PHARMACEUTICALS
GSK sells 25 older brands
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) yesterday advanced its clear-out of non-core drugs with a deal to sell 25 older brands marketed in Australia to South Africa’s Aspen Pharmacare for £172 million (US$270 million). The old Australian brands being bought by Aspen include herpes treatment Valtrex, epilepsy drug Lamictal and the antibiotic Amoxil. In total, the 25 products generated sales of about £83 million last year and £31 million in the first half of this year. Revenues for these products have gradually declined over recent years due to generic competition. The sale to Aspen is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter, subject to regulatory approvals from Australian authorities, and GSK said net cash proceeds would be about £155 million.
INDIA
Economy a security risk: PM
India’s national security is at risk if urgent steps are not taken to boost economic growth, attract new investment in infrastructure and legislate against corruption, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said yesterday. Singh warned that if economic growth remained stagnant, new investments were discouraged, government finances did not improve and energy security was not ensured, “then it most certainly affects our national security.” Singh’s speech marking the 65th anniversary of India’s independence from British rule comes after large parts of India’s power grid collapsed over two days last month, leaving hundreds of millions without electricity.
JEWELRY
De Beers Botswana starts
The world’s leading producer of diamonds, De Beers, on Tuesday began rough stone sorting in Botswana, a first step in its transfer from London to Gaborone. Rough stone sorting or aggregation operations have been based in London for nearly 80 years. De Beers CEO Philippe Mellier told reporters it was the first step in a process that should be completed by the end of next year. Mellier said the move would transform Botswana into a leading international center, with about US$6 billion worth of diamonds expected to flow through the country.
BEVERAGES
Soccer lifts Carlsberg profits
Danish brewer Carlsberg said the European soccer championship helped its second-quarter profits spike 63 percent. The company said net profit during the period rose to 3.36 billion kroner (US$556 million) from 2.06 billion kroner in the same period last year, while revenue increased to 19.6 billion kroner from 18.74 billion kroner. The Copenhagen-based group says Euro 2012, in which it was a sponsor, and bad weather combined to boost the quarter and help offset a 3 to 4 percent decline in most of Europe. However, Russia — Carlsberg’s key market — saw consumption rise 2 percent. Carlsberg yesterday added that its operating profit outlook for this year remained unchanged.
REAL ESTATE
Singapore home sales spike
Singapore home sales last month rose to the highest in three months, boosted by demand for new condominiums in the suburbs. The city-state’s private residential property sales rose 42 percent to 1,943 units from a month ago, the highest since 2,497 units were sold in April, according to data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority yesterday. Sales rebounded after slumping to 1,371 units in June, the lowest this year.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure