SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's smallest listed lender, United Overseas Bank (UOB), reported a rise of 11% in second-quarter profit, supported by a strong improvement in net interest income amid increasing interest rates.

"This rising interest rate environment is set to further boost our margins for the year," Chief Executive Wee Ee Cheong said in a statement. "We continue to see economic activity picking up as borders reopen and investment flows resume."

The bank posted net profit of S$1.11 billion ($805 million) in the quarter to June 30, in line with market estimates, against S$1 billion a year earlier. Net interest income jumped 18% while net fee income dropped 3%.

(Reporting by Anshuman Daga; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

LENORAH, Texas (AP) — To the naked eye, the Mako Compressor Station outside the dusty West Texas crossroads of Lenorah appears unremarkable, similar to tens of thousands of oil and gas operations scattered throughout the oil-rich Permian Basin. What’s not visible through the chain-link fence is the plume of invisible gas, primarily methane, billowing from the gleaming white storage tanks up into the cloudless blue sky. The Mako station, owned by a subsidiary of West Texas Gas Inc., was observed

ATCO Ltd. (TSX: ACO.X) (TSX: ACO.Y)

U.S. chip manufacturer SkyWater Technology Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google Public Sector announced on Thursday they are expanding an open source platform to design chips that can be made in SkyWater’s Minnesota facility. SkyWater said the U.S. Department of Defense is funding $15 million for the development of the platform. “One of the reasons the U.S. government is investing in this initiative is because they can then take the output of a lot of this development,” said SkyWater CEO Thomas Sonderman.

The government in recent weeks has attempted to curb imports in the face of fast depleting foreign reserves, a declining currency and a widening current account deficit, because of which the rupee has lost over 20% of its value this year. The move has had a cascading effect on industries that rely on imports to complete finished goods as they say the central bank has delayed the clearance of letters of credit with banks facing a shortage of dollars, affecting their ability to import materials. “There will be 10 working days next month, only if central bank allows us to open letter of credit based on the quota they promised,” Ali Asghar Jamali, chief executive at Indus Motor Company Ltd which assembles Toyota vehicles in Pakistan, told Reuters.

Through war, siege and social strife, rich and poor countries across the world have had a long and often painful history of rationing anything from food to fuel and water, sometimes with unintended consequences. 1793-94 - The food crisis in the chaotic aftermath of the 1789 French Revolution led Maximilien Robespierre's government to seek to control grain from the fields right up to the mouths of consumers under a rationing system backed by the guillotine. Its harshness finally led to Robespierre's fall from power and his execution, also by the guillotine.

Shopify (TSX:SHOP)(NYSE:SHOP) stock remains down by 76%, yet this other value stock is up by 15% year to date. The post Forget Shopify Stock: Buy This Value Stock After Strong Earnings appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus and Greece plan to consult with other European Union members on how to respond if Turkey tries again to drill for oil and gas inside waters that Cyprus claims as its exclusive economic zone, the Cypriot foreign minister said Thursday. Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said earlier this week that the country’s newest drill ship, the Abdullhamid Han, would set sail Aug. 9 for a drilling operation “in the Mediterranean.” The exact location has not been announced. “W

Canadians battling a volatile market should consider snatching up growth stocks like CAE Inc. (TSX:CAE)(NYSE:CAE) at a discount. The post 3 Top Growth Stocks to Buy Before August appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

As a cost-of-living crisis with no end in sight sends shockwaves through Europe, deals in the region's retail and consumer-products industries have slowed dramatically - even more so than in other sectors, data shows. Record inflation around the world has changed the way people shop, with many families trading down to cheaper private label products instead of the key brands that the likes of Unilever, Procter & Gamble and Nestle advertise so heavily. In Europe, amid uncertainty around the consumer goods and retail industries - and with a potential recession looming - corporate buyers and sellers are finding it hard to agree on valuations, according to six bankers and M&A lawyers at major firms.

Fed boss Jerome Powell was reticent on the future policy-tightening path, so markets, ever optimistic, took it as a sign the U.S. central bank will pivot to a slower rate-hike pace. Note, some argue the opposite, pointing to Powell's allusion to an "unusually large" move at the next meeting. What is clear is that the Fed, like the European Central Bank, will no longer offer markets explicit forward guidance, ditching a policy adopted during the low-inflation years in favour of a data-dependent approach.

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) has published new NCCN Guidelines for Patients®: Breast Cancer Screening and Diagnosis to help people understand their personal risk for breast cancer, when they should begin screening, and how often to screen—in order to detect cancer earlier, for more treatment options and better outcomes. With this information, they are equipped to have more informed conversations with their health care providers and be active decision-makers in their long-te

The U.S. economy shrank for a second straight quarter, data released on Thursday showed, amplifying an ongoing debate over whether the country is, or will soon be, in recession. The 0.9% annualized rate of decline in U.S. gross domestic product in the second quarter followed a 1.6% drop in the first quarter. Although the "two-quarter" definition is handy for analysts, journalists and the general public, it is not how economists think about business cycles.

Tourmaline Oil amazes again with strong Q2 numbers and another special dividend. The post Tourmaline Oil (TSX:TOU) Delights Again With a Massive Special Dividend appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

Mastercard Inc warned on Thursday that runaway inflation was sapping spending from lower-income customers, after rounding out a strong quarter for card issuers. "In the U.S., what you are seeing is a declining trend in terms of the growth rates on the lower income side of things," Chief Financial Officer Sachin Mehra said on an analyst call. Mastercard's commentary was less optimistic than rival Visa Inc, which said it was yet to see signs of a pullback in spending from its cardholders.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed sweeping legislation on Thursday to subsidize the domestic semiconductor industry as it competes with Chinese and other foreign manufacturers, a victory for President Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats hoping to keep their slim majority in Congress in November midterm elections. Passage sends the bill to the White House, where Biden is expected to sign it into law as soon as early next week. The Senate passed the "Chips and Science" act with bipartisan support on Wednesday, after more than a year of effort.

CALGARY — MEG Energy Inc. reported a $225-million profit in its latest quarter as it completed on time and on budget the planned turnaround at its Christina Lake Phase 2B facility. The Calgary-based oilsands developer says it earned 72 cents per diluted share in the second quarter, compared with 22 cents per share or $68 million a year earlier. Revenues for the three months ended June 30 were $1.57 billion, up from $1.01 billion in the second quarter of 2021. The company says bitumen production

Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE/TSX: BHC), and its gastroenterology business Salix Pharmaceuticals, today announced the U.S. District Court of Delaware issued an Oral Order in the matter of Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. et al v. Norwich Pharmaceuticals, Inc. regarding the infringement and validity of certain U.S. Patents protecting the composition and use of XIFAXAN® (rifaximin) 550 mg tablets for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea (IBS-D) and reduction in risk of overt hep

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its benchmark interest rate by a hefty three-quarters of a point for a second straight time in its most aggressive drive in more than three decades to tame high inflation. The Fed’s move will raise its key rate, which affects many consumer and business loans, to a range of 2.25% to 2.5%, its highest level since 2018. Speaking at a news conference after the Fed's latest policy meeting, Chair Jerome Powell offered mixed signals about the ce

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Luxury fashion group Prada beat first-half sales and profit forecasts on Thursday and said it could reach its mid-term targets earlier than planned, although that would depend on how the current uncertain economic environment unfolds. However, sales in the Asia Pacific region overall declined by 7% in the period as lockdowns in mainland China from mid-March impacted around 30% of group stores. The key Chinese market improved since store re-openings in June, Prada said.