STANDING HEAD
IBM beats profit forecasts
International Business Machines Corp (IBM) on Thursday reported fourth-quarter net profit of US$4.5 billion, or earnings per share of US$4.72. Earnings, adjusted for costs related to mergers and acquisitions and non-recurring costs, came to US$5.01 per share. The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of US$4.89 per share. The technology and consulting company posted revenue of US$21.77 billion in the period, also surpassing consensus forecasts.
TRANSPORT
Uber settles drivers’ claims
Ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc has agreed to pay US$20 million to settle allegations that it exaggerated prospective earnings in seeking to recruit drivers, according to documents filed with a US federal court on Thursday. The company said on its Web site that UberX drivers made more than US$90,000 in New York and US$74,000 in San Francisco when the real earnings were considerably less, the US Federal Trade Commission said in a court filing.
ENTERTAINMENT
Paramount gets China deal
Paramount Pictures yesterday said it had inked a cofinancing deal with two Chinese companies for the Hollywood studio’s slate of movies over the next three years. Under the terms of the deal, Shanghai Film Group Co (上海電影集團) and Huahua Media (華樺傳媒) will also set up an office on Paramount’s lot later this year, the studio said in a statement. The Chinese companies will provide about US$1 billion to finance at least 25 percent of Paramount’s films, a person familiar with the deal said. Film industry publications cited the same figures.
INDONESIA
Ex-Garuda CEO a suspect
Indonesia’s anti-corruption agency on Thursday said it was treating the former chief executive of airline PT Garuda Indonesia Tbk as a suspect in a bribery case. The Corruption Eradication Commission said in a statement that Emirsyah Satar, the CEO of Garuda from 2005 to 2014, was suspected of taking bribes related to the purchase of planes and machines from Airbus Group SE and Rolls-Royce PLC. Satar is now chairman of Lippo Group’s e-commerce platform MatahariMall.com.
RUSSIA
GDP to grow 2%: minister
The Russian economy could grow 2 percent this year in case of no external shocks like a new fall in oil prices, Minister for Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He also said the central bank could soon start buying foreign currency to help the finance ministry sterilize excessive budget revenues above US$40 per barrel, but added it would not mean Russia would depart from its policies of a freely floating ruble.
CHEMICALS
ChemChina seeks US nod
China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina, 中國化工) said it filed for US antitrust approval with the Federal Trade Commission for its proposed US$43 billion takeover of Swiss agrochemical company Syngenta AG. ChemChina has submitted documentation required by the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act and expects the US antitrust process to be “on track,” the company said in an e-mail. The commission has 30 days to clear the proposed tie-up or issue a second request, seeking more information and a longer review period.
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
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
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure