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TOKYO — Toyota reported on Tuesday a quarterly net profit of $9.1 billion as global production rebounded after major supply disruptions a year ago, but warned of "severe" competition in China.

The Japanese giant, the world's biggest automaker by sales, said net profit in the three months to June surged 78 per cent year-on-year to 1.31 trillion yen ($9.1 billion).

Sales in the firm's first fiscal quarter were 10.55 trillion yen, up 24.2 per cent from a year ago.

Toyota, including its high-end Lexus brand, sold 2.538 million vehicles worldwide, up 8.4 per cent from a year ago.

The figures beat market expectations, sending the company's stocks up almost three per cent after the announcement.

Major automakers are enjoying a robust surge of global demand after the COVID-19 pandemic slowed manufacturing activities. 

Severe shortages of semiconductors had also limited production capacity for a host of products ranging from cars to smartphones.

Toyota said that chip supplies were improving and that it had raised product prices and worked with suppliers to bring production activities back to normal.

Toyota has said its global production in the first six months of the year reached a record 5.6 million units, while sales reached 5.4 million, reinforcing its position as the world's biggest carmaker. 

However, the company is still experiencing delays for deliveries of new vehicles to customers, it added.

Toyota maintained its annual targets, including net profit of 2.58 trillion yen and sales of 38 trillion yen.

"The sales volume increased in all regions due to productivity improvement efforts promoted with suppliers, in addition to an improvement in the supply and demand situation for semiconductors, which continued for a while," the company said in a statement.

The yen's slide and foreign exchange fluctuations added 115 billion yen to Toyota's operating profit.

A better mix of models, improving sales and price revisions in overseas markets also boosted its earnings, Toyota said.

However, soaring materials prices impacted the company to the tune of 230 billion yen. 

But Toyota said it believed "market conditions, such as those for precious metals, have stabilized compared to last year".

While Toyota registered rising earnings in major markets, it suffered falling profits in China, mainly due to forex fluctuations and increased marketing costs to compete with rivals.

"Although the competitive environment is becoming increasingly severe due to the rise of local brands, Toyota and Lexus vehicle sales are steadily increasing," the company said.

BEIRUT — The central bank chief of crisis-torn Lebanon, Riad Salameh, who is wanted for alleged financial crimes in several European countries, handed over his post on Monday with no designated successor in place.

First Vice Governor Wassim Manssouri, who will temporarily take over, warned that "we are at a crossroad" and urged politicians to implement reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund in return for a bail-out loan.

"This is the country's last chance," Manssouri said at a press conference, as Lebanon has endured a four year economic crisis that the World Bank has labelled one of the worst in modern history.

Lebanon's deeply divided political class has failed to agree on a permanent replacement for Salameh, 73, creating another power vacuum in a country that also has no president and is ruled by a caretaker government.

Salameh, who held the post for 30 years, is a key figure of the Lebanese political elite widely blamed for the country's economic meltdown that has seen the currency collapse and poverty rates soar.

The central bank has extended credit lines from its depleted coffers to the cash-strapped state mainly to pay government employees, subsidise some medicine and finance the country's security forces.

Manssouri proposed to cut all central bank funding for the state while reforms are implemented, to save what is left of its depleted cash reserves.

"We can either stick to the old policies, and we have seen the result... or adopt a new approach and stop funding the state completely," he said.

'A new approach' 

Manssouri said halting funding was crucial to preserve the central bank's depleted reserves, which according to the IMF have plunged from $36 billion in 2017 to $10 billion.

Authorities must meanwhile implement reforms, including passing a 2023 budget, a capital control law and bank restructuring in the next six months, Manssouri said.

Reforms should be rolled out as part of a six-month "transitional plan", to be approved by parliament and the government, he said.

Manssouri stayed on the job after threatening to quit because the divided political leadership had promised to support him and his plans, according to local media.

Politics in Lebanon, a country of only 6 million people, is intensely complex as power is shared under a confessional system that recognises 18 Muslim and Christian sects.

Lebanon has been governed by a caretaker cabinet with limited powers for more than a year, and has been without a president for nine months.

Judicial investigations 

As Salameh left his post, he remains subject of judicial investigations at home and abroad into allegations including embezzlement, money laundering, fraud and illicit enrichment, charges which he denies.

He is wanted in France and Germany, and Interpol has issued a Red Notice for his arrest, but Lebanon does not extradite its nationals.

Salameh is soon to be tried in Paris, a European diplomatic source told AFP.

In March 2022, France, Germany and Luxembourg seized assets worth 120 million euros ($135 million) in a move linked to a probe into Salameh's wealth.

In February, Lebanon also charged Salameh with embezzlement, money laundering and tax evasion as part of its own investigations.

The domestic probe was opened following a request for assistance from Switzerland's public prosecutor, who is looking into more than $300 million in fund movements by Salameh and his brother.

Defending his legacy, Salameh days ago told a local broadcaster that he had been made a "scapegoat" for the crisis, and blamed the rest of Lebanon's political class for abandoning him "a long time ago".

At the central bank headquarters, employees gathered to bid farewell to Salameh on Monday, to the sound of music and applause.

"The central bank has stood firm," Salameh told cheering employees in a video shared by local media. "During the crisis, it was a pillar that allowed Lebanon to carry on."

LONDON — British bank NatWest on Friday said it had launched an independent review into its handling of arch-Brexiteer Nigel Farage, whose account it controversially shut, costing top executives their jobs following political pressure. 

The announcement by chairman Howard Davies came after the lender, 39 per cent owned by the UK government, posted a jump in first-half net profits on higher interest rates. 

The head of NatWest's private banking arm Coutts resigned Thursday, one day after Alison Rose quit as NatWest CEO. 

At the end of a crisis-hit week, NatWest said group profit after tax jumped 22 per cent to £2.3 billion ($2.9 billion) in the first six months of the year. 

Davies added in a media call that the group had appointed UK law firm Travers Smith to lead the review into the bank's handling of Farage.

"The last few weeks have been a painful period for the bank, and we apologise for the uncertainty created for customers and shareholders," Davies told reporters.

Interim chief executive Paul Thwaite added it was "an understatement to say that these are not ideal circumstances for anyone to take over".

"It's clear to me that we got some things wrong.

"It will take time to address some of those challenges, but I've already taken action. I'm determined we learn, and start to move forward quickly," Thwaite added.

'Error of judgment' 

Farage, former leader of the Brexit Party and the anti-immigration party UKIP, has complained that he was removed as a client of Coutts for his political views.

In a report which it has since apologised for, the BBC had suggested Farage's account was closed because he did not have sufficient funds to remain a client of the prestigious establishment.

Farage, a Eurosceptic politician and now a television presenter, campaigned for decades for Britain's withdrawal from the European Union and was a key figure in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

It later emerged that the BBC had spoken with Rose about Farage, and while NatWest's board initially backed her, it soon thereafter announced she was stepping down after having worked at the bank for 30 years.

Explaining the U-turn, Davies added Friday: 

"We believe that [backing Rose] was a rational decision to make at the time, However, the reaction, the political reaction to that, was such that Alison and I then concluded, and the board supported the view, that her position was then untenable.

"She would be running the bank in the face of very difficult headwinds, and therefore we made a different decision," the chairman said.

Rose had admitted making a "serious error of judgment" in speaking to a BBC reporter about Farage's banking affairs. Meanwhile Peter Flavel, chief executive of Coutts since March 2016, quit the upmarket bank Thursday.

NatWest was formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland — the lender rescued following the 2008 global financial crisis with £45.5 billion of UK taxpayers' cash in what was the world's biggest banking bailout.

Rose, the only woman CEO to have led a major UK bank, decided to rebrand the lender after her appointment in 2019, while the government has gradually cut its stake as the bank recovered.

AMMAN — Arab Bank Group reported solid results for the first half of 2023. The Group’s strong performance was driven by robust growth in its core banking business across different markets, as net profit after tax increased by 59 per cent, reaching $401 million as compared to $252 million during the same period last year.

The Group maintained its strong capital base with a total equity of $10.6 billion. Loans grew to $36.1 billion and deposits reached $48.3 billion. Excluding the impact of the devaluation of several currencies against the US dollar, loans and deposits grew by 2 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively, according to a statement from Arab Bank Group made available to The Jordan Times.

Sabih Masri, Chairman of the Board of Directors, stated that the solid financial performance during the first six months of this year underscores the resilience of the bank’s diversified business model, which is based on prudent risk management practices and is focused on achievingsustainable growth. Masri emphasised the bank’s commitment towards the executionof its innovation and digital transformation strategy to deliver the best banking experience to clients.

Randa Sadik, Chief Executive Officer, stated that the strong financial results,despite the volatility in the operating environment, is a testament to the bank’s robust assets base and strong capitalisation. Sadik highlighted that the bank’s net operating income grew by 50per cent, driven by diversified core banking activities coupled with controlled operating expenses. Provisions held during the period reflect the bank’s prudent risk management strategy against the increased economic uncertainty witnessed globally and regionally.

Sadik added that the bank is well positioned for sustained earnings growth with the support of its solid financial position, strong capitalisation and high liquidity levels. The Group’s loan-to-deposit ratio stood at 74.7 per cent, and credit provisions held against non-performing loans continue to exceed 100 per cent. Arab Bank Group maintains a strong capital base that is predominantly composed of common equity with a capital adequacy ratio of 16.8 per cent.

In line with the bank’s commitment towards sustainability, Arab Bank recently released its 13th annual sustainability report featuring its achievements in 2022 on the environmental, social and governance (ESG) fronts.

Arab Bank was named the “Best Bank in the Middle East for 2023” by Global Finance magazine for the eighth consecutive year. The bank also received the “Best ESG Integration in Jordan” award from The Arab Federation of Capital Markets in collaboration with Global Economics Magazine.

PARIS — French group TotalEnergies on Thursday reported a drop in net profit in the second quarter as oil and gas prices have fallen from the highs they reached following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Net profit reached $4.1 billion between April and June, down 28 per cent from the same period last year, the company said.

"In a favourable but softening oil and gas environment TotalEnergies once again delivered this quarter robust results, strong cash flow, and attractive shareholder distribution," Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne said in an earnings statement.

British oil major Shell and Spain's Repsol also posted drops in profits on Thursday, a day after similar results reported by Norwegian state-owned energy company Equinor.

Gas prices had soared last year after Russia cut gas shipments to Europe while oil markets were also rocked by supply concerns.

But natural gas prices fell sharply as European countries found new suppliers, built up reserves and experienced a mild winter.

Oil prices have also tumbled, partly on fears of falling demand as the global economy slows.

SAN FRANCISCO — Google parent Alphabet on Tuesday reported profits that beat market forecasts as digital advertising revenue revived and its cloud business grew.

The Internet giant reported net income of $18.7 billion on revenue of $74.6 billion in the recently ended quarter.

"There's exciting momentum across our products and the company, which drove strong results this quarter," Alphabet chief executive Sundar Pichai said in an earnings release.

Alphabet shares jumped more than six per cent to $129.88 in after-market trades following the results.

While the latest talk has surrounded artificial intelligence (AI), what matters most for Google earnings currently is digital advertising — where it gets the bulk of its revenue.

The company said that advertising revenue hit $58.1 billion, which outshined market expectations of $57.45 billion set by analysts.

Google is also a player in the cloud computing industry, where revenue came in at $8 billion, compared with $6.3 billion the unit took in during the same period a year earlier.

"Our continued leadership in AI and our excellence in engineering and innovation are driving the next evolution of Search, and improving all our services," Pichai said.

Google has played a close second to the partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI in rolling out its AI products following the release of ChatGPT that ignited a tech frenzy.

The company has largely been seen as playing catch up with Microsoft, with questions over whether the mighty Google search engine will withstand developments in AI.

Microsoft was quick to beef up its Bing search engine with AI powers, but Google's search has yet to see a real threat to its dominance — which remains at about 90 per cent of the market worldwide.

Google, like most big tech companies, has seen its share price rise steeply in 2023 as investors expect AI to generate new revenue and open new markets.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google co-founder Sergey Brin is back at the company headquarters in California helping teams develop even more AI products.

He and co-founder Larry Page stepped down from active roles at Google in 2019 when Pichai was chosen to replace them as chief executive.

WASHINGTON — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slightly upgraded its outlook for global growth this year on the back of resilient service sector activity in the first quarter and a strong labour market, the lender said Tuesday.

But despite the mildly better economic outlook, global growth is expected to slow to 3 per cent this year and then stay there, held down by weak growth among the world's advanced economies, the IMF announced in a new report. 

"We're not out of the woods yet and growth remains on the low side," IMF Chief Economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas told AFP in an interview ahead of the report's publication. 

The global growth forecast for this year was raised by 0.2 percentage points from the IMF's last forecast in April, putting the world economy on track for three per cent growth in both 2023 and 2024. 

This is down from global economic growth of 6.3 per cent in 2021, and 3.5 per cent last year, the IMF announced in its update to the World Economic Outlook (WEO). 

The IMF published its lowest medium-term forecast since the 1990s, citing slowing population growth and the end of the era of economic catch-up by several countries including China and South Korea. 

On Tuesday, the IMF said the global inflation picture has improved somewhat, with consumer prices now forecast to increase by 6.8 per cent this year, down 0.2 percentage points from the previous forecast in April. 

This is "largely on account of subdued inflation in China," the IMF said, adding that global inflation remains well above its pre-pandemic levels of around 3.5 per cent.

'Resilient' US consumption 

The IMF has lifted its outlook for US growth this year to 1.8 per cent, up 0.2 percentage points from April, citing "resilient consumption growth in the first quarter".

The still-tight labour market in the world's largest economy "has supported gains in real income and a rebound in vehicle purchases", the IMF said in its report.

The fund sees US growth slipping to 1 per cent next year, as savings accumulated during the pandemic dry up and the economy loses momentum.

"We are cautiously prudent that the US economy could avoid a recession and, you know, glide towards its inflation target without having a recession in its future," Gourinchas told AFP. 

"But it's a very, very narrow path," he added. 

Asian economies still dominate 

As with the April forecast, much of the global growth this year is forecast to come from emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) like India and China, with economic activity in advanced economies predicted to slow substantially this year and next. 

Advanced economies are now forecast to grow by 1.5 per cent this year, up 0.2 per centage points from April, and by 1.4 per cent in 2024. 

Citing positive recent economic news from the United Kingdom, the IMF has lifted the country's forecast for 2023 growth to 0.4 per cent, leaving Germany as the only G7 economy expected to contract this year.

The news is much more positive among the EMDEs, which are forecast to grow by 4 per cent this year, and by 4.1 per cent next year.

The IMF's 2023 growth forecast for China remained unchanged at 5.2 per cent, although it notes there has been a change in composition due to the underperformance of investment due to the country's troubled real estate sector. 

Alongside weakness in the real estate sector, the IMF said foreign demand remains weak and warned of rising and elevated youth unemployment, which reached almost 21 per cent in May. 

The IMF lifted India's 2023 growth prospects to 6.1 per cent, up 0.2 percentage points from April, citing "momentum from stronger-than-expected growth in the fourth quarter of 2022 as a result of stronger domestic investment."

The fund now expects Russia's economy to grow by 1.5 per cent this year, an upward revision of 0.8 per centage points from April, due to stronger-than-expected economic data fueled by "a large fiscal stimulus". 

THE HAGUE — Dutch medical tech firm Philips posted a nine percent jump in second-quarter sales and a return to profit on Monday as it bounces back from a global recall of sleep respirators.

The Amsterdam-based company said sales rose to 4.5 billion euros ($4.9 billion).

It reported a net profit of 74 million euros following a loss of 20 million euros over the same period last year.

"I am pleased with our improved operational performance across all segments and geographies in the quarter," Philips chief executive Roy Jakobs said.

The medical device maker in 2021 announced a major recall of its DreamStation machines for sleep apnoea, a disorder in which breathing stops and starts during sleep.

Users were said to be at risk of inhaling or swallowing pieces of toxic soundproofing foam that could cause irritation or headaches.

Philips also mentioned a "potential" cancer risk in the long term.

But it announced in May that independent tests showed the sleep respirators at the centre of the massive recall were "unlikely" to harm patients.

The replacement of suspected faulty devices has now been almost completed, with "the vast majority" of the sleep devices back with patients and home care providers, Jakobs said.

"We are fully focused on the remediation of the affected ventilators," he said.

The recall hit the 132-year-old company hard and by January it announced it was slashing 10,000 jobs out of a total workforce of just under 80,000 employees around the globe.

To date Philips has cut 6,600 jobs out of the planned total set for 2025, the company said.

Philips has faced a US Department of Justice probe over the respirator issue and was negotiating with US authorities over a financial settlement.

It is also a defendant in several class action lawsuits in the United States and other litigation elsewhere.

While "uncertainties remain", Philips said it expected sales to grow in the mid-single-digits for the rest of the year.

The outlook, however, "excludes the impact" of ongoing litigation and the US investigation, it said.

Philips however seemed unable to temper investor concern over new orders, which declined by 8 per cent year-on-year.

The firm blamed lower figures on a high order intake last year and loss of orders from Russia in the wake of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Its share price fell by around 4.5 per cent in lunchtime trade on the Amsterdam stock exchange's blue chip AEX index, trading at around 19.8 euros a share.