15/05/2026

BIZ & FINANCE FRIDAY | MAY 15, 2026

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American chip startup Cerebras to raise US$5.5b in IPO NEW YORK: US chip startup Cerebras Systems announced that its listing on Wall Street this week at US$185 per share, raising about US$5.5 billion, the largest IPO so far this year in the United States. Taking into account all shares already outstanding, including stock options and other financial instruments, the Sunnyvale, California-based company is valued at over US$55 billion. Cerebras has twice raised its target price for the listing on Nasdaq electronic exchange. The company initially targeted a price range of US$115 to US$125 per share, before raising it to between US$150 and US$160, and finally settling at US$185. It plans to issue 30 million shares, with an over-allotment option for an additional 4.5 million shares, according to a Cerebras statement released Wednesday evening. Raising US$5.55 billion will place Cerebras among the 15 largest initial public offerings ever completed on Wall Street, and the largest since medical equipment group Medline in December. Cerebras specialises in giant processors, also known as wafer-scale systems. They are viewed as suitable for the development and use of AI models. After three years of sustained growth following the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the AI infrastructure market has exploded this year. In January, OpenAI committed to acquiring a massive quantity of Cerebras processors, a contract valued at over US$10 billion. As part of this agreement, Cerebras granted OpenAI warrants – derivative products that can be converted into shares under certain conditions. If all the conditions are met, OpenAI could control more than 10% of Cerebras’s capital. – AFP Burberry a turnaround plan in 2024 aiming to boost sales and cut costs as the global luxury sector suffered from weak demand in China. Under Schulman, Burberry has refocused on its staple outerwear, including its famed trench coats, in a bid to improve its fortunes. Schulman was appointed chief executive in July 2024 after former CEO Jonathan Akeroyd left following weak results that some investors blamed in part on poor strategy. Comparable store sales grew 2% in the full year, lifted by sales in its key China market and in the Americas. “Progress is being achieved by measures on any number of fronts, including the attraction of Gen Z customers despite intense competition,“ said Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor. “There remains ... a mountain to climb.“ – AFP embarked on

Rupee slips to record low as energy risks deepen o Steep balance of payments deficit hurting Indian currency, capital outflows persist identified as the threshold level that India can finance sustainably over the long term,” analysts at BofA Global Research said in a note.

prices unchanged, the government may need to raise them if the conflict drags on, Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra said earlier this week. He added that monetary policy can look through temporary supply shocks but may need to act if inflation pressures become entrenched following the oil price spike. Government data showed wholesale inflation quickened to a three-and-a-half year high in April, in one of the first clues of the impact the energy shock is having on India’s economy. – Reuters

Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier urged citizens to conserve foreign exchange reserves, while the federal government has hiked tariffs on precious metal imports. “Markets have been quite spooked by the shift in tone from policymakers,” a senior trader at a foreign bank said, referring to Modi’s remarks and signals from the oil minister that fuel prices may rise soon. While India has so far kept fuel

MUMBAI: The Indian rupee fell to an all-time low yesterday, pressured by stubbornly high oil prices and persistent portfolio outflows that have strained the current and capital balances of Asia’s third largest economy. The rupee fell 0.2% to 95.9575 per US dollar, eclipsing its previous record low of 95.7950 hit on Wednesday. The currency trimmed losses after Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that India is considering a significant reduction in the taxes paid by foreign investors on the nation’s bonds. The rupee was last at 95.73, little changed from the previous close. India’s central bank is studying ways to mobilise dollar inflows to bolster its foreign exchange buffers and cushion rising pressure on the rupee, Reuters reported last week. The months-long Iran war that has pushed up crude and gas prices sharply amid supply disruptions, threatens to slow growth and lift inflation in India, which imports about 90% of its oil needs and about 50% of its gas requirements. The rupee has declined 1.3% so far this week and hit record lows in each trading session between Tuesday and yesterday. The central bank has so far sold FX reserves and tapped rare regulatory measures to support the currency, which is Asia’s worst performer in 2026 so far. Dollar sales from state-run banks – most likely on behalf of the Reserve Bank of India – cushioned the rupee’s fall yesterday, traders said. partnered with Singapore’s Temasek and Abu Dhabi’s newest wealth fund L’IMAD and state oil firm ADNOC to launch an infrastructure partnership targeting US$30 billion of investment across the Gulf and Central Asia, the companies said in a joint statement yesterday. The partnership will raise a combination of equity and debt capital to target investments in greenfield and brownfield infrastructure assets across sectors including energy, transportation and logistics. It will also consider select investments within the wider Middle East and North Africa region, the firms said, without disclosing a fundraising timeline or the equity split among the founding partners. The announcement brings together some of the region’s most

The country is facing a third consecutive year of a balance of payments deficit, prompting economists and traders to bake in expectations of persistent rupee weakness even as central bank interventions curb excessive volatility. “India’s current account deficit appears set to exceed ~2% of GDP, which the RBI has historically

A shopkeeper selling gold jewellery checks his mobile phone as he waits for customers at a shop in the Indian city of Srinagar. – AFPPIC

GIP, Temasek, Abu Dhabi heavyweights team up to target US$30 billion in deals DUBAI: BlackRock’s GIP has

Burberry returns to full-year profit on turnaround plan

LONDON: British fashion label Burberry said yesterday that it returned to profit in its latest fiscal year thanks to a sizeable cost-cutting plan launched at the end of 2024. Net profit stood at £21 million (RM110 million) in the year to the end of March, compared with an after-tax loss of £75 million a year earlier, Burberry said in a statement. Revenue, however, dipped two percent to £2.4 billion, and the company’s shares fell in early deals on the London stock exchange. “This financial year marks a meaningful inflection point for Burberry,“ CEO Joshua Schulman said. “Our strategy is working and there are clear opportunities for further growth.” In its guidance for the year ahead, the firm said it was “mindful of the uncertain geopolitical and macroeconomic environment and its potential impact on consumer confidence.”

in the UAE and the wider region, as destinations for long-term capital, supported by strong macroeconomic fundamentals, a growing pipeline of investable opportunities and an increasingly mature investment landscape,“ the firms said in the statement. A US$15 billion investment pipeline was announced in Abu Dhabi this week to attract private funding for infrastructure projects. “Infrastructure forms one of the key pillars of our investment strategy, especially in markets where demand is underpinned by structural trends,“ said L’IMAD’s managing director and CEO Jassem Bu Ataba Al Zaabi. L’IMAD, which burst onto the global scene last December, has since turned into an investment heavyweight with assets worth and estimated US$300 billion. – Reuters

active infrastructure capital allocators alongside one of the world’s largest alternative asset managers. BlackRock completed its acquisition of GIP in 2024 in a deal that valued the infrastructure specialist at around US$12.5 billion. It also shows continued interest for infrastructure assets in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) amid the Iran war, which has led to a shock in global energy markets and disrupted business in the region. Reuters reported last month that more lenders were working on a potential US$7 billion stake sale in Kuwait Petroleum Corporation’s crude oil pipeline network, while last year Saudi Arabia’sAramco signed an US$11 billion deal for infrastructure around its Jafurah gas project with a GIP-led consortium. “The partnership also reflects continued global investor interest