SAUDI ARABIA
Non-oil revenue skyrockets
The country’s non-oil revenue climbed 63 percent in the first quarter of this year, propelled by improved tax collection as part of a drive to reduce the economy’s reliance on income from oil exports. Revenue rose to 52.3 billion riyals (US$14 billion), partly due to the introduction of the value-added tax (VAT) and measures taken over the past two years, including a levy on expatriates working in the world’s biggest oil exporter, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday. The collection of zakat, an Islamic tax, also “significantly improved,” it said. In addition to the VAT, the government has raised fuel and utility prices and briefly curtailed public-sector allowances.
ENERGY
Shell unit agrees stake sale
A unit of Royal Dutch Shell PLC has agreed to sell its entire stake in oil sands producer Canadian Natural Resources Ltd for more than US$3 billion, which would be used to reduce debt. Shell Gas BV is to sell its 97.6 million shares in Canadian Natural for total pretax proceeds of US$3.3 billion, and the transaction is expected to be completed by today, The Hague, Netherlands-based Shell said in a statement. The shares are being offered at US$34.10 each, according to a person familiar with the matter, a 2.9 percent discount to its close on Monday in New York. Canadian Natural shares closed at US$35.11.
BANKING
AfDB seeks to close gap
The African Development Bank (AfDB) seeks investments from global pensions and commercial financiers to help fund the continent’s infrastructure gap of as much as US$170 billion a year. The Abidjan-based lender yesterday launched its Africa Investment Forum in Johannesburg. The forum would host its first meeting in November in South Africa’s commercial hub and would have “no speeches,” but rather present bankable projects to investors, AfDB president Akinwumi Adesina said. The continent has an infrastructure funding gap of US$87 billion to US$112 billion annually, AfDB estimated.
TECHNOLOGY
Snap replaces CFO
Snap Inc said chief financial officer (CFO) Drew Vollero is stepping down, and named Amazon.com Inc executive Tim Stone as his replacement. The Los Angeles-based company, owner of the Snapchat mobile photo-sharing app, said Vollero would depart on Tuesday next week. Stone, 51, is to join Snap from e-commerce giant Amazon, where he has worked since 1998 in various roles, including vice president of finance and vice president of physical stores. He has also been overseeing the integration of Whole Foods Markets Inc. Snap has struggled since its initial public offering early last year.
EMPLOYMENT
Traders citing crypto skills
The latest line Wall Street job applicants are using to stand out: conversant in crypto. More quantitative and algorithmic traders are using personal experience with cryptocurrencies to boost their status in the job market, even as banks remain hesitant to plunge into the trade, recruitment firm Selby Jennings Ltd said. While figures on CV entries are hard to come by, Ben Hodzic, a recruiter at the firm who focuses on the quantitative and algorithmic openings, estimated that about 5 to 8 percent of resumes he has seen this year cite experience with cryptocurrency. That compares with about 2 percent last year, he said.
DECOUPLING? In a sign of deeper US-China technology decoupling, Apple has held initial talks about using Baidu’s generative AI technology in its iPhones, the Wall Street Journal said China has introduced guidelines to phase out US microprocessors from Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) from government PCs and servers, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The procurement guidance also seeks to sideline Microsoft Corp’s Windows operating system and foreign-made database software in favor of domestic options, the report said. Chinese officials have begun following the guidelines, which were unveiled in December last year, the report said. They order government agencies above the township level to include criteria requiring “safe and reliable” processors and operating systems when making purchases, the newspaper said. The US has been aiming to boost domestic semiconductor
Nvidia Corp earned its US$2.2 trillion market cap by producing artificial intelligence (AI) chips that have become the lifeblood powering the new era of generative AI developers from start-ups to Microsoft Corp, OpenAI and Google parent Alphabet Inc. Almost as important to its hardware is the company’s nearly 20 years’ worth of computer code, which helps make competition with the company nearly impossible. More than 4 million global developers rely on Nvidia’s CUDA software platform to build AI and other apps. Now a coalition of tech companies that includes Qualcomm Inc, Google and Intel Corp plans to loosen Nvidia’s chokehold by going
OPENING ADDRESS: The CEO is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence at the trade show’s opening on June 3, TAITRA said Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) chairperson and chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) is to deliver the opening keynote speech at Computex Taipei this year, the event’s organizer said in a statement yesterday. Su is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing (HPC) in the artificial intelligence (AI) era to open Computex, one of the world’s largest computer and technology trade events, at 9:30am on June 3, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said. Su is to explore how AMD and the company’s strategic technology partners are pushing the limits of AI and HPC, from data centers to
ENERGY IMPACT: The electricity rate hike is expected to add about NT$4 billion to TSMC’s electricity bill a year and cut its annual earnings per share by about NT$0.154 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has left its long-term gross margin target unchanged despite the government deciding on Friday to raise electricity rates. One of the heaviest power consuming manufacturers in Taiwan, TSMC said it always respects the government’s energy policy and would continue to operate its fabs by making efforts in energy conservation. The chipmaker said it has left a long-term goal of more than 53 percent in gross margin unchanged. The Ministry of Economic Affairs concluded a power rate evaluation meeting on Friday, announcing electricity tariffs would go up by 11 percent on average to about NT$3.4518 per kilowatt-hour (kWh)