RETAIL
Gap opens first Chinese shop
Clothing retailer Gap opened its first store in China yesterday, calling it a major step in an international expansion aimed at doubling the proportion of its revenue from outside the US. The Gap’s 1,140m2 Shanghai flagship is the first of four shops the group will open in China in coming weeks along with an online store, John Ermatinger, president of Gap Asia Pacific, told reporters. The US retailer, which also operates the Banana Republic and Old Navy chains, is set to open another store in Shanghai, two more in Beijing later this year and outlets in Hong Kong in the third quarter of next year, he said.
INSURANCE
Aegon earnings triple
The insurer Aegon NV says its third-quarter earnings more than tripled as it adjusted the value of some assets upward, had better gains on investments and better underlying earnings. A relatively weak euro also helped the Hague, Netherlands-based company, which operates Transamerica and has two-thirds of its business in the US. The company says its net profit was 657 million euros (US$907 million), up from 145 million euros in the same period last year. Sales of new life insurance policies were up 7 percent to 527 million euros, with strength in the US, Britain and emerging markets, Aegon said.
MEDIA
Bertelsmann’s profits jump
A pick-up in the advertising industry and an improved economy helped push up profits at German media giant Bertelsmann in the first nine months of the year, the firm said yesterday. Net profit to September was 259 million euros, the media giant said, compared with a net loss of 305 million euros in the same period last year. Meanwhile, sales rose 3.5 percent to 11 billion euros in the first nine months of the year.
AUTOMAKERS
Mitsubishi recalls vehicles
Japan’s fourth-largest automaker, Mitsubishi Motors, will recall about 250,000 vehicles in Japan over engine oil leaks, the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said yesterday. The recall will cover seven small models, such as the family-sized eK Wagon, as well as two models produced for the Nissan Motor brand, the Otti and Clipper. A total of 247,663 units will be recalled, the ministry said.
AVIATION
Dreamliner test flights halted
Boeing Co halted test flights of its 787 Dreamliner on Wednesday, a day after an electrical fire aboard one of its test planes forced an emergency landing in Texas, but said it was too early to tell if the incident would push back the plane’s delivery schedule. The company said it was still investigating the fire, which was the first of its kind for the Dreamliner program and raised new questions for the company and for US aviation regulators.
IMMIGRATION
Ottawa ups investor ante
The Canadian government announced on Wednesday it was doubling requirements for foreign investors seeking to establish themselves in Canada, citing a high increase in demand. Starting on Dec. 1, foreign investors seeking to enter Canada as an immigrant must have personal net worth of at least C$1.6 million (US$1.6 million) and make an investment of C$800,000 or more, Citizenship and Immigration Canada said in a statement. The old criteria had specified C$800,000 and C$400,000, respectively.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure