Category: 3. Business

When the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) board voted unanimously to lift the cash rate to 3.85% on Tuesday, the decision was driven by one overriding concern. It wants to stop the rising cost of living from becoming entrenched.

For some, like self-funded retirees, the rate rise was good news. Higher interest means their savings and term deposits will earn more. But for many others, including first home buyers who might have stretched themselves just to get a foot into the housing market, it was a very bad day.

RBA Governor Michele Bullock acknowledged that, saying:

I know this is not the news that Australians with mortgages want to hear, but it is the right thing for the economy.

She warned the alternative – letting inflation keep rising – would be even harder for more Australians.

So what’s the psychology behind the RBA raising rates now and leaving the door open to further hikes if needed? And what does the central bank hope Australians will do in response?

The price squeeze you’re feeling

There’s a striking gap between how the RBA describes the economy and how most Australians experience it.

On paper, things look healthy: unemployment is low, wages are growing.

But as Bullock acknowledged on Tuesday, the daily reality has felt very different.

The price level has gone up 20% to 25% over the last few years, and people see that every time they walk into a supermarket, or they go to the doctor, or whatever – that’s I think what’s hurting people.

That relentless price squeeze is not something you forget, even when the rate of increase starts to slow.

What’s driving inflation up?

The headline consumer price index (CPI) hit 3.8% in the year to December, well above the RBA’s target band of 2–3%. The “trimmed mean” – the underlying measure the RBA watches most closely – rose to 3.3%. Both are too high and moving in the wrong direction.

Bullock singled out three factors contributing to inflation. Each behaves differently and requires a different response.

Housing was the single largest contributor to inflation in December, up 5.5% over the year. That includes rents, which rose 3.9% (or 4.2% stripping out government rent assistance), as well as insurance, utilities, and new construction costs, which rose 3% as builders passed through higher labour and material costs.

There is an irony here. Rising interest rates are intended to cool demand, but they slow housing construction. Limited supply of housing is what’s pushing rents up in the first place.

“Durable goods” are the things we buy to last, such as cars, refrigerators, washing machines, televisions and furniture. Demand for many of those has been higher in the past year.

“Market services” are items such as restaurant meals, taxis, haircuts, gym memberships, medical appointments and holiday travel.

The RBA watches these carefully, because these are services priced by supply and demand in the domestic market. Those prices tend to be “sticky”: once they start rising, they don’t come back down easily.

Wages are also a big part of market services inflation. If the people providing those services are earning more, the cost goes up.

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Read more:
RBA raises interest rates as inflation pressures remain high

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How rate cuts made shoppers relax

This is where the behavioural psychology gets interesting.

The RBA cut interest rates three times in 2025. Each cut sent a signal, whether intentionally or not: it’s OK to spend a bit more.

And spend we did. CommBank data shows Australians spent A$23.8 billion over the two-week Black Friday period, up 4.6% on the year before.

It’s a cautionary tale about “rational expectations”. Each rate cut potentially fuelled the belief that more would follow.

If people feel like they can afford to spend, then they spend. Businesses, sensing demand, may raise their prices to match. That’s exactly the self-fulfilling dynamic central banks worry about.

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Read more:
Here’s what Black Friday sales shopping does to your brain

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The 3 ways the RBA hopes we’ll react

When prices go up, as they have been, workers ask for bigger wage rises to keep up. To pay higher wages, businesses lift prices to protect their profit margins. Together, that can create a “wage-price spiral” that becomes very hard to break.

The RBA will be hoping Australians respond to this rate rise in three ways:

RBA Governor Michele Bullock described raising interest rates as “a very blunt instrument” to bring inflation down, and noted setting rates is “not a science. It’s a bit of an art, really […] We’ve just got to respond as best we can.”

The RBA can’t undo the price rises that have already happened. It can only try to slow down further increases.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., ROTTERDAM, Netherlands and SHANGHAI, Feb. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Harbour BioMed (the “Company”; HKEX: 02142), a global biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel antibody therapeutics in immunology and oncology, today announced a positive profit alert for the year ended December 31, 2025.

Based on a preliminary review of the Company’s unaudited management accounts for the Reporting Period, total profit is expected to range between US$88 million (equivalent to approximately HK$685 million) and US$95 million (equivalent to approximately HK$739 million), as compared to a profit of approximately US$2.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. Total adjusted profit^[1] is expected to range between US$91 million (equivalent to approximately HK$708 million) and US$98 million (equivalent to approximately HK$763 million).

The anticipated increase in profit is primarily attributable to:

• Continued growth of recurring revenue stream of the Company, such as the platform-based research collaboration with AstraZeneca and Bristol Myers Squibb.
• Accelerated expansion of global partner network, as the revenue generated from out-licensing and collaboration of innovative products has transformed into recurring revenue stream of the Company, such as the licensing collaboration with Otsuka, the licensing collaboration with Windward Bio.
• Rapid business growth of Nona Biosciences, such as the revenue generated from both technology license and platform-based service, as well as the milestone inflow from existing collaborations, such as the research and technology license collaboration with Pfizer.

Dr. Jingsong Wang, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Harbour BioMed, commented: “This anticipated profit marks a key milestone for Harbour BioMed, validating the value of our unique business model. The strength of our proprietary technology platforms is being recognized through a growing number of deep, strategic collaboration with global leaders. Most importantly, these partnerships are not one-time events; they are evolving into a sustainable financial foundation that fuels our mission to discover and develop novel antibody therapeutics for patients worldwide. Looking ahead, we will build on this momentum through continued innovation and high-impact collaborations to deliver sustainable growth.”

About Harbour BioMed

Harbour BioMed (HKEX: 02142) is a global biopharmaceutical company committed to the discovery and development of novel antibody therapeutics in immunology and oncology. The company is building a robust and differentiated pipeline through internal R&D capabilities, strategic global collaborations in co-discovery and co-development, and selective acquisitions.

Harbour BioMed’s proprietary antibody technology platform, Harbour Mice^®, generates fully human monoclonal antibodies in both the conventional two heavy and two light chain (H2L2) format and the heavy chain-only (HCAb) format. Building upon HCAb antibodies, the HCAb-based immune cell engagers (HBICE^®) bispecific antibody technology enables tumor-killing effects that traditional combination therapies cannot achieve. Additionally, the HCAb-based bispecific immune cell antagonist (HBICA^TM) technology empowers the development of innovative biologics for immunological and inflammatory diseases. By integrating Harbour Mice^®, HBICE^®, and HBICA^TM with a single B-cell cloning platform, Harbour BioMed has built a highly efficient and distinctive antibody discovery engine for developing next-generation therapeutic antibodies. For more information, please visit www.harbourbiomed.com.

Statement

The information contained in this press release is only a preliminary assessment by the Board based on the unaudited consolidated management accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries for the year ended December 31, 2025 currently available to the Company, and is not based on any figures or information which have been reviewed or confirmed by the audit committee of the Board, or reviewed or audited by the auditors of the Company. The actual results for the year ended December 31, 2025 may differ from those disclosed in this press release. As such, the above figures are strictly for information only and not for any other purposes.

SOURCE Harbour BioMed

Digital signage has long been proven to boost sales, increase brand recall and enhance customer and guest experiences. Over the years, businesses have expanded how they use this signage across different environments, managing more screens than ever before. Samsung digital signage has evolved alongside those needs, drawing on 17 consecutive years as the world’s No.1 commercial display provider.¹

With cloud-based display solutions such as Samsung VXT and LYNK Cloud, Samsung supports centralized content and display management tailored to different business roles and environments.

Samsung VXT is designed for marketing managers, store managers, and IT managers who need an easier way to create, update and manage digital signage across multiple locations. The platform brings content creation and management together in one place and now features AI Studio, an AI-powered content app that helps simplify digital signage content creation. When used with Samsung Spatial Signage, AI Studio automatically optimizes content to enhance depth and spatial presence, making visuals feel more dimensional and immersive.²

In hospitality settings, LYNK Cloud supports hotel IT managers, hotel operators and hotel service managers by helping them manage hotel TVs, on-screen services and guest-facing content from a central platform. It also helps hotels gain insight into how guests interact with in-room TV services to support more relevant offerings and identify new revenue opportunities.

Explore the infographic below for additional features and benefits of Samsung VXT and LYNK Cloud to see how they power more efficient content and display management.

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Milrem Robotics, the world’s leading developer of robotics and autonomous systems, and EOS Defence Systems, a global leader in advanced remote weapon systems and integrated defence solutions for Counter-UAS, have signed a teaming agreement to jointly pursue new business opportunities and advance network-centric collaborative combat robotics.

The agreement establishes a framework for cooperation across marketing, product development, and research and development, enabling both companies to combine their complementary expertise in unmanned platforms, weapon systems, and integrated defence solutions.

“By combining Milrem Robotics’ unmanned ground vehicle expertise with EOS Defence Systems’ advanced weapon and integration capabilities, we are strengthening our ability to deliver scalable and mission-ready solutions for modern armed forces,” said Kuldar Väärsi, CEO of Milrem Robotics. “This teaming agreement reflects our shared commitment to innovation, interoperability, and responding to evolving operational requirements.”

“The drone threat environment is increasingly mobile and contested, and effective defence can no longer be confined to fixed sites or crewed platforms,” said Andreas Schwer, CEO of Electro Optic Systems (EOS). “This teaming agreement extends EOS’ world-leading counter-drone systems onto unmanned ground platforms, supporting more flexible and layered defence approaches.”

Under the agreement, the companies will collaborate to identify business opportunities in new markets and customer segments of mutual interest, as well as to develop and execute joint marketing initiatives. The cooperation also enables the potential co-development of products, technologies, and integrated solutions aligned with the companies’ respective areas of expertise.

A key focus of the partnership is joint research and development, including the integration of advanced weapon systems, sensors, and effectors onto Milrem Robotics’ unmanned ground vehicles. Planned activities may include non-ITAR counter-UAS solutions, missile and grenade launcher integrations, large-calibre weapon systems for heavy UGVs, and the integration of laser-based capabilities on medium and large uncrewed platforms, in cooperation with selected international partners.

The agreement further supports the sharing of relevant intellectual property, technical know-how, and research outcomes to accelerate the commercialisation and deployment of jointly developed or marketed solutions.

The collaboration will initially focus on selected markets in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, and Europe, with opportunities in the United States assessed on a case-by-case basis. Target markets include the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, and selected European programmes where joint offerings can deliver a clear competitive advantage.

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