AUTOMAKERS
GM stock up on job cuts
Shares of General Motors (GM) surged on Wednesday after the company announced big job cuts in Europe and reported third-quarter earnings that were far better than analysts expected. The Detroit company said it has cut 2,300 jobs in Europe this year and wants to trim 300 more, part of a larger plan to reduce costs and raise revenue in the struggling region with new vehicles that are more appealing to buyers. Despite the moves, GM’s net profit fell 14 percent as European losses widened and North American earnings dropped due to falling pension income and higher warranty costs.
ENGINEERING
Samsung wins Mideast deal
South Korea’s Samsung Engineering yesterday said it had won a US$2.48 billion order to build plants in Abu Dhabi. Under the deal signed on Wednesday with the state-owned Abu Dhabi Oil Refining Co, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co, Samsung will build a carbon black unit and a delayed coker unit in Ruwais, west of Abu Dhabi, by January 2016. When completed, the facilities will be able to produce 40,000 tonnes of carbon black per year and process 30,000 barrels of crude oil a day, Samsung Engineering said.
INDIA
PMI reading steady: HSBC
India’s manufacturing activity held steady last month, as a rise in new export orders offset the impact of power shortages, a private business index said yesterday. The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) from HSBC India Manufacturing stood at 52.9 last month, compared with 52.8 in September. A figure of over 50 indicates growth, while below 50 points to contraction.
INTERNET
Netflix rises on Icahn stake
Netflix shares surged on Wednesday on news that corporate raider Carl Icahn had acquired a stake of nearly 10 percent in the online video giant. A filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission showed Icahn had acquired about 5.5 million shares, or 9.9 percent, through various investment firms he controls, starting in September. Netflix closed up 13.8 percent at US$79.17.
ENERGY
LNG lifts Shell Q3 earnings
Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s third-quarter profit expanded 2.3 percent after Europe’s biggest oil company generated increased earnings from liquefied natural gas (LNG). Net income rose to US$7.14 billion from US$6.98 billion a year earlier, Shell said in a statement yesterday. Excluding one-time items and inventory changes, profit was US$6.6 billion, beating the US$6.3 billion average estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The company said LNG sales gained 4 percent to 4.97 million tonnes from a year ago, mainly reflecting the contribution from the Pluto project in Australia.
TECHNOLOGY
Court taps Micron for Elpida
The Tokyo District Court picked Micron Technology Inc as a buyer for Elpida Memory Inc to revive the bankrupt Japanese chipmaker, dismissing an alternative plan put forward by bondholders. The court said creditors must vote on a reorganization plan that includes the Micron offer by Feb. 26, Elpida said in a statement yesterday. US-based Micron offered ¥200 billion (US$2.5 billion) in July to take over Elpida. Bondholders challenged the deal, calling it “severely detrimental.” The transaction, which is subject to approval by creditors, courts and regulators, is expected to close in the first half of next year, Elpida said.
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
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
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