ELECTRONICS
LG’s Q2 profit misses mark
LG Display Co, the world’s second-largest maker of flat panels, posted second-quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates due to slower consumer demand for screens used in personal computers and televisions. The company’s net income — excluding minority interest — was 105.7 billion won (US$94 million) in the three months ended last month, compared with a 111.2 billion won loss a year earlier, the Seoul-based company said in a statement yesterday. The result compares with the average 205.9 billion won profit estimated by 13 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
RETAIL
Carrefour offsets weak EU
Global retailer Carrefour SA has said rising sales in Latin America and Asia helped offset shrinking revenue in Europe in the second quarter. The French-based company reported quarterly sales of 20.46 billion euros (US$ 26.8 billion), down 0.6 percent from 21.7 billion euros in the same period a year ago. Carrefour said in a statement it made 41 billion euros in sales in the first half of the year, compared with 43.7 billion last year. Carrefour blamed the weak performance on bad weather and Europe’s “economic environment.”
TECHNOLOGY
IBM income slips on layoffs
IBM Corp on Wednesday said its second-quarter net income fell 17 percent as revenue fell and it absorbed layoff costs. Net income came to US$3.23 billion, or US$2.91 per share, down from US$3.88 billion, or US$3.34 per share, a year earlier. Excluding a US$1 billion charge related to layoffs, IBM’s adjusted earnings came to US$3.91 per share. Revenue dropped 3 percent annually to US$24.92 billion, below the US$25.35 billion forecast by analysts.
INTERNET
EBay posts Q3 guidance
EBay Inc issued a revenue forecast for the current quarter that missed analysts’ estimates as economic weakness in Europe and Asia restricts growth for the online marketplace and payments provider. Third-quarter sales will be between US$3.85 billion and US$3.95 billion, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. Analysts were projecting revenue of US$3.97 billion, according to the average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Second-quarter revenue came in at US$3.88 billion, just shy of analysts’ US$3.89 billion forecast.
TELECOMS
Ericsson sees strong quarter
Wireless equipment maker Ericsson AB said second-quarter earnings grew 26 percent to 1.5 billion kronor (US$227 million) compared with the same period a year ago thanks to higher gross margins and lower operating costs. The Stockholm-based company said sales for the quarter were flat at 55.3 billion kronor due to currency fluctuations. CEO Hans Vestberg yesterday said that the company benefited from capacity projects in Europe and North America, while Asian markets posed a challenge as activity declined.
SOFTWARE
SAP beats slowdown in Q2
Business software maker SAP AG said net profit grew 10 percent in the second quarter to 724 million euros (US$948 million) despite Asia’s economic slowdown. SAP’s net profit of 0.61 euros a share fell just short of the 0.62 euros per share average estimate compiled by FactSet. SAP yesterday said cost discipline helped it overcome a 7 percent slide in sales in its Asia-Pacific-Japan business. It said slowing growth in China was deterring businesses in the region from investing in new software and computing services.
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
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
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
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