Bloomberg Credit Agricole SA’s profit came in above expectations as it joined European peers in posting lower provisions to reflect the improving economy. The Paris-based lender said net income jumped to 1.97 billion euros ($2.3 billion) in the second quarter, more than double the same period last year and above the 1.2 billion euros anticipated by analysts polled by Bloomberg. …

Bloomberg KakaoBank Corp, South Korea’s first internet-only lender to go public, surged more than 70% in its trading debut in Seoul to become the country’s largest retail lender by market value. The stock’s jump of as much as 74% gave the company, which doesn’t have brick-and-mortar branches, a market capitalisation of more than 32 trillion won ($28 billion), bigger than …

Bloomberg Singapore banks will reward investors with higher payouts from better-than-expected earnings, just a week after the central bank lifted restrictions on dividends, marking a nascent recovery from one of their most turbulent years. All of the city state’s top banks — DBS Group Holdings, United Overseas Bank and Oversea-Chinese Banking — said they would increase dividends by an average …

Bloomberg The Bank of England signalled that its concerns over inflation are strong enough to warrant the withdrawal of some support to the UK economy over the next three years. Policy makers led by Governor Andrew Bailey said they now expect annual price growth to peak higher than expected around 4%. While most of the increase may prove temporary, meeting …

Bloomberg Apple Inc defended concerns about its upcoming child safety features, saying it doesn’t believe its tool for locating child pornographic images on a user’s device creates a backdoor that reduces privacy. The Cupertino, California-based technology giant made the comments in a briefing, a day after revealing new features for iCloud, Messages and Siri to combat the spread of objectionable …

Bloomberg Chinese electric vehicle maker Li Auto Inc has raised HK$11.8 billion ($1.5 billion) in its Hong Kong listing, adding to the cohort of US-traded mainland companies selling shares in the Asian financial hub. Li Auto priced 100 million shares at HK$118 each, it said in a statement to the city’s stock exchange. The price represents a discount of about …

Bloomberg Tencent Holdings will review the “youth mode” of its WeChat app after a Beijing prosecutor filed a civil public-interest lawsuit against the company, alleging non-compliance with China’s underage law. The company will “sincerely respond” to the suit, “humbly accept” user suggestions and continue to improve safeguards for teenagers on the app as part of its social responsibility to ensure …

Bloomberg Electric cars are better for the environment and cheaper to run. They’re gaining traction in many countries as governments strive for carbon neutrality. But one thing they don’t have on regular vehicles — that throaty roar that lights up the eyes of gearheads around the world. Yamaha Motor Co is working on a solution. Better known for its motorcycles …

Bloomberg Oil declined for a third day as the coronavirus spread in China and a report showed a surprise build in US crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate futures slumped as much as 3.4%. The delta strain of Covid-19 has been detected in almost half of China’s 32 provinces in two weeks, and at least 46 cities have advised residents against …

DUBAI / Emirates Business Worldwide 5G network infrastructure revenue is on pace to grow 39% to total $19.1 billion in 2021, up from $13.7 billion in 2020, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc. Communications service providers (CSPs) in mature markets accelerated 5G development in 2020 and 2021 with 5G representing 39% of total wireless infrastructure revenue this year. …