COMMODITIES
Glencore cuts coal output
Family-run mining and commodities giant Glencore PLC yesterday said it was reducing its coal production in Australia by 15 million tonnes amid weak global demand and oversupply. It is understood that up to 120 jobs at Glencore’s 13 Australian mines could be affected as a result of the cuts, which would include scaling back some operations and deferring projects. The announcement follows the Swiss company’s decision to shut its mines for three weeks over the Christmas period. “We plan to reduce 2015 production by 15 million tonnes to more closely align our coal output with current customer demand,” Glencore, which produced just less than 100 million tonnes of coal in Australia last year, said in a statement.
AVIATION
IAG raises profit forecast
British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) upgraded its profit forecast for this year by more than 20 percent, after reporting a slightly better than expected 81 percent jump in profit last year. IAG, in the process of trying to acquire Ireland’s Aer Lingus Group PLC, yesterday reported operating profit of 1.39 billion euros (US$1.56 billion) for last year, ahead of a company-supplied consensus forecast of 1.373 billion euros. The airline said it now expected operating profit of 2.2 billion euros for this year, compared to the 1.8 billion euros it had said it was targeting, helped by lower fuel costs and growing capacity. The upgrade is the latest in a series from IAG, which raised its 2014 forecast in October last year, buoyed by its exposure to strong demand for North Atlantic travel and the return of its Spanish arm Iberia to profitability.
ENERGY
Google invests in SolarCity
Google Inc is making its largest bet yet on renewable energy, a US$300 million investment to support at least 25,000 SolarCity Corp rooftop power plants. Google is contributing to a SolarCity fund valued at US$750 million, the largest ever created for residential solar, the San Mateo, California-based solar panel installer said on Thursday in a statement. Google has now committed more than US$1.8 billion to renewable energy projects, including wind and solar farms on three continents. This deal, which might have a return of as high as 8 percent, is a sign that technology companies can take advantage of investment formats once reserved only for banks.
FINANCE
Bank of Ireland profitable
Bank of Ireland posted a profit last year for the first time since the financial crisis struck in 2008 as new lending grew by more than half and it clawed back money set aside previously to cover bad loans. The bank reported an underlying pretax profit of 921 million euros last year after a restated loss of 564 million euros a year earlier, as Ireland’s economic recovery accelerated and collateral values picked up. Bank of Ireland said the improved economic backdrop meant it had been able to claw back 280 million euros put aside for bad home loans, helping it to lower provisions to 542 million euros from 1.6 billion euros a year earlier and beat profit forecasts. Analysts surveyed by Reuters had forecast an underlying pretax profit for last year of 745 million euros on average, and the bank’s shares jumped 7 percent at the open after the results.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
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
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last