment Fortress Investment Group, Blackstone Group, and Elliot Management, Reuters reported. Sources said the…

KUALA LUMPUR – The battle against drug and alcohol addiction just got a boost after Solace opened its first Specialised Clinic at Global Doctor’s Hospital in the upmarket Mont Kiara area of Kuala Lumpur. The clinic officially opened for appointments on 1st August 2015. The clinic caters to Malaysians and Expats with Drug and Alcohol problems. It provides services including assessments for addiction and co-occuring disorders such as depression, ADHD including one on one counseling, group based counseling, family counseling and treatment planning. Dr Prem Kumar Shanmugam, clinical director of the parent institution Solace Sabah, which is an addiction treatment…

MANILA – The National Food Authority (NFA) has assured the public that no incident involving fake rice has been reported in the Philippines so far. The NFA made the assurance amidst reports of alleged fake rice in Davao and other parts of the country. Food Security and Agricultural Modernization Presidential Assistant Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan said the reported fake rice in Davao was not fake but was only contaminated. “It turned out that it was not fake. It was contaminated rice. It was mishandled,” Pangilinan stressed. Authorities said the rice sample from Davao appeared fake due to the presence of dibutyl…

Italian prosecutors will start the trial for a money-laundering charge involving the Bank of China, one of the five biggest state-owned commercial banks in China, and 297 other defendants in March 2016, Chinese media reported. Chinese media reported that the trial will focus on the more than USD5bn allegedly smuggled out of Italy into China through a money transfer service. Half of the questioned money has been funneled through the Bank of China’s Milan branch, the report quoted prosecutors as saying. Prosecutors further alleged that the bank earned about EUR758,000 in commission on the transactions. The Bank of China has…

TOKYO – Major companies in Japan are planning to raise their domestic capital spending in fiscal 2015 ending next March by 13.9 percent, a surve conducted by the Development Bank of Japan showed. The planned rise in capital spending will be the fourth straight year of increase in the country, whose economy continues to experience the ill-effects of last year’s sales tax hike. According to the survey, major Japanese firms are particularly planning to increase spending for developing new and higher-functioning products in growth fields. These include smartphone, aircraft, and materials and parts for fuel-efficient transportation. Manufacturing firms plan to…

HONG KONG – AIA Group Limited (AIA) today launched AIA Accelerator 2.0, its second 12-week programme to support innovative businesses in the healthcare arena to deliver break-through innovations and technologies. The second phase comes after the first-of-its-kind AIA Accelerator programme garnered wide-spread attention within the investor community following its introduction in late 2014. The programme is a collaborative effort between AIA and Nest, Hong-Kong’s full service start-up incubator. Of the eight start-ups that participated in the inaugural programme, seven successfully secured funding through a Demo Day in June 2015, and continued to raise capital in the weeks that followed. The…

Problems with the brakes and lights prompted Jaguar Land Rover China (JLRC) to recall 19,943 faulty automobiles on mainland China, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said. China’s top quality supervisor added that the recall, which started from 5 August, involves JLRC vehicles made from March 2005 through July 2012. The administration said the recall was issued as one or both front brake hoses of the affected vehicles could rupture and cause the loss of brake fluid. The fault could lead to brake failure and light problems, the quality supervisor added. According to a Xinhua report, Jaguar…

After months of negative economic data, China finally saw a glimmer of hope in its services sector, which posted an 11-month high in July, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The country’s services sector continued to rally in July, with the Caixin China General Services Business Activity Index coming in at 53.8 in the month, from 51.8 in June. The continued rise in China’s service sector was attributed to the rising business volumes and solid new order growth. The Xinhua report stated: The Caixin China Composite PMI data, which covers both manufacturing and services, signalled a further increase in activity…

Japan Food Holdings, an operator of Japanese restaurants in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, has reported a 28.8 percent rise in Q1 FY2016 net profit on the back of higher revenue. The company, which franchises some of its restaurants in Malaysia and Indonesia, and serves fried rice and pan-fried noodles, said its net profit reached SGD1.1 million (USD793,000) as its revenue for the three months ended June 30 was 0.8 percent higher at SGD15.8 million (USD11.4 million). According to the Business Times, Japan Foods Holding’s flagship brand and main revenu generator, Ajisen Ramen, posted a net decrease in revenue due to…

Singapore Sports Hub has named Manu Sawhney as its new CEO effective 01 October. He will join the company as CEO-designate on 1 September. Sports Hub’s current CEO, Philippe Collin-Delavaud, will stay until the end of December 2015. Mr Collin-Delavaud has led Sports Hub as CEO since its inception in December 2010. Before joining Sports Hub, Sawhney was managing director of ESPN Star Sports, where he oversaw the overall business leadership and profits and looses of the company across 24 countries in Asia. “I am honoured to be given the opportunity to steer Sports Hub’s operations and look forward to…