LUXURY GOODS
LVMH sells Donna Karan
French luxury goods group LVMH said yesterday it had sold ready-to-wear group Donna Karan International to US clothing manufacturer G-III Apparel in a transaction that valued the company at US$650 million. The move would see ownership of the Donna Karan and DKNY brands return to New York where they were launched by the US designer in the 1980s. G-III also owns the Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger labels. LVMH, the world’s largest luxury goods group, owns fabled brands such as Dior, Givenchy, Louis Vuitton, Moet champagne and Hennessy cognac.
BANKING
HSBC in Blom Bank talks
HSBC Holdings PLC has been in talks with Lebanon’s Blom Bank SAL over the possible sale of its banking business in the nation as the London-based lender cuts costs. There was no certainty that a binding agreement would be reached and HSBC would make a further announcement if a deal has been agreed, HSBC said in an e-mailed statement yesterday, without giving further details. HSBC Lebanon was established in 1946 and it operates three branches in the nation, employing about 200 people. It offers a full range of banking services to international, retail and corporate clients, the bank said in the statement.
HEALTHCARE
Philips profit beats estimates
Royal Philips NV, the Dutch healthcare equipment maker, reported second-quarter profit that rose more than expected on cost savings and said earnings would improve in the second half of the year. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and amortization rose 8.6 percent to 544 million euros (US$596 million), the Amsterdam-based company said in a statement yesterday. That beat the 519 million euros average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The company maintained its full-year outlook. Faced with stiffer competition from Chinese manufacturers, Philips has sought to lower costs, add contracts for services and incorporate more technology into its healthcare products, which include heart monitors and scanners.
INSURANCE
Hiscox unveils Brexit plan
Lloyd’s of London underwriter Hiscox Ltd said it would set up a new EU-based insurance company if it is needed to weather the possible impact of Britain’s decision to leave the EU. Insurers are ahead of banks when it comes to making public their Brexit contingency plans, with many keen to reassure clients they have plans in place should they lose their access to the EU. Hiscox chief executive Bronislaw Edmund Masojada said that it was “business as usual” for insurers and that the company did not have to take any decisions until 2018.
ENERGY
Oil prices extend losses
Crude oil prices dipped yesterday, extending last week’s losses on fresh worries about a global supply glut as more US rigs come back online and the US dollar strengthens. “Crude oil markets have been under pressure as oil supplies have started growing with the resumption of output from the capacity lost due to wildfires in the Canadian oil sands,” EY oil and gas head Sanjeev Gupta said in a note, referring to blazes that hit the nation’s key oil fields. Gupta said media reports of increased production from Iraq have also added to market pressure. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was down US$0.17 at US$44.02 a barrel, a new two-month low, and Brent crude was US$0.20 lower at US$45.49.
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
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
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the