Asian autos: bleak times ahead

Published By Datamonitor

CitiGold: life, but not as we know it

The $950 billion mass affluent market in Asia-Pacific is vastly underserved. Indeed, in CitiGold's target markets of Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia, HSBC's Premier service is the only serious rival. The US giant has beaten HSBC before in the wealth management market, and it looks set to do it again.

Published By Datamonitor

Wessex Water: less of a bargain in the long term

After months of wrangling, Azurix has secured the sale of its Wessex Water subsidiary to YTL of Malaysia for GBP1.24 billion after increasing its offer to bondholders for the third time. YTL is one of several companies looking to pick up UK water firms 'on the cheap' as tightening regulatory controls depress stock values. However, their long-term attractiveness could be questionable.

Published By Datamonitor

Hong Leong: Islamic bank to enhance Malaysia offerings

Hong Leong Bank has launched Hong Leong Islamic Bank in its home market, Malaysia, offering wealth management, personal financial services, capital markets products and structured finance. Considering that Malaysia is emerging as Asia-Pacific's Islamic banking center, Hong Leong is right to capitalize on its existing strength in this market.

Published By Datamonitor

Proton: the price of import reform

The political embarrassment brought upon Malaysia's government by recent allegations of corruption in the issuing of car import licenses has led it to review its car import policy. This could have important implications for Proton: Malaysia's largest carmaker, and national industrial champion, may need to strengthen external strategic alliances to survive.

Published By Datamonitor

Contactless payment: Europe's forecourts are playing catch-up

In Malaysia and the US, credit card usage is high and, as a result, new payment technologies are flourishing. Advancements such as contactless payment have both positive and negative implications for the forecourt retailer. However, given the slow adoption of credit cards in some markets, it will be several years before Europe follows suit.

Published By Datamonitor

Colgate-Palmolive: a clean break from southeast Asian detergents

The detergent market worldwide has seen greater consolidation in recent years, with many leading brands concentrated in the hands of a diminishing number of companies. By selling its detergent brands, Colgate is set to make a timely exit from a market in which high raw material costs and continual price competition are driving the need for large-scale production and greater efficiencies.

Published By Datamonitor

New drinks review: too much choice won't give consumers a headache

Beer and coffee have not traditionally been associated with health giving properties, but this month's selection of new products from Productscan Online shows that this is about to change. Recent launches include a vitamin infused beer that is claimed to reduce hangovers, and an instant coffee which is marketed as containing more antioxidants than green tea.

Published By Datamonitor

Tesco looks to the East for growth but must not neglect the UK

Competitive pressures are mounting in Tesco's domestic market and with growth in the UK set to become far more subdued, aggressively pursuing growth in its Asian operations is a sensible strategy for the grocer. However, Tesco must ensure that the emerging avenues of growth in the UK are exploited to the same extent as those provided by the exciting opportunities in its key growth region.

Published By Datamonitor

The Malaysian market may be small but it has a number of attractions

The Malaysian wealth market will never be as large as Asia Pacific's titans like Japan, nor can it boast the prodigious growth rates of China and India, but the market is fast becoming one that wealth managers need to take into account. Steady growth, an open economy, and a developing Islamic finance center give Malaysia a prominence in wealth management above what its current size may warrant.

Published By Datamonitor