Thai Beverage's half-year profit falls 3%
The company, which owns brands such as Chang beer and Grand Royal whisky, said profit attributable came in at 14.71 billion baht ($446.2 million) for the six-month period ended March 31, compared with 15.19 billion baht a year earlier.
($1 = 32.9900 baht)
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Telegraph
12 hours ago
- Telegraph
Britain's chemical sector at ‘very high risk', claims credit insurer
Britain's entire chemical sector has been branded 'very high risk' by a leading credit insurer after soaring energy costs triggered a wave of collapses. Coface, a leading global credit insurer, said high energy costs were hammering companies' profit margins and leaving them struggling to pay bills and repair vital equipment. Jonathan Steenberg, Coface's UK economist, said: 'We're seeing slow payments in certain sectors and insolvencies are about 60pc higher than they were before the pandemic. 'To a large degree, energy costs have been the root of this quicker deterioration. It has both first and second order effect, obviously starting with the increase in energy prices, which is also pushing up labour and other costs. It means we have taken the decision to move the chemicals sector up to a very high risk.' Coface specialises in insuring companies against non-payment when selling goods, especially across borders, and in commercial debt collection. The need to assess risk means it also analyses the potential for payment defaults across various industries. Mr Steenberg said it was still offering credit insurance to chemical companies. Britain's chemicals sector employs around 138,000 people directly across 5,000 companies, and supports another 360,000 indirect jobs with exports totalling £61bn. It is also a crucial supplier to other industries, providing the raw materials from which many final products are created. Last week the industry was dealt another major blow after the UK's largest bioethanol plant said it would close following Sir Keir Starmer's trade deal with the Donald Trump. Vivergo Fuels, near Hull, warned that the deal, which meant a 19pc tariff on bioethanol imports from the US to the UK was removed, would make its factory uneconomic because it faced much higher energy costs than US competitors. On Friday the Government said it had 'taken the difficult decision not to offer direct funding as it would not provide value for the taxpayer'. Other plants could follow – all linked to energy bills that now typically comprise more than 50pc of their total costs. Bosses at Sir Jim Ratcliffe's Ineos petrochemicals plant in Grangemouth, Falkirk, said last week it had not made a profit for five years because of the taxes and levies imposed on the gas it consumes both for energy and as a feedstock for making plastics. CF Industries has also ceased ammonia and fertiliser production at its plant in Ince, Cheshire, in 2021 and then at its plant in Billingham, Teesside, in 2023. Steve Elliott, the chief executive of the Chemical Industries Association, said the high cost of industrial energy was because of government policy rather than global markets. He said: 'The Government has put multiple levies on power and gas prices while also rejecting supplies from the North Sea and from fracking. It means energy has become a huge proportion of overall costs and makes it difficult to remain competitive.' Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, said: 'The UK chemicals sector is foundational to much other manufacturing but is being crippled by high energy costs and penal carbon taxes. It's bonkers policy as when British firms die, the same chemicals are simply imported from overseas.' In June, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published a report on the impacts of high energy prices, describing how, between 2021 and 2024, industrial electricity costs rose 75 pc and gas prices by 108pc. 'Collectively, the volume of output in [heavy] industries has fallen by one third since the start of 2021, and is now at its lowest level since the start of the available time series in 1990,' the ONS said. Mr Steenberg said: 'When it comes to chemicals the main inputs are energy, specifically gas. If you're not competitive in that, there's no reason to have an industry.' A Government spokesman said: 'We inherited a difficult economic situation, with businesses facing some of the highest industrial energy prices in Europe. That's why we have announced measures to support sectors across the UK as part of our Plan for Change, ensuring that decarbonisation doesn't mean deindustrialisation.'
BBC News
20 hours ago
- BBC News
Beyond chow mein: Can a new wave of restaurants help China win hearts?
Grilled fish on a generous bed of numbing chillis and peppercorns from China's south-western metropolis, Chongqing; cumin-laced lamb skewers from Xinjiang in the far north; and fiery rice noodles flavoured with snails from the famed rivers of Guangxi in the of this on a walk down Liang Seah Street in food is having a moment outside China, driven by huge success and intense competition back home. And nowhere is this clearer than in Singapore, where ethnically Chinese people make up more than three-quarters of the multicultural trend is not surprising given that Chinese soft power seems to be on the rise – think viral Labubu dolls, humanoid robots and futuristic cities that are impressing and sophisticated, Chinese cooking is not among Beijing's list of priorities for turning the country into "a powerhouse in culture" by yet, as an increasingly authoritarian China tries hard to win the world over, a sumptuous table may just be its most effective, and underrated, draw. First stop: Singapore Luckin, China's answer to Starbucks, opened its first overseas store in Singapore in March 2023. Two years on, there are more than 60. Last month, the chain made its US debut with two New York major Chinese brands, Luckin included, currently run 124 outlets in Singapore, double the number they owned in 2023. It's hard to miss the evidence: huge, bright ads of chilli-laced dishes and, sometimes, Chinese idioms, in malls, buses and subway established chains to mom-and-pop stores and chic restaurants that challenge tired stereotypes, they have all been taking off here before leapfrogging further afield, to elsewhere in South East Asia and then across the in Singapore is "a proof of concept for later expansion, convincing potential investors that the chain is ready to go global," says Thomas DuBois, a historian of modern China. It's an easy enough place for new restaurants to set up shop. And it is diverse, which makes it a great test kitchen for very different palates, from South Asian to importantly, Singapore is a travel hub where, Mr Dubois says, eating is almost like a national pastime: "People go to Singapore to eat."And what they will find is menus that go beyond the ubiquitous dumplings and hot pot. The entrepreneurs behind the new Chinese culinary wave want to show people just how vast and diverse China is. And they cannot fake of the visitors to Singapore are ethnic Chinese – not just from China, but from Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Jakarta and so on – with a sophisticated understanding of Chinese is no one kind of fiery, says Claire Wang, the marketing manager for Nong Geng Ji, a chain from Hunan in central China, which is famous for its spicy fare has "a tangy aftertaste achieved through fermented chilli peppers", she says, unlike "Sichuan's numbing-spicy or Guizhou's sour-spicy".After launching more than 100 restaurants in China, Nong Geng Ji opened its first overseas stop in Singapore in late 2023. It has since set up six more here, five in Malaysia, one in Canada, and is now eyeing opportunities in Thailand, Japan, South Korea and the certainly proof of the growing appetite for chillies, especially the Chinese kind – a trend that would please China's former leader Mao Zedong. Born and raised in Hunan, he believed, "You can't be a revolutionary if you don't eat chillies". Finally, 'proper' Chinese food For the less revolutionary among us, there is plenty more on the table: steamed buns, red meats, preserved vegetables, rice, seasonal stir-fries and delicately-flavoured quite the spread compared to the "Chinese food" much of the world has become used to, especially in the West – food cooked up by Chinese immigrants in the 19th and 20th Centuries, whose scrubby, nondescript restaurants were often seen as low-brow. The food was simplified to suit local tastes, and that's how the US ended up with un-Chinese staples such as orange chicken and chop suey, and the UK with its chow mein and sweet-and-sour chicken very basic, largely made-up dishes "clouded appreciation of the diversity and sophistication of Chinese gastronomic culture", writes Fuchsia Dunlop in her new book, Invitation to a Banquet. Ms Dunlop, a British food writer, has spent her career cooking in China's kitchens and studying its there is the stereotype, dubbed the Chinese Restaurant Syndrome, a partly xenophobic myth that the food can make people feel sick because of supposedly high concentration of additives, particularly the flavouring agent MSG. New research suggests MSG does not make you sick, and while older Chinese restaurants probably used shortcuts to flavour, they were hardly unique in using a growing diaspora is making it possible for Chinese restaurants to stay true to their roots, knowing they have customers demanding "proper Chinese food". And that has coincided with more adventurous palates in the world's biggest Thomas Tao was a student in New York in the 2010s, he says he rarely came across Chinese fine-dining, but Americans were very willing to pay for, say, Japanese he is the vice-president of the Green Tea Restaurant chain, which has more than 400 outlets in China serving fresh seafood and savoury soups from Zhejiang. It will open its first outpost in Singapore later this it goes beyond food, with "immersive" restaurants. Diners listen to the guzheng, a Chinese zither, while they sit at boat-shaped tables surrounded by landscapes around the West Lake, an icon of the coastal province."We want to help people be more accepting of our culture and to correct the idea that Chinese cuisine is 'lousy'," Mr Tao says. It is not the only chain to try this. Sichuan Alley, which opened its first outlet in New York last year, is inspired by "alley culture" characteristic of early 20th Century Chengdu – a warren of old streets where people mingled and tells the story of a people, and short of visiting a place, it is perhaps the best glimpse into can the Chinese table help soften the image of a country whose ambitions often clash with those of Western powers and neighbours? The price of soft power In her book, Dunlop cites one of her readers suggesting that Beijing could more effectively project its soft power by "changing its controversial overseas Confucius Institutes into top-notch Chinese restaurants".Beijing is battling plenty on the international front: Trump's tariffs, alleged espionage plots and a world that is wary of its economic this explosion in Chinese restaurant chains is worrying local businesses in Singapore who wonder if they can keep competition in China and a spending dip are forcing these chains offshore. And their pace of expansion is insatiable – they bring with them a reliable supply chain, marketing acumen, and deep pockets that allow them to sacrifice they have a playbook. First you are encouraged to sign up for a free membership that gets you a discount. The meals come with a free flow of tea, dipping sauces and pickled winner? Unlike in most Singaporean restaurants, tissues – much-needed after a spicy meal – are is not the first time the exports of China's success have sparked anxiety in its smaller South East Asian neighbours. It has already happened with plenty of Chinese imports, from clothing to food, some believe, can sweeten that deal."Chinese people take great pride in their culinary culture, which also serves as a powerful form of diplomacy," says Felix Ren, director of Singapore-based food consultancy is encouraged by the table tennis matches that helped thaw historic tensions between Beijing and Washington in 1971."Chinese cuisine," he says, "may just be the new ping-pong diplomacy."
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
We charged guests up to $1,000 to attend our wedding - and made $132,000 in profit
A couple have revealed how they made a £132,000 profit after charging guests up to $1,000 to attend their wedding. Marley Jaxx, 34, and her husband, Steve J. Larsen, 37, from Boise, Idaho, were shocked by the cost of a wedding after researching venues - including a $650 cake-cutting fee at one venue. Marley initially joked about charging people to attend their wedding to cover the costs of their dream big do, but Steve then warmed up to the idea. The couple told friends and family that if they wanted to attend the event, they would have to pay. Guests could purchase a basic $57 (£42) ticket for the wedding day, or a three-day experience for two tickets priced at $997 (£735) - which included access to the wedding day, a charity rehearsal dinner, and a biohacking brunch. Three hundred guests attended the celebrations, covering the $50,000 wedding cost and raising $132,550 (£98,000), which will be donated to charity Village Impact. Marley, an entrepreneur, said: 'Most people got it. Of course there were people who did a double take and were like ''wait, what?'' 'One friend of mine didn't like it, and he didn't hold back either. We debated it, and in the end, he said he understood. 'Other responses we had were from people saying that if we can't afford a big wedding, then don't do it. 'It was never about what we could afford. It was about a different way of doing things.' Steve proposed on January 1, 2025, on an ice rink in Boise, Idaho, surrounded by their family and friends and the pair got straight to planning their special day. When they were researching venues, they were shocked by the pricing they were seeing, so they floated the idea of selling tickets. Steve, an entrepreneur, said: 'We decided to charge because we started making a big list of everyone who we wanted to come. 'We were paying per head, lots of people wanted to come. We wanted a big party, but the cost kept getting higher and higher. 'We said instead of people getting us a gift, or donating to a honeymoon fund - pay for your meal, and you can come party with us. 'For us, it was all about doing a different way of doing things, and changing how people think about weddings.' Guests could purchase a basic $57 ticket for the wedding day, or a three-day experience for two tickets priced at $997 - which included access to the wedding day, a charity rehearsal dinner, and a biohacking brunch The couple tied the knot on August 1, 2025, surrounded by 300 guests The couple tied the knot on August 1, 2025, surrounded by 300 guests. A ticket to the wedding day itself would set you back $57, but if you wanted to go to the three-day event, for two people it cost $997. The $997 included the rehearsal dinner on July 31, and the biohacking brunch - with health experts and treatments including electrolytes, red lights and breath worth - and recovery lounge on August 2. Marley said: 'The people who were at the wedding wanted to be there. Guests were commenting on how peaceful it was. 'It changed the feeling of the wedding. I thought it would be stressful, but it was peaceful. 'One of the guests said that when people get a wedding invitation, there is an obligation to go. 'But when you choose to pay, it is a different feeling - it shows how much they appreciate you.' During the celebrations, Marley and Steve raised money for Village Impact - a charity providing community-led education, leadership, and economic opportunities in Kenya. The couple said the opportunities for guests to donate were through bracelets made by kids in Kenya, a silent auction with art from Ugandan artists, and even a few guests committing to join them on their trip to Africa to build the school in July 2026. Steve said: 'In total, we raised around $130k, and all that money is going to Village Impact. 'A large portion of that money was through guests donating $15k to come join us in Kenya in 2026 to help build schools. 'Hundreds of kids will get a classroom and that will have come through our wedding.' Marley and Steve said that they were 'thrilled' with how the wedding went. Despite the backlash on social media, Marley said they were 'frugal' for their wedding - spending less than $50,000 for 300 guests. Marley said: 'I am so thrilled with how it went. I hope that any bride can say that there was nothing they wanted to change about their wedding day. 'We had family who traveled from all over, our three daughters did public speaking, which we were super proud of. 'Everyone was dancing, we had such a great time.'
