AIRLINES
Ryanair sells stake to IAG
Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair Holdings PLC yesterday said that it has finally accepted International Airlines Group’s (IAG) bid for its 29.8 percent stake in Irish rival Aer Lingus Group PLC. IAG, parent of British Airways PLC and Iberia SA, has made a takeover bid valuing Aer Lingus at a total of 1.4 billion euros (US$1.6 billion) and had secured the sale of the Irish government’s 25 percent stake in May. The deal offers Aer Lingus shareholders 2.55 euros per share — 2.50 euros plus a 0.05 euro cash dividend.
AUTOMAKERS
Ford to move production
Ford Motor Co plans to move production of two small cars outside of the US from a Michigan factory, according to person familiar with the matter. The shift is to occur in 2018, Ford said in an e-mailed statement on Thursday, without saying where. Leaflets posted by US labor union United Automobile Workers members at the Wayne, Michigan, plant said the Focus compact and C-Max hybrid would be produced in a foreign country, according to the person. The company declined to comment on a location. Ford has already laid off a shift of 700 workers in Wayne as US sales fell in this year’s first half.
ENERGY
BYD enters Australia market
BYD Co (比亞迪), the Warren Buffett-backed electric automaker that began selling energy storage units in Germany last month, has entered the Australian market. The Shenzhen, China-based company has sold more than 100 storage systems in Australia, describing it as a “strategic market” in an e-mail response to questions. The company last month said it plans to raise as much as 15 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion) to expand battery output and develop new-energy vehicles.
SOFT DRINKS
Pepsi plans to offer old Diet
The artificial sweetener in Diet Pepsi is about to change in the US, but fans of the old formula might still be able to get it. PepsiCo earlier this year said it would replace the aspartame in Diet Pepsi with sucralose, another artificial sweetener many know as Splenda, in response to customer feedback. That change is set to take place in the US starting this summer. However, during a call to discuss its earnings on Thursday, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi said: “For those consumers who still love Diet Pepsi with aspartame, we’ll figure out how to make it available online.”
INTERNET
Facebook deploys new tool
Facebook Inc on Thursday unveiled a new tool to give users more control of what they see in their news feeds, allowing them to override the choices made by algorithm. The tool allows Facebook members to select certain friends whose posts are to appear at the top of their feeds. The new tool was being rolled out on Thursday to Facebook users on Apple devices and it is to be added soon for its Android application.
REGULATORY
FCA drops Iksil investigation
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has abandoned a proposed fine of about £1 million (US$1.6 million) and an industry ban against the former JPMorgan Chase & Co trader known as the London Whale. The FCA sent a letter to Bruno Iksil earlier this month notifying him the agency was dropping its investigation without giving a reason.
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
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
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