State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Rajnish Kumar wants to assure investors he’s in complete control of the ‘demon’ of soured loans. Not so fast, Aladdin. The bank’s first quarterly profit in 12 months is no doubt an encouraging sign, though net income of $129 million on a $284 billion loan book is hardly worth celebrating. Besides, it’s premature for ...

Very little went wrong for DBS Group Holdings Ltd. last quarter. Singapore’s biggest bank, the last to report earnings, posted a 76 percent jump in net income. Net interest margins widened 13 basis points and credit costs were 71 percent lower than a year earlier. Investment banking wobbled, but trading income surged to compensate. The joys of being a bank ...

“To get rich, first build a road” is one of those Chinese proverbs that tends to impress foreigners — evoking, as it does, a combination of farsightedness and concern for practicalities. As China is discovering with its globe-spanning Belt and Road project, though, the world doesn’t always play along. The initiative has run into trouble, and its success now depends ...

Wouldn’t it be great if we could all drive without dirtying the air we breathe? Alas, not everyone can afford an electric car. The good news is the death of the internal combustion engine is nearing and electric-vehicle sales are on a tear. Countries that together account for more than 10 percent of global auto sales have detailed plans to ...

A ride-hailing rivalry is gearing up in Southeast Asia. With a fresh $2 billion war chest, Singapore-based GrabTaxi Holdings Pte is doubling down on its expansion into Indonesia. Meanwhile, Go-Jek Indonesia PT is tiptoeing into its main competitor’s home turf, and making a foray into Vietnam’s buzzing cities. Jockeying for success probably comes naturally to the companies’ founders, who were ...

For years, analysts and journalists watching Apple Inc. have talked up the growing importance of services, as opposed to hardware sales, to the company’s top line. But it’s only now that Apple’s business model truly appears to be shifting towards collecting rent from the company’s ecosystem and increasingly relying on gadget sales to perpetuate this rent rather than drive growth. ...

Bloomberg The main shareholder in Danske Bank A/S just made clear it won’t stand by and watch the chairman muddle through the lender’s biggest crisis in a century. As Danske finds itself at the center of one of Europe’s worst ever money laundering scandals, A.P. Moller Holding A/S used its roughly 20 percent stake in the bank to force Chairman ...

Bloomberg The People’s Bank of China sold 20 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) of bills in its first issuance in Hong Kong on Wednesday, a move that could reduce the offshore yuan’s liquidity and support the Chinese currency. PBOC sold 10 billion yuan of three-month bills at 3.79 percent, according to a statement on the central bank’s website. It issued 10 ...

Bloomberg Spain’s largest banks soared in Madrid trading after the Supreme Court said they aren’t liable for mortgage stamp duty payments that could have imposed billions of euros in extra costs. The court reversed an earlier ruling that lenders should pay the tax, which had typically been passed on to customers, sparking fury across the Spanish political spectrum and prompting ...

Bloomberg Credit Agricole SA’s corporate banking and financing operations helped boost earnings at its investment bank for a second straight quarter, driving up the division’s revenue 5 percent. Analysts and investors will probably focus on the quality of the earnings and key metrics including bank’s improved financial strength and efforts on cost after net income and revenue came in near ...