Latest news with #YantoultraNgui
Zawya
11 hours ago
- Business
- Zawya
JPMorgan Chase sees growth in Asia Pacific private credit market
SINGAPORE - JPMorgan Chase sees significant growth potential in Asia Pacific's private credit market, focusing on countries across Asia and including Australia and India, Thursday. The U.S. bank has been actively building its private credit business in the region since 2019, targeting mid-sized companies without investment-grade ratings but with strong fundamentals. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Globally, tariff uncertainty and market volatility have sent some companies to seek private credit as a flexible funding alternative to traditional lenders, benefiting the $2 trillion private credit industry, which has grown from $500 million over the past decade, according to analysts. CONTEXT In February JPMorgan Chase announced that it would allocate another $50 billion for its direct lending push as the bank looks to expand its foothold in the rapidly growing private credit market. KEY QUOTES "Asia is driving over 50% of the world GDP growth, and we have some of the biggest economies in the region," Chen said on Thursday. "And our overall debt market in Asia, in public format, is only about $1.5 trillion and the GDP growth is strong, and in private credit, from the deal size we have seen, it's probably only about $200 billion every year or so for the last two years so has a large gap to catch up so we see it's still at the beginning stage of Asia private credit market," she added. (Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui and Rae Wee, editing by Louise Heavens)
Time of India
21-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
China Mobile closer to taking over Hong Kong broadband company HKBN
By Kane Wu and Yantoultra Ngui HONG KONG/SINGAPORE: China Mobile , the world's biggest wireless carrier by users, is moving closer to a deal to take over Hong Kong broadband company HKBN after rival bidder I Squared Capital dropped out of the race, three sources said. U.S.-based global infrastructure investor I Squared was preparing to trump China Mobile's offer of HK$5.23 per HKBN share made in December, but was not keen to pay more than HK$6 apiece, Reuters reported in January. I Squared however did not secure approval from Chinese sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp (CIC) to go ahead with the bid for HKBN, said the sources, who have knowledge of the matter. CIC vetoed the deal as a minority shareholder in I Squared-controlled HGC Global Communications in Hong Kong, as a potential acquisition could affect the operations of the fixed-line operator, which also has a broadband business, said one of the sources. I Squared and CIC declined to comment. State-owned China Mobile did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. China Mobile made its takeover offer in early December, valuing HKBN at HK$7.8 billion ($996.1 million), after first showing interest nearly two years ago. The company currently has a market value of HK$7.6 billion with the stock at HK$5.10 on Wednesday. Deal terms are still being negotiated and could be affected by a mismatch in valuation expectations, one of the sources said. All the sources declined to be named as the matter was confidential. "We are still in discussions with various parties, and are fully committed to protecting the interests of all shareholders," HKBN said in a statement to Reuters. I Squared's departure from the bidding race for HKBN comes weeks after China Mobile acquired a 15.5% stake in the company in April from existing shareholder TPG.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
China Mobile closer to taking over Hong Kong broadband company HKBN, sources say
By Kane Wu and Yantoultra Ngui HONG KONG/SINGAPORE (Reuters) -China Mobile, the world's biggest wireless carrier by users, is moving closer to a deal to take over Hong Kong broadband company HKBN after rival bidder I Squared Capital dropped out of the race, three sources said. U.S.-based global infrastructure investor I Squared was preparing to trump China Mobile's offer of HK$5.23 per HKBN share made in December, but was not keen to pay more than HK$6 apiece, Reuters reported in January. I Squared however did not secure approval from Chinese sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp (CIC) to go ahead with the bid for HKBN, said the sources, who have knowledge of the matter. CIC vetoed the deal as a minority shareholder in I Squared-controlled HGC Global Communications in Hong Kong, as a potential acquisition could affect the operations of the fixed-line operator, which also has a broadband business, said one of the sources. I Squared and CIC declined to comment. State-owned China Mobile did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. China Mobile made its takeover offer in early December, valuing HKBN at HK$7.8 billion ($996.1 million), after first showing interest nearly two years ago. The company currently has a market value of HK$7.6 billion with the stock at HK$5.10 on Wednesday. Deal terms are still being negotiated and could be affected by a mismatch in valuation expectations, one of the sources said. All the sources declined to be named as the matter was confidential. "We are still in discussions with various parties, and are fully committed to protecting the interests of all shareholders," HKBN said in a statement to Reuters. I Squared's departure from the bidding race for HKBN comes weeks after China Mobile acquired a 15.5% stake in the company in April from existing shareholder TPG. ($1 = 7.8288 Hong Kong dollars) Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Singapore's UOB pauses 2025 guidance due to US tariffs, posts stable Q1 net profit
By Yantoultra Ngui SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Singapore's United Overseas Bank, or UOB, will resume giving 2025 guidance when the impact of U.S. tariffs becomes clearer, it said on Wednesday after posting a stable first-quarter net profit that missed expectations. "The world order has been disrupted by U.S. tariffs. While it is too early to quantify the exact impact, we expect growth to slow in the near term." UOB Deputy Chairman and CEO Wee Ee Cheong said in a briefing, referring to the global outlook. UOB shares dropped 1.6% Thursday morning, underperforming the domestic benchmark index's 0.2% decline. UOB, the first Singaporean lender to report this earnings season, follows other major global banks in highlighting the threat to economic growth from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs. HSBC, which reported results last week, forecast worsening loan demand and credit quality due to growing trade tensions. Standard Chartered, whose first-quarter results on Friday beat expectations, warned that major deals could be put on hold if trade tensions persisted. UOB, Southeast Asia's third-largest bank by assets, reported S$1.49 billion ($1.16 billion) in net profit, unchanged from the year-ago quarter, supported by record fee income and robust loan growth. This was slightly below the mean estimate of around S$1.5 billion of two analysts polled by LSEG. Although UOB's 2025 guidance was suspended, CGS International's analysts Tay Wee Kuang and Lim Siew Khee said they do not expect drastic revisions given the bank's resilient operational performance in the first quarter. UOB projected high single-digit loan growth, double-digit fee growth with credit costs at 25 to 30 basis points for 2025 during fourth quarter results. Wee said the current uncertainties were not as bad as during the COVID-19 pandemic and the long-term fundamentals of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations remained attractive. "We expect flows within ASEAN and between ASEAN and the rest of the world to continue growing as countries seek new ways to prosper," he said. Wee also highlighted other opportunities amid uncertainties, including growing client demand for hedging and a healthy pipeline of infrastructure financing. First-quarter credit costs rose to 35 basis points as UOB set aside an additional pre-emptive allowance to boost coverage for potential loan losses due to growing macroeconomic uncertainties. This compares to 57 basis points during COVID-19, Wee added. Larger rivals DBS Group and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation are scheduled to report results on May 8 and 9 respectively.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Grab looks to strike a deal to acquire Indonesia's GoTo in Q2, sources say
By Yantoultra Ngui, Kane Wu and Fanny Potkin SINGAPORE/HONG KONG (Reuters) -U.S.-listed ride-hailing and food delivery firm Grab is looking to strike a deal to take over smaller Indonesian rival GoTo in the second quarter, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. Singapore-headquartered Grab has hired advisors to work on the proposed deal, the two sources added. The deal is subjected to terms such as financing, which Grab is in discussion with banks with, one of the sources added. Both Grab and GoTo declined to comment. (Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui, Fanny Potkin in Singapore and Kane Wu in Hong Kong, Editing by Louise Heavens)
