Shein's UK Sales Hit £2.05 Billion In 2024
The online fast-fashion retailer's figures were disclosed in the document, which also stated the exchange rate used for conversion was US$1 to £0.7392.
Reuters
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
40 minutes ago
- The Star
Meta plans fourth restructuring of AI efforts in six months, The Information reports
FILE PHOTO: Meta logo is seen in this illustration taken February 16, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo (Reuters) -Meta is planning its fourth overhaul of artificial intelligence efforts in six months, The Information reported on Friday, citing three people familiar with the matter. The company is expected to divide its new AI unit, Superintelligence Labs, into four groups: a new "TBD Lab," short for to be determined; a products team including the Meta AI assistant; an infrastructure team; and the Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) lab focused on long-term research, the report said, citing two people. Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters could not independently verify the report. As Silicon Valley's AI contest intensifies, CEO Mark Zuckerberg is going all-in to fast-track work on artificial general intelligence — machines that can outthink humans — and help create new cash flows. Meta recently reorganized the company's AI efforts under Superintelligence Labs, a high-stakes push that followed senior staff departures and a poor reception for Meta's latest open-source Llama 4 model. The social media giant has tapped U.S. bond giant PIMCO and alternative asset manager Blue Owl Capital to spearhead a $29 billion financing for its data center expansion in rural Louisiana, Reuters reported earlier this month. In July, Zuckerberg said Meta would spend hundreds of billions of dollars to build several massive AI data centers. The company raised the bottom end of its annual capital expenditures forecast by $2 billion, to a range of $66 billion to $72 billion last month. Rising costs to build out data center infrastructure and employee compensation costs — as Meta has been poaching researchers with mega salaries — would push the 2026 expense growth rate above the pace in 2025, the company has said. (Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Prabowo touts economy and social welfare drive
Parliament speech: Prabowo delivering his State of the Nation Address ahead of Indonesia's independence day in Jakarta. — Reuters JAKARTA: Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto emphasised an expectation-defying economy, low unemployment rate and slew of ambitious social welfare initiatives as he delivered his first state address to parliament. The ex-special forces commander took office in October after a campaign to rehabilitate an image tainted by allegations of rights abuses committed during the Suharto dictatorship in the late 1990s. The 73-year-old populist leader has pledged fast, state-driven growth to transform South-East Asia's largest country into a major global powerhouse. But his hallmark schemes, including a free school meal programme to address childhood stunting, have strained state coffers, stoked investor fears and triggered student protests. In his speech, Prabowo defended his social policies and pointed to positive second-quarter economic results after his government set an ambitious goal of eight per cent growth. 'Amid political conflict, global economic conflict, (and the US) trade war ... Indonesia still managed to grow above five per cent,' he told parliament yesterday. After US President Donald Trump threatened Indonesia with a heavy tariff rate of 32% in April, Prabowo negotiated a lower levy of 19% in return for bringing down trade barriers for American goods. Last week, the statistics agency showed 2Q growth had accelerated to 5.12%, beating forecasts and up from 4.87% the previous quarter. He also pointed to the unemployment rate, which has dropped to its lowest since the Asian financial crisis. On his social welfare agenda, Prabowo shrugged off criticism of the billion-dollar free lunch programme for schoolchildren and pregnant mothers, touting its reach of 20 million people. 'Our goal ... is to be free from poverty, free from hunger, free from suffering,' he added. He faced protests across Indonesia in February for widespread cuts to fund the scheme – which has been dogged by reported delays and food poisonings – as well as a new sovereign wealth fund. Prabowo succeeded the popular Joko Widodo last year in a third attempt at the presidency after a campaign in which he pledged policy continuity. Prabowo will also unveil the 2026 budget later, ahead of the archipelago nation's independence day, which will be celebrated tomorrow. — AFP
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Solar overtakes the grid in Pakistan
PAKISTANIS are increasingly ditching the national grid in favour of solar power, prompting a boom in rooftop panels and spooking a government weighed down by billions of dollars of power sector debt. The quiet energy revolution has spread from wealthy neighbourhoods to middle- and lower-income households as customers look to escape soaring electricity bills and prolonged power cuts. Down a cramped alley in Pakistan's megacity of Karachi, residents fighting the sweltering summer heat gather in Fareeda Saleem's modest home for something they never experienced before – uninterrupted power. 'Solar makes life easier, but it's a hard choice for people like us,' she says of the installation cost. Saleem was cut from the grid last year for refusing to pay her bills in protest over enduring 18-hour power cuts. A widow and mother of two disabled children, she sold her jewellery – a prized possession for women in Pakistan – and borrowed money from relatives to buy two solar panels, a solar inverter and battery to store energy, for 180,000 rupees. As temperatures pass 40°C, children duck under Saleem's door and gather around the breeze of her fan. Mounted on poles above homes, solar panels have become a common sight across the country of 240 million people, with the installation cost typically recovered within two to five years. Fareeda enjoying 'uninterrupted power' after installing an inverter at her home in Karachi. — AFP Making up less than 2% of the energy mix in 2020, solar power reached 10.3% in 2024, according to the global energy think tank Ember. But in a remarkable acceleration, it more than doubled to 24% in the first five months of 2025, becoming the largest source of energy production for the first time. It has edged past gas, coal and nuclear electricity sources, as well as hydropower which has seen hundreds of millions of dollars of investment over the past decades. As a result, Pakistan has unexpectedly surged towards its target of renewable energy, making up 60% of its energy mix by 2030. Dave Jones, chief analyst at Ember, says Pakistan is 'a leader in rooftop solar'. Soaring fuel costs globally, coupled with demands from the International Monetary Fund to slash government subsidies, led successive administrations to repeatedly hike electricity costs. Prices have fluctuated since 2022 but peaked at a 155% increase and power bills sometimes outweigh the cost of rent. 'The great solar rush is not the result of any government's policy push,' said Muhammad Basit Ghauri, an energy transition expert at Renewables First. 'Residents have taken the decision out of clear frustration over our classical power system, which is essentially based on a lot of inefficiencies.' Pakistan sources most of its solar equipment from neighbouring China, where prices have dropped sharply, largely driven by overproduction and tech advancements. But the fall in national grid consumers has crept up on an unprepared government burdened by US$8bil of power sector debt, analysts say. Pakistan depends heavily on costly gas imports, which it sells at a loss to national energy providers. Arsalan Arif, a local businessman, cleaning solar panels installed on his house's rooftop in Pakistan's port city of Karachi. — AFP It is also tied into lengthy contracts with independent power producers, including some owned by China, for which it pays a fixed amount regardless of actual demand. A government report in March said the solar power increase has created a 'disproportionate financial burden onto grid consumers, contributing to higher electricity tariffs and undermining the sustainability of the energy sector'. Electricity sales dropped 2.8% year-on-year in June, marking a second consecutive year of decline. In June, the government imposed a new 10% tax on all imported solar while the energy ministry has proposed slashing the rate at which it buys excess solar energy from consumers. 'The household solar boom was a response to a crisis, not the cause of it,' said analyst Jones, warning of 'substantial problems for the grid' including a surge during evenings when solar users who cannot store energy return to traditional power. The national grid is losing paying customers like businessman Arsalan Arif. A third of his income was spent on electricity bills at his Karachi home until he bought a 10-kilowatt solar panel for around 1.4 million rupees. 'Before, I didn't follow a timetable. I was always disrupted by the power outages,' he said. Now he has 'freedom and certainty' to continue his catering business. In the eastern city of Sialkot, safety wear manufacturer Hammad Noor switched to solar power in 2023. Since then he has been calling it his 'best business decision'. He broke even in 18 months and is now saving one million rupees every month. The cost of converting Noor's second factory has now risen by nearly 1.5 million rupees under the new government tax. 'The tax imposed is unfair and gives an advantage to big businesses over smaller ones,' he said. 'Policymakers seem completely disconnected from the public and business community.' — AFP
