AUGUSTASIA BUSINESS OUTLOOK9NEWSROOMADIDAS RENEWS PARTNERSHIP WITH MANCHESTER UNITED WITH MINIMUM GUARANTEE OF $1.16 BILLIONSOUTH KOREA'S TRADE ACTIVITY SURGE EASES FACTORY SLUMPManchester United renewed its 10-year partnership with official kit supplier Adidas on July 31, with a minimum cash guarantee of 900 million pounds ($1.16 billion). The new agreement, signed ahead of the start of the 2023/24 Premier League season next month, will extend the partnership until June 2035, according to the club.Manchester United will compete in the lucrative Champions League again this season. The 20-time English champions raised their annual forecast last month. The original agreement with Adidas, according to the company's most recent annual report, links a portion of the yearly payments to the club's participation in the Champions League.Failure to play in the Champions League for two more consecutive seasons reduces the club's annual payments by 30 percent of the applicable amount, according to the agreement. After its American owners, the Glazer family, launched a formal sale process late last year, United is still in talks to sell itself. Aprolonged slump in South Korean factory activity eased in July, with export orders rising for the first time in nearly one and a half years, according to a private business survey released on August 1, raising hopes for a more durable economic recovery. S&P Global's purchasing managers index (PMI) for South Korean manufacturers increased to 49.4 in July from 47.8 in June on a seasonally adjusted basis.The sub-50 reading indicated that activity continued to contract for the 13th month in a row, albeit at a much slower pace.A sub-index for new export orders rose to 50.2, after 16 months below 50, with a rise in demand from key markets across the Asia-Pacific region and Europe, particularly for automotive goods and semiconductors, according to the survey.That brought the decline in overall orders to the narrowest in 12 months, with the sub-index sharply up to 48.7 from 45.0, while output rose to 47.2 from 46.5."At the same time, firms took this as a signal to prepare for a gradual improvement in demand by hiring more people and increasing purchasing activity in July," said S&P Global Market Intelligence economist UsamahBhatti.Employment increased by the most in 17 months, and purchases increased for the first time in 12 months, while finished goods stocks fell by the most in 18 months, according to corresponding sub-indices.Inflationary conditions improved as well, with input prices falling for the first time since June 2020, accompanied by the steepest drop in output prices since August 2020.
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