CHINA
Data shows contraction
Manufacturing activity in China contracted for the second straight month this month, early HSBC data showed yesterday, but the bank said a slight pick-up suggested an economic slump was less likely. HSBC’s preliminary purchasing managers’ index rose to 49.8 this month from 49.3 last month — which was the lowest level in 28 months and the first contraction in a year — according to a statement. A reading above 50 indicates the sector is expanding, while a reading below 50 suggests contraction. This month’s reading is subject to revision when the bank publishes its final figures on Sept. 1.
AUSTRALIA
Treasurer nixes intervention
Treasurer Wayne Swan refused yesterday to intervene in the meteoric local dollar despite warnings from the manufacturing industry of a crisis which could cost thousands of jobs. However, Swan said he would examine claims that the country’s key mining sector was choosing cheaper Chinese steel and industrial products instead of Australian-made because of the stronger “Aussie.” BlueScope Steel, Australia’s largest steelmaker by output, announced on Monday it would cut 1,000 jobs and abandon its export business, warning of the worst crisis to hit manufacturing in decades.
FOODSTUFFS
Foster’s mulls buyback
Australian beer giant Foster’s said yesterday it will return more than A$500 million (US$519 million) to shareholders as it battles a hostile takeover bid from British-based SABMiller. The company, which owns Australia’s largest brewer Carlton and United Breweries, made the announcement as it posted a full-year net loss of A$89 million to June 30. Chief executive John Pollaers said Foster’s was considering a share buyback or a capital reduction, through which it could cancel shares, but which would involve seeking a ruling from the Australian Tax Office. The shareholder-friendly move helped push the stock up A$0.09 to a high of A$4.99 yesterday, a premium on SABMiller’s offer of A$4.90 a share.
HEALTHCARE
Convatec bids for Kinetic
A rival bid for Kinetic Concepts Inc, a US maker of medical devices used in wound care, by medical technology firm Convatec is worth about US$6.5 billion, Swedish daily Dagens Industri reported yesterday, citing sources. Apax Partners LLP announced a US$5 billion offer for Kinetic last month. Under a so-called go-shop period, Kinetic had 40 days to seek higher offers. Bloomberg reported on Sunday that Convatec, which is owned by private equity firms Nordic capital and Avista Capital Partners LLC, had made a bid that exceeded Apax’s offer.
BANKING
Goldman CEO hires lawyer
Goldman Sachs shares fell sharply on Monday following news that its CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, has hired a top Washington defense lawyer. Blankfein and other top executives at Goldman Sachs Group Inc are facing inquiries from the US Department of Justice and other agencies on the firm’s practices leading up to the financial crisis. In April, the Us Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released a report that said Goldman “misled” its clients and the US Congress. The report said the bank profited from betting billions of dollars against the subprime mortgage market and then misled Congress during testimony last year.
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
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],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day