SOLAR POWER
China monopolistic: Germany
Germany said on Wednesday that Chinese support of solar-power equipment suppliers might be an effort to create a monopoly. Chinese makers of solar devices benefit from “offensive, unlimited state financing,” German Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen said in Berlin. That support may be designed to “drive out German companies as competitors to reach a technology leadership or even a technology monopoly.” Last year’s slump in solar-panel prices of about 50 percent, spurred by a surge in output from Chinese companies, squeezed margins for German producers, including Q-Cells SE, while German panel maker Solon SE and Solar Millennium AG sought protection from creditors last month.
RETAIL
Carrefour expects big losses
French retailer Carrefour SA said its sales grew minimally last year, but that it expected to report losses of up to 20 percent for the year. Europe’s largest retailer by sales said yesterday that its profits last year would likely be at the bottom of the last range it gave, losses of between 15 and 20 percent. The company posted 91.5 billion euros (US$117.4 billion) in sales last year, up 1.1 percent, driven largely by strong demand in Asia and Latin America as Europe’s debt crisis decimated consumption in Carrefour’s largest markets. Carrefour said the rollout of its upmarket Carrefour Planet stores for this year would be “pragmatically reviewed” in light of economic conditions. The company hoped they would re-energize EU sales.
FASHION
Peacocks in administration
British high-street clothing chain Peacocks collapsed into administration on Wednesday amid tough trading conditions and falling consumer spending, putting about 9,600 jobs at risk. Administrators KPMG said in a statement that it would seek a buyer for the business, which has 611 stores and 49 concession outlets across Britain, as well as parent firm The Peacock Group. KPMG added that clothes chain Bonmarche, which is also owned by The Peacock Group and employs 3,800 staff, had not entered administration and a buyer was being sought.
FINANCE
Goldman Sachs profits drop
Banking titan Goldman Sachs on Wednesday reported a steep drop in profits, staff and pay last year, as the firm battled global economic headwinds. The New York-based bank — once described as a “great vampire squid” for its ability to profit in any situation — saw net earnings fall 47 percent to US$4.4 billion before dividend payments. During a call with analysts, Goldman Sachs chief financial official David Viniar said worries about a sovereign debt default in Europe and the political debate in the US about raising the debt ceiling had weighed on client’s risk appetite. “We are clearly in a cyclical downturn,” he said, adding: “It will come back.”
AGRICULTURE
African investment planned
A Chinese company said on Wednesday it would invest US$1.3 billion to develop rice and rubber agriculture in Sierra Leone, the biggest investment to date in the country’s farming sector. Shanghai Construction Investment and Sierra Leone’s agricultural ministry signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday that said the company “will cultivate over 30,000 hectares of land” in the northern region of Tonkolili. The project will begin in the middle of this year and is expected to create about 100,000 jobs for Sierra Leonean workers.
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