Tencent founder praises Xi Jinping’s reform of China’s private sector
The billionaire founder of Tencent abandoned his usually low profile on Wednesday evening to praise Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s efforts to reform the country’s private sector.
In a prominent state media essay, Pony Ma said that Xi’s proposals for stimulating the sector had “advanced our sense of responsibility and mission to create value for users, industry and society”.
Tencent was fined Rmb2.99bn ($410mn) by the country’s central bank in June as part of a move that signalled the conclusion of Beijing’s years-long assault on technology companies.
“In fulfilling our social responsibility, we take common prosperity as our strategic guide,” Ma added. He also called on the country to promote new technologies such as artificial intelligence.
Wagner-linked Telegram channel says 22,000 of its soldiers killed in Bakhmut
Russian warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenary group has said at least 78,000 troops took part in the battle for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, with 22,000 killed in the months-long fight.
A Wagner-linked Telegram channel released the figures late on Wednesday, adding that 49,000 of those troops were convicts recruited from Russian prisons to fight in exchange for their freedom.
At least 40,000 Wagner fighters were wounded in the battle, the channel said. Russia captured what was left of the city in May.
Wagner’s military claims cannot be independently verified.
Women’s World Cup to go ahead despite shooting, says New Zealand leader
New Zealand’s prime minister has said the Women’s World Cup football tournament, due to kick off in Auckland on Thursday night, will go ahead after a gunman killed two people and injured six others in an early morning attack on a construction site in the city.
“I don’t have information on what the actual motivation was other than that the police have not identified any ideological or political motivation for this,” Prime Minister Chris Hipkins told a press conference following the incident.
The 24-year-old gunman, who was killed after a stand-off with armed police, was the subject of a home detention order but had been given dispensation to work on the construction site, according to the police.
What to watch in Asia today
Turkey’s interest rate: Turkey’s central bank could make a dramatic pivot as the country’s new economic leadership shifts from policies that have sent inflation soaring and investors fleeing. Economists expect the policy rate to be raised by 500 basis points to 20 per cent, according to a Reuters poll.
Economic data: The People’s Bank of China announces its loan prime rate decision, while Japan releases June trade figures and Australia publishes unemployment numbers.
A visitor studies a 300mm wafer, manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, at the World Semiconductor Congress in Nanjing, China, on Wednesday © AFP via Getty Images
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co: The world’s largest contract chipmaker releases earnings for the second quarter. TSMC last month defended its push to diversify manufacturing beyond Taiwan.
Women’s World Cup: The football tournament gets underway in Australia and New Zealand, with opening games between each of the co-hosts and Ireland and Norway, respectively.
Wall Street banks spend over $1bn on severance costs amid sharp job cuts
The biggest US banks spent more than $1bn on severance costs during the first six months of 2023, underscoring the steep price of unwinding Wall Street’s overexpansion during the coronavirus pandemic.
Goldman Sachs on Wednesday became the latest big bank to take a charge for recent job cuts, telling investors it had spent $260mn in the first half of the year in severance costs. Goldman has laid off about 3,400 employees, or about 7 per cent of its overall staff, this year.
On Tuesday, Morgan Stanley, which has let go about 3,000 employees this year, said that it had spent more than $300mn on staff reductions.
Read more on the job cuts here.
United Airlines lifts outlook as demand underpins record earnings
United Airlines has raised its guidance for the year after reporting record adjusted earnings per share in the second quarter, boosted by demand for international travel.
The Chicago-based airline said on Wednesday it expected adjusted earnings this year of $11 to $12 per share, raising the bottom of the range from $10. That came as it reported adjusted earnings of $5.03 a share between April and June, beating Wall Street expectations of $4.04.
Second-quarter revenue rose to $13bn, up 20 per cent compared to the same period last year. While domestic travel revenue grew 8 per cent to just under $8bn, revenue from travel to Europe grew 42 per cent and jumped 161 per cent to Pacific destinations.
US car dealer Carvana’s shares surge 40% on plan to cut $1bn from debt
Carvana shares closed more than 40 per cent higher after the used auto retailer announced a debt restructuring plan to knock off more than $1bn from its $5bn of unsecured bond debt.
The Arizona-based company said on Wednesday morning the terms of the new secured bonds to be offered in an exchange would slash more than $400mn of annual cash interest expense in the next two years.
Carvana also said it would sell $350mn of new equity with the company’s founding family putting in more than $100mn as a part of the share sale.
Carvana’s share price has soared from under $5 in January to more than $55.80 on Wednesday.
Price cuts eat into Tesla’s profit margins
Tesla’s profit margins slipped in the latest quarter as a series of price cuts this year weighed on its earnings, according to figures released late on Wednesday.
However, profitability held up better than many analysts on Wall Street had expected and the company’s shares rose more than 1 per cent in after-market trading.
The company’s gross profit margin from automotive operations, excluding the impact of regulatory credits, slid to 18.2 per cent in the last three months compared to 26.2 per cent a year ago. Wall Street had been expecting a steeper decline.
