BANKING
DIB plans share issue
Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) PJSC, the United Arab Emirates biggest bank complying with Muslim banking rules, said it plans to raise 3.6 billion dirhams (US$861 million) from a share issue, as first-quarter profit increased. The lender is to sell 988.4 million shares at 3.20 dirhams each, it said in a statement to the Dubai bourse yesterday. DIB’s board approved the start of the share sale process that will almost double share capital and support growth. The bank reported an 18 percent rise in first-quarter profit to 1 billion dirhams.
FINANCE
LSE revenue rises 8%
London Stock Exchange Group PLC (LSE), which has agreed a merger with German peer Deutsche Boerse, reported a rise in first-quarter revenue yesterday, aided by growth at its FTSE Russell, capital markets and clearing units. The company, which also owns Borsa Italiana, said revenue rose 8 percent to £358.9 million (US$522.4 million) in the first quarter ended March 31, beating company-supplied average estimates of £350.1 million. Revenue at its capital markets division, which makes money from fees paid by companies listing on its markets and trading of stocks and bonds, rose by 8 percent to £92.4 million. LCH.Clearnet, the clearing house, saw revenue increase by 14 percent, with growth coming from a rise in volume of over-the-counter derivative products.
BANKING
Santander income down 5%
Banco Santander SA, Spain’s biggest bank, reported lower first-quarter profit as revenue slumped in its home market and operations aboard were hit by currency effects. Net income fell 5 percent to 1.63 billion euros (US$1.84 billion) from 1.72 billion euros a year earlier, the bank said yesterday. Bank chairman Ana Botin is closing branches and steering customers into digital banking to cut costs as low interest rates chip away at profitability. The bank plans to eliminate as many as 1,660 jobs in Spain this year and has put acquisitions on hold to concentrate on boosting revenue from existing businesses.
BANKING
Nordea profit falls 28%
Scandinavia’s biggest bank yesterday posted a 28 percent plunge in profits last quarter as revenue sank after negative rates and market selloffs created an inhospitable environment for the industry. Nordea Bank AB reported net income of 782 million euros, missing the 792 million euro estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Net interest income slipped 7 percent, while total operating income declined 16 percent, the bank said yesterday. Operating costs declined 1 percent. Nordic banks are among the most exposed to negative interest rate policies, making it hard to generate income from traditional lending.
SINGAPORE
Slowdown hits margins
Singapore’s central bank said company margins may come under pressure because of a weakening global economy, putting the labor market under further strain. Wage growth in the city state may slow to 2.5 percent to 3 percent this year, below the 3.5 percent seen last year, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said in its bi-annual Macroeconomic Review, published yesterday. Growth was flat in the first quarter on an annualized basis compared with the previous three months, according to the trade ministry. Company closures exceeded openings in Singapore in December for the first time since 2009, according to data from the statistics agency, signaling a possible recession.
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],”