AUTOMAKERS
Peugeot to refinance debt
PSA Peugeot Citroen, Europe’s second-biggest carmaker, said it is close to finalizing a deal with a pool of banks to refinance debt at its banking unit, providing a financial cushion as the debt crisis saps demand. Talks with lenders are “on track” and should lead to an agreement by Christmas, Carole Dupont-Pietri, head of investors relations at Peugeot said on Saturday in a telephone interview. Peugeot’s banking unit Banque PSA Finance, is seeking a 4 billion euro (US$5.3 billion) syndicated loan to refinance debt, according to two people with direct knowledge of the proposal. The self-arranged deal is being marketed to lenders and may include a five-year term loan and a three-year forward-start revolving credit, the people said, who asked not to be identified because the terms are private.
AVIATION
Pilots agree to new contract
United Airlines pilots have agreed to a new joint union contract, bringing the airline closer to finalizing its merger with Continental. The new four-year contract, which includes raises averaging 43 percent and bigger retirement contributions, covers those who came from United as well as pilots who flew for Continental before the carriers merged in 2010 into United Continental Holdings Inc. Pilots now only fly under the United name. As part of the deal, the airline’s roughly 10,000 pilots also will divide a US$400 million lump sum. In exchange, the contract gives United Continental the ability to launch a major expansion of the use of larger regional jets with 70 or more seats. Those jets, most ranging in size from 50 to 76 seats, are operated by regional airlines. United and other carriers have been especially eager to expand usage of the larger 76-seat planes because they can be flown profitably even at higher fuel prices.
HUNGARY
No currency bonds planned
The country may finance itself with local-currency debt next year and issue no foreign-currency bonds for a second year, Economy Minister Gyorgy Matolcsy said in a radio interview. The country, which last issued so-called Eurobonds in May last year, has the biggest debt burden in the east of the EU. Public debt will fall to 73 percent of GDP by the end of next year from a projected 77 percent at the end of this year, Matolcsy said in an interview with state-run MR1-Kossuth radio on Saturday. Hungary scrapped plans to issue foreign-currency bonds this year because the forint and the country’s bonds were among the best performers in the EU, so the government preferred to raise more funds domestically, Matolcsy said. Hungary is still looking for a “safety net” from the IMF as protection against a deterioration in the eurozone economy, Matolcsy said.
PETROLEUM
Chevron to compensate
US oil giant Chevron has agreed to pay 310 million reales (US$155 million) to Brazil for an oil spill last year that fouled beaches in Rio de Janeiro, officials said on Saturday. Government news service Agencia Brasil said 90 million reales would be used exclusively for environmental cleanup and 220 million reales would serve for measures to prevent future spills. Brazilian federal prosecutor Gisele Porto said that the fine should send a message to all oil producers that “it is better to invest in preventive measures than to pay a fine for polluting.” An official from Chevron Brazil, Rafael Jaen Williamson, said the company admitted guilt for the disaster and made the payment to show that it was prepared to make amends.
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
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
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks