AVIATION
China plans huge investment
China plans to invest more than 1.5 trillion yuan (US$228 billion) in the aviation industry over the next five years to meet surging demand as its economy booms, the sector’s top regulator said yesterday. By 2015, the country is expected to have more than 220 commercial airports and its fleet size will expand to more than 4,500 planes, said Li Jiaxiang (李家祥), head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China. The country currently has 175 commercial airports in operation and keeps more than 2,600 aircraft in its fleet, Li said.
EXCHANGES
CBOE open to sale, merger
The Chicago Board Options Exchange’s (CBOE) parent is now formally open to “strategic transactions,” such as a sale or merger with another exchange operator, a person with direct knowledge of the company’s stance said on Wednesday. At a Feb. 8 board meeting, CBOE Holdings Inc management told directors that it would not be opposed to a transaction, though no specific possibilities were outlined, said the source, who requested anonymity, adding the board did not oppose this. The next day, two major exchange takeovers were unveiled. Since then, the source said, many e-mailed and verbal messages have been exchanged internally on how CBOE, the No. 1 US options market, will respond to the recent rash of global merger plans.
BANKING
RBS sees losses shrink
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Britain’s largest government-owned bank, reported a smaller annual net loss last year after returning to profit in the final quarter. RBS, which is 84 percent owned by the taxpayer after receiving a state bailout at the height of the credit crisis in 2008, yesterday posted a net loss of ￡1.1 billion (US$1.8 billion) for last year, compared with a ￡3.6 billion loss in 2009. The bank made a small net profit of ￡12 million in the final three months of last year, favorable when compared with a ￡765 million loss in the same quarter in 2009. RBS chief executive Stephen Hester said the bank’s recovery is “ahead of schedule” two years on from the global financial crisis.
CHEMICALS
BASF posts stunning results
BASF, the world’s biggest chemicals company, presented stunning results yesterday, including a net profit that leapt more than three-fold to 4.56 billion euros (US$6.3 billion). The group had suffered from the global economic slowdown in 2009, when net profit amounted to 1.41 billion euros. It bounced back last year, and despite problems in Libya, BASF chief executive Juergen Hambrecht was quoted by a statement as saying the group is now “optimistic for the first quarter [of 2011] and the year as a whole.”
INSURANCE
Allianz sees higher earnings
Allianz SE says its fourth-quarter earnings last year climbed 11 percent on a small increase in revenue and a more profitable core business. Allianz yesterday reported net earnings of 1.14 billion euros for the October to December period — up from 1.02 billion euros a year earlier. Revenues climbed 2 percent to 26 billion euros from 25.5 billion euros. The Munich-based company said the combined ratio at its property and casualty division was down to 94.9 percent from 95.3 percent. A lower ratio means an insurance underwriting business is more profitable. Full-year net earnings were up to 5.05 billion euros from 4.21 billion euros in 2009. Revenues grew to 106.5 billion euros from 97.4 billion euros.
RECYCLE: Taiwan would aid manufacturers in refining rare earths from discarded appliances, which would fit the nation’s circular economy goals, minister Kung said Taiwan would work with the US and Japan on a proposed cooperation initiative in response to Beijing’s newly announced rare earth export curbs, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday. China last week announced new restrictions requiring companies to obtain export licenses if their products contain more than 0.1 percent of Chinese-origin rare earths by value. US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent on Wednesday responded by saying that Beijing was “unreliable” in its rare earths exports, adding that the US would “neither be commanded, nor controlled” by China, several media outlets reported. Japanese Minister of Finance Katsunobu Kato yesterday also
Taiwan’s rapidly aging population is fueling a sharp increase in homes occupied solely by elderly people, a trend that is reshaping the nation’s housing market and social fabric, real-estate brokers said yesterday. About 850,000 residences were occupied by elderly people in the first quarter, including 655,000 that housed only one resident, the Ministry of the Interior said. The figures have nearly doubled from a decade earlier, Great Home Realty Co (大家房屋) said, as people aged 65 and older now make up 20.8 percent of the population. “The so-called silver tsunami represents more than just a demographic shift — it could fundamentally redefine the
China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) said it expects peak season effects in the fourth quarter to continue to boost demand for passenger flights and cargo services, after reporting its second-highest-ever September sales on Monday. The carrier said it posted NT$15.88 billion (US$517 million) in consolidated sales last month, trailing only September last year’s NT$16.01 billion. Last month, CAL generated NT$8.77 billion from its passenger flights and NT$5.37 billion from cargo services, it said. In the first nine months of this year, the carrier posted NT$154.93 billion in cumulative sales, up 2.62 percent from a year earlier, marking the second-highest level for the January-September
‘DRAMATIC AND POSITIVE’: AI growth would be better than it previously forecast and would stay robust even if the Chinese market became inaccessible for customers, it said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday raised its full-year revenue growth outlook after posting record profit for last quarter, despite growing market concern about an artificial intelligence (AI) bubble. The company said it expects revenue to expand about 35 percent year-on-year, driven mainly by faster-than-expected demand for leading-edge chips for AI applications. The world’s biggest contract chipmaker in July projected that revenue this year would expand about 30 percent in US dollar terms. The company also slightly hiked its capital expenditure for this year to US$40 billion to US$42 billion, compared with US$38 billion to US$42 billion it set previously. “AI demand actually
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