SERVICES
Gourmet Master sales rise
Gourmet Master Co (美食達人), known for its coffee shop and bakery chain 85°C (85度C), yesterday said that revenue for last month reached NT$1.7 billion (US$52.77 million), up 13 percent from a year earlier. First-half revenue increased by 15 percent from a year earlier to NT$10.9 billion. The company attributed the increase to the integration of its central kitchens in China and the addition of stores in the US. Revenue in the second half is likely to continue growing from the first half, the company said.
AIRPORTS
Singapore plans high airport
Singapore is to build its new airport terminal higher than the rest of the city and has constructed seawalls along much of its coastline to protect the city from the effects of climate change. Changi Airport’s proposed fifth terminal will be built 5.5m above sea level, the government said in a climate change report released at the weekend. From 2011, the government required all new reclaimed land to be at least 4m higher than the mean sea level, up from 3m previously, the report said, and roads near coastal areas have been raised.
AUTOMAKERS
Anhui suspends electric SUV
Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co (安徽江淮汽車) has stopped producing an electric SUV equipped with Samsung SDI Co batteries due to concern it might be stuck with unsold stock if the model is disqualified from government subsidies, because the South Korean supplier is not on a list of approved vendors. The Chinese automaker will resume manufacturing the iEV6s SUV, its most expensive electric model at 234,800 yuan (US$35,000) before subsidies, only after Samsung SDI makes it to the government’s approved list, a Jianghuai Auto executive in charge of new-energy vehicle research and development said.
CURRENCIES
Yen falls against 31 peers
Japan’s currency yesterday weakened against all 31 its major peers after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo repeated his pledge for action on a stimulus package. Abe is to order measures to support domestic demand, including plans to speed up the construction of high-speed trains, he said. “This is good news for anybody who’s keen to get long [US] dollar-yen” before the Bank of Japan’s next policy meeting on July 29, said Gareth Berry, a foreign-exchange and rates strategist at Macquarie Bank Ltd in Singapore. “Give it another three weeks and dollar-yen bulls’ patience will be rewarded.” A long position means wagering on a currency pair to appreciate.
INTERNET
Line sets high IPO price
Japan-based Line Corp set the price of its initial public offering (IPO) at the top of the targeted range, as investors shrug off market volatility caused by Britain’s decision to withdraw from the EU. The messaging app, owned by South Korean portal Naver Corp, will sell at least 35 million shares at ¥3,300 apiece, the company said yesterday. That is at the top end of the increased ¥2,900 to ¥3,300 band the company had forecast. The higher price means Line will raise at least ¥115.5 billion (US$1.1 billion). Line will begin trading in New York on Thursday and in Tokyo the next day. The company’s US traded stock was priced at US$32.84. Best-known for letting users send each other cute cartoon “stickers,” Line is hugely popular in Japan, particularly among teenagers.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure