TRADE
German exports rise
Germany’s exports rose sharply in September and factory production was also up, but experts say it might not be enough to stave off a recession. The German Federal Statistical Office yesterday reported that exports rose 5.5 percent over August, in seasonally and calendar adjusted figures, almost offsetting the 5.8 percent drop the previous month. Imports rose 5.4 percent, widening the trade surplus to 18.5 billion euros (US$22.92 billion). Industrial production rose 1.4 percent over August.
RETAIL
GIC eyes stake in NZ malls
Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) is set to acquire a 49 percent stake in five shopping malls in New Zealand for NZ$1.04 billion (US$798 million), its joint-venture partner Scentre Group, New Zealand’s largest shopping center operator, said in a statement. GIC said in a separate statement that the new partnership would provide it with a “stable revenue” stream. Under the deal, GIC is scheduled to own 49 percent of five shopping malls, with a combined gross value of NZ$2.1 billion.
AUTOMAKERS
China car sales climb
Passenger-vehicle sales in China last month grew at a faster pace for the first time since June, as dealerships offered more incentives to meet full-year targets heading into the final quarter. Retail deliveries of cars, multipurpose and sport utility vehicles climbed 9.3 percent to 1.66 million units last month, the Passenger Car Association said yesterday. Sales have slowed in each of the past three months since gaining 14 percent in June, according to data published by the group.
BANKING
BOA posts Q3 net loss
Bank of America (BOA) on Thursday said its third-quarter net loss was more than three times bigger than reported last month, due to higher legal costs from probes into foreign exchange manipulation. The second-largest US bank by assets said it was adjusting its third-quarter results to include an additional US$400 million charge related to US investigations into its forex business. BOA said in a statement that its net loss was US$232 million, or US$0.04 per share, for the July-to-September quarter.
ENTERTAINMENT
Walt Disney Q4 results lift
The success of Walt Disney Co movies, including the animated tale Frozen and the Marvel movie Guardians of the Galaxy, lifted the media company’s fiscal fourth-quarter results. Disney on Thursday said fourth-quarter net income rose 8 percent to US$1.5 billion, or US$0.87 per share. Excluding one-time items, net income matched analyst expectations of US$0.89 per share. Revenue rose across most of Disney’s divisions, including its media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment and consumer products. Revenue rose 7 percent to US$12.39 billion, ahead of expectations of US$12.36 billion.
INVESTMENT
S Africa debt downgraded
Ratings agency Moody’s downgraded South Africa’s “Baa1” sovereign debt rating by one notch to “Baa2,” and changed the outlook to “stable” from “negative.” The ratings agency said in its outlook revision that there were “poor medium-term growth prospects due to structural weaknesses, including ongoing energy shortages as well as rising interest rates.” The downgrade is two notches above “junk” status, a rating that still keeps it in the investment grade.
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