BANKING
New loans fall in China
New loans issued by Chinese banks fell sharply last month from the previous month, the People’s Bank of China said yesterday, in a sign Beijing’s efforts to stem a flood of credit in the economy were bearing fruit. Banks handed out 551.6 billion yuan (US$85.14 billion) in loans last month compared with 739.6 billion yuan in April and 100.5 billion yuan a year earlier, the central bank said in a statement. M2, the broadest measure of money supply, rose 15.1 percent at the end of last month compared with 15.3 percent at the end of April, the bank said, in another sign of slowing credit.
MACHINERY
Japan orders drop in April
Japan reported yesterday that private-sector core machinery orders, a leading indicator of corporate capital spending, fell unexpectedly in April by 3.3 percent from the previous month. The drop came as companies canceled orders following a March 11 earthquake and tsunami in the northeast that destroyed or damaged scores of factories. The decline was the first in four months, evidence that the twin disasters continue to take their toll on the economy. The seasonally adjusted figure includes heavily electrical machinery, engines, machine tools, road vehicles and aircraft, but excludes orders for ships and utilities because of their volatility.
AVIATION
Thai Airways buys 37 planes
Thai Airways announced yesterday that it would acquire 23 Airbus and 14 Boeing passenger and cargo airplanes for about US$3.9 billion to modernize its aging fleet. The carrier said the deals, which have been approved by its board of directors, would enable it to grow profits and be among the top three leading airlines in Asia in terms of quality and service efficiency. The airline plans to buy six Boeing 777-300ER planes, four Airbus A350-900s and five A320-200s for a total of about US$1.6 billion, for delivery between 2014 and 2017. It will also lease 22 aircraft, including eight Boeing 787 Dreamliners, to be delivered between next year and 2017, a company statement said.
AUTOMOBILES
Mitsubishi expects profit rise
Mitsubishi Motors Corp forecast full-year profit could rise 28 percent on higher overseas sales, the Tokyo-based company said in a statement yesterday. Net income could increase to ¥20 billion (US$248 million) in the 12 months ending March 31 from ¥15.6 billion a year earlier, it said. Revenue could climb to ¥1.95 trillion from ¥1.83 trillion, it said. Mitsubishi Motors postponed its profit forecast from April 27, citing the impact on production from the March 11 earthquake. The automaker estimated it lost output of 35,000 vehicles from March 14 to April 30, company spokesman Kai Inada said.
FINANCE
Citi Venture closing in Japan
Citigroup will close its Japan office for Citi Venture Capital International as the high-growth focused fund management firm has failed to find any attractive investments, two people with direct knowledge of the closure said. Citi Venture Capital International, which manages US$7 billion in equity investments and committed capital, opened its Japan office in September 2006. The firm has been active in other parts of Asia and its investments include India’s BGR Energy Systems and Belgium-based Hansen Transmissions International NV, which also has operations in India, according to its Web site.
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
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”