JAPAN
Inflation stuck at zero
Consumer inflation stuck at zero last month for the second straight month, offering fresh evidence of the challenges faced by the government and the central bank, which said its forecast 2 percent inflation rate will not be reached until next year. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announced that core consumer prices, which exclude volatile fresh food prices, were unchanged last month from a year ago. The data came on the heels of the same number in January, and rises of 0.1 percent in both December last year and November last year.
SOUTH KOREA
Economic growth slips
Revised GDP data released yesterday confirmed that economic growth rate slipped from a five-year high in the fourth quarter of last year as a surge in property transactions faded in the quarter. GDP rose 0.7 percent from the previous three months, when it jumped by 1.2 percent, according to data released by the Bank of Korea. The economy expanded 2.6 percent last year from a year earlier, the slowest pace since 2012.
UNITED STATES
Durable goods orders fall
New orders for durable goods fell last month, dragged down by a one-month slump in sales of new aircraft, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday. Durable goods orders lost 2.8 percent last month to US$229.3 billion, with a US$3.8 billion decline in orders for new aircraft — frequently a highly volatile component of the data — the main reason. For the first two months of this year, new durable goods orders were up 2.6 percent from a year ago.
UNITED KINGDOM
Retail sales decline
Retail sales in the nation fell 0.4 percent last month after surging the most in more than two years the previous month during post-Christmas sales. Clothing and shoes fell 0.4 percent, with poor weather delaying purchases of spring and summer attire, the Office for National Statistics said in a report on Thursday. While the figures show a decline on the month, sales were up 3.8 percent compared with a year earlier. There have been some signs that Britain’s economy slowed early this year and the government’s official budget forecasters last week cut estimates for growth until the end of the decade.
FASHION
Versace revenues up 17.5%
Luxury fashion house Versace on Thursday said its revenues grew 17.5 percent last year, thanks largely to sales of its accessories and its cheekier second line, Versus. While the brand’s revenues grew by 645 million euros (US$720 million), its retail sales were 28.9 percent higher at 400.7 million euros and income from e-commerce was up 31.2 percent. This year Versace said it will invest up to 50 million euros for new store openings and major store refurbishments.
RESTAURANTS
Yum Brands to sell stakes
Yum Brands Inc, owner of KFC and Pizza Hut, is in talks with private equity firms including KKR & Co LP and Hopu Investments to sell a minority stake in its China operations as it prepares to spin off the once booming unit, two sources familiar with the plans said on Thursday. The chain plans to spin off its 6,900 restaurants in China, which account for about half of the company’s total sales, by the end of this year. Yum China will list on the New York Stock Exchange and possibly in Hong Kong.
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
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
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],”