06-08-2021

FriDAY, August 6, 2021
8
Corona Virus (Covid-19) has spread in the form of a global pandemic, creating the biggest global crisis of all time.
the number of victims and deaths in Bangladesh is constantly increasing. At this crisis moment, First security
islami Bank Ltd. has provided financial assistance to the Pothikrit samajkalyan sangstha's 'Oxygen to save Lives'
program for the treatment of people infected with the corona virus.Mr. Md. Mustafa Khair, Additional Managing
Director of the Bank handed over the check to Mr. Abdullah Al Kafi, representative of the Pothikrit samajkalyan
sangstha. in his brief speech, the Additional Managing Director of the bank expressed his hope to continue the
cooperation of First security islami Bank Ltd. against the corona virus.
Photo : Courtesy
Adidas lifts outlook on
Olympics, football seasons
FRANKFURT : German
sportswear brand Adidas on
Thursday bumped up its
earnings outlook for the year,
as it expects the Olympics and
the upcoming European and
American football seasons to
boost its sales.
The Bavaria-based group
recorded a net profit of 397
million euros ($470 million)
between April and June, as
pandemic restrictions eased
and the football European
Championships got going.
Its bottom-line was
decisively up on the same
period last year, when
temporary shop closures in
much of the world because of
the Covid-19 pandemic left
the group with a 295 million
euro loss.
Adidas now expects sales
for the year to increase by 20
percent across the board and
for net profit to touch between
1.4 and 1.5 billion euros.
The optimistic prediction
was made despite "Covid-19-
related lockdowns, industrywide
supply chain challenges
and the geo-political
situation", Adidas said in a
statement. "Driven by the
strength of our brand and
better-than-expected demand
for our products, we saw an
acceleration in our top- and
bottom-line," Adidas CEO
Kasper Rorsted said in a press
release.
"This momentum gives us
all the confidence to increase
our full-year outlook despite
the external challenges that
our industry continues to
face."
The group saw improved
sales in all regions except
China, which dipped by 16
percent compared with the
same three-month period,
although the company said
the drop reflected a strong
recovery in the second quarter
last year.
By contrast, in Europe and
North America, sales were up
year on year by 99 percent
and 87 percent, respectively.
Adidas said it expected an
acceleration in sales in the
second half of the year
"fuelled by an array of
innovative product releases"
and major sports events like
the current Olympic games in
Tokyo and the start of the
American football and
European club football
seasons.
Huawei to invest US$100 million in Asia
Pacific startup ecosystem over 3 years
Huawei announced its plan
to invest US$100 million in
startup support recently at
its inaugural Spark
Founders Summit, which
took place simultaneously in
Singapore and Hong Kong.
Huawei said the investment
would go towards its Spark
program, which aims to
build a sustainable startup
ecosystem in the Asia Pacific
region over the next three
years, a press release said
Huawei has been helping
Singapore build the first
startup hub in APAC since
2020 and has expanded the
program to many countries
in APAC in the past year. At
the summit, Huawei also
announced that this
program would focus its
efforts on developing four
additional startup hubs - in
Indonesia, the Philippines,
Sri Lanka, and Vietnam -
with the overarching aim of
recruiting a total of 1,000
startups, out of which 100
are scaleups, into the Spark
accelerator program.
Three additional startuprelated
initiatives were
launched by Huawei at the
event: The Spark Developer
Program, which aims to
nurture a developer
ecosystem powered by
HUAWEI CLOUD in the
Asia Pacific region; the
Spark Pitstop Program,
designed to onboard and
support startups on
HUAWEI CLOUD to
accelerate product
development; and the Spark
Innovation Program (SIP),
focused on facilitating
enterprise innovation
through the Spark startup
ecosystem.
The Spark Founders
Summit was attended by
representatives from many
prominent Asian startups,
academia, various industries
and governments, and the
media, as well as more than
50 regional top venture
capitalists and over 300
startup founders. Speeches
and panels at the event
focused on the social value of
this startup ecosystem and
how startups can promote
technological and ecosystem
innovation to contribute to
local communities and drive
socioeconomic
development.
Huawei Senior Vice
President and Board
Member Catherine Chen
opened the summit by
emphasizing how important
startups are to social
advancement and what
Huawei is doing to support
startups: "We all know how
brilliant startups and SMEs
are. They are the innovators,
disruptors, and pioneers of
our times. These companies
account for two-thirds of
jobs worldwide, create twothirds
of new jobs, and
generate almost 50% of
global GDP. 34 years ago,
Huawei was a startup with
just 5,000 dollars of
registered capital. Recently,
we have been thinking: How
can we leverage our
experience and resources to
help more startups address
their challenges? Doing so
would allow them to seize
the opportunities posed by
digital transformation,
achieve business success,
and develop more
innovative products and
solutions for the world."
Huawei recognizes
startups as key partners in
creating social value and
contributing
to
communities around the
world. At the Spark
Founders Summit, Huawei
unveiled the latest data on
its innovation research
programs with startups. The
data shows solid
relationships between
Huawei and more than
2,000 partners from across
the Asia Pacific region, with
ongoing initiatives to build
support platforms in close
partnerships with
governments, top VCs, and
leading universities in Hong
Kong and Singapore.
Mahtab steps down
as Robi's Managing
Director and CEO
DHAKA : After a successful
stint as Robi's Managing
Director and CEO for five
years, Mahtab Uddin Ahmed
has decided to step down.
Though his five-year term
with Robi will officially come
to an end on October 31, 2021,
he has decided to go on leave
with immediate effect,
according to a company
release issued on Thursday.
Robi's Chief Financial
Officer (CFO) M Riyaaz
Rasheed, in addition to his
current role, will serve as the
acting CEO with immediate
effect.
Chairman of Robi Board of
Directors, Thayaparan
Sangarapillai said: "On behalf
of the Robi Board of Directors,
I would like to thank Mahtab
for establishing Robi firmly as
the leading digital service
provider of the country."
Mahtab thanked
Bangladesh
Telecommunication
Regulatory Commission,
Posts
and
Telecommunications
Division, ICT Division,
Bangladesh Security
Exchange Commission,
Dhaka Stock Exchange,
Chittagong Stock Exchange,
and Robi's employees,
business partners and
customers for their
cooperation.
As Robi's first home-grown
CEO, Mahtab took the
company to the dizzying
height of success that includes
achieving leadership position
in 4G, a number of pathbreaking
innovative digital
initiatives and the biggestever
IPO.
He leaves behind Robi on a
strong foundation to
transform itself into the
digital champion of the
industry through leadership
in digital innovation.
Engine-maker
Rolls-Royce flies
back into profit
LONDON : British aircraft
engine maker Rolls-Royce
on Thursday announced a
return to half-year profits on
slashed costs after crashing
into a huge loss one year
earlier as the pandemic
hammered aviation.
Rolls posted a net profit of
£393 million ($546 million,
461 million euros) compared
with a loss after tax totalling
£5.38 billion in the first half
of last year.
Rolls, which operates in
the air, defence and energy
sectors, has slashed
thousands of jobs as it seeks
to navigate damaging fallout
from the coronavirus
outbreak.
Uber posts profit on
one-time gains
SAN FRANCISCO : Uber on Wednesday reported a profit in
second quarter on one-time gains and said its pandemic-stalled
ride-hailing business was showing signs of recovering.
The San Francisco-based company reported a profit of $1.1
billion. Revenue rose to $3.9 billion in the recently ended quarter,
more than double what it took in during the same period last year.
The net income for the quarter included gains of $1.4 billion from
the revaluation of its investment in Chinese ride-share firm Didi
and another $272 million from its stake in the autonomous
technology firm Aurora, according to Uber.
Uber made strong progress in luring drivers and couriers back to
its smartphone-summoned ride and delivery businesses, chief
executive Dara Khosrowshahi said during an earnings call.
"The majority of drivers who are coming back to the platform are
what we call resurrected drivers; they've driven with us in the past,"
Khosrowshahi said.
"As vaccination rates go up, we are seeing the resurrected drivers
come back."
But its delivery operations including Uber Eats generated the
largest amount of revenue, with the unit continuing to benefit from
trends that began during pandemic lockdowns last year.
"Our platform is getting stronger each quarter, with consumers
who engage with both Mobility and Delivery now generating nearly
half of our total company gross bookings," Khosrowshahi said.
He saw the Eats restaurant delivery service as a hedge of sorts,
likely seeing increased demand in the event of new Covid-19 lockdowns
that crimp Uber's ride-share business.
Revenue from Uber's rides and delivery units essentially
doubled, while money taken in by a freight division that connects
truckers with shippers jumped 65 percent, according to Uber.
"Uber's ride sharing business is on the clear path to recovery from
the pandemic's impact," said eMarketer analyst Eric Haggstrom.
"We anticipate that Uber will experience hiccups before
returning to their pre-pandemic ridesharing levels; the Delta
variant is deterring many drivers from the ridesharing business."
Tech analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group expected Uber's
earnings income to remain on a bumpy road due to the pandemic.
"With the variants cutting through the population, Uber's income
is going to be pretty uneven at least for the near future," Enderle
told AFP.
Meanwhile, the Eats delivery side of Uber's business is showing
"incredible" traction, according to Haggstrom.
Uber shares were down more than 3 percent in after-market
trades that followed release of the earnings figures.
Uber in July announced a $2.25 billion deal to beef up its freight
unit with the acquisition of Transplace, a firm specializing in
logistics management software.
Brazil central bank
hikes interest rate,
fearing inflation
BRASÍLIA : Brazil's central bank raised its benchmark interest
rate by 100 basis points Wednesday, to 5.25 percent, its fourth
straight hike as soaring inflation forces policymakers to unwind
their pandemic stimulus stance.
The increase, which was in line with analysts' expectations,
was the biggest in 18 years for Latin America's largest economy.
The central bank said another increase "of the same
magnitude" to the Selic rate was likely at its next meeting, set for
September 22.
Its previous three increases had been by 75 basis points each.
The accelerating rate hikes have rapidly brought the Selic up
from its all-time low of two percent a year ago, when the first
wave of Covid-19 was ravaging the country.
Brazil's inflation rate has surged from 2.13 percent in June
2020 to 8.35 percent a year later, crashing through the central
bank's target range of 2.25 to 5.25 percent.
That has left the bank's monetary policy committee
scrambling to contain rising prices-even though raising interest
rates puts a brake on economic growth at a time when pandemic
uncertainty still looms large.
Brazil has recorded nearly 560,000 Covid-19 deaths, second
only to the United States, and has struggled to get vaccines to its
212 million people as far-right President Jair Bolsonaro
continues to defy expert advice on fighting the pandemic.
Bolsonaro, who is trailing leftist ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula
da Silva in the polls for Brazil's October 2022 elections, currently
faces a Senate inquiry into allegations of mismanagement and
corruption in his government's response to Covid-19.
Analysts polled by the central bank forecast Brazil's economy
will grow by 5.3 percent this year, after contracting by a record
4.1 percent in 2020. Economic growth hit a stronger-thanexpected
1.2 percent in the first quarter of 2021, returning the
economy to its pre-pandemic level.
That has policy makers looking more nervous over inflation
than growth as they navigate the traditional trade-off between
the two. The Selic rate stood at 4.5 percent in January 2020,
before the pandemic hit Brazil.
IEB donates 20 oxygen cylinders in Rangpur
RANGPUR : Rangpur centre
of the Institution of
Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB)
jointly with the MAX Group
donated 20 oxygen cylinders
to Rangpur district
administration for treatments
of Covid-19 patients of the
district, reports BSS.
General Secretary of IEB,
Rangpur centre Engineer Md
Rezaul Haque handed over
the oxygen cylinders and
other medical supplies to
Deputy Commissioner (DC)
Md Asib Ahsan at a function
held at the DC's conference
room here on Wednesday.
Rangpur centre of the IEB
jointly with the MAX Group
organised the function with
assistance of the district
administration abiding by the
health directives in the wake
of the Covid-19 pandemic.
President of Rangpur
Banks to remain
closed on
Sunday
DHAKA : Banks will remain closed
on Sunday, said the Bangladesh
Bank in a circular issued on
Thursday.
However, banks' transaction time
on Monday and Tuesday has been
extended by half an hour from 10
am to 3 pm instead of existing time
from 10 am to 2:30 pm.
They can remain open up to 4:30
pm to conduct their official
activities, said the BB circular,
issued against the backdrop of the
government's extension of current
lockdown until August 10
considering the Covid-19 situation.
The other instructions including
maintenance of all Covid-safety
protocols and operation with
limited staff will remain
unchanged.
As per that circular, during this
period, the head offices and other
necessary branches of banks can
remain open with limited staff.
The banks have to conduct its
regular activities like deposits and
withdrawal of money by customers,
demand note/pay order issue,
foreign remittance handover,
payment under the government's
safety-net social programmes and
pension payments.
However, internet banking
services will continue for 24 hours.
All banks will have to ensure the
operations of ATM kiosks to
facilitate transactions through
cards and by supplying adequate
cash in the machines, said the BB
circular.
district unit of Awami League
Mamtaz Uddin Ahmed, Civil
Surgeon Dr Herambo Kumar
Roy, Deputy Director (Local
Government) Farhad
Hossain, Additional Deputy
Commissioner (General) Md
Golam Rabbani, Vicechairman
of the IEB, Rangpur
centre Engineer Rezaul Karim
along with other members of
the organization attended the
Siemens shrugs off supply
chain woes to triple profits
FRANKFURT : German industrial
giant Siemens on Thursday raised its
earnings forecast for the year as profits
almost tripled in the third quarter,
having successfully navigated a global
shortage in raw materials.
Siemens, which makes products
ranging from trains to factory
equipment, said in a statement that it
booked a bottom-line profit of 1.5
billion euros ($1.8 billion) between
April and June, up from 535 million
euros in the same period last year.
Increasing prices for raw materials
and the shortage of key components,
such as semiconductors, which are
widely used in new technologies, have
disrupted the operations of major
companies globally.
Siemens was, however, "mastering a
difficult environment" in relation to
supply-chain issues, chief executive
Roland Busch said in a press release.
On the back of this stong
performance, the company raised its
projection for net profit for the fiscal
year to between 6.1-6.4 billion euros,
above the previous estimate of between
5.7-6.2 billion euros announced in the
last quarter.
"We are continuing the very positive
business development of the first half of
the year and are once again delivering
strong results despite the continuing
challenging environment," Busch said.
"Consequently, we are again raising
our outlook for fiscal 2021."
Busch, who took the reins of the
company from his predecessor Joe
Kaeser at the beginning of the year,
oversaw the second consecutive quarter
in which net profits tripled year on year.
Siemens said that after a difficult
pandemic-blighted year, the company
had found new growth opportunities in
a number of its key markets.
Revenues for the group increased to
16.1 billion euros in the third quarter,
compared with 13 billion euros the
previous years.
The increase in revenue was seen
across all of Siemens' industrial
businesses including double-digit
growth in health, digital industries and
infrastructure divisions.
Sony upgrades
annual profit
outlook on strong
Q1 performance
TOKYO : Sony upgraded its full-year
profit forecast Wednesday on the back of
a strong quarterly performance, although
the pandemic boom enjoyed by the
gaming sector is slowing.
The Japanese entertainment and
consumer electronics giant now predicts
a net profit of 700 billion yen ($6.4
billion) for the fiscal year to March 2022,
up from its earlier estimate of 660 billion
yen.