BANKING
World Bank invests in RCBC
The World Bank’s investment arm, International Finance Corp (IFC), is to take a minority stake in Philippine lender Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC). The listed bank told the Philippine Stock Exchange in a disclosure yesterday it had secured central bank approval to sell 73.4 million shares to IFC. Though the terms of the deal were undisclosed, the block purchase would account for just more than 7 percent of RCBC’s outstanding shares and would be worth 2.02 billion pesos (US$46.57 million) based on its closing price on Tuesday.
SINGAPORE
Slower GDP growth forecast
Singapore’s economy will slow this year from last year’s record pace as growth in manufacturing, financial services and construction all wane, according to a central bank survey of analysts released yesterday. The city-state’s GDP will likely expand 5.7 percent this year, according to the median forecast of 20 economists in the quarterly survey, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said. The previous survey in December had forecast economic growth of 5.1 percent this year.
INTEREST RATES
Hanoi hikes rates again
Vietnam has raised interest rates for the second time in less than three weeks, a move which analysts say shows a stronger commitment to fighting rampant inflation. The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), in a notice issued late on Tuesday, said its refinancing rate had risen to 12 percent. That followed an increase on Feb. 17 to 11 percent from 9 percent. The central bank also lifted its discount rate to 12 percent, from 7 percent, but left the base rate at 9 percent.
BANKING
AIG repays partial debt
American International Group Inc (AIG) has paid the federal government nearly US$7 billion this week after selling off assets, trimming its financial bailout balance to just under US$60 billion. The US Department of Treasury says US$6.6 billion comes from AIG’s sale last week of MetLife Inc holdings. Another US$300 million is from AIG’s sale of American Life Insurance Co. AIG has now paid back US$9.1 billion of the US$68 billion in bailout funds it received from the government at the height of the 2008 financial crisis. The Treasury owns 92 percent of AIG through its holdings of the company’s common stock, which it is expected to begin selling in May.
AVIATION
Ferrovial mulling BAA bid
Spain’s Ferrovial said it was studying offers for 10 percent of British airports operator BAA, with sources confirming China’s HNA Group (中國海航集團) was a potential bidder. Two financial sources with knowledge of the situation said airport operator HNA was interested, confirming an earlier Sky News report, but cautioned this might not result in a firm offer. BAA owns London’s Heathrow and Stansted airports, Southampton in south England, as well as Scotland’s Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen airports.
INTERNET
Google updates Chrome
Google on Tuesday released a finished version of its speedy new Chrome Web browsing software for desktops or laptops. The latest version of Chrome promised quick and responsive handling of software running in the Web browser. Google improved settings for bookmarks, passwords, searches and home pages, as well as enhanced protection from Web sites booby-trapped by hackers with malicious code.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six