Author: Business News Asia

For the millions of fans who have been following the hit TV series “Everybody Loves Raymond”, this will come as a sad news. Sawyer Sweeten, who played the character of Geoffrey Barone from 1996 to 2005, died of an apparent suicide, authorities said. The actor passed away last 12 April and was believed to have committed suicide although his family has requested privacy at this moment of their grief. “This morning a terrible family tragedy has occurred. We are devastated to report that our beloved brother, son, and friend, Sawyer Sweeten, took his own life. He was weeks away from…

Watching the fight of the century, the much-awaited boxing fight of undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr and Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, comes with a price – as much as USD141,000 a ticket. Boxing fans, however, did not mind the cost of the tickets to watch the fight on 2 May at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas as the 1,000 tickets that were made available to public sold out in just a matter of minutes. The most expensive ticket was priced at USD141,000 while the cheapest was USD1,500 based on the first posting on the website. When the tickets sold…

CALIFORNIA – Trek Bicycle Corporation, a major bicycle product manufacturer and distributor, has ordered a recall of about one million bicycles following the injuries of three riders. The recall involves 900,000 bicycles in the United States and 98,000 units in Canada that were built between 2000 and 2015, the company said. The recall was ordered after a thorough check showed that the bicycles’ front quick release lever that opens past 180 degrees can potentially become caught in the front disk brake, causing the front wheel to come to a sudden stop. THe check was conducted after three riders were injured…

Watching the fight of the century, the much-awaited boxing fight of undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr and Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, comes with a price – as much as USD141,000 a ticket. Boxing fans, however, did not mind the cost of the tickets to watch the fight on 2 May at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas as the 1,000 tickets that were made available to public sold out in just a matter of minutes. The most expensive ticket was priced at USD141,000 while the cheapest was USD1,500 based on the first posting on the website. When the tickets sold…

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Nine days before his fight against undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr., in what is considered as the fight of the century, Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao said he is all set for fight day. Pacquiao posted on his twitter account “I’m ready to rumble. 9 days to go.” with his photo and the Philippine flag as background. Meanwhile, coach Freddie Roach provided a hint of the strategy that Pacquiao’s team will implement during fight night. Roach said that during the first few rounds of the scheduled 12-round championship fight, Pacquiao will have to give it all, showcasing his…

SINGAPORE – Changi Airport Group (CAG) announced that it will implement several reductions and rebates to aeronautical fees at Singapore Changi Airport, one of the largest airports in Southeast Asia, to provide temporary cost support for airlines, ground handlers and passengers. The plan includes reducing passenger service fees for transfer or transit passengers, landing fees for larger aircraft types, and franchise fees for flight catering and ground handling services. Towards this end, the Passenger Service Charge for transfer and transit passengers will be reduced by two-thirds from S$9 to S$3 for travel from 1 July 2015 onwards, CAG said. The…

NEW ZEALAND – Spark New Zealand, a New Zealand-wide communications service provider, is no longer the country’s largest listed company by market capitalization after it was bumped off the top spot by Fletcher Building. The New Zealand Herald reported that Spark’s market capitalization was valued at USD5.17 billion Thursday from USD6.51 billion in February. The value is not even enough to land Spark on the second spot. Investors’ sentiments seemed to have moved from telecommunications to other sectors as Fletcher Building, the infrastructure and building materials manufacturer and general construction contractor, is now New Zealand’s largest listed company. Fletcher Building…

CANADA – Canada’s Senate has lost its speaker, Pierre Claude Nolin, who died at the age of 64 Thursday, five years after he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, a Senate spokeswoman revealed. Nolin, who became Speaker of the upper chamber last November, died just after 7 p.m. Thursday, leaving the Canadian Senate without a leader in the midst of its greatest crisis. It was Nolin who announced the he had a rare form of cancer when he was diagnosed in 2010. He also revealed details of his treatment in recent years. “We are all going to die.…

DUBAI, UAE – Emirates Islamic, one of the leading Islamic financial institutions in the UAE, has been named the ‘Best Islamic Bank in the UAE’ at the 2015 World Finance Awards. This marks the second time in the last three years that Emirates Islamic has won the coveted award, having previously received the same recognition in 2013. The announcement comes after the bank, among the fastest growing in the UAE, reported impressive double digit growth for the third consecutive year for the period ended December 31, 2014 with a net profit of AED 364 million. Commenting on the award, Jamal…

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, announced that the country’s inflation eased further in the first quarter of the year. In its BSP Inflation Report, the central bank said year-on-year headline inflation in Q1 2015 remained within the government’s target range of 3.0 percent at 2.4 percent, lower than the quarter- and year-ago rates of 3.6 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively. “The continued deceleration in headline inflation was driven mainly by the slower increases in food prices resulting from adequate domestic supply,” the BSP report said. Non-food inflation likewise slowed down…

SHANGHAI – Citigroup and JPMorgan are clearly seeing a bright prospect in China, whose economy continues to be in the downturn, as manifested in their latest senior appointments aimed at expanding their reach in the country. JPMorgan appointed Hong Kong-based Karen Li as head of China equity research, a newly-created position. Li, who joined JPMorgan in 2005, will report to JPMorgan’s chief of equity research for Asia, ex-Japan, James Sullivan. She will retain her duties as head of Asia infrastructure and industrials research. In announcing the appointment, Sullivan said JPMorgan considers China and India as the absolutely critical markets in…

The Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC) is now the world’s most valuable bank, overtaking US bank Wells Fargo & Co, after it posted market capitalization of USD315 billion on 23 April. A report by Bloomberg said ICBC’s market capitalization was 11 percent more than Wells Fargo. That means the gap between the two banks has widened since ICBC took over the lead on 7 April. ICBC is the first Chinese bank to be named the largest bank in the world by assets. ICBC posted a net profit growth of 5.1 percent to Rmb276.29 billion (USD45.29 billion) in…

HONG KONG – Global rating agency Moody’s Investors Service said most countries in the Asia-Pacific region have a relatively high degree of immunity to external economic shocks with divergent rating momentum. The rating momentum is diverging as some economies drive through ambitious reforms, while others struggle with deep-rooted challenges. A key risk for credit quality is, therefore, whether governments can deliver on policy pledges, Moody’s said in its latest report. “A common challenge for emerging economies in the region will come when the US Federal Reserve begins to raise interest rates,” said the report. The rating agency added that Asia-Pacific…

SHANGHAI, CHINA – The latest flash HSBC / Markit PMI survey showed that China’s factory activity slowed to its lowest level in a year in April, with the purchasing managers’ index contracting to 49.2 percent. The latest flash HSBC/Markit PMI suggests that China’s economic conditions remain in a deteriorating phase even as the country’s central bank has aggressively increased its policy easing. HSBC’s preliminary reading of China’s factory activity for April came in at 49.2, compared with a Reuters forecast for a 49.6 print. Last month, government data showed the official (PMI) edged up to 50.1, better than HSBC’s final…

The world’s largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, McDonald’s, announced that it will close about 700 stores around the world this year to turn around global sales declines. Details of the planned store closures were not immediately disclosed but CEO Steve Easterbrook was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that the company will announce initial details of the plan by 4 May. “I think there is a hunger and an interest in our business to embrace change,” Easterbrook said. Analysts said shutting down a number of stores around the world will help McDonald’s turn around sales declines. In…

United States President Barack Obama has confirmed that two hostages held by Al Qaeda were accidentally killed in a US counterterrorism operation, expressing grief and condolences for the drone strike. In a public address from the White House, Obama said he took full responsibility for the operation and apologized to the families of the hostages. “I profoundly regret what happened,” he said. “I take full responsibility for a U.S. government counterterrorism operation that killed two innocent hostages held by al Qaeda,” President Obama said today. “Analysis of all available information has led the Intelligence Community to judge with high confidence…

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Low-cost Philippine carrier Cebu Pacific Air announces interest to further expand operations in Australia by seeking more seat entitlements in the country. Cebu Pacific, a publicly-listed subsidiary of JG Summit Holdings, said it is fully utilizing its seat entitlements to Australia and will participate in air talks that will be held in Canberra on 28 April. The airline’s expansion plan was based on the number of passengers it carried to Sydney from Manila in January 2015. That month, Cebu Pacific said it carried 13,875 passengers, more than any other carrier operating direct flights from Manila to Sydney.…

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Commissioner John Sevilla, the head of the Bureau of Customs in the Philippines, has tendered his resignation on Thursday, citing vague reasons for his decision. Commissioner Sevilla announced his resignation and said it will take effect as soon as Philippine President Benigno Aquino III names a successor. Sevilla, who replaced Rufino Biazon, did not elaborate on the reason for his resignation aside from saying that “when you do something right at the Customs, you will have to face some risks”. Sevilla has introduced several reforms in Customs, making more transactions transparent, such as the “importer’s bible.” Sevilla also…

MANILA, PHIILPPINES – Member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) must enhance the participation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the automotive industry to spur regional growth, a Philippine trade official has said. In his keynote speech on Wednesday, Trade Assistant Secretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo said globalization makes a good driver of cooperation because it enables many economies to be key players in automotive manufacturing by participating in production activities of global value chains (GVCs). “But an economy’s participation in GVCs does not readily translate to inclusive growth. We need to deliberately foster SME participation in automotive GVCs,”…

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Philippine President Benigno Aquino III welcomed the European Union’s decision to lift its yellow-card warning on the Philippines, moving the country out of the list of countries that the EU threatened with a trade ban due to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. “This warning was issued in June of 2014, because the EU deemed that the Philippines had previously not done enough to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. Had the situation worsened, this would have alienated one of the biggest importers of fish for the Philippines, which would have been a blow against our fishing industry and Filipino…