JAPAN
Capital expenditure slips
The nation’s capital expenditure data for the second quarter was slightly weaker than expected while company profits slumped as businesses held tight on spending amid a strong yen and sluggish demand at home and abroad. Capital expenditure rose 3.1 percent from a year earlier, while spending excluding software increased 3.1 percent over the same period, the latest government data showed. Company profits slid 10 percent during the second quarter, the biggest drop since 2011, while sales declined 3.5 percent in the quarter, data showed. Economists said a pickup in investment, along with an upcoming ¥28 trillion (US$272 billion) stimulus package, could provide a boost to domestic demand.
AGRICULTURE
US moves to block merger
The US Department of Justice on Wednesday said it was suing to prevent farm equipment maker Deere & Co from acquiring Precision Planting LLC, a subsidiary of the biotech giant Monsanto Co. Combining the two Illinois companies, which together control 86 percent of the market for high-speed precision planting systems, would leave US farmers exposed to higher costs without price competition, the department said. Deere, the world’s largest maker of agricultural machinery, agreed to buy the Monsanto unit in November last year for US$190 million, according to the complaint.
BEVERAGE
Pernod reports profit
Pernod Ricard SA, the world’s second-largest distiller, reported full-year profit that met analysts’ estimates on improvement in Spain and the US and forecast earnings growth this fiscal year. Profit from recurring operations rose to 2.28 billion euros (US$2.5 billion) in the 12 months through June, the Paris-based company said yesterday in a statement. The increase was 2 percent on an organic basis. Pernod forecast growth of 2 percent to 4 percent this year. “In a contrasted environment, we expect to continue improving our business performance year-on-year,” chief executive officer Alexandre Ricard said in the statement.
AUTOMAKERS
Massive recall announced
Japanese automaker Mazda yesterday said it is recalling more than 2 million vehicles globally over a defect in their tailgates. The recall covers about 400,000 vehicles sold in Japan and 1.8 million units exported overseas, according to a Mazda spokeswoman. It affects six models, including the popular CX-3 and CX-5 sports utility vehicles. No accidents or injuries have been reported over the issue — paint was improperly applied to the tailgate which could lead to corrosion.
BANKING
RBC to settle US claims
Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) agreed to pay US$2.5 million to settle US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) allegations that its valuation of an ambulance provider in 2011 was too low, making a Warburg Pincus takeover offer look more attractive. The bank’s RBC Capital Markets unit presented the board of Rural/Metro Corp a fairness opinion that contained “materially false” representations of the company’s value and were not “consensus projections” from Wall Street analysts as the lender claimed, according to an SEC statement on Wednesday. Toronto-based RBC, which did not admit or deny the SEC’s findings, received a US$500,000 fee for its recommendation on the buyout.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day