INTERNET
Alipay spin-off kept quiet
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) spun off its Alipay online payment business to a different company without the knowledge or consent of its board or shareholders, Yahoo Inc said. Yahoo and Softbank Corp, owners of stakes in Alibaba Group, did not learn until March 31 of the transfer, which happened in August last year, Yahoo said in a statement on Thursday. Alibaba shifted ownership of Alipay to a company mostly owned by Alibaba chief executive Jack Ma (馬雲) to comply with Chinese restrictions on foreign ownership of payment services, Yahoo said.
OIL
China halts diesel shipments
China has halted diesel shipments and restricted exports of refined oil products in a bid to ensure domestic supply and to stabilize fuel costs amid surging inflation in the country. The National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement that exports of refined oil products would be “strictly controlled” and those of diesel temporarily stopped, except to Hong Kong and Macau. The country’s top economic planning agency also urged oil producers to “maintain full capacity operation” to increase output, in the statement dated on Thursday.
FINANCE
Seoul fund to invest in Asia
South Korea’s state pension fund — the world’s fourth-largest fund — said yesterday it would set up a fund of up to US$828 million for investment only in Asia. The National Pension Service said it would select eight local asset managers next month to run a Pan-Asia Fund totaling up to 900 billion won (US$828 million). Each asset manager would handle a maximum 200 billion won to support and invest in venture companies and firms seeking to expand in Asia.
AIRLINES
Qantas mulls new airline
Qantas Airways is planning to create a new airline in Singapore as part of a strategy to increase its Asian business and cut costs, a newspaper reported yesterday. Qantas was considering the Singapore-based full-service subsidiary as a way of bypassing the high cost base and geographic isolation of Australia, the Australian Financial Review reported, citing unnamed sources. The airline declined to either confirm or deny that the Singapore airline was an option under consideration.
METALS
ThyssenKrupp profit leaps
ThyssenKrupp, the biggest German steel group, saw its second-quarter pre-tax profit leap by an annualized 84 percent to 352 million euros (US$500 million), it said yesterday. The result was much better than an average analyst forecast of 298 million euros compiled by Dow Jones Newswires. ThyssenKrupp, which also manufactures elevators and auto components and offers industrial installation services, posted a 21 percent gain in sales to 12.3 billion euros.
INSURANCE
Lloyd’s expects price rises
Lloyd’s of London, the world’s largest insurance market, has estimated net claims of US$3.8 billion before tax from this year’s Japan and New Zealand earthquakes, and floods in Australia. Lloyd’s also said yesterday that it expects insurance prices to rise as a result of the events. The insurer said that its total estimate includes US$1.95 billion in claims for the Japan earthquake and tsunami, US$1.2 billion for the New Zealand earthquake and US$650 million for the Australian floods.
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