RIDE-HAILERS
Uber sets Lyft limit
As Lyft Inc was gauging interest from prospective acquirers, executives from Uber Technologies Inc in the past few weeks told investors that the company would not pay more than US$2 billion to purchase its main US ride-hailing competitor, people familiar with the matter said. Uber did not make a formal offer, the people said. Uber had previously considered purchasing Lyft as far back as 2014, and the two San Francisco companies have discussed the prospect informally, one of the people said. Uber chief executive officer Travis Kalanick has privately said that he would not support such a deal because he believes it would face intense regulatory scrutiny, the person said.
CHINA
Diesel exports rebound
Diesel exports last month rebounded to a record level as severe flooding in some parts of the country curbed domestic fuel demand. The country exported 1.53 million tonnes of diesel last month, a 39 percent jump from June and beating the previous record in May, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs yesterday. While outbound gasoline shipments slipped from a record the previous month, they more than doubled from last year to 970,000 tonnes last month. China’s worst flooding since 1998 caused about US$33 billion in economic losses last month, according to London-based insurance broker Aon PLC.
NICARAGUA
Oil spill contaminates coast
A massive refinery fire caused an oil spill that has contaminated sensitive nearby coastal habitat, a non-profit group said. In the aftermath of the refinery fire at the Puma Energy facility on the country’s Pacific coast, oil has slickened nearly 130 hectares of the nearby water and soil, said Victor Campos, director of the Humboldt Center, an environmental group. Meanwhile, authorities on Saturday said they hope to soon have the fire contained at the facility, the Central American nation’s sole oil refinery.
PUERTO RICO
Bondholders seek reprieve
A lawsuit filed on behalf of University of Puerto Rico bondholders is asking a federal court to stop the commonwealth from diverting US$89 million in tuition and fees that are pledged for bond payments. Officials say they need to use the funds earmarked for bond payments to provide essential services amid a deep fiscal crisis. The lawsuit filed on Friday by bond trustee US Bank Trust National Association seeks relief from a new federal law that stays creditor lawsuits. The University of Puerto Rico has US$431.8 million in outstanding bonds and pays US$42.6 million annually.
PETROLEUM
Pacific creditors mull deal
Creditors of Colombia-based oil producer Pacific Exploration and Production Corp are being offered a larger stake in a restructured company under an eleventh-hour bid from a group that includes Mexican investor Fernando Chico Pardo, according to people who back the offer. Under the proposal, affected creditors would receive 60 percent of the equity in a restructured Pacific, compared with 58.2 percent under a plan from Canada’s Catalyst Capital Group, the people said. Pacific on Friday said that the latest restructuring proposal includes US$575 million in debtor-in-possession financing, while the Catalyst bid includes US$500 million in financing.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
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
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
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San