International business briefs: Swisscom treads water amid uncertainty

Maersk lifts profit forecast on container demand

Copenhagen — Shipping group Maersk raised its full-year profit forecast on Thursday as robust global container demand defied fears that tariffs would hit trade, although the company predicted a slowdown later this year.

Maersk, viewed as a barometer of world trade, said it now expected global container volumes to increase 2%-4% this year, compared with a range of down 1% to up 4% estimated in May. The new range implies lower second-half growth, it said.

A drop in US imports after President Donald Trump unleashed a barrage of tariffs on foreign goods “was more than offset” by strong growth in imports into other regions, including Europe, the Danish firm said in its second-quarter earnings statement.

CEO Vincent Clerc told reporters that most customers, which include Walmart and Nike, are taking a wait-and-see approach to potential changes in their supply chains, and that container shipping was immune to trade tariffs in the short term. Reuters

Swisscom downbeat about revenue

Swisscom expects its annual revenue to land at the lower end of its confirmed guidance range, it said on Thursday, as corporate customers, awaiting clarity on the economic situation, delay investments and purchase decisions.

The situation remains stable, albeit less favourable than the telecom operator had anticipated, as US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imports reshape the economic landscape, CEO Christoph Aeschlimann said in a post-earnings call.

Many business-to-business (B2B) customers have entered cost-saving mode or delayed IT investments, making growth in the segment more challenging, Aeschlimann said, adding that the trend was likely to persist for the rest of the year. Reuters

Huawei-Chery e-vehicle brand gets big investment

Beijing — Huawei’s joint electric vehicle brand with Chery said on Thursday that it would invest more than 10-billion yuan ($1.39bn) and expand its research & development team to 5,000 people.

It did not give a timeline for the move, which it said aimed to strengthen the brand’s lead in technology terms, according to a WeChat post.

A new company was also created to integrate production, sales and services. Reuters

China pleased with S&P Global’s ratings affirmation

Beijing — China’s finance ministry said on Thursday it was glad to see that S&P Global had reaffirmed China’s sovereign credit ratings, and pledged to “dynamically” adjust policy reserves and strive to achieve the annual growth target.

The ministry statement was in response to S&P Global Ratings reaffirming its A+ long-term and A-1 short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on China, as well as maintaining the country’s outlook as stable.  Reuters

OMV mulls hiring new CEO

Vienna — The chair of OMV says he is eyeing the hiring of a new CEO this year, saying the new top executive would have to balance a push for growth at both its established oil and gas business and at new, more climate-friendly ventures.

In a surprise move, CEO Alfred Stern said he had decided in May not to stand for re-election after his term ends in August 2026. Stern led a push towards sustainable fuels, chemicals and recycling.

“We are currently still at the very beginning of the recruiting process ... I really wouldn’t rule out having a decision already by the end of the year,” supervisory board chair Lutz Feldmann said on Thursday.

Growth in the oil and gas business remains an important pillar of OMV, he said. Reuters

Adani Power to build coal-fired power plant in India

Bengaluru — Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s group will build and operate a $3bn coal-fired power plant in Bihar state with a 2.4GW capacity, it said on Thursday, the biggest coal plant constructed in India via private investment in a decade.

The first of three units at the plant will be commissioned within four years, with the last expected to come online in five years’ time, Adani Power said. The move marks a return of private investment to India’s greenfield coal-based power projects after more than a decade of absence. Reuters

Drugmaker Hikma slashes annual margin forecast

Bengaluru — Hikma shares fell on Thursday as the drugmaker cut the margin forecast for its largest unit due to a strong euro and rising costs, overshadowing a profit beat and reaffirmed annual outlook.

The generic drugmaker now expects full-year core operating margin at 32%-33% for its injectables business, which accounted for 42% of core revenue in 2024.

Hikma previously expected margins in the mid-30s percentage.

Shares fell as much as 10% to 1,695 pence, making it the biggest loser on Britain's blue-chip index, which was down 0.26% in morning trade. Reuters

German auto group urges EU-US tariffs solution

Berlin — Germany’s VDA auto association said on Thursday that the promised trade agreement between the EU and the US needed to be implemented now so the industry could receive some relief.

Sectoral tariffs of 27.5% “remain in place and place a significant burden on German automakers and automotive suppliers, as well as on transatlantic trade,” said VDA president Hildegard Mueller in a press release.

The EU Commission and German government must vigorously advocate for the US to withdraw sectoral tariffs, she said.

A source familiar with the EU-US negotiations had said on Wednesday that the EU is likely to have to wait a few more days for an executive order by US President Donald Trump. Reuters

Singapore’s DBS Bank reaffirms annual outlook

Singapore —  Singapore’s DBS, Southeast Asia's biggest bank by assets, on Thursday reaffirmed its full-year outlook after reporting quarterly profit that beat market expectations, sending its share price to a record high.

DBS attributed the increase to higher total income, though profitability metrics fell slightly, and raised its dividend payout.

The bank fared better than peers Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp and United Overseas Bank, both of which cut their expectations for the full-year citing the broader potential effect of US tariffs on Southeast Asia.

DBS reported a 1% year-on-year rise in April-June net profit at S$2.82bn ($2.2bn), beating a S$2.77bn average of three analyst estimates compiled by LSEG.

However profitability metrics declined. The bank’s net interest margin fell to 2.05% from 2.14% and return on equity fell to 16.7% from 18.2%. Reuters

Data show China coal imports declined in July

Beijing — China’s July coal imports fell 23% from a year earlier to 35.61-million tonnes, General Administration of Customs data showed on Thursday, as ample domestic supply curbed demand.

While July’s imports were down from the year-earlier level, they were higher than in June when imports dropped to a more than two-year low as hotter weather spurred demand for air conditioning, supporting electricity consumption.

“A large reduction in imports compared to a year earlier reflects greater coal supply self-sufficiency, as domestic production over the year to date has outstripped coal consumption, which has been suppressed by strong growth in renewable power generation,” said LSEG lead coal analyst Toby Hassall.

Looking forward, the market is weighing whether China will take steps to scale back production and curb domestic oversupply. Reuters

State-owned Uniper slows renewables investment

Frankfurt/Dusseldorf — Uniper will invest €5bn through 2030, mainly in renewables and gas-fired power plants, the German utility said on Thursday, in a strategy update that reflects more sober expectations for green energy markets.

The state-owned utility last year slowed down an initial plan of investing €8bn in its transformation by 2030, delaying that target to the early 2030s over falling returns on renewable projects and a delay in the development of hydrogen markets. It confirmed that timeline on Thursday.

Those challenges have led several European utilities, including larger German peer RWE, to come under pressure from investors to review their capital allocations, forcing them to trim spending plans.

“The regulatory and geopolitical environment is challenging,” Uniper CEO Michael Lewis said, citing delays to German government plans to build new gas-fired power plants as well as the slow hydrogen ramp-up. Reuters

Morgan Advanced Materials cuts profit forecast

Bengaluru — Shares of Morgan Advanced Materials tumbled as much as 25% on Thursday after the British chip parts supplier forecast annual profit to be around the lower end of market expectations, and warned that the market might not recover in the second half.

Its shares dropped as much as 25% to 168 pence per share.

The semiconductor industry is under pressure as global uncertainty and trade tensions mount. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the US will levy a 100% tariff on imported chips, exempting firms that manufacture domestically or have committed to doing so.

The company, which has about 14 manufacturing sites in the US, now expects its annual adjusted operating profit to fall at the lower end of the company-compiled consensus range of £115.6m to £126.3m. Reuters