GERMANY
Exports push up growth
Exports and investment propelled growth in the third quarter, putting Europe’s biggest economy in a strong position to weather rising political uncertainty after coalition talks collapsed. Trade added 0.4 percentage points to economic expansion in the July to September period, with company spending on equipment contributing 0.1 percentage points, the Federal Statistics Office said yesterday. GDP increased 0.8 percent — in line with an estimate from Tuesday last week — putting the economy firmly on course for its best annual performance in six years. Government consumption was unchanged in the third quarter from the previous three months, while private spending declined 0.1 percent, the report said.
UNITED STATES
Durable goods orders tumble
Declining aircraft sales brought durable goods orders to their lowest pace in four months last month, while a manufacturing sector tied to the oil industry also swung low, official data showed on Wednesday. Total orders for big-ticket manufactured goods fell 1.2 percent from September, to US$236 billion, the Department of Commerce said. The result surprised economists, who had been expecting a 0.4 percent increase. So far this year, orders are up 4.9 percent over the same period last year.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook to be open about ads
Facebook Inc on Wednesday said it would build a Web page to allow users to see which Russian propaganda accounts they have liked or followed, after US lawmakers demanded that the social network be more open about the reach of the accounts. US lawmakers called the announcement a positive step. However, the Web page would fall short of their demands that Facebook individually notify users about Russian propaganda posts or ads they were exposed to. The tool is to be available by the end of the year, the company said.
AUTOMAKERS
Fiat recalls 8,000 SUVs
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV is telling owners of some small Jeeps not to use the front passenger seat until a problem with the vehicles’ air bags are repaired. The company is recalling about 8,000 2018 Compass SUVs, mainly in North America. Some fasteners can come loose in the passenger air bag assemblies. If the bag is inflated in a crash, it could shoot the fasteners into the passenger area. The company said it has no reports of any injuries due to the problem. The Jeeps were made from Sept. 5 to Sunday. Customers are to be notified next month, and dealers will replace the air bags when parts are available.
FINANCE
HNA unit’s liquidity limited
The short-term debts of HNA Group Co’s (海航集團) main offshore fundraising arm are close to outstripping its ability to meet them, figures provided in documents for the acquisitive Chinese conglomerate’s most recent bond deal show, where the unit paid almost 9 percent for a one-year loan. The documents contain figures for the first nine months of this year and show that the cash and current assets of HNA Group International Co Ltd (海航國際) cover its current liabilities — debts and payments due within a year — with just 8 percent headroom, down from 26 percent at the end of last year. HNA Group declined to comment.
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
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”