ELECTRONICS
Philips warns of weak profit
Royal Philips Electronics NV yesterday warned that its fourth-quarter profits were worse than expected owing to a weak European market, making it harder to charge consumers as much as it wanted for light bulbs. Philips, the world’s largest lighting maker, is scheduled to report full earnings on Jan. 30. The company did not release profit or loss figures, but said free cash flow would be 1 billion euros (US$1.28 billion) versus 1.2 billion euros a year ago. Sales grew by a “mid single digit” amount, the company said.
RETAIL
Food lifts M&S’ sales
British retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) yesterday said sales at its stores rose 0.5 percent in the final three months of last year, helped by a better-than-expected performance at its food unit. The group’s overall sales in Britain grew 0.5 percent in the 13 weeks to Dec. 31 compared with a year earlier, M&S said in a trading update published as much of Britain’s retail sector struggles to overcome a weak economic climate. Food sales rose 3 percent, above analyst expectations for a gain of 1.5 percent, according to Dow Jones Newswires. Sales of general merchandise, including clothing, dropped 1.8 percent in the period.
COMPENSATION
Cook likely topped pay list
Tim Cook could well end up being the highest-paid CEO in the US last year, after Apple Inc granted him 1 million restricted stock units in August for taking the reins shortly before co-founder Steve Jobs died. An Associated Press review of a securities filing shows Cook’s pay package was valued at US$378 million. The vast majority came in a grant of 1 million restricted stock units worth US$376 million at the time. Half of the stock units will vest in August 2016, the other half in August 2021. In comparison, Jobs accepted a US$1 annual salary for years and owned about 5.5 million shares, worth about US$2.3 billion today.
ENGINEERING
Siemens warns on earnings
German engineer Siemens said it would struggle to reach its full-year targets because the volatile global economy was forcing its clients to cut spending, German news Web site the Wall Street Journal Deutschland reported. Chief financial officer Joe Kaeser yesterday said it would require “tough work” to meet the company’s outlook, adding “our guidance is very ambitious.” Siemens has said it sees profit from continuing operations for its 2011/2012 year to September flat at 7.01 billion euros, excluding a 1 billion euro positive effect related to the exit from a nuclear power joint venture with French group Areva.
FRANCE
Economy flat in final quarter
The French economy was flat in the last three months of last year, the Bank of France said yesterday, confirming an earlier estimate amid concerns the eurozone debt crisis could spark a recession. The central bank said there was no growth between the third and fourth quarters of last year, an outcome which should allow the government to come very close to meeting its full-year target for a 1.5 percent expansion. Third-quarter growth came in at 0.3 percent, the national statistics institute INSEE said last month. On the basis of the third-quarter performance, the French economy should grow 1.7 percent growth for the year, it said.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last