EUROZONE
Current account surplus grows
The eurozone’s current account surplus widened to 17.4 billion euros (US$23.6 billion) in August from 15.5 billion euros in July, European Central Bank data showed yesterday. The current account on the balance of payments is a closely tracked indicator of the ability of a country or area to pay its way in the world. The ECB revised the July figure downwards from its previously announced 16.9 billion euros. Over the 12 months to August, the current account showed a surplus of 192.8 billion euros, compared to 88.2 billion euros for the same period a year earlier.
TRADE
EU, Canada ink trade pact
An EU trade spokesman said on Wednesday the EU hopes to conclude a free-trade deal with Canada in the coming days. “Discussions are indeed continuing at the highest level between the EU and Canada towards a comprehensive free-trade deal (CETA) — with the hope to conclude the negotiations in the coming days,” EU Trade spokesman John Clancy told reporters in an e-mail. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper also said on Wednesday his country will “soon” complete negotiations.
TECHNOLOGY
IBM earnings up year-on-year
IBM said on Wednesday that it earned US$4.04 billion, or US$3.68 per share, in the third quarter, up from US$3.82 billion, or US$3.33 per share, in the same quarter last year. Excluding one-time charges, the company earned US$3.99 per share, above expectations of US$3.96. Revenue dropped 4 percent to US$23.7 billion from US$24.7 billion. That fell short of the US$24.8 billion expected by analysts surveyed by FactSet. Adjusted for the effects of foreign currency exchange rates, the company said revenue fell 2 percent.
RETAILING
Carrefour quarterly sales fall
French big box retailer Carrefour saw its sales fall in the third quarter of the year, as the persistently poor economy in southern Europe stymies the company’s effort at a turnaround. The company said yesterday that revenue was 21.1 billion euros (US$28.6 billion) in the July to September quarter, down 1.3 percent at current exchange rates from the same quarter last year. France was a notable bright spot, with sales up at all store sizes and up 1.4 percent overall. Yet southern Europe continues to drag, particularly Italy.
FOOD
Nestle adjusts 2012 sales
Swiss food and drink giant Nestle SA posted a modest 4 percent increase yesterday in sales of dozens of its household name brand products for the first nine months of last year. The firm said it had sales of 68.4 billion Swiss francs (US$74.5 billion) through this month, up from a restated 65.7 billion Swiss francs during the same period last year. The world’s biggest food and drink company had previously reported its nine-month sales last year as 67.6 billion Swiss francs through September, up from 60.9 billion during the same period in 2011.
BANKS
US profits better than forecast
Bank of America posted a better-than-expected profit for the third quarter on Wednesday, citing better credit quality and lower provisions for soured loans. The second-largest US bank by assets said it had net income of US$2.5 billion in the July to September period, up from US$340 million in the third quarter last year. Revenue rose 5.4 percent from the third quarter last year, to US$21.5 billion, short of expectations.
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