BANKING
ECB extends swap accord
The European Central Bank (ECB) yesterday said that its current temporary bilateral liquidity swap arrangements with five other central banks would remain in place until further notice. “The Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the [US] Federal Reserve, and the Swiss National Bank announced on Thursday that their existing temporary bilateral liquidity swap arrangements are being converted to standing arrangements, that is, arrangements that will remain in place until further notice,” the ECB said in a statement.
GERMANY
Consumer confidence stable
German consumer confidence is holding up as economic expectations continue to point upwards in Europe’s top economy, a new poll showed yesterday. “The first survey after the parliamentary elections paints a calm picture,” market research company GfK said in a statement. “A small uptick in economic expectations suggests that the German economy will recover in the coming months, albeit slowly.” Overall, GfK’s headline household confidence index was forecast to slip to 7 percent this month from 7.1 points last month. The reading is based on responses from about 2,000 households on their expectations about pay and the economy as a whole in the coming months, as well as their willingness to spend money.
RETAIL
Starbucks profit climbs 34%
Starbucks says its profit rose 34 percent in the quarter, as the coffee chain used its loyalty program to get customers to visit more often and spend more on revamped sandwiches and other food. The Seattle-based company said global sales rose 7 percent at cafes open at least a year, including an 8 percent rise in both the US and Asia. In the region encompassing Europe, the Middle East and Africa, where the company has struggled, the figure rose 2 percent. For the quarter, Starbucks said it earned US$481.1 million, or US$0.63 per share, while revenue rose to US$3.8 billion.
ENERGY
Shell Q3 profit fell 31%
Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Europe’s largest oil firm, says third-quarter earnings fell due to weaker refining conditions, and higher exploration and production expenses. In addition, production fell 2 percent to 2.93 million barrels per day due to shutdowns of facilities for maintenance, notably in Nigeria, where Shell has suffered from attacks on pipelines. The company reported earnings on a current cost of supplies basis — which strips out the impact of fluctuations of oil prices between when it is produced and when it is sold — of US$4.25 billion, down 31 percent from US$6.15 billion in the same quarter a year ago. CEO Peter Voser said Shell’s woes are mostly short term, as he expects costs to fall next year and the company’s underlying production is growing.
ELECTRONICS
Sony books net loss
Japanese electronics giant Sony yesterday said it booked a net loss of ¥15.8 billion (US$160 million) in the six months to September and cut its full-year earnings forecast by 40 percent to ¥30 billion from ¥50 billion, citing tough times in the electronics business with tepid demand for digital cameras, PCs and televisions. However, the firm said it was in black on the operating side, with earnings up 40 percent to ¥51.1 billion on sales of ¥3.49 trillion, an 11.8 percent rise year-on-year. However, it failed to offset the negative impact of a one-time corporate tax rise, Sony said in a statement.
WASHINGTON’S INCENTIVES: The CHIPS Act set aside US$39 billion in direct grants to persuade the world’s top semiconductor companies to make chips on US soil The US plans to award more than US$6 billion to Samsung Electronics Co, helping the chipmaker expand beyond a project in Texas it has already announced, people familiar with the matter said. The money from the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act would be one of several major awards that the US Department of Commerce is expected to announce in the coming weeks, including a grant of more than US$5 billion to Samsung’s rival, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), people familiar with the plans said. The people spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the official announcements. The federal funding for
HIGH DEMAND: The firm has strong capabilities of providing key components including liquid cooling technology needed for AI servers, chairman Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday revised its revenue outlook for this year to “significant” growth from a “neutral” view forecast five months ago, due to strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers from cloud service providers. Hon Hai, a major assembler of iPhones that is also known as Foxconn, expects AI server revenues to soar more than 40 percent annually this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) told investors. The robust growth would uplift revenue contribution from AI servers to 40 percent of the company’s overall server revenue this year, from 30 percent last year, Liu said. In the three-year period
LONG HAUL: Largan Energy Materials’ TNO-based lithium-ion batteries are expected to charge in five minutes and last about 20 years, far surpassing conventional technology Largan Precision Co (大立光) has formed a joint venture with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) to produce fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, mobile electronics and electric storage units, the camera lens supplier for Apple Inc’s iPhones said yesterday. Largan Energy Materials Co (萬溢能源材料), established in January, is developing high-energy, fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries using titanium niobium oxide (TNO) anodes, it said. TNO-based batteries can be fully charged in five minutes and have a lifespan of 20 years, a major advantage over the two to four hours of charging time needed for conventional graphite-anode-based batteries, Largan said in a
Taiwan is one of the first countries to benefit from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, but because that is largely down to a single company it also represents a risk, former Google Taiwan managing director Chien Lee-feng (簡立峰) said at an AI forum in Taipei yesterday. Speaking at the forum on how generative AI can generate possibilities for all walks of life, Chien said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) — currently among the world’s 10 most-valuable companies due to continued optimism about AI — ensures Taiwan is one of the economies to benefit most from AI. “This is because AI is