ADVERTISING
WPP cuts full year outlook
WPP PLC, the world’s largest advertising group, yesterday cut its full-year net sales outlook after it missed first-half targets due to a drop in demand from consumer goods clients and weak trading in the US. WPP, led by the high-profile businessman Martin Sorrell, reported first-half like-for-like net sales down 0.5 percent, below a consensus of 0.7 percent growth. It cut its full-year underlying net sales target to between 0 and 1 percent growth, from a previous forecast of 2 percent growth. Despite the slowdown at the top line, the group reiterated its target for a 0.3 point improvement in its operating margin.
AVIATION
Air New Zealand profit falls
Air New Zealand yesterday posted a 17.5 percent fall in annual net profit as increased competition hit the carrier’s bottom line. The airline said net profit for the 12 months to June 30 was NZ$382 million (US$278 million), down from a record NZ$463 million in the previous financial year. The carrier said it was still its second-highest figure ever recorded, describing it as a “strong” result. Pre-tax earnings also dipped 20.5 percent to NZ$527 and operating revenue was off 2.3 percent at NZ$4.4 billion.
AUTOMAKERS
Solar roofs for Audis
Hanergy Thin Film Power Group Ltd (漢能薄膜發電集團) said its US unit, Alta Devices Inc, will work with Audi AG to outfit the rooftops of select models from the German car maker with solar cells. The cells will be used to harvest solar energy to power air conditioning and other electrical functions, boosting mileage in the process, Hong Kong-listed Hanergy said in a statement yesterday. The companies plan to present a vehicle prototype from Audi with a solar roof by the end of the year. Eventually, the companies plan to use solar energy to provide additional primary power, Hanergy said. Alta Devices, which was acquired by Hanergy in 2014, produces gallium arsenide thin-film solar cells.
MACROECONOMICS
UAE to tax tobacco, drinks
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will start imposing a tax on selected goods starting on Oct. 1 as Gulf Arab nations seek to deepen government revenue to counter the drop in oil prices. A levy on designated goods — tobacco, energy drinks and soft drinks — will include those sold at airports and free zones, Ministry of Finance Undersecretary Younis Al Khoori told the state-run WAM news agency. Products purchased at airports by travelers taking the goods abroad will be exempt, he said. The levy is estimated to generate about 7 billion dirhams (US$1.9 billion) in annual revenue for the UAE government, according to WAM.
ENERGY
US puts duties on biodiesel
The US on Tuesday announced new import duties on biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia, which officials said received improper government subsidies. The action was spurred by complaints from a coalition of US producers who said the imports constituted unfair competition. According to preliminary US Department of Commerce determinations, Argentinian imports were subsidized at a rate of 50.3 percent to 64.2 percent while Indonesian imports benefited from subsidies at a rate of 41 percent to 68.3 percent. The determinations are preliminary, with final determinations due on Nov. 7.
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