ECONOMY
Germans turn cautious
Consumers in Germany appear to have become a bit more cautious following a sharp rise in confidence in recent months, a new poll found yesterday. “In August, consumer sentiment was mixed. Consumers are expecting only a modest economic recovery in the coming months,” market research company GfK said in a statement. “This explains the slight drop in income expectations, albeit from a very high level. At the same time, the propensity to spend has risen to the highest level since 2006.” Overall, GfK’s headline household confidence index was forecast to slip to 6.9 points next month from 7 points this month, it said.
LABOR
Rise in French jobseekers
The number of jobseekers in France climbed for the 27th consecutive month last month despite a moderate return to economic growth in the first half of the year, the labor ministry said on Tuesday. The number of jobseekers reached 3.28 million people, up 6,300 people from June, but the ministry said that the gain had slowed in the period to a 0.2 percent rise from the previous month and 10 percent year-on-year. The data was “an encouragement to keep to the road chosen,” French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said. Earlier this month, the finance ministry announced a modest recovery in economic growth of 0.5 percent that it hailed as an encouraging sign of a much needed turnaround.
EUROZONE
Private sector loans decline
Lending to businesses in the debt-mired eurozone contracted sharply last month, data published by the European Central Bank showed yesterday, a potential source of concern for economic recovery. Private sector loans dropped by 1.9 percent last month in a year-on-year comparison, the bank said, after already contracting by 1.6 percent in June. The Frankfurt-based bank also published its latest money supply figures, a preliminary indicator of inflation, showing a 2.2 percent increase last month after a rise of 2.4 percent in June.
FOOD AND DRINK
F&N spins off property unit
Singapore-based food and beverage conglomerate Fraser & Neave (F&N) said on Tuesday it was spinning off its property business months after the firm was bought by Thai tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi. The move is aimed at paving the way for further growth for both the food and beverage business as well as the property segment, F&N said in a statement. The property unit had S$9 billion (US$7 billion) of assets as of June. The company said it plans to list its property arm, Frasers Centrepoint Ltd, on the Singapore Exchange, where F&N is already listed. F&N shareholders will receive, at no cost, two Fraser Centrepoint shares for every share owned through a “dividend in-specie” distribution, the statement said.
REAL ESTATE
US home prices up 12.1%
Home prices in 20 major US cities were up 12.1 percent in June from a year ago, but the pace of monthly gains slowed from May, according to data released on Tuesday. The S&P Case-Shiller 20-city composite index rose 2.2 percent in June from May, according to data that was not seasonally adjusted. In May, the month-on-month gain was a stronger 2.5 percent. Only six cities had prices rising faster in June than the prior month, compared with 10 in May. On a 12-month basis, June’s 12.1 percent reading was stronger than the 11.9 percent rise in May and analysts’ estimate of 12.0 percent.
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