Cathay CEO says labor shortage limits airline to 70% of pre-Covid capacity
Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific has said recruitment constraints are holding it back from raising its target of returning to 70 per cent of its pre-Covid-19 pandemic capacity by the end of this year.
“We are facing various constraints, primarily in manpower,” Chief Executive Ronald Lamm said during the carrier’s annual general meeting on Wednesday. “I don’t see much scope for further raising the 70 per cent capacity target.”
The airline said it was back to 50 per cent of pre-Covid capacity in March and expects full capacity by the end of 2024. Lam said she expected airfares to drop “slightly” as capacity increased.
Asian equities slide as investor mood dips on US inflation data
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.3% on Tuesday after a muted day in the US, where investors sat on the edge © Miguel Candela/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Asian shares declined on Wednesday morning as traders anticipated the release of US inflation data later in the day.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.3 percent, China’s CSI 300 0.5 percent and Japan’s Topix 0.4 percent. The move followed a quiet day in the US on Tuesday, where investors awaited the release of Consumer Price Index data.
Those figures will form part of the Federal Reserve’s calculations on the future direction of interest rates, with investors divided on whether the central bank will continue to tighten policy.
Oil edges lower as stocks rise and investors await Fed response
Oil prices edged lower on Wednesday after US weekly crude inventory data increased stockpiles and investors awaited inflation data that will influence the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy.
International benchmark Brent crude fell 0.2 per cent to $77.27 a barrel, while US marker West Texas Intermediate fell by a similar margin to $73.53.
Crude inventories rose by about 3.6 million barrels last week, data from the American Petroleum Institute showed, possibly indicating weaker demand.
US consumer price index data released later on Wednesday will influence the Fed’s monetary policy meeting next month and is expected to increase headline CPI at an annual rate of 5 percent in April.
UK man pleads guilty in hacking case that hijacked celebrity Twitter accounts
Joseph James O’Connor, known online as PlugWalkJoe, was arrested in July 2021 in Estepona, Spain. He was later extradited to the US © John Nazca/Reuters
A British national pleaded guilty on Tuesday to US computer hacking charges, including a 2020 attack on Twitter that took over dozens of celebrity accounts to demand more than $115,000 in cryptocurrency.
Joseph James O’Connor, better known online as Plugwhack Joe, was extradited from Spain to the US on April 26.
“O’Connor used his sophisticated technical abilities . . . to steal large amounts of cryptocurrency, hack Twitter, infiltrate computers to take over social media accounts, and even for cyberbullying two victims, including a minor,” said US Attorney Damian Williams.
He gained unauthorized access to Twitter accounts including those of Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Kanye West and Elon Musk. O’Connor, 23, was arrested in 2021 on the Costa del Sol.
what to see in asia today
India: Voters go to vote in state elections in Karnataka, including India’s technology capital Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore. The contest has been unusually hotly contested, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party pouring in resources and Prime Minister Narendra Modi committing to five days of campaigning in an effort to avoid losing his last southern foothold to the opposition Congress.
Earning: It’s a big day for Japanese companies, as Toyota, SoftBank, Panasonic, Nippon Steel and others reported today.
Market: Futures in Japan edged lower while contracts in Hong Kong were marginally higher on Wednesday morning. US stocks declined on Tuesday, but traders were mostly on edge ahead of the release of key inflation data. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 ended the day down 0.5 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.6 percent.
Culture: Sovereign Art Foundation Asian Art Prize exhibition begins in Hong Kong. The Financial Times is a media partner for the exhibition, which is open at 80 Queen’s Road Central until 18 May.
Kevin McCarthy says ‘no new movement’ in White House debt limit talks
US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, left, speaks to reporters as he departs Capitol Hill for a White House debt-limit meeting on Tuesday © Julia Nichinson/Reuters
US President Joe Biden and congressional Republicans failed to reach a breakthrough after their first major meeting to avert a crisis over the debt ceiling, but agreed to continue talks and hold a new summit on Friday.
Speaking outside the White House on Tuesday afternoon, Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said there was “no new movement” after the gathering of America’s top political leaders. McCarthy said, “Everybody reiterates the position they were at.”
Despite the lack of immediate progress, the meeting set the stage for talks that will dominate US politics and potentially reshape global financial markets in the coming weeks.
what top read Republicans are demanding,
Tucker Carlson plans to restart show on Twitter after being dropped from Fox
Tucker Carlson plans to relaunch his show on Twitter after being fired from Fox, telling followers he is being “manipulated” by television news and Elon Musk’s social media site The Last Remaining Big is the platform that “allows free speech”.
In a three-minute video posted on his Twitter page, Carlson announced that a new version of the show would be “debuting soon”, but did not provide further details.
“At the most basic level, the news you read is a lie”, Carlson said in a scathing attack against the American media. “You are being manipulated.”
Read more at Carlson’s media plans,
Occidental misses Wall Street forecasts as Berkshire buybacks begin
Oxy said it would begin buying back preferred stock, which commands hefty dividend payments, four years after Berkshire Hathaway’s investment © Mario Anzuni/Reuters
Occidental Petroleum reported earnings that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations as it began buying back nearly $10 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway’s preferred stock.
The Houston-based oil and gas producer, known as Oxy, reported revenue of $7.3bn and net income of $983mn for the first three months of 2023. Analysts had expected $7.4bn and $1.2bn, respectively, according to S&P Capital IQ.
Oxy also said it would begin buying back preferred stock, which mandates huge dividend payments four years after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway invested substantially in the company to support its dramatic acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum. Did.
Shares fell 2 per cent in after-market trading in New York.
Airbnb shares plunge 10% after weak booking outlook
Shares of Airbnb fell more than 10 percent in extended trading after the company said it expected bookings in the current quarter to be lower than last year.
The company reported $1.82bn in sales, representing 20 per cent annual revenue growth, while earning $117mn, beating Wall Street profit estimates by nearly 150 per cent, its first profitable first quarter .
Gross booking value, a key company metric, rose 19 percent to $20.4 billion.
Airbnb’s guidance for the current quarter had lowered earnings, which had forecast a slowdown in bookings. “We expect year-over-year growth in nights and experiences booked in the second quarter of 2023 to be less than our revenue growth during the quarter,” the company said.
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