AUSTRALIA
Economy remains soft in Q4
The economy remained soft in the fourth quarter of last year as growth continued to be driven by exports, data showed yesterday, fueling expectations of further interest rate cuts. The economy grew by 0.5 percent in the three months to December last year to take the year’s rate of expansion to 2.5 percent, the Bureau of Statistics said. This was below analysts’ expectations of 0.7 percent quarterly growth for an annual GDP reading of 2.6 percent.
ITALY
‘Digital revolution’ planned
The government on Tuesday adopted a 6 billion euro (US$6.7 billion) plan to modernize its Internet network and improve access to broadband. The plan that the government’s economic development minister labeled a “digital revolution” aims to boost broadband access by 2020, in compliance with EU objectives. A report published last year by the US consultancy Akamai found that Italy came 48th among countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in terms of Internet speed and labeled it the slowest in the EU.
AUTOMAKERS
US auto sales cool off
Harsh winter storms chilled US auto sales last month, with Ford Motor Co especially taking a hit with a surprise 1.9 percent fall, while Toyota Motor Corp grabbed the No. 2 spot after General Motors Co. Overall, automakers’ figures showed more steady growth in the industry, with low gasoline prices continuing to enhance shopping for pickup trucks, and especially small and mid-sized sport utility vehicles, according to Autodata Corp.
BANKING
RBS to cut jobs: report
Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC is set to eliminate as many as 14,000 investment-banking jobs as part of a previously announced reorganization, the Financial Times reported yesterday, citing two people familiar with the matter. The reductions would amount to most of the business’ workforce, with “a large proportion” occurring in the US and Asia, the newspaper said, citing the people it did not identify. The cuts would be complete by 2019, according to the report. RBS had a workforce of more than 108,000 at the end of last year.
ENERGY
Exxon sells US$8bn in bonds
Exxon Mobil Corp sold US$8 billion of debt in its biggest bond offering ever and the largest energy-related deal since the plunge in crude prices that began in July last year. The world’s largest oil company by market value boosted the deal by about 14 percent after previously marketing US$7 billion of debt, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction who asked not to be identified, citing lack of authorization to speak publicly. Irving, Texas-based Exxon issued the securities as a combination of fixed and floating-rate notes in the seven-part sale.
AUTOMAKERS
Toyota names foreign execs
Toyota Motor Corp promoted a French national and an American woman to unprecedented executive roles at the world’s largest automaker, marking a shake-up in management ranks predominantly comprising Japanese men. Didier Leroy, 57 and head of Toyota Europe since 2010, is set to become one of six executive vice presidents as of April 1, the company said yesterday in a statement. Julie Hamp, head of communications for North America, is to be made managing officer and become the first female executive in Toyota’s 77-year history.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure