TELECOMS
Sprint woes sap Softbank
Japanese telecommunications and Internet company Softbank Group Corp is reporting an 88 percent drop in fiscal third quarter profit as it struggles to turn around its US carrier Sprint Corp. The Japanese firm reported a ¥2.3 billion (US$20 billion) profit for the October-December period, down from ¥18.7 billion during the same period a year earlier. While facing a challenge with money-losing Sprint, Softbank said it is on track to cut US$800 million in costs for fiscal 2015, slashing 2,500 jobs since the fall, or 8 percent of its workforce.
AUTOMAKERS
Nissan beats estimates
Nissan Motor Co reported profit that beat analyst estimates as the Rogue crossover drove increased demand in the US, the Japanese automaker’s biggest market. Net income in the quarter through December rose to ¥127.2 billion, the company said yesterday. The carmaker topped the ¥120.6 billion average of eight analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Nissan said its third-quarter sales climbed to ¥3.01 trillion, while operating profit climbed to ¥192.6 billion. It maintained full-year forecast for ¥535 billion in net income and ¥12.25 trillion in sales.
BANKING
Commonwealth profit up 2%
Australia’s biggest company, Commonwealth Bank, yesterday posted a modest 2 percent rise in first-half net profit to A$4.62 billion (US$3.26 billion). Cash profit for the six months to Dec. 31, a measure often preferred by financial institutions, rose 4 percent to A$4.80 billion, slightly higher than analyst expectations. Chief executive Ian Narev emphasized the bank’s balance sheet strength in positioning the country’s largest lender to handle economic instability.
SOLAR POWER
Panasonic to cut production
Panasonic Corp will suspend production of solar cells and modules at a plant in Osaka amid slowing demand for the residential market in Japan. The company plans to halt production from the end of this month and expects to restart in November, spokeswoman Yayoi Watanabe said by telephone. Most products made at the plant are for rooftops, she said. The company announced last year that it will invest ¥9.5 billion to boost production capacity by 150 megawatts at its two other domestic factories in Shimane and Shiga prefectures.
INVESTMENT
Goldman mulls cost cuts
Goldman Sachs Group Inc is weighing cost cuts to deal with a slowing global economy, its chief executive Lloyd Blankfein said on Tuesday. A person with knowledge of the situation said Goldman intends to slash at least 5 percent of its total workforce this year. Speaking a day after Goldman shares plunged 4.6 percent amid rising market worries over credit quality in banks, Blankfein said that the bank can “absolutely do a lot more on the cost side if we have to.”
FURNITURE
IKEA recalls risky lamps
Swedish furniture retailer IKEA is recalling two types of ceiling lamps, “Lock” and “Hyby,” because of a risk that the glass shades might fall and injure people. The company on Tuesday apologized for the inconvenience and said customers do not need to produce a receipt to prove purchase of the items for a refund. IKEA has been selling “Lock” lamps in all its markets since 2002 and the “Hyby” models since 2012.
AUTOMAKERS
Daimler issues recall
Daimler AG is recalling 840,000 vehicles in the US because they have potentially defective driver’s side air bags made by Takata Corp. The recall affects Mercedes-Benz cars and SUVs from the 2005-2014 model years, including C-Class, E-Class, SLK and SLS sedans and M-Class, GL-Class and R-Class SUVS. It also includes 2007-2014 Sprinter and Freightliner vans. Daimler says the recall is precautionary and no one has been injured in any of its vehicles. The company has booked a US$384 million charge to pay for repairs.
ACCESSORIES
Swatch to sell sunglasses
Swatch Group AG will introduce sunglasses under its namesake brand this year under a five-year alliance with Safilo Group SpA, the companies said on Tuesday. The Swiss watchmaker will help the Italian company design collections that will be available in the spring. The diversification comes as the Swiss watch industry struggles to sell more timepieces amid slowing economic growth in its biggest market, China.
CONGLOMERATES
Oil, shipping sap Maersk
A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S yesterday reported an 84 percent plunge in profit for last year after its oil unit was hit by lower energy prices and its container division got squeezed between sluggish trade growth and overcapacity. Maersk said net income was US$791 million last year compared with US$5.02 billion in 2014. That compares with a median estimate of US$3.7 billion by analysts. The result includes a writedown in the value of Maersk’s oil assets by US$2.6 billion, the Copenhagen-based company said. Maersk said this year’s underlying profit will be “significantly below” last year’s US$3.1 billion.
AGRICULTURE
Mogul buys mega-ranch
A billionaire sports mogul has purchased a Texas mega-ranch that has been operated by one family for nearly a century. The heirs of cattle baron W.T. Waggoner said on Tuesday that a judge permitted the sale to Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke for an undisclosed sum. The ranch had been listed for US$725 million when it hit the market in August 2014. The Waggoner Ranch is about 280km northwest of Dallas.
BREWING
US, Asia boost brewers
Heineken NV and Carlsberg A/S, the world’s third and fourth-largest brewers, forecast higher profit this year fueled by markets such as the US and Asia. Sales and profit will both increase this year even with an “increasingly challenging external environment,” Heineken said yesterday. Profit before some items rose 16 percent to 2.05 billion euros (US$2.32 billion) last year, it said. Carlsberg forecast operating profit will rise by a low single-digit percentage on an organic basis as the company reported fourth-quarter earnings falling 21 percent to 1.41 billion kroner (US$210 million) that beat analysts’ estimates.
LUXURY GOODS
Hermes may miss target
French luxury-handbag maker Hermes International SCA added to the industry’s recent woes, saying sales growth this year may miss its medium-term target. Revenue could rise by less than the company’s goal of 8 percent at constant exchange rates, Hermes said yesterday, citing “economic, geopolitical and monetary uncertainties around the world.” Hermes also reported its slowest sales growth in six years as November’s Paris terrorist attacks led to a drop in tourist spending. Revenue climbed 7.2 percent on that basis, the company said.
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
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day