TRADE
Abe open to US trade deal
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe signaled that he was open to a bilateral trade deal with the US after US President Donald Trump formally withdrew from a 12-nation Asia-Pacific accord this week in one of his first acts as president. One-on-one talks with the US on a trade deal are “not absolutely impossible,” Abe told lawmakers in Tokyo yesterday, adding that he was finalizing negotiations for a summit with Trump. The leaders are set to have a telephone conversation in the coming days before meeting in Washington on Feb. 10. Asked in the Japanese National Diet about the potential fate of Japan’s sensitive agricultural sector in any bilateral talks, Abe vowed to “protect what must be protected.”
BANKING
RBS increases fine provision
Britain’s state-rescued Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS) yesterday set aside another US$3.9 billion for US fines over alleged mis-selling of mortgage securities before the 2008 financial crisis. The lender said in a statement that this took the total provision to US$8.3 billion, but it remains in talks with the US Department of Justice over a settlement. Edinburgh, Scotland-based RBS added that the charges were “in relation to various investigations and litigation matters relating to RBS’ issuance and underwriting of US residential mortgage-backed securities.” The enormous provisions would push RBS deeper into the red when it posts annual numbers next month.
CHIPMAKERS
SK Hynix profits skyrocket
South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc yesterday said that fourth-quarter profit leaped nearly 90 percent, fueled by a pickup in global demand from smartphone manufacturers coupled with rising chip prices. In a statement, SK Hynix said it posted 1.63 trillion won (US$1.4 billion) in net profit from October to last month, up 87 percent from the same period a year earlier. “Stronger demand and a rise in prices created favorable market conditions” since the second half of 2015, the company said. Annual net profit totaled 2.96 trillion won, down 32 percent from 2015.
AEROSPACE
Boeing earnings surge in Q4
Boeing Co on Wednesday reported solid fourth-quarter earnings and forecast higher commercial airplane deliveries this year, while its chief dismissed fears that Trump could start a trade war. The US aerospace giant saw a 59 percent surge in earnings from the final quarter of 2015 to US$1.6 billion, beating expectations. The jump was due to higher commercial aircraft deliveries and a one-time charge in late 2015 that made the comparison more favorable. Boeing said it expects commercial deliveries this year to rise to between 760 and 765 aircraft this year, up from 748 last year.
TOY MAKERS
Mattel misses expectations
El Segundo, California-based Mattel Inc on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter results that fell well short of Wall Street expectations and its stock took a big hit in after-hours trading. Mattel CEO Christopher Sinclair cited a “significant US toy category slowdown in the holiday period” among factors weighing on Mattel’s numbers. Mattel reported fourth-quarter profit of US$173.8 million, or US$0.50 per share. Earnings, adjusted for restructuring costs, were US$0.52 per share. The company reported revenue of US$1.83 billion in the period.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six