REAL ESTATE
London house prices slump
London house prices are falling at the fastest pace since the depths of the recession almost a decade ago, with the UK capital’s most expensive areas seeing the biggest declines. Average prices fell 2.6 percent to ￡593,396 (US$820,000) in January, the biggest annual decline since August 2009, according to a report published by Acadata yesterday. London’s highest-priced boroughs were the biggest losers, led by Wandsworth’s 24.9 percent slump and Southwark’s 12.2 percent drop.London prices fell 0.8 percent in January alone, equivalent to almost ￡5,000, showing that the weakness that was present for much of last year continued into this year. The market has been hurt by slower growth and faster inflation since the Brexit vote, while the Bank of England has signaled it would continue raising interest rates.
FINANCE
Golden Gate plans third fund
Singapore’s Golden Gate Ventures is raising a US$100 million third fund to continue investing in Southeast Asia’s burgeoning market for e-commerce, payments and mobile apps, a person familiar with the matter said.The new fund is expected to have a first close before the end of this month and the final close by the end of this year, said the person who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Founded by former Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Vinnie Lauria, Jeffrey Paine and Paul Bragiel in 2011, Golden Gate Ventures was one of the earliest venture capital firms to target the region’s nascent technology sector. It has since launched two funds and invested in more than 30 firms, including online classified app Carousell, Jakarta-based healthcare platform Alodokter and Vietnamese mobile platform Appota Corp.
AIRLINES
piceJet, CFM ink deal
SpiceJet Ltd, one of India’s fastest-growing airlines has signed a US$12.5 billion deal with CFM International Inc for engines and a 10-year services contract for an incoming fleet of more than 150 Boeing Co 737 MAX aircraft. SpiceJet has agreed to buy the LEAP-1B engines and spare engines from CFM, which is a joint venture between France’s Safran Aircraft Engines SAS and General Electric Co’s GE Aviation, the two companies said in a statement on Saturday. The deal also includes a 10-year services contract for maintenance of the CFM engines, which are to be billed on an hourly basis, the statement said. The deal provides engines and maintenance that will underpin SpiceJet’s existing US$22 billion order for 155 Boeing aircraft, marking the Indian budget carrier’s biggest expansion plan yet. SpiceJet has been trying to claw back market share from the nation’s leading discount airline, IndiGo, which is operated by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd.
CAMERAS
Leica fetches US$2.9m
A 1923 Leica camera on Saturday fetched a world record 2.4 million euros (US$2.9 million) at an auction in Vienna, the Westlicht museum said. The minimum price had been set at 400,000 euros, but the Leica 0-series No. 122, one of a 25-strong series of prototypes made two years before the reputed German marque began retailing, was the subject of ferocious bidding given its pristine condition. It went to an Asian bidder, the museum said, adding that only three of the series remained in their original condition. The previous record for a 1923 Leica saw a buyer spend 2.16 million euros in 2012, Westlicht said.
STRONG INTEREST: Analysts have pointed to optimism in TSMC’s growth prospects in the artificial intelligence era as the cause of the rising number of shareholders The number of people holding shares of chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) hit a new high last week despite a decline in its stock price, the Taiwan Depository and Clearing Corp (TDCC, 台灣集保) said. The number of TSMC shareholders rose to 2.46 million as of Friday, up 75,536 from a week earlier, TDCC data showed. The stock price fell 1.34 percent during the same week to close at NT$1,840 (US$57.55). The decline in TSMC’s share price resulted from volatility in global tech stocks, driven by rising international crude oil prices as the war against Iran continues. Dealers said
PRICE HIKES: The war in the Middle East would not significantly disrupt supply in the short term, but semiconductor companies are facing price surges for materials Taiwan’s semiconductor companies are not facing imminent supply disruptions of essential chemicals or raw materials due to the war in the Middle East, but surges in material costs loom large, industry association SEMI Taiwan said yesterday. The association’s comments came amid growing concerns that supplies of helium and other key raw materials used in semiconductor production could become a choke point after Qatar shut down its liquefied natural gas (LNG) production and helium output earlier this month due to the conflict. Qatar is the second-largest LNG supplier in the world and accounts for about 33 percent of global helium output. Helium is
China is clamping down on fertilizer exports to protect its domestic market, industry sources said, putting an additional strain on global markets that were already grappling with shortages caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran. China is among the largest fertilizer exporters — shipping more than US$13 billion of it last year — and it has a history of controlling exports to keep prices low for farmers. Shipments through the war-blocked Strait of Hormuz account for about one-third of the sea-borne supply. This month, Beijing banned exports of nitrogen-potassium fertilizer blends and certain phosphate varieties, sources said. The ban, which has not
AMAZING ABUNDANCE: Elon Musk has announced plans for a new facility in Texas which would manufacture chips for Tesla and SpaceX to use in robotics and AI Elon Musk said his Terafab project — a grand plan to eventually manufacture his own chips for robotics, artificial intelligence (AI) and space data centers — would be built in Austin and jointly run by Tesla Inc and Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX). Musk, the chief executive officer of the two companies, said he would start off with an “advanced technology fab” in Austin that would have all of the equipment necessary to make chips of any kind. The project would call for one day supporting 1 terawatt (TW) of computing power per year, the amount Musk expects the companies to
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