MACHINERY
Komatsu to buy Joy Global
Komatsu Ltd, the world’s second-biggest construction equipment maker, agreed to buy Joy Global Inc for US$2.89 billion, bolstering the Japanese firm’s underground mining business amid a fight for market share with industry leader Caterpillar Inc. Tokyo-based Komatsu will pay US$28.30 per share in cash for the Milwaukee-based company, using funds on hand and loans, the company said yesterday. The deal is expected to close in the middle of next year after approvals by regulators and shareholders, it said.
BEVERAGES
AB InBev secures approval
Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (AB InBev), the world’s largest beer maker, on Wednesday announced that it had reached an agreement with the US Department of Justice that clears the way for US approval of its acquisition of SABMiller PLC. AB InBev, the maker of Budweiser and Bud Light, is to sell SABMiller’s entire US business to Molson Coors as previously announced as part of the agreement. The merger with the maker of Miller Genuine Draft, valued at about US$107 billion, would have about 31 percent of the global beer market, according to Beer Business Daily.
RETAIL
UK sales fall after Brexit
UK retail sales last month had their biggest drop in six months, adding to signs that the vote to leave the EU is starting to bite. The volume of goods sold in stores and online dropped 0.9 percent, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed yesterday. Sales excluding car fuel also fell a larger-than-expected 0.9 percent. The statistics office carried out its monthly survey between May 29 and July 2, meaning some responses were received in the week following the June 23 Brexit referendum.
CONSUMER GOODS
Unilever sales up 2 percent
Anglo-Dutch consumer products giant Unilever Co said its net profit in the first half of the year rose 2 percent to 2.7 billion euros (US$3 billion), despite sales declining 2.6 percent to 26.3 billion euros due to exchange rate fluctuations. Unilever yesterday said that its underlying sales growth, which strips out the effect of factors such as currency changes, was a healthy 4.7 percent, despite tough economic conditions around the world.
AIRLINES
Lufthansa cuts profit target
Terror attacks in Europe and “political and economic uncertainty” have prompted Deutsche Lufthansa AG to cut its full-year profit target, the company said on Wednesday. In the first half of the year Lufthansa reported earnings of 529 million euros, a jump of 13 percent compared with the previous year. Despite those improved figures, Lufthansa “regards a complete recovery as not likely anymore,” it said. The airline predicted unit revenues would fall by 8 to 9 percent in the second half of the year, from 15 billion euros in the first half.
TIMEPIECES
Swatch profit declines
Swatch Group AG, the maker of Omega and Tissot timepieces, reported its lowest first-half profit in seven years, as demand cratered in Hong Kong, France and Switzerland. First-half operating profit declined 54 percent to 353 million Swiss francs (US$359 million), the Biel, Switzerland-based company said in a statement yesterday. The company last week said that earnings at that level probably fell by 50 to 60 percent, sending its shares plummeting.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI