TOKYO: Japanese consumer electronics giant Panasonic has reported a near-record net loss of 754 billion yen ($ 7.5 billion) for the fiscal year through March due to restructuring costs and slumping sales, but predicted a return to the black this year as it prunes unprofitable businesses.
The Osaka-based company, which makes Viera TVs and Lumix digital cameras, has been battered by plunging prices, the strong yen, an ailing TV business and intense competition from the likes of South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co.
A good chunk of the net loss came from hefty restructuring expenses, including impairment losses as the company wrote down the value of assets related to its solar, lithium-ion and mobile phone businesses.
The company also reduced its global staff over the year from 330,767 to 293,742.
Sales declined 7 percent during the year to 7.3 trillion yen, the company said in its financial results, citing a "severe business situation" in the electronics industry, including sluggish demand for flat-panel TVs.
Panasonic, which lost a record 772 billion yen the previous year — one of the biggest losses ever in Japan — acknowledged that its three-year business plan had fallen far short of the desired results.
Under its next three-year management plan, it promised to immediately eliminate unprofitable businesses.
For this fiscal year, it projected a net profit of 50 billion yen ($ 500 million).
In late March, President Kazuhiro Tsuga said the company will persist with trying to fix its ailing TV business, describing an exit from the fiercely competitive industry as a "final resort."
Panasonic said sales of its plasma TV had fallen by about half, while LCD TVs suffered a 3 percent decline.
Panasonic, established in 1918 and an archrival to Sony Corp. during Japan's rapid industrialization following the Second World War, has been shifting its business from consumer electronics to focus more on operations that cater to other businesses such as batteries and solar panels.
The company said it plans to restructure its TV, semiconductor, mobile phone, circuit board and optical product businesses so that they will become profitable by fiscal 2016.
It remains strong in household appliances, with sales of refrigerators and washing machines both growing during the year.
With the dollar breaking above 100 yen Friday for the first time in four years, Panasonic is likely to benefit as the yen's weakness boosts foreign earned income. But the company's exposure to fluctuations against the US dollar has shrunk over the years due to hedging and other practices, said Hideaki Kawai, managing director in charge of accounting and finance.
A weakening of 1 yen against the dollar is expected to boost operating profit this year by 1 billion yen, he said.
Panasonic reports big loss but forecasts profit
Panasonic reports big loss but forecasts profit
Riyadh climbs 60 places to rank 23rd globally in startup ecosystem index
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia has reached a key milestone in the global startup scene, with Riyadh climbing 60 places in just three years to rank 23rd among the top 100 emerging ecosystems, according to new data.
The 2025 Global Startup Ecosystem Report, published by Startup Genome in collaboration with the Global Entrepreneurship Network, highlights the city’s transformation into a “launchpad into the $2+ trillion GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) market.”
Riyadh also ranks third in the Middle East and North Africa for funding, reflecting a sharp rise in deal volume.
Saudi Arabia’s startup ecosystem is rapidly evolving, driven by Vision 2030, strong government support, and rising investor interest.
Riyadh’s emergence as a leading innovation hub and strategic gateway to the broader GCC market reflects the Kingdom’s ambitions to diversify its economy, attract global talent, and foster high-growth sectors, including fintech, artificial intelligence, and digital infrastructure.
The analysis notes that over $2.6 billion in venture capital funding has flowed into the Saudi market since 2018, driven by government-backed funds, including the Saudi Venture Capital Co., Jada, and the Public Investment Fund.
While global ecosystems grapple with declining investment and exit slowdowns, the report highlights the Gulf region, particularly Riyadh, as one of the world’s most resilient and forward-looking innovation corridors, gaining momentum as a stable and fast-growing hub for entrepreneurship.
Samantha Evans, MENA managing director at Startup Genome, said: “The Gulf is one of the few markets in the world where ambition, alignment, and execution converge,” adding that it is “not a speculative bet — it’s a strategic inflection point.”
In Saudi Arabia, Vision 2030 programs such as Monsha’at and CODE are “designing policy architectures to enable them (startups) to scale globally.” The UAE, through platforms like Hub71, DIFC Innovation Hub, and national sandbox frameworks, continues to attract “top-tier founders, Series A companies, and emerging technologies,” the study noted.
Saudi Arabia’s performance stands out across multiple metrics. The Kingdom ranked third globally in funding volume and investment-to-impact ratio, and fourth in talent availability, reflecting its ability to attract and retain entrepreneurial expertise. It also posted the second-highest performance in the MENA region, according to the report.
Key growth drivers include increased venture capital activity, enhanced entrepreneurial infrastructure, and rising investment in emerging technologies. Government-backed initiatives, particularly through Monsha’at, have strengthened the ecosystem, improved regulation, and boosted the contribution of small and medium-sized enterprises to the national economy in line with Vision 2030 targets.
The study identifies high-growth sectors fueling the Kingdom’s ascent, including artificial intelligence, fintech, cybersecurity, smart cities, infrastructure, and digital health, all of which align with the nation’s broader economic transformation.
“Saudi Arabia has made significant strides to support innovation, drive economic diversification, and empower a new generation of entrepreneurs,” said Khaled Sharbatly Chairman of the National Entrepreneurship Committee Khaled Sharbatly. “We are committed to positioning Saudi Arabia as a global hub for entrepreneurship and innovation.”
Riyadh, described in the report as “not just the capital of Saudi Arabia — it’s a launchpad,” now hosts the regional headquarters of global firms such as Google Cloud, Amazon, and SAP — a sign of growing global confidence in the Kingdom’s innovation environment.
The city is characterized as a “fintech powerhouse,” with “over 200 fintechs now operating in the Kingdom,” supported by regulatory efforts from the Saudi Central Bank and Fintech Saudi.
Other sectors, such as cybersecurity, logistics, and education tech, are also thriving, with startups including Mozn, Salasa, and Diggipacks advancing through “strategic partnerships and government procurement pipelines,” as per the analysis.
Riyadh’s founder-friendly ecosystem is further supported by the Ministry of Investment and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, which offer 100 percent foreign ownership, fast licensing, and innovation-friendly regulations.
Programs like CODE and the Digital Government Authority sandboxes help “speed up time-to-market for new technologies.”
According to the report, startups are encouraged to relocate to Riyadh due to its direct access to major enterprise buyers, including sovereign wealth funds, ministries, and conglomerates. Government entities such as PIF, STC, and Aramco are actively partnering with and investing in emerging companies.
According to the Saudi Press Agency, this “notable progress reflects the Kingdom’s rapidly evolving entrepreneurial environment, marked by strong growth in venture capital, the expansion of startup infrastructure, and rising levels of innovation and investment in emerging technologies.”
The report draws on data from over five million startups across more than 350 global ecosystems, offering insights into the trends and policies shaping the future of innovation worldwide.
In the organization’s 2024 report, Riyadh ranked fourth among the top five startup ecosystems in the MENA region, with Jeddah and Al-khobar also featured on the list.
FDI into developing economies slumps to lowest level since 2005: World Bank
RIYADH: Foreign direct investment flows into developing economies dropped to $435 billion in 2023, the lowest level since 2005, as rising trade barriers, geopolitical tensions and growing fragmentation curbed cross-border investment.
In its Global Economic Prospects report, the World Bank said FDI into advanced economies also dropped, sinking to $336 billion — the weakest level since 1996.
While data for the 2023 calendar year is the latest available from the World Bank, net FDI into Saudi Arabia — one of the world’s top emerging markets — reached SR22.1 billion ($5.89 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2024, representing a 26 percent increase compared to the previous three months, according to the Kingdom’s General Authority for Statistics.
Saudi Arabia is aiming to attract $100 billion in FDI annually by the end of this decade, as it seeks to make significant strides in diversifying its economy and reducing its decades-long dependence on oil revenues.
Commenting on the findings, Indermit Gill, chief economist and senior vice president of the World Bank Group, said: “What we’re seeing is a result of public policy. It’s not a coincidence that FDI is plumbing new lows at the same time that public debt is reaching record highs.”
He added: “Private investment will now have to power economic growth, and FDI happens to be one of the most productive forms of private investment. Yet, in recent years, governments have been busy erecting barriers to investment and trade when they should be deliberately taking them down. They will have to ditch that bad habit.”
FDI inflows to developing countries in 2023 accounted for just 2.3 percent of their combined gross domestic product — about half the share recorded in the 2008 peak.
The report noted that inflows had expanded rapidly in the 2000s, peaking at nearly 5 percent of GDP in 2008, but have since steadily declined.
Between 2012 and 2023, two-thirds of FDI into developing countries was concentrated in just 10 markets. China captured nearly a third of the total, while Brazil and India accounted for about 10 percent and 6 percent, respectively.
Advanced economies accounted for nearly 90 percent of total FDI in developing economies over the past decade, with about half of that originating from the EU and the US, the World Bank noted.
Earlier this month, global credit rating agency S&P Global said FDI inflows into Gulf Cooperation Council countries are expected to slow in 2025 due to rising investor uncertainty. The outlook reflects shifting US trade policies, lower oil prices, and a more gradual rollout of economic diversification projects in the region.
S&P Global also forecast a net negative impact on global FDI in the near term, driven by the indirect effects of US tariffs, a weaker oil price outlook, and declining global investor confidence.
Combating challenges and easing restrictions
The World Bank urged developing nations to ease investment restrictions that have accumulated in recent years, promote trade integration, and broaden participation in their economies.
Ayhan Kose, the World Bank Group’s deputy chief economist and director of the Prospects Group, said the sharp drop in FDI for developing countries “should sound alarm bells.”
He added: “Reversing this slowdown is not just an economic imperative — it’s essential for job creation, sustained growth, and achieving broader development goals. It will require bold domestic reforms to improve the business climate and decisive global cooperation to revive cross-border investment.”
The report also outlined policy priorities for developing economies to increase FDI, including accelerating improvements in the investment climate — progress that has stalled in many countries over the past decade.
Saudi Arabia is among the countries making notable strides to attract FDI by introducing regulatory reforms aimed at easing restrictions.
In August, the Kingdom approved an updated investment law designed to boost transparency and simplify the investment process, as part of broader efforts to facilitate and expand FDI.
The updated rule also promises enhanced protections for investors, including adherence to the rule of law, fair treatment, and property rights, alongside robust safeguards for intellectual property and seamless fund transfers.
In April, Saudi Arabia rose to 13th place in Kearney’s 2025 Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index, up from 14th in the previous year’s ranking.
The Kingdom also retained its position as the third-most attractive emerging market, signaling continued global confidence in its transformation strategy.
Kearney noted that the ranking reflects Saudi Arabia’s bold, reform-driven approach to building an internationally competitive, future-ready economy.
The World Bank emphasized that countries should amplify the economic impacts of foreign investment by promoting trade integration, improving institutional quality, fostering human capital development, and encouraging broader participation in the formal economy to maximize FDI benefits.
“Governments can also amplify the benefits by channeling FDI to sectors where the impact is greatest. FDI can also help increase job opportunities for women: the domestic affiliates of multinational enterprises, for example, tend to have a higher share of female employees than domestic firms,” the report stated.
Saudi Arabia is also among the global frontrunners in efforts to bridge the gender gap in the workforce.
Speaking during the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh in October, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Finance, Mohammed Al-Jadaan, said the nation aims to achieve 40 percent female workforce participation by the end of the decade, having already surpassed its Vision 2030 target of 30 percent.
He added that 45 percent of small and medium enterprises in the Kingdom are headed by women.
Underscoring the importance of global cooperation, the World Bank urged all countries to work together to accelerate policy initiatives that can help direct FDI flows to developing economies with the largest investment gaps.
“Technical and financial assistance to support structural reform efforts in developing countries — especially low-income countries — are critical for facilitating FDI inflows,” the bank concluded.
World oil demand to keep growing this decade despite 2027 China peak, IEA says
- IEA forecasts oil demand peak at 105.6 million bpd by 2029
- China’s oil demand to peak in 2027 due to EV growth
LONDON: Global oil demand will keep growing until around the end of this decade despite peaking in top importer China in 2027, as cheaper gasoline and slower electric vehicle adoption in the United States support oil use, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday.
The IEA, which advises industrialized countries, did not change its prediction that demand will peak this decade, a view that sharply contrasts with that of producer group the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which says consumption will keep growing and has not forecast a peak.
Oil demand will peak at 105.6 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2029 and then fall slightly in 2030, a table in the Paris-based IEA’s annual report shows. At the same time, global production capacity is forecast to rise by more than 5 million bpd to 114.7 million bpd by 2030.
A conflict between Israel and Iran has highlighted the risk to Middle East supplies, helping send oil prices up 5 percent to above $74 a barrel on Friday. Still, the latest forecasts suggest ample supplies through 2030 if there are no major disruptions, the IEA said.
“Based on the fundamentals, oil markets look set to be well-supplied in the years ahead,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol in a statement. “But recent events sharply highlight the significant geopolitical risks to oil supply security,” Birol said.
After decades of leading global oil demand growth, China’s contribution is sputtering as it faces economic challenges as well as making a big shift to EVs. The world’s second-largest economy is set to see its oil consumption peak in 2027, following a surge in EV sales and the deployment of high-speed rail and trucks running on natural gas, the IEA said.
In February, it predicted China’s demand for road and air transport fuels may have already peaked.
China’s total oil consumption in 2030 is now set to be only marginally higher than in 2024, the IEA said, compared with growth of around 1 million bpd forecast in last year’s report.
By contrast, lower gasoline prices and slower EV adoption in the United States, the world’s largest oil consumer, have boosted the 2030 oil demand forecast by 1.1 million bpd compared with the previous prediction, the IEA said.
Since returning to office, US President Donald Trump has demanded OPEC lower oil prices and taken aim at EVs through steps such as signing resolutions approved by lawmakers barring California’s EV sales mandates.
Oil Updates — prices rise as Iran-Israel conflict keeps floor under prices
- No visible production impact from conflict, ENI says
- ‘War risk’ continues to underpin market
SINGAPORE: Oil prices rose on Tuesday, with analysts saying that uncertainty would keep prices elevated, even as there were no concrete signs of any production losses stemming from the Iran-Israel conflict for now.
Brent crude futures climbed 54 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $73.77 a barrel as of 9:30 a.m. Saudi time. US West Texas Intermediate crude was up 58 cents, or 0.8 percent, at $72.35. Both contracts rose more than 2 percent earlier in the trading session but also notched declines before bouncing back in volatile trading.
Prices traded higher as there was still risk of further unrest and potential disruption of oil supply from the key Middle East producing region.
However, there were no visible signs of supply loss for now, industry sources said.
The Israel-Iran conflict has not led to a loss in oil production, and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries still has spare production capacity, the chief executive of Italy’s Eni said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, all the facilities of energy services firm Baker Hughes are operating normally in the Middle East, its chief executive Lorenzo Simonelli told Reuters on Monday.
The benchmark oil contracts settled more than 1 percent lower on Monday amid hopes that the conflict would ease after media reports Iran was seeking an end to hostilities.
However, concerns remained as US President Donald Trump in a social media post urged “everyone” to evacuate the Iranian capital of Tehran.
Entering its fifth day on Tuesday, the fighting has continued with Iranian media reporting explosions and heavy air defense fire in Tehran. In Israel, air raid sirens sounded in Tel Aviv in response to Iranian missiles.
“The conflict between Iran and Israel is still fresh and brewing, and investor sentiments may still be holding on to the ‘war risks’,” Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at Phillip Nova, said in an email.
“Added volatility and caution ahead of the Fed policy decision are further ensuring higher-paced price reactions in oil,” Sachdeva added, referring to the US Federal Open Market Committee meeting, which guides interest rate decisions, that begins on Tuesday.
Iran is the third-largest producer among members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. The concern is the fighting could disrupt its oil supply and raise prices, or Iran could retaliate by blocking shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
US media on Monday night reported Trump was proposing renewed talks with Iran on a nuclear deal, even as shipping sources said a vessel collided with two other ships sailing near the Strait of Hormuz, highlighting risks to companies moving oil and fuel supplies in the region.
Riyadh Air orders up to 50 Airbus A350 jets to expand long-haul fleet
- Deal includes 25 firm orders and purchase rights for an additional 25 aircraft
- A350-1000s will enable long-haul connections ahead of high-profile events
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Air has signed a deal to acquire up to 50 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft as it gears up to launch operations later this year.
The agreement, signed at the 55th Paris Air Show, includes 25 firm orders and purchase rights for an additional 25 aircraft. The deal supports Riyadh Air’s plan to build a wide-body fleet capable of serving over 100 destinations globally by 2030.
Owned by the Public Investment Fund, Riyadh Air was unveiled in March 2023 by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as part of Saudi Arabia’s strategy to become a global aviation hub by expanding connectivity to over 250 destinations and tripling annual passenger traffic to 330 million.
In a statement, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, PIF governor and chairman of Riyadh Air, said: “Our new national carrier is set to take to the skies in the near future, and as a fundamental element of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure, will connect our capital city to over 100 international destinations around the globe by 2030.
He added: “With its outstanding range, adding the Airbus A350-1000 to our fleet demonstrates the strategic contribution of Riyadh Air in positioning Saudi Arabia as a global aviation hub.”
The A350-1000s, with an operational range exceeding 16,000 km, will enable long-haul connections ahead of high-profile events such as Riyadh Expo 2030 and the FIFA World Cup 2034.
In April, the airline received its Air Operator Certificate from the General Authority of Civil Aviation, authorizing it to commence flight operations after meeting all regulatory, safety, and operational requirements.
“Riyadh Air is making significant progress as we move towards our first flight later this year and agreeing this deal for up to 50 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft is an important statement of intent,” said Tony Douglas, CEO of Riyadh Air.
The airline’s launch supports Saudi Arabia’s broader efforts to diversify its economy. According to the General Authority for Civil Aviation, the aviation industry generated $32.2 billion in tourism receipts and supported more than 958,000 jobs in 2023 — 241,000 in aviation and 717,000 in tourism-related sectors.
“We play an important role in the evolution of the Saudi aviation ecosystem with the aim to create 200,000 direct and indirect jobs and contribute almost $20 billion to the Kingdom’s non-oil GDP,” added Douglas.
The sector is a key pillar of the National Transport and Logistics Strategy, which aims to raise its gross domestic product contribution from 6 percent to 10 percent by 2030.
Christian Scherer, CEO of commercial aircraft at Airbus, said: “This partnership reflects our shared commitment to innovation and decarbonization whilst connecting the vibrant Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the world!”
