Briefs

Global financial institution UBS will be Sembcorp Industries’ first renewable energy partner in the financial services industry, as the two have signed a long-term solar energy deal in Singapore.

As part of the deal, Sembcorp will provide locally sourced renewable power to support UBS Singapore’s operations over the next 10 years, through the sale of re newable energy attributes from surplus power generated by more than 15,000 offsite rooftop solar panels totalling 6.3 mega­watt-peak (MWp) in capacity. These solar panels, exclusively purchased by UBS for its operations in Singapore offices, will be installed on top of a 40,000 sq m exhibition hall in Singapore by December.

The partnership will initially run 25% of UBS’s annual consumption across all its offices in Singapore, where the amount of renewable energy consumed will replace close to 20 million kilogrammes of carbon emissions in 10 years. By 2020, all% of UBS operations in Singapore will fully run on renewable energy.

Singapore’s labour market still positive amid weaker growth forecast: MOM

Even as Singapore’s economy is expected to record slower growth in 2019, the labour market has remained positive in the first half of the year, according to the Ministry of Manpower.

In particular, local employment expanded by 5,300 people during the period, albeit slower than the growth of 6,500 recorded in 1HFY2018.

Foreign employment excluding foreign domestic workers (FDWs) also increased, by 11,600, driven by growth in services and a turnaround in construction.

By pass type, foreign employment growth was driven by work permit and other work passes holders (6,200), and employment pass holders (3,200).

Overall, total employment excluding FDWs grew by 16,900 during the period — faster than the growth of 6,900 recorded in 1HFY2018, though lower than the 31,400 registered in 1HFY2017.

According to MOM, employment growth remained “robust” across sectors such as community, social and personal services, professional services, financial and insurance services, and information and communications.

“Job opportunities in these sectors will continue to provide support to the labour market,” the ministry says in a statement on Sept 12. — By Jeffrey Tan

ECB cuts rates to below zero, revives QE

The European Central Bank cut interest rates further below zero and revived bond purchases after president Mario Draghi overcame critics of his stimulus policies to make a final run at reflating the eurozone economy. ECB reduced the deposit rate to minus 0.5% from minus 0.4%, and said it would buy debt from Nov 1 at a pace of €20 billion ($30.4 billion) a month for as long as necessary to hit its inflation goal.

“We have headroom to keep going on for some time at this rhythm,” Draghi, whose eight-year term ends next month, said at his press conference in Frankfurt. “We still think the probability of recession for the euro area is small, but it’s gone up.”

ECB also cut the cost of its long-term loans to banks, and lenders will get an exemption from negative rates for some of their deposits after an outcry from the industry about the squeeze on profitability.

ECB changed its guidance on interest rates to say they would stay at present or lower levels until the outlook for inflation “robustly” converges to its goal of just below 2%. It previously expected borrowing costs to stay unchanged until mid-2020. It also scrapped a 10-basis point rate premium previously attached to its long-term loan programme.

The actions prompted US President Donald Trump to tweet that ECB is “acting quickly” while the Federal Reserve “sits, and sits, and sits”.

Foxconn’s Gou quits KMT ahead of likely Taiwan presidential run

Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of iPhone assembler Foxconn Technology Group, has quit Taiwan’s China-friendly opposition party, in a move seen as paving the way for an independent run for the island’s presidency.

While Gou met with senior members of the Kuomintang, his aides visited Taiwan’s Central Election Commission to clarify election registration procedures. He has until Sept 17 to apply to take part in the election.

A Gou campaign would make January 2020’s vote Taiwan’s most hotly contested presidential election in decades. It would pit him against incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen and KMT challenger Han Kuo-yu, mayor of Kaohsiung City. It would also make the KMT’s uphill battle to unseat Tsai even harder, as Gou is expected to sap more support from Han than Tsai would. Gou lost the KMT’s primary to Han in July.

A three-way battle for Taiwan’s presidency is likely to be a hard-fought affair. Tsai currently enjoys a narrow advantage, with a 33.7% support rating compared with 28.9% for Han and 25.6% for Gou, according to a poll released on Sept 10 by Apple Daily newspaper.

SoftBank urges WeWork to shelve IPO

SoftBank Group Corp, the biggest outside shareholder in office sharing space operator WeWork, is reportedly urging the loss-making group to shelve its hotly anticipated IPO after it received a cool reception from investors. WeWork’s parent company, We Company, had been aiming to raise between US$3 billion and US$4 billion via the listing, which has a deadline of Dec 31. It plans to offer three classes of stock: Class A, with one vote per share to the public; and Class B and Class C common stock, with 20 votes each.

But the company has faced criticism from investors and analysts on Wall Street over its governance, payments made to co-founder and CEO Adam Neumann, as well as its use of a complicated corporate structure. SoftBank and its Saudi-backed Vision Fund have pumped more than US$10 billion into the company.

But SoftBank’s enthusiasm for a listing has waned, as bankers have slashed the valuation they believe the office space provider can attain when it lists. Its financial advisers, including JP Morgan Chase & Co and Goldman Sachs, are concerned about a listing that will value the company as low as US$15 billion, far below the US$47 billion valuation earlier this year when Softbank put US$2 billion into the business. SoftBank itself is trying to raise US$108 billion for a second Vision Fund to invest in technology start-ups.