CHIPMAKERS
Toshiba to sell chip unit
Toshiba Corp shareholders approved the sale of its memorychip division to cover costs resulting from the Westinghouse Electric Co LLC bankruptcy, but not before railing at management and lamenting the downfall of a Japanese icon. Incensed investors yesterday took turns to hurl abuse at executives during a meeting convened to take a vote on the intended disposal of its prized semiconductor business. Toshiba is looking to sell a majority stake in the unit to mend a balance sheet ravaged by billions of dollars in write-downs related to cost overruns at nuclear subsidiary Westinghouse. Westinghouse, which Toshiba bought for US$5.4 billion in 2006, filed for Chapter 11 protection on Wednesday.
RETAILERS
New brand for H&M
Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) announced the addition of its first new store brand in three years as the Swedish fashion retailer seeks to revive sales in key European markets. The first Arket outlet is to open in London in the fall, selling clothing and a limited range of home furnishings at prices slightly above the company’s main brand, H&M said yesterday as it reported first-quarter profit that beat analyst estimates. Stores in Brussels, Copenhagen and Munich are to follow, and the brand is also to sell online, initially in 18 European markets. Pretax profit fell 3.6 percent to 3.21 billion kronor (US$360.76 million), compared with an average estimate of 3.03 billion kronor.
AUTOMAKERS
Pollution program launched
The mayors of Paris, London and Seoul on Wednesday launched an initiative to rate the most polluting vehicles in a bid to keep them off the roads of their cities. The aim of the “Air’volution” scheme is to help drivers avoid buying the most harmful diesel vans and cars. Speaking at a news conference in her city, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said major car manufacturers have been invited to participate in the scheme, but she admitted that trust “needed to be rebuilt” after the scandal over emissions test cheating that embroiled Volkswagen AG and has also drawn in French giant Groupe Renault.
ENERGY
Regulator asks for merger
China’s state-owned enterprise regulator has asked coal mining giant Shenhua Group Corp (神華集團) and power generator China Datang Corp (中國大唐) to discuss a possible merger, according to people with knowledge of the situation. The talks are at an early stage and there is no guarantee of a deal, the people said. A merger would combine China’s biggest coal producer with one of its largest power generators to create a utility giant with about 1.66 trillion yuan (US$240.9 billion) of assets. China’s Assets Supervision and Administration Commission encouraged the merger discussions, the people said.
APPAREL
Lululemon earnings rise
Lululemon Athletica Inc late on Wednesday said it earned US$136.1 million, or US$0.99 per share, in the three months that ended on Jan. 29. That compared with US$117.4 million, or US$0.85 per share, in the same period a year earlier. Revenue totaled to US$789.9 million, up from US$704.3 million in 2015. The sportswear firm disappointed investors by offering a weaker outlook than expected for the current quarter. Lululemon said it expects net revenue of US$510 million to US$515 million, with earnings per share of US$0.25 to US$0.27. The shares fell more than 17 percent after the announcement.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San
Clambering hand-over-hand, sweat dripping into his eyes, a durian laborer expertly slices a cumbersome fruit from a tree before tossing it down to land with a soft thump in his colleague’s waiting arms about 15m below. Among Thailand’s most famous and lucrative exports, the pungent “king of fruits” is as distinctive in its smell as its spiky green-brown carapace, and has been farmed in the kingdom for hundreds of years. However, a vicious heat wave engulfing Southeast Asia has resulted in smaller yields and spiraling costs, with growers and sellers increasingly panicked as global warming damages the industry. “This year is a crisis,”