$128 million to Go to Universities

June 28, 2023

Good Morning,

Government funding to universities increases to $128 million after multiple cutbacks in staff. A finance writer and two peers are banned off social media in China after posting about the country’s unemployment rate and stock market. All around the world, claims erupt of new AI’s becoming the next best.

Let's jump in.

Before The Bell

Markets

  • The benchmark S&P/NZX 50 Index edged up 0.1%, or 10.520 points, to 11,649.20 on Tuesday. On the broader market 55 stocks rose and 70 fell with $96 million shares traded. (Stuff)

  • Inflation is not falling fast enough to prevent central banks in Australia and the northern hemisphere from continuing to raise interest rates despite an increasing risk of recession, economic data this week is expected to show. (AFR)

  • European shares struggled to maintain positive momentum on Tuesday, after Asian stocks got a boost from China's government saying it would support the economy, as investors focused on concerns about the economic outlook for Europe and the United States. (RT)

  • Equity markets attempted to shake off recent weakness amid bets on Chinese stimulus and optimism that an economic downturn may prove less severe than feared. (BBG)

Earnings and Data

  • Mainfreight declined 85c to $71.10 after commenting in its annual report that trading in the first six months of the 2024 financial year will be challenging, with weakness in volumes and activity. Chairman Bruce Plested warned of a “difficult and weak” macroeconomic environment over the next few years. (GR)

  • The retirement village operators were softer, with Summerset Group down 10c to $9.35, Ryman Healthcare declining 5c to $6.48, and Arvida Group decreasing 2c, or 1.67%, to $1.18. (GR)

  • Green Cross Health declined 3c, or 2.24%, to $1.31; Smartpay Holdings was down 3.5c, or 2.03%, to $1.685; Colonial Motor Company shed 34c, or 3.74%, to $8.75; and Carbon Fund fell a further 11c, or 8.46%, to $1.19. (GR)

News Summary

  • In the face of cutbacks by universities, the Government is providing an extra $128 million over two years for courses at degree level and above. (NBR)

  • Ratings agency S&P has revised its outlook on listed retail and commercial property group Kiwi Property to negative, saying it expected the Sylvia Park shopping centre owner’s credit metrics to deteriorate over the next year. (NBR)

  • About 750 jobs are expected to be cut by NZ Post over the next five years as the organisation grapples with a decline in mail. (NBR)

  • Baidu Inc, China's leading search engine provider, said the latest iteration of its ChatGPT-style service had surpassed the widely popular Microsoft-backed OpenAI chatbot on multiple key metrics. (RT)

  • Nissan shareholders re-elected its chief executive and other board nominees on Tuesday at an annual meeting that came days after revelations of a split among senior management and allegations of corporate surveillance. (RT)

  • China’s Premier Li Qiang warned governments that attempt to politicize their economies will only fragment the world as the US and Europe “de-risk” supply chains from the Asian nation. (BBG)

  • China banned a prominent finance writer and two of his peers from social media platform Weibo for commenting about the country’s stock market and unemployment rate. (BBG)

  • A Singapore judge handed a 12-month prison term to a businessman for conspiring to misappropriate money in the Wirecard AG scandal. (BBG)

  • Amazon.com Inc. has taken its fight over France’s €3 ($3.28) minimum delivery-fee regime for online books to the nation’s highest administrative court, claiming the curbs aimed at reining in its market power are a violation of European Union rules. (BBG)

  • Japan’s armed forces have been testing the Starlink satellite communications network from Elon Musk’s SpaceX since March, the defense minister said, confirming an earlier report in the Yomiuri newspaper. (BBG)

  • Britain’s biggest supermarkets said they are keeping food prices as low as possible in response to questions from UK politicians on whether they’re profiteering from rampant inflation on groceries. (BBG)

  • ChatGPT might’ve captured the world’s attention. But DeepMind, the Google-owned research lab, claims that its next large language model will rival — or even best — OpenAI’s. (TC)

Deal Flow

Investments / M&A

  • Buyout titan Robert Smith’s Vista Equity Partners more than doubled its initial investment in Apptio Inc. after International Business Machines Corp. agreed to acquire the software maker for $4.6 billion. (BBG)

  • Canadian investment giant Brookfield is nearing a deal to acquire insurance firm American Equity Investment Life Holding Co., people with knowledge of the matter said. (BBG)

  • UnitedHealth Group Inc. agreed to buy home-health provider Amedisys Inc. for $101 a share in cash, outbidding earlier suitor Option Care Health Inc. (BBG)

VC & Fundraising

  • Dexory, a company that serves warehouses with real-time inventory management data using AI software and autonomous robots, has raised $19 million in a Series A round of funding led by European VC Atomico. (TC)

  • CalypsoAI raises $23M to add guardrails to generative AI models (TC)

  • Loora, a generative AI app that uses an audio interface to help users learn English, raises $9.25M (TC)

Daily Picks

  • Mysterious woman hands out envelopes with USBs inside to people and businesses in Invercargill. Read more here.

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