ENERGY
Toshiba shares fall 16%
Toshiba Corp shares dropped to their lowest since May last year after a report that the loss in its nuclear business might exceed the ¥500 billion (US$4.4 billion) maximum the company had flagged to lenders. The company asked Development Bank of Japan Inc for financial support and is seeking help from other lenders, the Nikkei Shimbun cited people familiar with the matter as saying. Kyodo News agency reported the loss might reach ¥700 billion. Toshiba, which has put a writedown of its nuclear equipment business in the billions of US dollars, fell 16 percent to ¥242 in Tokyo at the close yesterday. The company said in a statement that it is still calculating the costs.
ENTERTAINMENT
Legendary CEO steps down
Thomas Tull, the founder and chief executive of Legendary Entertainment LLC has stepped down, the firm said in a statement yesterday, a year after the Hollywood studio was bought by Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group Co (萬達集團) for US$3.5 billion. Dalian Wanda insider Jack Gao (高群耀) is to take the helm at Legendary, the producer behind hit movies like Jurassic World and the Batman Dark Knight trilogy, putting the Chinese firm more directly in control of the US studio. Legendary said in a statement Tull had “resigned,” though would continue in a role as “founding chairman.” It did not give a reason for the departure.
AVIATION
Safran to buy Zodiac
Aircraft-engine maker Safran SA agreed to buy plane-seat supplier Zodiac Aerospace SA for 8.55 billion euros (US$9 billion) in an all-French deal that would unite two of the country’s biggest aerospace groups. Safran will pay 29.47 euros per Zodiac share, a 25 percent premium to Wednesday’s closing price, the companies said in a statement yesterday. The deal is to be financed from cash reserves and with a bridging loan. The combination would unite Safran activities spanning turbines, landing gear, brakes and avionics with Zodiac’s cabin interiors, fuel, lighting, safety and power-distribution gear, according to the statement.
TRANSPORTATION
Railway CEO quits early
Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd is accelerating the retirement of chief executive officer Hunter Harrison by about six months after he inquired about the possibility of working with other major freight railroads. The Calgary, Alberta-based, railroad said on Wednesday that Harrison will forfeit about C$118 million (US$88.9 million) in stock options and pension benefits as part of a separation agreement. The railroad’s president, Keith Creel, is being promoted to chief executive officer immediately. Harrison is to officially retire at the end of the month, but he is on vacation until then, so he did not take part in the railroad’s earnings conference call on Wednesday.
INTERNET
Google to buy Fabric
Google is not buying Twitter Inc, but it is buying one of Twitter’s remaining parts. Alphabet Inc’s online search division agreed to purchase Fabric, a Twitter business that provides a software toolkit for mobile apps. The companies did not disclose financial terms. For Twitter, the deal allows it to offload another asset as it faces pressure to deliver growth. For Google, which is absorbing Twitter employees working on Fabric, the acquisition is designed to help it recruit mobile developers, a key constituent, to its cloud computing service.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last