UNITED STATES
Overseas tax rules published
The Treasury published final rules on Thursday for a new global tax enforcement regime targeting the assets of US taxpayers abroad. The announcement finishes the rule-writing process for the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act which Congress passed in March 2010. The final rules spare certain foreign pension funds and mutual funds information-reporting requirements. The Treasury rejected a request by businesses, banks and foreign investment funds to delay a start date of January next year for big penalties imposed on individuals and financial firms that do not comply with the law.
STEELMAKERS
China steel output up 3.1%
China, which produces almost half the world’s steel, boosted production by 3.1 percent last year as economic expansion spurred demand for roads and railways. Steel output increased to 716.5 million tonnes last year, the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday. Production climbed 7.7 percent last month from a year earlier to 57.66 million tonnes, the bureau said. It is the 31st annual increase in steel production. China will spend 650 billion yuan (US$105 billion) this year on railway construction, more than the 631 billion spent last year, the Xinhua news agency said on Thursday.
FINANCe
Amex income drops 47%
American Express (Amex) says its net income fell 47 percent in the fourth quarter last year, as the credit card issuer racked up hefty charges related to restructuring costs and other one-time expenses. The New York-based company said on Thursday that it posted net income of US$637 million, or US$0.56 per share, for the three months ended Dec. 31 last year. That compares with net income of US$1.2 billion, or US$1.01 per share, in the same period last year.
BANKING
Barclays mulls fine payment
British bank Barclays PLC is considering using its bonus pool for last year to help pay fines for its role in LIBOR interest rate rigging, the Financial Times reported. The bank might recoup part or all of the £290 million (US$465 million) it was fined from the bonuses it pays investment bankers, the paper said, without citing sources. Part state-owned Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC is already preparing to slash bonuses to help pay for its LIBOR-related fines, according to a source. Barclays is currently finalizing bonuses for last year and overall compensation is expected to fall between 10 percent and 20 percent on average, two sources said earlier this week.
BANKING
Commerzbank may cut jobs
Commerzbank, Germany’s second-biggest bank, is likely to propose next month cutting as many as 6,000 jobs, about 18 percent of the workforce, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing sources. Different sources told the business daily the cuts could range from 5,000 to 6,000 workers, but the bank declined to comment on numbers. The jobs cut proposal is likely to be made in talks with unions due to begin next month.
RETAIL
Procter & Gamble to cut jobs
Procter & Gamble is cutting about 150 jobs in Spain and Portugal following the decision to integrate hygiene company Arbora & Ausonia into its existing operations. P&G acquired 100 percent of the firm last year after food company Agrolimen sold its 50 percent stake in the firm.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
Apple Inc has been developing a homegrown chip to run artificial intelligence (AI) tools in data centers, although it is unclear if the semiconductor would ever be deployed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The effort would build on Apple’s previous efforts to make in-house chips, which run in its iPhones, Macs and other devices, according to the Journal, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. The server project is code-named ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center) within the company, aiming to utilize Apple’s expertise in chip design for the company’s server infrastructure, the newspaper said. While this initiative has been
GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said that revenue would rise moderately in the second half of this year, driven primarily by robust demand for advanced wafers used in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a key component of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. “The first quarter is the lowest point of this cycle. The second half will be better than the first for the whole semiconductor industry and for GlobalWafers,” chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) said during an online investors’ conference. “HBM would definitely be the key growth driver in the second half,” Hsu said. “That is our big hope
The consumer price index (CPI) last month eased to 1.95 percent, below the central bank’s 2 percent target, as food and entertainment cost increases decelerated, helped by stable egg prices, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. The slowdown bucked predictions by policymakers and academics that inflationary pressures would build up following double-digit electricity rate hikes on April 1. “The latest CPI data came after the cost of eating out and rent grew moderately amid mixed international raw material prices,” DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) told a news conference in Taipei. The central bank in March raised interest rates by