BANKING
EU, Portugal reach deal
The European Commission and Portugal on Wednesday said they have agreed on a 5 billion euro (US$5.64 billion) deal to recapitalize the state-owned Caixa Geral de Depositos bank, including through a 2.7 billion euro injection of state funds. The deal was provisionally approved by European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager to meet the 28-nation bloc’s tough rules on preventing unfair government aid for businesses.
PHARMACEUTICALS
AZ to sell antibiotics arm
British drugs giant AstraZeneca (AZ) PLC on Wednesday agreed to sell part of its antibiotics business to US giant Pfizer Inc for up to US$1.6 billion. The deal for the company’s small-molecule antibiotics, or those developed using traditional chemistry, is expected to complete in the fourth quarter, AstraZeneca said in a statement. The news comes days after Pfizer bought San Francisco-based biotech firm Medivation Inc — which specializes in cancer treatments — for US$14 billion.
SOVEREIGN FUNDS
QIA buys iconic stake in US
Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has made an iconic purchase in the US — a stake in the company that owns New York’s Empire State Building. The Empire State Realty Trust Inc, which manages the building, said late on Tuesday that the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) purchased a 9.9 percent stake in the company for US$622 million. The QIA’s existing US holdings include a more than 10 percent stake in New York-based luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co.
STOCKS
CNOOC stock drops on loss
China’s main offshore oil and gas producer, CNOOC Ltd (中國海洋石油), saw its shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange fall yesterday, after it reported a US$1.16 billion net loss for the first half. It was the company’s first half-year loss since it started trading on the Hong Kong exchange in 2000, with CNOOC blaming low oil prices and write-downs on assets for its performance. CNOOC posted a net loss for the six months ending June 30 of 7.74 billion yuan (US$1.16 billion), alongside a 25.4 percent drop in revenue to 66.83 billion yuan.
TECHNOLOGY
HP downbeat on Q4
HP Inc, which sells personal computers and printers, forecast its fiscal fourth-quarter profit might fall short of analysts’ estimates, hurt by slumping demand for its products. Profit from continuing operations, excluding some items, will be US$0.34 to US$0.37 per share in the current quarter, HP said on Wednesday. That would fall short of analysts’ projections of US$0.40. The company reported profit, before certain items, of US$0.48 per share in the third quarter ended July 31, topping analysts’ estimates of US$0.45. Sales fell 3.8 percent to US$11.9 billion, compared with estimates of US$11.5 billion.
COMMODITIES
South32 earnings surprise
South32 Ltd, the world’s biggest manganese producer, is to pay its inaugural dividend and said it is monitoring two potential investment opportunities after reporting full-year earnings that beat analysts’ estimates. A decline in commodity prices saw underlying earnings fall 76 percent to US$138 million in the year ended June 30, down from a pro-forma US$575 million in the same period last year, the Perth-based company said yesterday. That exceeded the US$111 million average of 18 estimates compiled by Bloomberg. It will pay a final dividend of US$0.01 per share.
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