JAPAN
Economic assessment raised
The government raised its assessment of the economy for the first time in nine months as the recovery from last year’s earthquake and tsunami disaster gains momentum. The Cabinet Office said in a report yesterday that reconstruction, rising consumer spending and exports were lifting its economy to a moderate recovery. It warned about uncertainties in the global economy, such as slowing growth in China and weak recoveries in Europe and the US. The report said corporate spending plunged after the earthquake last year, but the slide was now ending.
FINANCE
Banks must raise US$566bn
Fitch Ratings said on Thursday that the world’s 29 biggest banks together might have to raise US$566 billion by the end of 2018 to meet new international requirements for holding cushions against risk. In the report, Fitch said that having to raise that much capital could crimp the banks’ ability to increase dividends or buy back their own shares. The so-called Basel III rules for banks to increase capital reserves are designed to prevent another global financial crisis. The 29 banks, in 12 countries, were designated “global systemically important financial institutions” in November last year by the Financial Stability Board, an international regulators’ group. That means they are deemed so big and connected to other firms that a failure of one could bring down the financial system. They have a total US$47 trillion in assets, according to Fitch.
PHARMACEUTICALS
GSK persists with HGS bid
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) said it was persisting with its hostile bid to take over US company Human Genome Sciences (HGS) despite the target’s new “poison pill” defense. In a statement issued after the market closed on Thursday, GSK said it believed its US$13 per share offer represents full value for HGS, its partner in developing new drug treatments. Rockville, Maryland-based HGS on Thursday announced its defensive move, which will dilute holdings if anyone attempts to acquire 15 percent or more of its stock without board approval. GSK’s offer closes on June 7.
FINANCE
LSE annual profits surge
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) said yesterday that annual net profits surged, as the group was boosted by rising revenues and a string of acquisitions, despite the uncertain economic backdrop. Earnings after taxation rocketed to £522 million (US$823 million) in the group’s financial year to the end of March, compared with £151.6 million last time around, the LSE said in a results statement. Total revenues climbed 10 percent to £679.89 million, added the group, which operates the London Stock Exchange and Italy’s Borsa Italiana. It also hiked the annual shareholder dividend by 6 percent to £0.283 per share.
RETAIL
Wal-Mart beats expectations
Wal-Mart Stores Inc’s profit and sales surpassed expectations as more people shopped at its US stores and spent more, pushing shares up more than 4 percent despite probes into possible bribery. The first-quarter results, including a 10.1 percent increase in profit, showed that Wal-Mart’s US recovery was on track and efforts were progressing to cut costs and lower prices in markets such as China. Wal-Mart earned US$3.74 billion, or US$1.09 per share, up from US$3.40 billion or US$0.97 a share a year ago. Sales rose 8.6 percent to US$112.27 billion, ahead of analysts’ forecast of US$110.54 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],”