AVIATION
Anti-trust czar opposes pact
Canada’s competition chief sought on Monday to block a joint venture between Air Canada and United Continental, saying it creates a monopoly on key Canada-US routes that will lead to skyrocketing air fares. “The proposed joint venture would allow Air Canada and United Continental to operate and set prices as one airline,” Commissioner of Competition Melanie Aitken said in a statement. “If allowed to proceed, consumers will face higher prices and even less choice on key, high demand air passenger routes.” The two airlines hold an estimated 55 percent share of trips from Canada to the US.
AUTOMAKERS
Saab deal to help pay debt
Crisis-hit automaker Saab yesterday announced a US$40 million deal to sell and lease back property as it struggles to pay off debts that have forced it to halt production and withhold workers’ salaries. Saab’s owner Swedish Automobile said it had signed a conditional deal to sell 50.1 percent of the shares in wholly owned subsidiary Saab Automobile Property to a consortium led by Swedish real estate company Hemfosa. Under the deal, which needs regulators’ approval, the buyers have the option to buy additional shares to boost the amount to 300 million kronor (US$47 million) Swedish Automobile said.
SECURITIES
Woori to buy Merrill unit
Woori Investment & Securities Co, South Korea’s third-biggest brokerage by market value, agreed to take over Bank of America Corp’s wealth-management business in the country. The acquisition of Bank of America’s local Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management unit will help Woori provide more overseas investment products to its clients, the Seoul-based company said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. The financial terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed.
GAMING
Gamers returning: Sony
Sony Corp CEO Howard Stringer yesterday said PlayStation Network gamers were “very loyal” and returning to the service in big numbers, as he sought to reassure shareholders following a series of embarrassing hacker attacks. Stringer apologized for the data breach in April, which compromised personal data from more than 100 million online gaming accounts. Stringer said at an annual shareholders’ meeting in Tokyo that as many as 90 percent of subscribers had come back since Sony began restoring service last month.
FINANCE
Toyota ratings cut: Moody’s
Ratings agency Moody’s yesterday said it had downgraded Toyota Motor and its affiliates by one notch to “Aa3,” citing concerns for its profitability against a strong yen and materials costs. It said the ratings remain on review for possible further downgrade, given that they incorporate one notch of support from Japan’s banks and government, which are also under review for a possible downgrade.
SPORTSWEAR
Nike Q4 profit rose 14%
Nike Inc said on Monday its fiscal fourth-quarter net profit rose 14 percent as its global sales improved. The world’s largest athletic shoe company reported on Monday that despite higher costs, it earned US$594 million, or US$1.24 per share, for the quarter. That’s up from the US$522 million, or US$1.06 per share, it earned in the same quarter last year. Nike’s total revenue rose 14 percent to US$5.77 billion. The results handily beat the US$1.16 per share on revenue of US$5.53 that analysts were anticipating.
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