Rounding up top investing articles from around the web, including articles shared on Twitter.
Taskforce set up to bolster S’pore’s tech resilience following Crowdstrike outage (Straits Times)
A taskforce has been set up to look into new ways to enhance Singapore’s tech resilience in the wake of July’s global tech outage caused by cyber-security firm Crowdstrike.
Set up by the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI), the taskforce will engage relevant partners to gain insights into the incident, which disrupted banks, hospitals and emergency lines around the world.
Singapore gravely concerned about escalating tensions in the Middle East (Straits Times)
Singapore is gravely concerned that escalating tensions in the Middle East have put at risk efforts to secure a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, and reiterates its call for all sides to comply with international law, said Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan on Aug 7.
Dr Balakrishnan, who was responding to questions filed by five MPs on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, also noted as “significant” the July 19 findings by the United Nations’ (UN) highest court that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian and settlements there are illegal.
The ICJ’s advisory opinion, which said Israel’s obligations include evacuating all settlers from the settlements and paying restitution for harm caused, is the World Court’s strongest findings to date on the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Marine Parade shuttle bus service carries about 1,000 residents a week, costs $1m a year to run (Straits Times)
The seven shuttle bus routes in the Marine Parade cluster, he said, are operated by seven buses that ply the roads during non-peak hours from 10am to 4pm on weekdays, excluding public holidays.
To date, more than 10,000 Marine Parade cluster residents have registered for the shuttle, of whom more than 40 per cent are seniors aged 65 and above.
Mr Tan said it is too early to assess if the service is effective.
He said that beyond utilisation, the financial sustainability of the free shuttle service is a critical factor.
Singapore’s got talent: Youth under 35 flying the nation’s flag on the global stage (Straits Times)
Majority of HDB resale flats remain affordable to first-timers (Straits Times)
Mr Lee, who was responding to a question in Parliament by Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC), pointed out that around eight in 10 first-timer families who collected keys to their resale flats in 2023 could service their monthly loan instalments with their Central Provident Fund, with minimal or no cash outlay.
High-priced transactions continue to make up a small minority of total resale transactions, Mr Lee said.
A third of these are maisonettes and jumbo flats, which are limited in supply and much larger than most other flats, he added.
More than 70 per cent of the remaining units are five-room flats that are situated in good locations, on a high floor or have a very long remaining lease, he said.
Meanwhile, four-room and smaller flats that have been sold at the higher end of transacted prices make up just 0.5 per cent of all such flats sold in the last two years, he said.
More than half of these flats also have very attractive attributes, including being located in estates in or near the city centre, being on a high floor or having good views.
Novo Nordisk shares dip as Wegovy maker posts earnings miss, cuts operating profit outlook (CNBC)
- Novo Nordisk on Wednesday said its net profit came in at 20.05 billion Danish kroner ($2.93 billion) in the second quarter of 2024, below forecasts.
- The pharmaceutical giant also trimmed its operating profit outlook for the full-year 2024, saying growth was now anticipated to come in between a 20% and 28% range.
SoftBank swings back to gains at Vision Fund tech arm, announces up to $3.4 billion share buyback (CNBC)
- SoftBank Group booked a 1.9 billion yen ($12.9 million) investment gain on its Vision Fund tech investment arm in the company’s fiscal first quarter ended June, swinging back into the black.
- The Japanese giant also announced it would buy back up to 6.8% of shares available amounting to up to 500 billion yen ($3.4 billion).
Beyonce, PlayStation games help Sony post a 10% jump in profits (CNBC)
- Sony reported operating profit of 279.11 billion yen ($1.9 billion) in the fiscal first quarter, up 10% year-over-year and beating analyst expectations.
- In an earnings release Wednesday, Sony said that its fiscal first-quarter sales benefited from “significant increases” in game and network services, music, and imaging and sensing solutions.
- Gaming, for which Sony is well-known thanks to its popular PlayStation consoles, banked revenues of 864.9 billion yen in the quarter, up 12% from 771.9 billion yen a year ago.
Glencore decides against coal spinoff after talking to investors (CNBC)
- Glencore will not spin off its coal business after securing backing from the majority of its investors.
- The London-listed miner had been canvassing investors on whether to keep the combined coal assets or spin them off after it completed a deal to buy the majority of Teck’s steelmaking coal business last month.
Consumer giants from Starbucks to General Mills have one big sales problem: China (CNBC)
- Starbucks reported China same-store sales dropped by 14% in the quarter ended June 30, far steeper than the 2% decline in the U.S.
- “Consumer sentiment in China is quite weak,” McDonald’s chairman, CEO and director Christopher Kempczinski, said of the quarter ended June 30.
- After a “strong start” to the year in China, General Mills CFO Kofi Bruce said the quarter ending May 26 “saw a real souring or downturn in consumer sentiment.”
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