The Business Times

Apple fans line up to spend US$3,499 on the Vision Pro headset At Apple’s New York store, Tim Cook said customers may be most impressed by the device’s interface – what he called “the magical way you control it”.

Swiss watch exports enjoy another record year in 2023 Sales were lifted by “revenge spending” – with consumers splashing built-up cash on luxury products as confinements eased.

Even at 100, Malaysia billionaire Robert Kuok is still leaving his mark on the business world The Raffles Institution-educated tycoon remains the richest man in Malaysia by some distance.

#BTOpinion: Time for CICT to press on with divestments Bukit Panjang Plaza, 21 Collyer Quay and Citadines Raffles Place present opportunities for the Reit to unlock value and redeploy proceeds to better use.

SGX expands market connectivity with IDX; eyes stronger collaboration with regional bourses SGX and IDX will also explore facilitating dual listings and creating indices as part of the MOU.

As 2025 deadline nears, Vietnam faces hurdles in bid to reach emerging-market status Currently, Vietnam has an average daily trading value of around US$1 billion, in comparison, the average daily trading turnover hit aro…

BREAKING: Singapore banking titan Wee Cho Yaw dies at 95 UOB chairman emeritus Wee Cho Yaw died at 1am on Saturday (Feb 3) at the age of 95, reported Chinese-language daily Lianhe Zaobao. Wee, the billionaire businessman…

Strong CNY dining demand at Singapore’s hotels, restaurants despite cost-of-living woes Not only did Dian Xiao Er outlets near residential areas – such as in Nex and Waterway Point – become fully booked for reunion dinne…

LMS Compliance to expand ESG offerings to assurance and carbon credits verification Some of these projects include using technology to break down municipal waste without burning them or throwing them into the landfill, o…

Zoom cuts jobs in latest move by tech industry to shed workers The reductions are not companywide and Zoom will continue to add people in 2024 in areas such as artificial intelligence, sales and engineering.

#Brunch: Giving birth to luxury post-partum confinement services Why are Singapore's luxury post-partum care centres in high demand despite falling birth rates and steep prices? Discover the rising trend.

BUDGET PERSONALITY QUIZ: Do you worry about global warming or your wallet? Are you watching out for tax breaks, training schemes or more social support? Find out what you really want this upcoming Budget: bt.sg/STr2 For…

MAS seeks to reduce client information collected by financial institutions for some insurance products MAS said that the proposals will affect term life insurance and standard critical illness policies that are recommend…

Malaysia pardons board halves jail sentence of jailed ex-pm Najib Najib, who is serving a 12-year jail term, will be released in August 2028 and fines imposed on him reduced to RM50 million (S$14.13 million) from RM210 m…

Facebook parent Meta declares first dividend, shares soar The company’s stock market valuation surged by more than US$140 billion.

UOL-SingLand JV tops bids for prime Orchard site at lower-than-expected S$1,617 psf ppr Bids came in at low end of expectations and markedly lower than Cuscaden Road plot sold in 2018.

Fare affordability and service reliability key focuses for Grab in 2024: Singapore MD The company has plans to improve its ride-sharing service GrabShare and carpooling service GrabHitch, which managing director Yee Wee…

DBS to merge treasury markets, equity capital markets, brokerage and digital exchange The organisational changes come in tandem with the retirement of Eng-Kwok Seat Moey, DBS’ group head of capital markets, who is steppi…

Singapore’s corporate tax takings in first 9 months of FY23 almost at full-year estimate Despite the uncertain economic environment, operating revenue collection remains strong, as noted by DBS economist Chua Han Teng.

#BTOpinion: After 20 years, it could be time for Singapore to relook personal income tax-free threshold One question, however, is whether the government can afford to lighten the tax burden directly, in the face of growi…

‘No real surprise’ as US Fed funds rate stays unchanged; analysts remain bullish on Asian markets “It does appear that the balance of risks is skewed towards inflation remaining sticky rather than the economy falling int…

Investors’ fear over AT1 bonds long gone; supply expected to rise The prices of two tranches of AT1 bonds issued by UBS in November last year have increased by 6.9 per cent and 8.1 per cent, respectively, reflecting inve…

Singtel partners Nvidia in new push to build green AI-ready data centres When these facilities are up and running, Singtel will offer GPU clusters to its customers to complement their cloud and AI needs.

Hotel landlord who wanted to raise rent beyond cap stated in contract loses court fight The landlord, Hoon Kee Meng, is one of the sons of the late Hoon Thing Leong, who owned the Kim San Leng chain of coffee shops and w…

Cut-off yield on 6-month T-bill slides to 3.54% The bills received a total of S$14.6 billion in applications for the S$6.3 billion on offer, representing a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.32.

Singapore expects to see 15 million to 16 million visitors in 2024, below pre-Covid levels These visitors are expected to bring in S$26 billion to S$27.5 billion.

DPM Wong to deliver 2024 Budget Statement on Feb 16 Reach – the Singapore government’s feedback and engagement unit – will hold an in-person Budget conversation on Feb 23 in English, and another in Mandarin on Mar 13. Fo…

Noel Gifts gets go-ahead for Playfair Road sale; FY2024 results to benefit But the company expects to report a loss for the first half of the financial year.