Germany
Industrial orders rebound
Industrial orders, a key measure of demand for goods in Europe’s biggest economy, rebounded in March on the back of stronger than expected foreign demand, the Ministry for Economic Affairs said yesterday. Orders rose 1.9 percent for the month compared with March last year, in a recovery that outstripped the 0.7 percent growth predicted by analysts. The positive bounce came after a slump of 0.8 percent in February. The ministry noted that the rebound was based mainly on strong growth in foreign orders, which rose 4.3 percent from February — particularly from outside the Eurozone, where demand surged by 6.2 percent.
AUTO COMPONENTS
Takata likely to report loss
Takata Corp yesterday said that it would likely report a second consecutive year of annual loss after the US ordered the Japanese air bag supplier to almost double the number of devices recalled. Takata is likely to have a net loss of ¥13 billion (US$121 million) for the year ended on March 31, compared with an earlier forecast of ¥5 billion profit, according to the company’s preliminary results filing to the Tokyo stock exchange. The company posted a net loss of ¥29.6 billion a year earlier. Takata’s shares fell 0.3 percent at the close of trading before the announcement. The stock has declined 58 percent this year, compared with a 16 percent drop in the benchmark TOPIX Index.
COMMODITIES
AngloGold’s earnings drop
AngloGold Ashanti Ltd, the world’s third-largest gold miner, yesterday said earnings fell 6 percent as it produced less and the price of bullion declined. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization decreased to US$378 million in the three months to March 31, compared with US$402 million a year earlier, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement released yesterday. Production dropped 11 percent to 861,000 ounces, while all-in sustaining costs slipped 6.5 percent to US$860 an ounce.
TRADING
Business outlook ‘uncertain’
Sumitomo Corp yesterday warned that its business outlook is becoming more uncertain, after missing its full-year profit target due to widening impairments on its resources investments. The Tokyo-based trading house said net income in the year through March was ¥74.5 billion, below the ¥100 billion it had forecast in February, after impairments widened from an estimated ¥170 billion to ¥195.1 billion. Sumitomo forecast net income in the current year at ¥130 billion, below analysts’ estimates. The company had posted a loss of ¥73.2 billion in fiscal 2014, its first annual loss in 16 years. Its shares pared gains of as much as 4.8 percent to end 0.4 percent higher at ¥1,110 in Tokyo.
ACQUISITIONS
Total to buy Saft
Total SA agreed to buy French battery maker Saft Groupe SA in a 950 million euro (US$1.1 billion) deal to expand in clean energy. The 36.5 euro per share offer represents a 38.3 percent premium to Saft’s closing price on Friday, the companies said yesterday in a joint statement. Saft designs and makes nickel and lithium batteries for industries including transportation and civil and military electronics. Total has sought to expand in clean energy, announcing last month it was combining its renewables, gas and power units with its energy innovation and efficiency business. Total fell 0.7 percent to 42.65 euros in Paris trading.
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
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six