CHIPMAKERS
Toshiba sets price for unit
Toshiba Corp is looking to raise at least ¥1 trillion (US$8.8 billion) from the sale of its memorychip business and will aim to complete the transaction by March next year, according to a person familiar with the matter. The deal will likely result in Toshiba relinquishing majority control over the unit, which could be valued as high as ¥2 trillion, the person told Bloomberg, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. A Toshiba spokesman declined to comment.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Yen forecast to slump
The yen will slump to ¥120 per US dollar in six months as the US Federal Reserve raises US interest rates, but that is about as weak as it will get, former IMF economist Stephen Jen said in an interview with Bloomberg last week. The currency will rebound to ¥100 by early next year as the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) policies of controlling yields and adding stimulus through bond purchases reach a limit, said Jen, chief executive officer at hedge fund Eurizon SLJ Capital Ltd in London. “The BOJ is closer to the limits of their unconventional monetary policy than any other central bank,” Jen said. Once all its options are exhausted, the yen will return to its fair value of about ¥90 per dollar, he said.
EUROZONE
Economic activity picks up
Euroarea economic activity this month unexpectedly rose to the highest level in almost six years as the region’s recovery became more broad-based and inflationary pressures continued to intensify. A composite purchasing managers’ index climbed to 56.0 from 54.4 last month, putting the region on track for quarterly growth of 0.6 percent, IHS Markit said yesterday. Economists had predicted the gauge would slip to 54.3. Inflows of new orders and surging optimism among firms point to a potentially stronger expansion in the coming months, the London-based company said.
INVESTMENT
China plans new asset rules
China’s financial regulators are working together to draft sweeping new rules for the country’s rapidly expanding asset-management products that aim to make it clear there is no government guarantees on such investments, according to people familiar with the matter. The draft rules would apply to products issued by banks, insurers, brokerages and other financial institutions, said the people, who asked not to be identified. New rules will be phased in after existing products mature, and would only apply to new issues, they added.
MINING
Anglo’s profits doubles
Anglo American PLC, the world’s biggest producer of diamonds and platinum, said profit more than doubled last year as commodity prices soared, meaning it no longer needs to sell assets to reduce debt. Underlying earnings were US$1.72 a share in the that year on ended Dec. 31, compared with US$0.64 in 2015, Anglo said in a statement. That compares with an average analyst estimate of US$1.39 a share. Net debt was reduced to US$8.5 billion, well below its target of US$10 billion. Bigger profits and a stock price that tripled last year show Anglo’s turnaround program, unveiled during the depths of the commodities crisis, has worked.
TECHNOLOGY
Uber picks Holder for probe
Uber Technologies Inc has appointed former US attorney general Eric Holder to lead an independent review into claims of sexual harassment by a former software engineer.
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
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
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