Tag Archives: ASEAN countries

Australia

The Zip Australia report noted Q3 earnings growth, eyeing expansion in Canada and Asia | Instant News


* Record revenue, transaction volume, customer growth

* Took stake in BNPL Philippines in the third quarter

* Made initial launch in Canada in the third quarter

April 13 (Reuters) – Australia’s buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) Zip Co Ltd on Tuesday posted record revenue, transaction volume and customer growth in the third quarter and announced plans to expand into Canada and Southeast Asia, shipping shares. jumped by more than 11%.

The strong performance was driven by growth at Quadpay, its US unit, where subscribers, volume and revenue grew in the triple digits as competition with bigger rivals Afterpay, Klarna and Affirm in the world’s top economies heated up.

Zip, which has strengthened its international presence to better compete, took a strategic stake in the Philippine company TendoPay and did a soft launch in Canada during the quarter.

In December, Zip raised A $ 150 million in capital to fund its expansion in the United States, United Kingdom, and took shares in companies in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

In the third quarter ending March, transaction volume more than doubled from a year earlier to A $ 1.6 billion ($ 1.22 billion), while revenues totaled A $ 114.4 million, up 80%.

Active subscribers totaled 6.4 million, supported by a 19% increase in the US from late December, while the number of traders on its platform stood at 45,300.

“3Q was a weak quarter on a seasonal basis, but at the current pace of current US business in particular and the growing customer and trader base at ANZ, regional expansion bodes well for 4Q21,” wrote RBC Capital Markets in a client note.

In Australia, net bad debt fell to 1.78% from 1.93% three months earlier. Zip does not provide numbers for the United States.

“Our US business has come to prominence again, affirming our position as truly one of the fastest growing global BNPL leaders,” said Zip Chief Executive Officer Larry Diamond.

The stock jumped as much as 11.2% to A $ 9.25, before easing some of that gain to trade 9% higher after an hour of trading. ($ 1 = 1.3130 Australian dollars) (Reported by Nikhil Kurian Nainan in Bengaluru; Edited by Subhranshu Sahu)

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Australia

Australia asked the Myanmar military to release Australia’s economic adviser | Instant News


MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australia on Friday asked Myanmar’s ruling military to immediately release an Australian economic adviser to ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been in detention for two months.

Sean Turnell, a professor of economics at Macquarie University in Sydney who has advised Suu Kyi for years, was reportedly charged a week ago under Myanmar’s official secrets law, along with Suu Kyi and several of her ministers.

Describing it as “arbitrary detention”, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement that Turnell had been detained with limited consular access.

“Australia continues to seek immediate release and official information on the reasons for his detention both in Myanmar and through the embassy in Australia,” a foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement. We call on the military regime to allow Professor Turnell to return to his family in Australia.

Turnell is the first foreign national to be arrested after a February 1 military coup overthrew Suu Kyi’s government.

Reporting by Lidia Kelly. Edited by Gerry Doyle

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Fashion

UPDATE Fashion retailer Primark 1-AB Food stopped placing new orders in Myanmar | Instant News


(Adding details)

LONDON, March 31 (Reuters) – Primark Associated British Foods owner said the fashion retailer had stopped placing new production orders in Myanmar following a military coup last month.

“Primark has now stopped new orders in Myanmar,” said a spokesman for AB Foods.

The prime source of 21 production sites in Myanmar. That compares with 527 in China and 127 in India.

The retailer’s move follows Sweden’s H&M and Italy’s Benetton Group which stopped placing orders in Myanmar earlier this month. (Reporting by James Davey; editing by William James)

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Switzerland

Demand for Asian gold rebounded in line with the surge in Swiss exports to India | Instant News


    LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) - Switzerland in February sent
gold to mainland China for the first time since September and
shipments to India and Thailand rose to multi-year highs,
suggesting that demand for bullion in Asia is recovering from
the coronavirus shock. 
    Switzerland is the world's biggest gold refining centre and
transit hub, while India and China are the two biggest gold
consumers and Thailand is a regional trade hub. 
    Demand from all three Asian countries plunged last year as
the coronavirus spread and has been slowest to recover in China.

    
    
    One reason for the pick-up is a steady decline in gold
prices from record highs last August. Most gold in Asia
is sold as jewellery and buyers are put off by high prices.   
    Swiss customs data showed that in February Switzerland
exported 56.5 tonnes of gold to India, 11.2 tonnes to Thailand,
2 tonnes to mainland China and 1 tonne to Hong Kong. 
    That is biggest total to India for any month since April
2019, to Thailand since August 2018 and to Hong Kong since
September. It is the first shipment of any gold at all to China
since September. 
    Following are numbers for February and comparisons. 
            
    SWISS TRADE DATA (KG)         
          EXPORT (kg)
  Feb-21      102,850
  Jan-21       82,033
  Feb-20       42,759
           To China   To Hong    To India   To the     To
                      Kong                  U.S.       Britain
   Feb-21      2,000      1,045     56,472     12,031         77
   Jan-21          0         28     38,696     16,666      5,216
   Feb-20      2,000         10      9,591        361      9,256
    * Source: Swiss customs. Data subject to revision by source.
    
    

    
 (Reporting by Peter Hobson; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

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Brazil

UPDATE 2-Philippines detected Brazil, a local variant of COVID-19 as cases spiked | Instant News


* Filipinos from Brazil tested positive for variant P.1

* The health ministry confirmed P.3, a new variant of COVID-19

* Philippines recorded 5,000 new COVID-19 infections (Added daily COVID-19 case details)

MANILA, March 13 (Reuters) – The Philippines on Saturday reported a spike in coronavirus infections and the first cases of the highly contagious variant first identified in Brazil, while confirming nearly 100 infections from the new locally found variant.

A Filipino who returned from Brazil tested positive for the Brazilian P.1 variant after 752 samples were sequenced at the genome center, the health ministry said in a statement.

It was also reported that 98 cases of a similar P.3 variant were first detected in the Southeast Asian country earlier this month.

The ministry reported 5,000 cases of the new coronavirus, the biggest one-day increase in more than six months, and an additional 72 deaths. Confirmed cases have risen to 616,611 while confirmed deaths have reached 12,766.

“Currently, P.3 is not identified as a variant of concern because currently available data are not sufficient to conclude whether the variant will have significant public health implications,” the ministry said.

It reports 59 new infections of variant B.1.1.7 which were first detected in the UK, and 32 cases of variant B.1.351 found in South Africa. This brings the cases for these variants to 177 and 90, respectively.

“Correct and consistent adherence to minimum public health standards will prevent transmission of this variant,” the ministry said.

The Philippines, which has the second highest COVID-19 cases and deaths in Southeast Asia, is battling a new spike as it increases its vaccination program starting on March 1 (Reported by Neil Jerome Morales; Edited by William Mallard)

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