INDONESIA
Growth slower than expected
The economy expanded at a slower pace in the third quarter than economists expected, a disappointing outcome for the government as it struggles to boost growth. Gross domestic product rose 5.06 percent from a year earlier, according to data released yesterday by the Central Bureau of Statistics. The median estimate of 17 surveyed economists was for growth of 5.2 percent. The economy grew 3.18 percent from the previous quarter, just short of the economists’ estimate of 3.2 percent. “The third-quarter GDP outturn poses downside risks to our forecast of growth accelerating to 5.5 percent in the second half from 5 percent in the first half, hence our full-year 2017 GDP growth of 5.3 percent,” Nomura Holdings Inc economists Euben Paracuelles and Brian Tan said.
E-COMMERCE
NetEase ups global spending
NetEase Inc (網易科技), China’s second-largest video game publisher, is deepening a push into e-commerce with plans to increase spending on products from the US, Europe and Japan to sell to local consumers. The company’s Kaola e-commerce business is to buy about US$11 billion of inventory over the next three years from the US, Europe and Japan to woo customers with everything from Dutch baby formula to Japanese cosmetics, Kaola chief executive Zhang Lei (張蕾) said in an interview. Best known for games, including bringing global title Overwatch to the Chinese market, Netease is bolstering growth by tapping into local demand for established international brands.
GERMANY
Factory orders rise again
Factory orders unexpectedly rose for a second month, adding to signs that Europe’s largest economy is to continue expanding at a solid pace. Orders, adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, increased 1 percent in September after an upwardly revised surge of 4.1 percent in August, Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy data showed yesterday. The typically volatile reading compares with a median estimate for a 1.1 percent decline in a Bloomberg survey. Demand was up 9.5 percent from the previous year. The nation is on track for continued robust growth in the third quarter, the Bundesbank said, with manufacturing set to remain a “pillar” of the upswing thanks to “vigorous” export demand and an “excellent” level of orders. Strong momentum in the 19-nation euro region and the European Central Bank’s decision to extend asset purchases into next year will also support the economy.
FINANCE
Bad loans upset DBS profits
DBS Group Holdings Ltd chief executive Piyush Gupta was determined to put soured energy-industry loans behind him — even if it meant profit missing the lowest analyst estimate by a wide margin. Southeast Asia’s largest bank yesterday said it boosted bad-loan allowances more than sixfold in the third quarter, resulting in a 23 percent drop in net income to S$822 million (US$602 million). The move “will enable investors to return their focus to our operating performance and digital agenda,” Gupta said in a statement. Not sharing his optimism, investors sent the shares down the most in five weeks. Singapore banks have been struggling with rising provisions against the troubled regional oil and gas sector since Swiber Holdings Ltd filed for judicial management last year. Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd (華僑銀行) and United Overseas Bank Ltd (大華銀行) said in their quarterly reports that the energy-services industry remains under stress.
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