ECONOMY
Eurozone PMI climbs
Eurozone business expanded at the second-fastest pace in three years last month as a buoyant service industry offset a lackluster performance in manufacturing, surveys showed on Tuesday. Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the eurozone’s service industry leaped to 54.2 from June’s 52.8, although that was down from a flash reading of 54.4. That helped drive up the Composite PMI, which is based on surveys of thousands of companies across the region and is seen as a good indicator of growth, to 53.8 from June’s 52.8. Markit said the data suggested the bloc’s economy was growing at a quarterly rate of 0.4 percent.
AUTOMAKERS
Toyota beats profit forecast
Toyota Motor Corp yesterday reported a better-than-expected rise in quarterly profit as vehicle sales grew in North America and Europe, offsetting a drop in Japan. The Japanese maker of the Prius hybrid, Camry sedan and Lexus luxury model said the April-June profit grew nearly 5 percent from a year earlier to ¥587.77 billion (US$5.7 billion). Quarterly sales rose 2 percent to ¥6.39 trillion. However, Toyota lowered its vehicle sales forecast for this year, saying it now expects to sell 110,000 fewer vehicles worldwide than the plan announced in January. Even then, it will still reach the 10 million vehicle industry milestone at 10.22 million vehicles, up 2 percent from last year. Toyota, the world’s top automaker, sold 2.24 million vehicles in April-June.
ECONOMY
Moody’s bleak on France
Credit ratings agency Moody’s said on Monday that France’s efforts to tackle its high deficit are likely to fall short of targets set for this year and next. France’s stated plan to cut spending and taxes to trim 18 billion euros (US$24 billion) from the deficit this year and 50 billion euros next year is “broadly positive” for competitiveness, Moody’s said in a statement. However, the ambition of the plan, that most of the cuts are unspecified, the political unpopularity of reduced healthcare spending and weak growth all underline the “significant implementation risk,” it said. That goes to supporting Moody’s negative outlook for France’s sovereign rating of “Aa1,” it added.
MANUFACTURING
Siemens deal cleared
The European Commission in Brussels on Monday cleared German engineering giant Siemens’ 950 million euro acquisition of some of Rolls-Royce’s specialist gas turbine operations. Siemens announced in May that it would buy the “aero-derivative gas turbine and compressor business” of the British company, which would strengthen its position in the oil and gas industry. Rolls-Royce is renowned for its aircraft engines, but has also developed them for use across various industries.
FAST FOOD
Scandal eats at McDonald’s
McDonald’s Corp said on Monday that a scandal over a meat supplier in China is hurting sales in the region and its global sales forecast for this year is “at risk.” The world’s biggest hamburger chain said in a regulatory filing that there’s been “significant negative impact” in China, Japan and other affected markets. These regions make up about 10 percent of the company’s revenue. Yum Brands Inc. had also warned last week that the bad publicity has “shaken consumer confidence” and resulted in “significant, negative impact” at its KFC and Pizza Hut chains in China.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI