■INVESTMENT
Private investment robust
Private investment in Taiwan totaled NT$386 billion (US$ 12.2 billion) in the first quarter of the year, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Friday. The amount was 37.57 percent of the government’s full-year target of NT$1.272 trillion (US$43.1 billion), indicating that the nation is emerging from the shadow of the global financial crisis, the ministry said. Among the industries that saw growing investment, the green energy sector attracted NT$41.8 billion, amounting to 78 percent of the industry target for this year, the ministry said.
■BEVERAGES
Coke raises Innocent stake
US soft drinks giant Coca-Cola has taken a majority stake in fast-expanding British smoothie maker Innocent Drinks, but its founders said on Friday that they would maintain operational control. Coca-Cola increased its stake in Innocent to 58 percent, one year after taking an inital 18 percent share. Financial details of the latest deal were not revealed.
■CEMENT
Cemex to invest in Peru
Mexico’s Cemex, the world’s third-largest cement maker, said on Friday it would invest up to US$100 million in Peru to build a production plant with investment firm Blue Rock Cement Holdings. The new plant will have an initial capacity of 1 million tonnes of cement per year, a statement from the company’s headquarters in the northern city of Monterrey said. The company aims to complete construction of the US$230 million plant in early 2013.
■ICELAND
Official optimistic on loan
Finance Minister Steingrimur Sigfusson on Friday expressed optimism that the country would receive final approval for a crucial IMF loan payout, after an agreement was reached on its conditions. “I’m very optimistic that the path is clear and we will get the review,” Steingrimur Sigfusson said, adding that he expected “a unanimous decision” from the IMF board. The IMF and Iceland on Friday announced an agreement on the conditions for the controversial US$159 million IMF loan payment, which awaits IMF board approval.
■PUBLISHING
Fund buys ‘Reader’s Digest’
A management buy-out backed by an investment company has saved the British division of Reader’s Digest from administration, the deal’s organizers said on Friday. The British arm collapsed into administration on Feb. 17, six months after its US parent group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and almost 100 potential buyers had expressed interest to administrators. Better Capital Ltd said its BECAP fund had backed the buy-out in a transaction valued at £13 million (US$20 million). Managing director Chris Spratling will remain head of the company.
■TECHNOLOGY
Hiring practices probed
The US Department of Justice is investigating whether some of the biggest technology companies agreed not to recruit each others’ employees, violating antitrust laws, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The investigation is looking into hiring practices at companies including Apple Inc, Google Inc, IAC/InterActiveCorp, International Business Machines and Intel Corp, the newspaper reported. In particular, the Justice Department is investigating whether computer engineers and other workers have missed opportunities to move to better-paying jobs because of these companies’ hiring practices, the newspaper said.
Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves hit a record high at the end of last month, surpassing the US$600 billion mark for the first time, the central bank said yesterday. Last month, the country’s foreign exchange reserves rose US$5.51 billion from a month earlier to reach US$602.94 billion due to an increase in returns from the central bank’s portfolio management, the movement of other foreign currencies in the portfolio against the US dollar and the bank’s efforts to smooth the volatility of the New Taiwan dollar. Department of Foreign Exchange Director-General Eugene Tsai (蔡炯民)said a rate cut cycle launched by the US Federal Reserve
The US government on Wednesday sanctioned more than two dozen companies in China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, including offshoots of a US chip firm, accusing the businesses of providing illicit support to Iran’s military or proxies. The US Department of Commerce included two subsidiaries of US-based chip distributor Arrow Electronics Inc (艾睿電子) on its so-called entity list published on the federal register for facilitating purchases by Iran’s proxies of US tech. Arrow spokesman John Hourigan said that the subsidiaries have been operating in full compliance with US export control regulations and his company is discussing with the US Bureau of
Pegatron Corp (和碩), a key assembler of Apple Inc’s iPhones, on Thursday reported a 12.3 percent year-on-year decline in revenue for last quarter to NT$257.86 billion (US$8.44 billion), but it expects revenue to improve in the second half on traditional holiday demand. The fourth quarter is usually the peak season for its communications products, a company official said on condition of anonymity. As Apple released its new iPhone 17 series early last month, sales in the communications segment rose sequentially last month, the official said. Shipments to Apple have been stable and in line with earlier expectations, they said. Pegatron shipped 2.4 million notebook
Businesses across the global semiconductor supply chain are bracing themselves for disruptions from an escalating trade war, after China imposed curbs on rare earth mineral exports and the US responded with additional tariffs and restrictions on software sales to the Asian nation. China’s restrictions, the most targeted move yet to limit supplies of rare earth materials, represent the first major attempt by Beijing to exercise long-arm jurisdiction over foreign companies to target the semiconductor industry, threatening to stall the chips powering the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. They prompted US President Donald Trump on Friday to announce that he would impose an additional
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