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France 24
30-07-2025
- Business
- France 24
HSBC banks lower profits on higher costs
Profit after tax dropped by one third to $12.4 billion compared with the first six months of 2024, hit by restructuring costs and an impairment on its stake in a Chinese lender. The London-headquartered bank is months into a shakeup aimed at simplifying the group's structure and delivering $1.5 billion in annual cost savings in 2027. It comes as the bank sector faces volatile trading as a result of US President Donald Trump's tariffs onslaught. "We have delivered these results in an ongoing period of uncertainty," chief executive Georges Elhedery said in call with reporters Wednesday. "It has become increasingly important to simplify the organisation and make it more agile," he added. The bank recorded a $2.1 billion impairment linked to its stake in China's Bank of Communications, which was recapitalised by the country's finance ministry this year. HSBC last year reported a $3 billion charge on the value of its stake in the Chinese lender, which was hit by property loan writeoffs. Elhedery said that HSBC is "making positive progress" in its structural overhaul, which began in October, shortly after he became chief executive. Operating expenses increased four percent, which the bank partly attributed to restructuring and related costs. The bank generates most of its revenue in Asia and has spent several years pivoting to the region, vowing to develop its wealth business and target fast-growing markets. HSBC shares fell around 2.5 percent in morning deals on London's top-tier FTSE 100 index despite a dividend payment and plans to repurchase up to $3 billion of shares. Missed expectations Elhedery said HSBC is "well positioned to manage the changes and uncertainties prevalent within the global environment in which we operate, including in relation to tariffs". He noted that a "broader macroeconomic deterioration" could impact returns in future years. Profit before tax fell more than 26 percent to $15.8 billion, falling short of analyst expectations. First-half revenue declined nine percent to $34.1 billion. "Repositioning HSBC is not a simple task given its size and scale," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell. "There are also challenges in its priority regions such as property market weakness in Hong Kong and mainland China. "It means investors must continue to brace themselves for setbacks in its results well into 2026," he added. In Hong Kong, HSBC shares in were down 3.8 percent at the close. Morningstar senior equity analyst Michael Makdad said the bank "needs to make sure that shareholders in Asia remain on board with the strategic direction... centred on simplification and intensive cost-cutting, but without a radical overhaul of the entire business model". Makdad added that its immediate challenge is to find a replacement for board chairman Mark Tucker, who will retire by the end of 2025 after eight years helping to steer Europe's largest bank.
Forbes
30-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Superblocks Is Democratizing Software And App Development For The Masses
Superblocks is aiming to redefine the enterprise application development paradigm. Superblocks One of the most challenging aspects of running a successful healthcare organization is how quickly the enterprise often needs to adapt to changing technologies and update its IT infrastructure. This is especially true in the landscape of healthcare systems and hospitals, where organizations are increasingly reliant on emerging technologies to run their day-to-day services. Superblocks is aiming to disrupt the game in this arena by providing enterprises of all types an easier means to build internal applications. Its platform enables individuals to rapidly build applications with minimal to no coding: users can simply use natural language to build out an app, edit it visually and can further make advanced refinements with code, if they desire. This means that even non-engineering or non-technical staff can easily build out customized internal tools and applications. For healthcare organizations specifically, this has the potential to transform the way technology is approached and may help save hundreds of millions of dollars in annual IT costs. Notably, studies indicate that the average hospital dedicates nearly $9.5 million towards its IT budget, taking into account hospitals and clinics of all sizes and forms; when looking at hospital IT expenses for systems with over 250 beds (alluding to most larger hospital systems in the country), the average budget is approximated to be closer to a whopping $33 million. A big portion of these dollars is often allocated to IT staff and engineers that are needed to develop mission critical applications and infrastructure. These figures are jarring at a time when AI agents have made application development and maintenance easier than ever before. In fact, an entire micro-industry has emerged from this phenomenon known as 'vibe coding'—referring to how consumers without much coding experience can interact with generative AI tools to easily create applications. Many such platforms exist to enable code generation, including famed Claude by Anthropic, OpenAI's Codex platform, and Cursor. These tools have revolutionized software development, as users can simply provide basic prompts to generate code and create complex applications. But applications that are being built at an enterprise level and for larger organizations cannot be made casually; they require significant IT, compliance and regulatory oversight, and the ability to deeply understand the back-end infrastructure and modify it as needed. This is where Superblocks' platform goes even further with its AI Agent Clark, which can help IT and enterprise teams build production-ready internal applications. Applications built with Clark can readily connect with existing APIs and private databases, are compatible with existing security and sign-on procedures and infrastructure, and are also built with enterprise grade security features in mind, such as audit logging. Brad Menezes, co-founder and CEO of Superblocks, explains that he and his other co-founder (now CTO) Ran Ma, first thought of the idea when they realized that large companies were burning a lot of cash trying to just understand and build out their own internal application stacks; there was simply nothing on the market that could help ease enterprise level customized software. Menezes comments that 'especially in healthcare, there has always been an IT constraint,' limiting what can ultimately be done for patients and constituents. Although 'healthcare organizations often have very large IT teams, many are often missing hardcore CS backgrounds…with Superblocks, teams can develop entire enterprise applications without a hardcore coding background.' Brad Menezes, CEO and co-founder of Superblocks, has helped secure nearly $60 million in funding ... More from institutional names such as Kleiner Perkins, Spark Capital and Meritech Capital. Superblocks Mamoon Hamid, Partner at Kleiner Perkins and key investor in Superblocks, explains that 'custom internal software powers nearly every function within a business, yet it has remained time-consuming and costly to build. Superblocks is solving that with a programmable platform that gives employees everything they need to build internal apps, and automate workflows.' Hamid is known for his thoughtful and visionary counsel to founders, perhaps most notable for his early investments in Slack, Figma and Box. Menezes explains that Clark is being leveraged for a variety of uses in healthcare settings. One organization is using it to develop patient intake software, an incredibly crucial aspect for any healthcare entity. Another is using it to optimize its core clinical operations, including to support back-office administrative applications. Another example is Synapse Health, an innovator in the durable medical equipment (DME) space, which adopted Superblocks' platform early on; the company has leveraged Clark to replicate the work of nearly 5-7 engineers. Tim Frederick, chief technology officer at Synapse, explains that the platform has 'unleashed our ability to build internal tools quickly while giving us the ability to maintain control and supportability.' He also describes how Superblocks' capabilities have significantly augmented the integration of AI workflows for high-yield business needs, such as for the company's customer service functions. This type of technology has significant potential to disrupt and transform archaic IT infrastructure practices at healthcare organizations globally. Especially given that hospital systems typically run on razor-thin margins, the platform has the potential to significantly aid in improving workflows and tangibly freeing up engineering capacity. Given the rapid success Superblocks has seen, scalability will be crucial, especially as the competition in the arena stiffens further. However, if executed with the customer in mind, there is indeed significant value that can be attained.
Times
22-06-2025
- Business
- Times
Trump tariffs leave UK firms scrambling to renegotiate contracts
British companies are looking to renegotiate supplier contracts as they scramble to find savings that can protect them from the impact of escalating US tariffs, according to new data. A survey of firms with more than 5,000 employees found that 90 per cent fear that President Trump's import duties would hurt their revenues and profits, with businesses looking at a series of ways to manage rising costs. More than half (55 per cent) said their main tool to deal with tariff threats was to review existing contracts to find savings or renegotiate better terms with break clauses that could account for the imposition of new levies, according to Acertis, which provides contract management software. Bernadette Bulacan at Icertis said companies' first resort 'to protect margins is to take a critical look at customer and supplier relationships. For many companies, the path to surviving tariff disruption starts not with policy lobbying but with a forensic look at what's already been committed to on paper.' She said firms were taking measures to include rules of termination and force majeure clauses in contracts to deal with costs caused by tariffs, while also seeking out new suppliers in countries that were not affected by sweeping US levies. The Trump administration applied a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs he had announced on most of the world economy on April 8, which is due to expire in early July. The president has signed a partial tariff deal with the UK, but most British goods will still be subject to a 10 per cent tariff when selling to US markets, raising the average US tariff rate from about 1 per cent last year to more than 6 per cent. The European Union is also in talks with the White House about avoiding a potential 55 per cent tariff on all its goods exports. • Britain's exporters at a loss over US tariff turmoil The debate over contractual terms between suppliers and customers is part of a swathe of legal complexities about who should shoulder the cost of import taxes. In April, Howmet Aerospace, an American supplier of components to the sector, declared a force majeure event that would allow it to stop shipments if it remained subject to US tariffs. Although the full gamut of threatened tariffs has not yet been applied on most countries, recent data has shown a spike in invoice rejections as businesses attempt to delay supplier payments until they have more certainty about US trade policy. Icertis's survey, which included 1,000 companies across Britain, the United States and India, found that just under half of them were 're-evaluating' where to find suppliers to avoid tariffs, restructuring their supply chains and manufacturing plants, and also considering 'sunsetting relationships that no longer serve under new cost and compliance pressures'. About 40 per cent of UK firms said they would absorb higher costs into their margins and just over a third said they were planning to raise prices charged to consumers to deal with tariffs. Bulacan said companies should also consider price adjustment clauses that account for tariff changes. 'In the same way that force majeure clauses changed fundamentally during the pandemic, these clauses could be invoked against new tariffs to prevent potential losses,' she said.
Bloomberg
20-06-2025
- Automotive
- Bloomberg
Musk's Tesla Prepares to Launch Robotaxi Service
As Tesla prepares to launch its robotaxi service in Austin, Kara Kockelman, Professor of Transportation Engineering at the University of Texas, discusses the cost savings that autonomous driving can bring to the roads. She joins Caroline Hyde on 'Bloomberg Tech.' (Source: Bloomberg)
Bloomberg
22-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Carney Looks to AI for Savings as Canada's Budget Pressures Mount
By and Derek Decloet Save Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada will begin to use artificial intelligence 'at scale' to make the government more productive, as his administration looks for ways to squeeze out cost savings in a time of economic pressure. Carney released a letter spelling out seven major priorities for his new cabinet, one of which is 'spending less on government operations' to free up money for other priorities. The prime minister promised during the recent election campaign to rebuild Canada's military and use the financial backing of the government to accelerate home construction, among other spending ideas.
