Category: Business

Retailers face a ‘summer to forget’ as sales fall for fourth month in a row UK retail sales fell for the fourth consecutive month in August, as supply chain disruptions, rising Covid cases and the end of the furlough scheme weighed on consumer spending. According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), retail sales volumes dropped by 0.9% last month, compared with July, and were 2.3%…

Banks bounce back from pandemic woes Indian banks are set to reward their shareholders with the highest dividend payouts in at least seven years, thanks to their strong performance in the fiscal year 2023. The country’s banks are forecast to take their share in aggregate payout across all sectors to 13% for the year ending March 31, 2024, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. This is up from 12% for…

Oman’s Islamic banking sector has witnessed a remarkable growth in the first half of 2023, reaching a new milestone of RO7bn in total assets, according to the latest data from the Central Bank of Oman (CBO). The sector’s market share has also increased to 17.2% of the total banking sector assets as of the end of June 2023, reflecting the rising demand for Shariah-compliant products and services in the sultanate.…

The recent wave of data from a string of surveys has painted a rather dim picture of the global business climate. More troublingly, these results have planted seeds of uncertainty concerning central banks’ upcoming decisions on interest rates. Amidst all the economic figures and updates, a resounding sentiment is clear: central banks have a bone to pick with cryptocurrencies. Crypto: A Threat or An Opportunity? Cryptocurrencies, or digital assets that…

AIA Group Ltd, one of the largest life insurers in Asia, reported a strong growth in its new business value (VONB) for the first half of 2023, driven by the economic recovery in China and Hong Kong. VONB up 37% year-on-year According to its interim results announcement, AIA’s VONB increased by 37% year-on-year to $2.03 billion in the first six months of 2023, compared to $1.54 billion in the same…

Pakistan has been selected to host the 17th China-South Asia Business Forum in 2024, after participating in the 16th forum held in Kunming, China, where the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) highlighted the need for trade and regional integration between China and South Asian countries. FPCCI President stresses on regional connectivity Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, president of FPCCI, attended the forum organised by the China Council for…

AIA Group, Asia’s largest insurer, posted a 37 per cent increase in its value of new business for the first half of 2023, driven by a robust rebound in sales across its key markets of Mainland China and Hong Kong. The value of new business (VONB), which measures the expected profits from new premiums and is a key indicator of future growth, rose to $2.03 billion in the six months…

Eversource Energy, the largest utility company in New England, has announced that it has left the American Gas Association (AGA), a powerful trade group that represents the interests of the natural gas industry. The utility said that it made the decision to focus on its decarbonization efforts and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Eversource’s climate strategy Eversource, which serves about 4 million customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, provides…

New platform to freeze scam payments in real time The Australian Banking Association (ABA) has announced the launch of a new platform that will help banks act quickly to freeze money being sent to scammers by allowing the reporting of bank-to-bank scam payments in close to real time. The platform, called the Fraud Reporting Exchange (FRX), will facilitate the quick reporting of fraudulent payments as they are transferred to another…

S&P Global, one of the world’s leading credit rating agencies, has recently downgraded the credit ratings and revised the outlooks for several US banks. These include Associated Banc-Corp, Valley National Bancorp, UMB Financial Corporation, Comerica Bank, KeyCorp, S&T Bank, and River City Bank. This action follows a similar move by Moody’s, which cited weaker profitability and funding risks as factors that will likely test the credit strength of the banking…