28/08/2025

BIZ & FINANCE THURSDAY | AUG 28, 2025

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Helped by brand tie-ups, Lego’s H1 sales hit a record COPENHAGEN: Danish toymaker Lego said yesterday its first-half (H1) sales rose 12% to a record 34.6 billion Danish crowns (RM23 billion), as partnerships with other major brands, including Formula One and Jurassic Park , helped it to outperform its peers. “The toy market is actually back to growth this year, but we are outpacing it and taking market share,” Lego CEO Niels Christiansen said in an interview, adding that the broader toy market had grown by nearly 7%. Lego reported growth across all its markets, including China, where it has faced challenges in recent years. Partnerships with brands such as Formula One, Fortnite , and Jurassic Park helped to drive sales across diverse consumer segments, Christiansen said. Despite economic uncertainties related to trade tensions, Lego, known for its long-running Star Wars and Harry Potter franchises, has not seen a significant trend for US customers to trade down to cheaper products, Christiansen said. Operating profit for the first six months was up 10% to 9 billion crowns, supported by Lego’s global manufacturing network, which spans six factories across Denmark, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Mexico, China, and Vietnam. “We have a reasonable setup in our supply chain. So the logic we apply is that we would like to produce the product as close to the consumers as possible,” Christiansen said, adding that the company has been able to manage tariff impacts. Lego is expanding its largest manufacturing site in Monterrey, Mexico, and in Hungary, while construction of a new US factory in Virginia is expected to be completed in 2027. US sales grew at double-digit rates, with Christiansen noting that the local toy market has returned to higher growth levels than in recent years. – Reuters Meta to back pro-AI candidates in California SAN FRANCISCO: Meta is launching a political action committee in California to support candidates who favour lighter regulation of AI in the state that is home to Silicon Valley. The tech world powerhouse on Tuesday confirmed plans for a super-PAC called Mobilising Economic Transformation Across California dedicated to backing pro-AI candidates regardless of party affiliation. “As home to many of the world’s leading AI companies, California’s innovation economy has an outsized impact on America’s economic growth, job creation, and global competitiveness,” a Meta spokesperson told AFP. “But Sacramento’s regulatory environment could stifle innovation, block AI progress, and put California’s technology leadership at risk.” According to Meta, state-level regulation of AI threatens to hamper development of the technology at a time when US tech firms are in a fierce innovation race with Chinese rivals. Meta pointed to the more than 50 AI-related bills that have been introduced this year in California alone, many of which could hinder advancement of the technology, the company claimed. – AFP comment on whether it would re-auction the three sites vacated by the Mitsubishi consortia. METI has been discussing relaxing rules for developers to encourage the construction of a massive offshore wind farm sector against a global slump in which projects have been hit by soaring costs and delays. Denmark’s Orsted decided to pull out of Japan last year while Shell recently shrank its team focused on Japan offshore wind as it scales back low-carbon operations. – Reuters

Workers stitch dresses at a garment manufacturing factory in Noida, India. – REUTERSPIC

50% US tariffs on Indian imports take effect o Failed talks blamed on political misjudgment and missed signals

Officials on both sides blamed political misjudgment and missed signals for the breakdown in talks between the world’s biggest and fifth-largest economies. Their two-way goods trade totalled US$129 billion in 2024, with a US$45.8 billion US trade deficit, according to US Census Bureau data. Exporter groups estimate hikes could affect nearly 55% of India’s US$87 billion in merchandise exports to the US, while benefiting competitors such as Vietnam, Bangladesh and China. Sustained tariffs at this rate could dent India’s growing appeal as an alternative manufacturing hub to China for goods such as smartphones and electronics. The US-India standoff has raised questions about the broader relationship between India and the US, important security partners who share concerns about China. However, on Tuesday the US State Department and India’s Ministry of External Affairs issued identical statements saying senior officials of the ministries and defense departments met virtually on Monday and expressed “eagerness to continue enhancing the breadth and depth of the bilateral relationship”. Both sides also reaffirmed their commitment to the Quad, a partnership that brings together the US and India with Australia and Japan. – Reuters ¥52.2 billion (RM1.5 billion) on the projects. Yesterday, partner Chubu Electric Power said it expected a loss of around ¥17 billion this fiscal year due to the withdrawal. Japan wants offshore wind farm capacity to reach 10 GW by 2030 and 45 GW by 2040, and has auctioned around a tenth of targeted capacity. Winners of other offshore auctions include RWE, Iberdrola and BP. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) did not immediately reply to a request for a

for Indian goods that were loaded onto a vessel and in transit to the US before the midnight deadline. These goods can still enter the US at prior lower tariff rates before 12:01 a.m. EDT (12pm in Malaysia) on Sept 17. Also exempted are steel, aluminum and derivative products, passenger vehicles, copper and other goods subject to separate tariffs of up to 50% under the Section 232 national security trade law. India Trade Ministry officials say the average tariff on American imports is around 7.5%, while the United States Trade Representative’s office has highlighted rates of up to 100% on autos and an average applied tariff rate of 39% on US farm goods. As the midnight activation deadline approached, US officials offered no hope for India to avert the tariffs. “Yeah,” said White House trade adviser Peter Navarro when asked if the increased tariffs on India’s US-bound exports would go into effect as previously announced. He offered no further details. Yesterday’s tariff move follows five rounds of failed talks, during which Indian officials had signalled optimism that US tariffs could be capped at 15%, the rate granted to goods from some other major US trade partners including Japan, South Korea and the European Union.

NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump’s doubling of tariffs on goods from India to as much as 50% took effect as scheduled yesterday, escalating tensions between the world’s two largest democracies and strategic partners. A punitive 25% tariff imposed due to India’s purchases of Russian oil adds to Trump’s prior 25% tariff on many products from India. It takes total duties to as high as 50% for goods such as garments, gems and jewellery, footwear, sporting goods, furniture and chemicals – among the highest imposed by the US and on par with Brazil and China. The new tariffs threaten thousands of small exporters and jobs, including in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat. An Indian Commerce Ministry official said on condition of anonymity that exporters hit by tariffs would receive financial assistance and be encouraged to diversify to markets such as China, Latin America and the Middle East. A US Customs and Border Protection notice to shippers provides a three-week exemption

Mitsubishi quits Japan offshore wind sites TOKYO: Mitsubishi Corp said yesterday it would withdraw from three Japanese offshore wind power projects due to soaring costs, in a blow to the energy security goals of a country eager to reduce its dependence on imported fuel. business environment for offshore wind power has since significantly changed worldwide due to tighter supply chains, accelerating inflation and fluid interest rates.

“To adapt to these unexpected changes, we have been pursuing various options including reassessment of costs, project schedule, and revenue. After discussions among the partners, we have determined that establishing a viable business plan is not feasible given the current conditions.” Earlier this year, Mitsubishi logged a charge of

A Mitsubishi-led consortia won the first state auctions for the three wind farms in Chiba and Akita prefectures in 2021. The farms had projected capacity of 1.76 gigawatt (GW) and were set to start operations around 2028 to 2030. In a statement yesterday, Mitsubishi said the