BANKING
UBS reports no trading loss
UBS Group AG, Switzerland’s biggest bank, said its trading businesses did not suffer a loss in the market turmoil that erupted when the Swiss National Bank surprisingly scrapped its limit on the franc. “In aggregate, UBS did not experience negative revenues in its trading businesses in connection with the announcement,” the bank said in a statement yesterday. It said it would provide further information on its outlook for the first quarter when it releases fourth-quarter results next month.
GAMING
Galaxy expanding in Macau
Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd (銀河娛樂集團), the casino operator controlled by billionaire Lui Che-woo (呂志和), plans to spend about HK$57 billion (US$7.4 billion) more to expand in Macau and will recreate New York’s Broadway theater to woo more visitors. The company will add a 3,000-seat entertainment theater in Macau, Lui said yesterday at a press conference in Hong Kong. Galaxy has committed HK$100 billion to Macau’s Cotai strip, with a part of it already invested.
RESORTS
France clears Club Med sale
French regulators on Thursday cleared the way for Chinese conglomerate Fosun International Ltd (復星國際) to buy the holiday resorts group Club Med for about 939 million euros (just more than US$1 billion) and set Feb. 9 as the closing date for the offer. The Financial Markets Authority said that stock market operator Euronext Paris “will make known, in an announcement, the conditions for completing [the deal] and a detailed calendar.”
CONGLOMERATES
Sony may delay profit report
Sony Corp yesterday said it was asking Japanese regulators for permission to delay the release of its earnings next month after a cyberattack at its Hollywood film unit compromised “a large amount of data” on its systems. The Japanese firm said its US-based Sony Pictures Entertainment subsidiary will not have time to put together its financial statements owing to the attack linked to its controversial movie The Interview.
SPORTING GOODS
Adidas meets targets
Adidas yesterday said it met its targets for last year, but earnings were hit by special factors such as the falling ruble and the sale of its Rockport brand. Full-year sales grew 2 percent to 14.8 billion euros (US$16.7 billion) last year, and net profit “reached the earnings target of around 650 million euros,” the German company said. Adidas said these were 80 million euros in writedowns on its Russian business “as a result of the significant deterioration of the Russian ruble.” In addition, the sale of its Rockport brand would hit profits by a “double-digit million euro amount” or tens of millions euros, it said.
RETAIL
Starbucks profit jumps 82%
Starbucks Corp’s fiscal first-quarter earnings soared 82 percent as the coffee chain attracted more customers who snapped up an expanded offerings of food and drinks over the holidays. Starbucks said it earned US$983.1 million in the quarter ended Dec. 28, or US$1.30 per share. That compared with US$540.7 million or US$0.71 per share, a year earlier. The coffee chain posted revenue of US$4.8 billion in the period, beating consensus forecasts. Analysts expected US$4.79 billion, according to Zacks Investment Research.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan is open to joining a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) program if one is created, but on the condition that countries provide delivery even in a scenario where there is a conflict with China, an energy department official said yesterday. While Taiwan’s priority is to have enough LNG at home, the nation is open to exploring potential strategic reserves in other countries such as Japan or South Korea, Energy Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said. While the LNG market does not have a global reserve for emergencies like that of oil, the concept has been raised a few times —
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
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