Tang Baolin Tang Baolin, a prominent Chinese historian who spent decades challenging rigid political orthodoxies to rehabilitate the reputation of a disgraced pioneer of the Communist Party of China, died Wednesday in Beijing. He was 87. The death of Tang, a researcher at the Institute of Modern History under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), coincided with discussions among his peers...
Tang Baolin Tang Baolin, a prominent Chinese historian who spent decades challenging rigid political orthodoxies to rehabilitate the reputation of a disgraced pioneer of the Communist Party of China, died Wednesday in Beijing. He was 87. The death of Tang, a researcher at the Institute of Modern History under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), coincided with discussions among his peers about the May Fourth Movement — a historical epoch inseparable from the figure of Chen Duxiu. Tang is widely credited as the leading scholar responsible for clearing Chen’s name, enduring immense political pressure in the process.
undefined Yu Hao has a habit of speaking in extremes. The founder and CEO of Chinese cleaning-appliance maker Dreame Technology has said he could become the world’s richest person within five years. He has described a future in which his company evolves into a “hundred-trillion-dollar” ecosystem spanning everything from household appliances to cars, chips and even space infrastructure. Over the ne...
undefined Yu Hao has a habit of speaking in extremes. The founder and CEO of Chinese cleaning-appliance maker Dreame Technology has said he could become the world’s richest person within five years. He has described a future in which his company evolves into a “hundred-trillion-dollar” ecosystem spanning everything from household appliances to cars, chips and even space infrastructure. Over the next two decades, he has suggested that the ecosystem could help boost global productivity and wealth by a factor of 100.
Morning, I’m Louise Moon from Bloomberg UK’s breaking news team, bringing you up to speed on today’s top business stories. Demand for travel may be “robust,” but that’s not quite enough to shelter IAG from soaring fuel bills. The parent of British Airways and Aer Lingus will pay about €2 billion more for fuel this year due to the Middle East conflict, taking the total to €9 billion. It expects to ...
Morning, I’m Louise Moon from Bloomberg UK’s breaking news team, bringing you up to speed on today’s top business stories. Demand for travel may be “robust,” but that’s not quite enough to shelter IAG from soaring fuel bills. The parent of British Airways and Aer Lingus will pay about €2 billion more for fuel this year due to the Middle East conflict, taking the total to €9 billion. It expects to recoup 60% of higher fuel costs through revenue and savings, and still plans to return cash to shareholders. Supply isn’t a concern through summer. Still, profit and free cash flow will be lower than previously expected, as will capital spending. CEO Luis Gallego said fares will rise to mitigate the impact. It’s a fuel cost-crisis story that’s being played out across the aviation industry. That could prompt consolidation. Gallego said IAG has been approached by airlines and is exploring opportunities, though remains selective. Shares fell 5.9%. What’s your take? Ping me on X , LinkedIn or drop me an email at lmoon13@bloomberg.net. Oh, and do subscribe to Bloomberg.com for unlimited access to trusted business journalism on the UK, and beyond. What We’re Watching Product testing firm Intertek has once again rejected a takeover bid from EQT, worth almost £9 billion. It was the Swedish private equity house’s third attempt, but Intertek thinks that “significantly undervalues” its future prospects. The product testing firm is separately exploring a breakup to boost its value. Shares fell over 7%. Paul Singer’s Elliott has lined up banks including Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan to arrange a London listing of Waterstones and fellow bookstore Barnes & Noble. While plans could change, it would be a win for a City recovering from a lengthy IPO drought. Plus, local election results are trickling in and it isn’t looking pretty for Labour. With counts complete in about a fifth of councils, the government lost more than half of the seats they were defending while Reform UK racked up gains. I...
Muhammad Gunawansyah/iStock via Getty Images Shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have hit the Philippines harder than anywhere else in Asia, as the country imports 98% of its oil from the Middle East. Fuel reserves of 55-57 days at the outset of the US-Israel war with Iran fell to as low as 45 days on March 20 and were only 50 days as of mid-April. As a result, diesel prices surged 111% a...
Muhammad Gunawansyah/iStock via Getty Images Shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have hit the Philippines harder than anywhere else in Asia, as the country imports 98% of its oil from the Middle East. Fuel reserves of 55-57 days at the outset of the US-Israel war with Iran fell to as low as 45 days on March 20 and were only 50 days as of mid-April. As a result, diesel prices surged 111% and gasoline 71.6%, marking one of the highest fuel price increases globally. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a national energy emergency on March 24, releasing 20 billion pesos ($326 million) in emergency funds and working to secure alternative supply from Malaysia, Russia and beyond. Ordinary Filipinos are clearly feeling the impact, with long queues at fuel stations, rising public transport fares and soaring food prices. However, the country also faces a less visible consequence in terms of global reach, as it is the world's second-largest nickel ore producer, and its mines are running out of diesel. Nickel Asia Corp. ( NCKAF ), the country's largest nickel producer, has just 30 days of fuel supply remaining, while DMCI Mining Corp. reports some operators have as little as 15 days of fuel supply left. Most companies have no contingency plan beyond that window. Fuel costs have risen to 128 Philippine pesos per liter from about 50 pesos pre-war, going up to 170 pesos at one point. Under our updated forecast, this adds $2-$3 per wet metric ton to total cash costs - manageable against export prices of $30-$40/wmt for now, but a second price increase would push high-cost mines into losses. With no assurance that fuel prices will drop soon, miners will bear this additional cost for the foreseeable future. Gold and copper mining projects have also seen an increase in total cash cost, but milder than that of nickel. Philippines' nickel mining is almost entirely open-cast laterite — remote, island-based operations with no grid power and no alternative to the die...
Some top investors in Intertek Group Plc are pushing the British product-testing company to engage with private equity suitor EQT AB , people with knowledge of the matter said. Canada’s PineStone Asset Management Inc. recently wrote a letter to Intertek’s board urging them to open dialogue with EQT, the people said. Montreal-based PineStone is Intertek’s third-biggest shareholder with a roughly 4%...
Some top investors in Intertek Group Plc are pushing the British product-testing company to engage with private equity suitor EQT AB , people with knowledge of the matter said. Canada’s PineStone Asset Management Inc. recently wrote a letter to Intertek’s board urging them to open dialogue with EQT, the people said. Montreal-based PineStone is Intertek’s third-biggest shareholder with a roughly 4% stake, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Some other top 20 investors have also been pressuring Intertek to engage with EQT, after it rejected several takeover bids from the buyout firm and said it wants to keep pursuing a potential breakup, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. This week, EQT raised its offer for Intertek to £58 per share, or roughly £8.9 billion ($12.1 billion). Intertek said Friday it’s rejecting the latest bid, which it said “significantly undervalues” the company and carries “significant execution risk given its conditional nature.” Certain top shareholders believe that while the latest bid is not enough to get a deal done, it’s close enough that the Intertek board should start engaging, the people said. Some of them are hoping that EQT will increase its proposal to around £60 per share or more, according to the people. Shares in Intertek were trading 6% lower in early trading in London Friday, giving the company a market value of around £7.3 billion. Deliberations ongoing and there’s no certainty of a deal, the people said. Representatives for EQT and Intertek declined to comment. A representative for PineStone didn’t respond to emailed queries. Intertek announced a strategic review in April . In its statement on Friday, the company said it had received an “encouraging level of interest” from potential buyers for its Intertek Energy & Infrastructure business.