Tesla Inc. reached a preliminary agreement on the construction of an electric vehicle factory with the municipal authorities of Shanghai.
The signing of a memorandum between the leadership of the American company and the authorities of the Chinese city was reported by several media, in particular Reuters.
The message does not indicate when the construction of the plant is planned to begin. According to media reports, Tesla «plans to start production of the first cars two years after the start of construction of the plant and increase production to 500 thousand cars a year in about 2-3 years later.»
Thus, according to current plans, reaching the maximum capacity of 500 thousand cars is planned “about” 5 years after the undeclared deadline for the start of construction of the plant.
In May 2016, in a letter to the company’s shareholders following the results of the first quarter of 2016 (pdf), the head of the company, Ilon Musk, announced that Tesla would produce 500 thousand cars at a factory in California by 2018.
According to a number of current estimates, the real production volume of the entire Tesla automotive range in 2018 will be only 170 thousand cars.
Amid a worsening trade relationship between the U.S. and China, Tesla announced a significant increase in the value of its cars in China in early July 2018.
As noted by the Vesti.Ekonomika portal, the cost of a Model S sedan and Model X crossover in China was increased by $ 22.6-37.6 thousand, depending on the configuration.
BlackRock Q2 Profit Exceeds Forecast
The profit and revenue of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management company, exceeded analyst expectations in the second quarter, Reuters reports.
The net profit of the American company in April-June increased to $ 1.07 billion from $ 854 million for the same period a year earlier.
Diluted earnings per share were $ 6.62 compared with $ 5.20 a year earlier.
Adjusted earnings were $ 6.66 per share. According to Thomson Reuters, analysts had forecast a figure of $ 6.55.
The investment company’s revenue in the second quarter was $ 3.605 billion instead of the expected $ 3.594 billion.
BlackRock said its stronger-than-expected revenue was partly driven by base fees, commissions related to profitability metrics, and “revenue from technology services.” The company’s profit was positively affected by a reduction in corporate tax rate.
According to Vesti.Ekonomika, in December, US President Donald Trump signed into law a tax reform. The document provides for a reduction in corporate income tax rates from 35% to 21%.
The company’s effective tax rate in the second quarter was 23.7% compared with 30.4% a year earlier.
The volume of assets managed by BlackRock by the end of Q2 amounted to $ 6.29 trillion, down from $ 6.32 trillion in the previous quarter.
Net inflows to BlackRock totaled $ 20 billion for the quarter, with a long-term inflow of $ 14.5 billion, well below StreetAccount’s estimate of $ 38 billion.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said the asset management industry has been affected by the slowdown in flows, “due to investor uncertainty about the current market environment.”
However, “our customer dialogue and the ability to provide long-term solutions are more reliable than ever before,” Fink added.
Ex-adviser to Trump: “We are at war with China. We win ”
Donald Trump’s former chief adviser, Steve Bannon, said the United States has been embroiled in a trade conflict with China for decades. In his opinion, the confrontation can only end with the victory of Washington.
“We are at war with China,” Bannon said, praising Trump’s actions to escalate the conflict with China. “We win,” he added.
Earlier, a former adviser to the US president made a provocative statement that Trump knows that he must «unite the West against the growth of totalitarian China.»
At the same time, for Bannon there is only one option for ending the “trade war” with the PRC: with the USA as winners. “It will end in victory. Victory is when they give full access to their markets, ”he said.
At the same time, Bannon claims that he is still being listened to in the White House. He himself contacts with officials, and communicates with the president through lawyers, the former official said in an interview with CNBC.
Bannon left the White House a year ago. And he said that he had no desire to return there. “I hated every second,” he said.
Steve Bannon — former chief strategist, senior adviser to the 45th US President Donald trump on political and strategic issues, he was one of the most influential employees of the presidential administration. It was Bannon who was the main initiator of the «trade war» between the United States and China.
