Welcome to Nikkei Asian Preview.
The canine days of summer are upon us, however this week will be full of corporate news. The administrators and creditors of Luckin Coffee and Virgin Australia will meet to make a decision on control of their troubled companies. The effects will come from chinese oil company Sinopec and Intel will launch a new generation of chips to catch up with Taiwan’s TSMC.
The PMI figures are from China on Monday, as are India’s quarterly gross domestic product.
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Monday
Sinopec results
China Petroleum – Chemical, better known as Sinopec, will be part of the latest wave of indexed companies in Hong Kong and mainland China, which will be held until Monday to present its provisional effects until June.
The big picture: Sinopec has a really significant drop in revenue and a net loss, if the effects of its local PetroChina pair are something to say. The world’s great powers have been affected by the fall in the coronavirus oil market.
Why it’s important: Sinopec has tightened its belt, adding its investment budget, which has broader implications for the Chinese economy, given the length of the company.
What to watch for: Sinopec’s investment plan and management’s outlook for the full year and beyond. Although demand for oil has picked up from its trough in the first quarter, hopes for a recovery remain modest at best.
India’s quarterly GDP
Economists expect a sharp contraction of 15% to 25% when India publishes its GDP figures from April to June on Monday. India spent the quarter under one of the strictest coronavirus blockades in the world, severely disrupting economic activity.
Background: India’s economy was already slowing before the outbreak of the pandemic, developing by only 4.2% in the last fiscal year, its slowest speed in 11 years.
The advantage: India appears to be one of the few G20 economies, along with China and Indonesia, to record GDP figures above prepanemic grades until the end of next year, according to Moody’s analysts.
Tuesday
Beginnings of the whole city in Hong Kong
Hong Kong will begin a city-wide coronavirus testing program on Tuesday to identify asymptomatic cases, with the aim of containing a third wave of COVID-19 infections. But the beijing-backed voluntary program has been met with skepticism from Hong Kongers, who are concerned that their DNA knowledge is not good through the testing of mainland Chinese corporations. Executive Director Carrie Lam accused critics of denigrating the governments of Hong Kong and Beijing for the program.
Speech on the State of the Nation in Kazakhstan
Economic and social problems will take the top spot on the calendar when Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev delivers his annual state-of-the-nation report on Tuesday.
State: Kazakhstan’s economy has been heavily affected by the pandemic and falling oil costs this year, as the decline requires its commodity exports. The World Bank expects its GDP to contract by 3% this year, the first drop in more than two decades.
Why this is important: While the World Bank expects the economy to recover to an expansion of 2.5% by 2021, the government will closely follow progress as the prolonged crisis pushes thousands of Kazakhs into poverty. This is likely to be to stoke public outcry ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for early next year.
Wednesday
Luckin board votes on Sean Shao
Luckin Coffee, the troubled Chinese challenger at Starbucks, will hold an ordinary shareholders’ meeting Wednesday to vote on the reinstatement of Sean Shao as president. Luckin said the vote was requested through shareholders who Shao’s re-election will help the coffee chain get back on track after its sales scandal.
Who’s Sean Shao? Shao was chairman of a special committee investigating fraud, but was overthrown at an ordinary shareholders’ meeting last July with former Luckin president Charles Lu.
Thursday
Taiwan begins iQiyi ban
The Taiwanese government is filling a loophole to ban Tencent Holdings and Baidu from providing video streaming in Taiwan starting Friday.
Background: In recent weeks, Taipei has intensified its review of the continent’s investments and commercial operations on the island. The Taiwanese government of Taobao’s online grocery shopping center recently ordered re-registration as a Chinese company or retiring within six months. The Taiwanese government said Alibaba Group Holding had concealed its stake in Taobao by moving its investments across the UK and Singapore.
Intel launches Tiger Lake processor
The long-awaited launch of Intel Tiger Lake’s new central processing unit, supplied with its 10 nanometer maximum complex semiconductor technology, will take place on Thursday. Intel says the product line will offer advanced graphics and synthetic intelligence capabilities.
Why it’s important: In July, Intel showed that its 7 nanometer chips would face production delays until 2023. Competitor TSMC has been generating such chips for years and will begin production of five nanometer chips this summer.
Japan welcomes assembly of ministers
Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi will receive opposite numbers and representatives of the United Nations, civil society and corporate partners in an online forum to discuss plans for a sustainable recovery of the coronavirus crisis. Speakers come with Selwin Hart, special adviser to the UN Secretary-General for Climate Action, and Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The meeting, which will begin Thursday at 8pm. Japan’s time is open to the public.
Friday
Virgin Australia votes on Bain’s bailout
Creditors of the collapsed Australian airline Virgin Australia will vote on a public takeover bid from US personal equity company Bain Capital after a possible rival offer collapsed. Bain’s plan would have the airline fire a third of its staff. Bondholders would only get about 10% of their investments, while shareholders, adding the Chinese organization HNA and Singapore Airlines, would get nothing.
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