Tariffs hit Inchcape's Asia-Pacific sales, shares drop 10%
The company, which exports cars for global manufacturers across 40 countries, reported a 15 per cent drop in organic revenue at constant currency from the Asia-Pacific region, which accounts for 28 per cent of its total revenue.
CEO Duncan Tait told Reuters that Indonesia, the Philippines and Hong Kong were among the weakest markets during the period.
Volumes in the premium segment slumped 40 per cent year over year in Indonesia and 15 per cent in the Philippines, Tait said.
Inchcape has distribution agreements with manufacturers including Mercedes-Benz and Harley-Davidson in the two South-east Asian nations.
Inchcape's adjusted operating profit was £247 million (S$424.2 million) for the six months to June 30, down 12 per cent at constant currency from a year ago.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Sign Up
Sign Up
Analysts at JP Morgan called it a 'softer print' compared with expectations as earnings fell 11 per cent short of their estimates, and warned of further downward pressure.
Inchcape's shares, which had rallied nearly 20 per cent in the past six weeks, traded down 7.6 per cent at 739.5 pence by 0800 GMT.
No direct tariff hit
Inchcape said it had not seen any direct material impact from US President Donald Trump's tariffs, and that some indirect disruption to supply-related logistics was insignificant.
It retained its annual forecast of higher earnings per share growth.
Tait said trade deals struck by Japan and the European Union with the US would bring certainty to the industry.
He said supply in the first half held steady despite concerns about exports and production cuts due to tariffs, but indicated that the supply outlook for the second half remained unclear.
Still, the company said it expects financial growth in the second half thanks to upcoming product launches across brands for which there is robust demand and orders. REUTERS
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
7 minutes ago
- Straits Times
US President Trump reserves harshest tariff rates for Laos, Myanmar and Syria
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox US President Donald Trump's revised global tariff plan unveiled on Aug 1 hit Laos and Myanmar hard with a 40 per cent import duty – the second-highest rate in the world behind only Syria at 41 per cent. The White House has not explained its rationale, and US trade with all three is small compared with its other partners. Myanmar remains under US sanctions following its 2021 coup, and Laos has drawn US scrutiny for deepening ties with China. Syria, meanwhile, had been penalised for human rights abuses under former President Bashar Al-Assad, but the US has sought to ease those restrictions since his overthrow last year. In Myanmar's case, trade with the US totalled US$734 million (S$947 million) last year – yet the penalty will deepen an economic collapse that began when Min Aung Hlaing seized power in a coup more than four years ago. Washington has imposed sanctions for what it sees as the junta's use of violence against civilians and suppression of democracy activists. The tariff announcement came just a day after Myanmar's junta lifted emergency rule, paving the way for elections later this year. The US and other governments have criticised the vote as being neither free nor fair. Myanmar's junta chief praised Mr Trump in a rare letter last month and compared his military's coup to the US president's baseless claims of election fraud, suggesting both leaders were victims of rigged votes. Mr Min Aung Hlaing also requested a reduced tariff rate and offered to send a high-level trade delegation to Washington. Deputy Commerce Minister Min Min said by phone the government was unaware of the development and declined to comment. As for Laos, US exports to the South-east Asian nation totalled US$40.4 million last year, while imports reached US$803.3 million. The US has raised concern over its economic dependence on China and mounting debt tied to Chinese infrastructure projects. Mr Trump recently signed an executive order easing sanctions on Syria to help rebuild the war-torn country and support its new government. Observers say there may be a simple reason for the high levies. 'Rather than pick on these three nations, I suspect limited bandwidth in DC led officials to focus on bigger fry,' said Simon Evenett, founder of the St. Gallen Endowment for Prosperity Through Trade, a group based in Switzerland that tracks trade policies. BLOOMBERG
Straits Times
7 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Peruvian informal miners suspend talks with government due to disagreements in negotiations
FILE PHOTO: Informal artisanal miners protest outside the Congress to pressure the Peruvian government to extend the deadline to formalize informal mining operations, in Lima, Peru July 3, 2025. REUTERS/Gerardo Marin/File Photo LIMA - Informal miners in Peru suspended talks with the government and may resume protests due to disagreements in negotiations, one of the protest leaders said on Friday. CONFEMIN union leader, Maximo Franco Bequer, told reporters the government refused to alter an August 17 deadline for miners to move explosives into formal "powder magazines." He said 20,000 miners who cannot meet the deadline would be excluded from a government program to formalize their work. The miners, located in the Cusco region, had suspended their two-week-long protest on July 15 that had blocked a major copper transit route used by mining firms MMG, Glencore and Hudbay. Informal miners in Peru operate with temporary permits under a program created over a decade ago that the government has been trying to end. The miners say the stricter regulations to formalize their work and operate legally are too onerous and would likely leave them without employment. The union expects to meet in the coming hours to decide on new protests. REUTERS
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Rwanda, Congo agree on outline for economic framework as part of peace deal
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox WASHINGTON/DAKAR - Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday agreed on an outline for the regional economic integration framework, according to the U.S. State Department, as the two countries take steps toward delivering on a peace deal signed in Washington in June. The tenets agreed on Friday summarize the framework, which includes elements of cooperation on energy, infrastructure, mineral supply chains, national parks and public health, the State Department said in a statement. Rwanda and Congo signed a peace deal in Washington in June at talks held by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, which aims to bring an end to fighting that has killed thousands and attract billions of dollars of Western investment to a region rich in tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper, lithium and other minerals. As part of the deal, Kinshasa and Kigali agreed to launch a regional economic integration framework within 90 days, the agreement said. A source familiar with the matter said a preliminary draft of the framework has been agreed to and there would now be an input period to get reaction from the private sector and civil society before it is finalized. The framework is planned to be signed at a meeting of heads of state at the White House. No date has been set yet for that meeting, the source said. In the Friday statement, Rwanda and Congo affirmed that each country has "full, sovereign control" over the exploitation, processing and export of its natural resources and recognized the importance of developing mineral processing and transformation capacity within each country, according to a copy seen by Reuters. Kinshasa views the plundering of its mineral wealth as a key driver of the conflict between its forces and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in eastern Congo. Reuters reported in May that Congolese minerals such as tungsten, tantalum and tin, which Kinshasa has long accused neighbouring Rwanda of illegally exploiting, could be exported legitimately to Rwanda for processing under the terms of the deal being negotiated by the U.S., according to sources. The two countries are committed to ensuring that the minerals trade no longer provides funding to armed groups and to create a world-class industrial mining sector in the region, as well as to ensure better cross-border interoperability on mineral supply chains, according to the statement. NEW INFRASTRUCTURE They also agreed to connect new infrastructure to the U.S.-backed Lobito Corridor, underscoring Washington's aim of greater access to resources in the region and efforts to counter China. The Ruzizi III hydropower project and Lake Kivu methane exploitation were the only specific projects mentioned in the statement, despite U.S. emphasis on critical minerals. The countries said they intended to prioritize financing for Ruzizi and work together to exploit the methane gas sustainably. Friday's announcement comes after the two countries held the first meeting of a joint oversight committee on Thursday in a step toward implementing the Washington peace deal even as other commitments are yet to be fulfilled. In the Washington agreement, the two African countries pledged to implement a 2024 deal that would see Rwandan troops withdraw from eastern Congo within 90 days. Congolese military operations targeting the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Congo-based armed group that includes remnants of Rwanda's former army and militias that carried out a 1994 genocide, are meant to conclude over the same timeframe. The deal also said Congo and Rwanda would form a joint security coordination mechanism within 30 days and implement a plan agreed last year to monitor and verify the withdrawal of Rwandan soldiers within three months. But 30 days from the signing has passed without a meeting of the joint security coordination mechanism. The source familiar with the matter said the joint security coordination mechanism meeting would be held on August 7 in Addis Ababa. Congo is also involved in direct talks with M23 hosted by Qatar, and last month the two sides pledged to sign a separate peace agreement by August 18, though many outstanding details need to be negotiated. REUTERS
