GERMANY
Headed for slowdown
The economy, Europe’s biggest, will see a sharp slowdown in growth at the end of the year, the finance ministry wrote in its monthly report published yesterday. The nation has so far held up to Europe’s long-running sovereign debt crisis much better than its eurozone neighbors. While many eurozone countries slipped into recession, Berlin notched up growth of 0.5 percent in the first quarter and 0.3 percent in the second quarter.
Last week, the government fractionally upgraded its growth forecast for the current year to 0.8 percent, but slashed its prognosis for next year to just 1 percent.
INDONESIA
FDI hits record high
Indonesia’s foreign direct investment (FDI) hit a record high in the third quarter, a signal the biggest economy in Southeast Asia remains strong despite global financial woes, a top investment official said yesterday. The third quarter’s FDI rose 22 percent to US$5.9 billion, or 56.6 trillion rupiah, compared with the same period last year, the Investment Coordinating Board said on its Web site. The top contributors come from the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, mining and telecoms. Total investment realization since the beginning of this year is 229.9 trillion rupiah, consisting of domestic investment of 65.7 trillion rupiah and foreign direct investment realization of 164.2 trillion rupiah.
AGRIBUSINESS
GrainCorp mulling ADM bid
Australian agribusiness GrainCorp yesterday said it had received a A$2.68 billion (US$2.76 billion) all-cash takeover offer from US food giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). Graincorp said its board was considering the indicative, non-binding bid from the leading agricultural commodities trader, which is prepared to pay A$11.75 for each Graincorp share. GrainCorp services about 30,000 grain producers in the eastern states of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria and South Australia and has one of the largest grain storage, handling and logistics networks in the nation.
ELECTRONICS
Philips earnings double
Royal Philips Electronics NV, the maker of electric shavers, light bulbs and medical imaging equipment, saw earnings more than double in the third quarter, thanks to modest growth at all its business lines as well as the disposal of its loss-making television business. Net profit rose to 169 million euros (US$220 million) from 74 million euros in the same period a year ago, when Philips booked a 54 million euros loss on televisions. Sales rose 3.4 percent to 6.13 billion euros. Despite the upbeat trading performance, Philips CEO Frans van Houten said the company is facing stiff “headwinds” with its biggest market, Europe, in decline, China growing more slowly and with the US market showing “more and more uncertainty related to elections and the so-called ‘fiscal cliff.’”
APPLIANCES
Electrolux Q3 profits up 19%
Home appliance maker Electrolux says its profits increased by 19 percent in third quarter, with sales growing in all markets expect Europe. The Swedish company yesterday said net profit rose to 983 million kronor (US$150 million), from 826 million kronor in the same quarter last year. Total sales climbed 6 percent to 27.2 billion kronor. Sales increased in North America, Latin America and Asia, but slumped in Western Europe. CEO Keith McLoughlin attributed the “soft performance” in Europe to weak consumer confidence affecting demand in southern Europe, Benelux and Nordic countries.
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
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six