PHARMACEUTICALS
Russia invests in Pro Bono
The Russian government has become the leading shareholder in a new Anglo-Russian drug company with an unusual mission to develop nanotechnology, help the world’s poor and list in London and Moscow within a few years. Pro Bono Bio is formed from the assets of Celtic Pharma, a private equity group based in London that specializes in life sciences, and RusNano, a Russian state corporation formed to champion nanotechnology. A company spokesman said yesterday that RusNano had already invested about £300 million (US$477 million) in Celtic’s funds and would have a stake of more than 40 percent in Pro Bono Bio.
AUTOMOBILES
Fitch downgrades Toyota
Ratings agency Fitch yesterday said it had downgraded the long-term debt of Japanese automaker Toyota by one notch to “A,” citing its exposure to foreign currency volatility. Toyota is “the most exposed among the big three Japanese automakers to FX [foreign exchange] movements and its profitability improvement was slowest among its Japanese competitors post the recent economic crisis even after disregarding the impact of product recalls in the past two years,” Fitch said in a statement.
ENERGY
CNOOC to reopen wells
CNOOC Ltd (中國海洋石油), part owner of China’s biggest offshore oilfield, approved a plan by operator ConocoPhillips to reopen wells and ease reservoir pressure after leaks caused the country’s worst spill in more than a year. “A number of wells in the field will be restarted to discharge the fluid from the reservoir and to reduce the pressure,” Beijing-based CNOOC said in a statement on Sunday. ConocoPhillips will also “carry out drilling activities and other related operations on six wells in the area of Platform B and C, as additional measures for sealing seep sources,” CNOOC said.
GAMBLING
Wynn Macau to build resort
Casino operator Wynn Macau Ltd yesterday said it had signed a land deal with the Macau government to build its second casino-resort in Macau, the world’s most lucrative gambling market. Wynn Macau said it formally accepted the land concession contract on Friday for 20 hectares of reclaimed swampland in Cotai District so it can build a resort with a hotel, casino, shopping, restaurants, entertainment, spa and convention space.
INDIA
Industrial output slows
Growth in the country’s industrial output slowed sharply to a lower-than-expected 3.3 percent in July from a year ago, the Central Statistical Office said yesterday. It was well below the forecasts of analysts, who were expecting growth of 6 percent. The rate of expansion was hit by manufacturing output, which rose just 2.3 percent year-on-year, compared with 10.8 percent in the same period last year. Capital goods production shrank 15.2 percent against growth of 40 percent a year earlier, the office said.
TRADE
Australia’s surplus widens
Australia posted its fifth monthly trade surplus in July after a small deficit in February linked to floods and other weather-related disruptions, data showed yesterday. The Bureau of Statistics said the surplus widened slightly during the month, with the balance on goods and services at a seasonally adjusted A$1.826 billion (US$1.894 billion).
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],”