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.
DAMAGE REPORT: Global central banks are assessing war-driven inflation risks as the law of unintended consequences careens around the world, spiking oil prices Central banks from Washington to London and from Jakarta to Taipei are about to make their first assessments of economic damage after more than two weeks of conflict between the US and Iran. Decisions this week encompassing every member of the G7 and eight of the world’s 10 most-traded currency jurisdictions are likely to confirm to investors that the specter of a new inflation shock is already worrying enough to prompt heightened caution. The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to do exactly what everyone anticipated weeks ahead of its March 17-18 policy gathering: hold rates steady. The narrative surrounding that
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) share of the global foundry market rose to almost 70 percent last year amid booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI), market information advisory firm TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said on Thursday. The contract chipmaker posted US$122.54 billion in revenue, up 36.1 percent from a year earlier, accounting for 69.9 percent of the global market, TrendForce said. Its share was up from 64.4 percent in 2024, it said. TSMC’s closest rival, Samsung Electronics, was a distant second, posting US$12.63 billion in sales, down 3.9 percent from a year earlier, for a 7.2 percent share of the global market. In the
At a massive shipyard in North Vancouver, Canadian workers grind metal beams for a powerful new icebreaker crucial to cementing the country’s presence in the increasingly contested arctic. Icebreakers are specialized, expensive vessels able to navigate in the frozen far north. And “this is the crown jewel,” said Eddie Schehr, vice president of production at the Seaspan shipyard. For Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who heads to Norway next Friday to observe arctic defense drills involving troops from 14 NATO states, Canada’s extreme north has emerged as a strategic priority. “Canada is and forever will be an Arctic nation,” he said ahead of
Chinese entrepreneur Frank Gao used to spend long hours running his social media accounts but now outsources the chore to artificial intelligence (AI) agent tool OpenClaw, which is taking China by storm despite official warnings over cybersecurity. OpenClaw, created in November by an Austrian coder, differs from bots such as ChatGPT because it can execute real-life tasks such as sending e-mails, organizing files or even booking flight tickets. “Since January, I’ve spent hours on the lobster every day,” Gao said in an interview, referring to OpenClaw’s red crustacean mascot. “We’re family.” After downloading OpenClaw, users connect it to artificial intelligence models of their
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