TECHNOLOGY
Chip tester seeks purchaser
UTAC Holdings Ltd, the Singapore-based chip testing firm backed by TPG Capital, has appointed Citigroup Inc to advise on a planned sale of its business, people with knowledge of the matter said. The company has started gauging interest from potential buyers, including private equity funds and Chinese semiconductor firms, the people said. The company explored options for the business last year, including a sale and an initial public offering, after completing a bond restructuring, Bloomberg News reported at the time.
AVIATION
Vietnam Air to update fleet
Vietnam Airlines is considering an order of 50 to 100 Boeing Co 737 Max airplanes this year to replace its aging fleet of Airbus SE single-aisle aircraft. The state-owned carrier might also buy long-range jets in preparation for flights to California. The new aircraft would be for delivery from 2020 to 2030, chief executive officer Duong Tri Thanh said in an interview in Hanoi. While Thanh did not specify which Max model the carrier plans to buy, based on list prices of the popular Max 8, the order would be valued at about US$6.1 billion to US$12.2 billion.
STEEL
‘No deal’ brings bill due
British Steel Ltd could face a financial hit of £100 million (US$130.84 million) or more in three weeks’ time if British Prime Minister Theresa May is unable to secure a Brexit deal, two people familiar with the matter said. The costs relate to the private equity-owned steelmaker’s carbon pollution bill for last year, which is due for payment by March 15, the people said. British Steel and its owner, Greybull Capital LLP, said that the steelmaker is prepared for various Brexit scenarios.
BANKING
Societe Generale to cut jobs
French banking group Societe Generale SA is planning to cut 1,500 positions in its BFI corporate and investment banking arm, Le Figaro newspaper reported on Saturday. The bank is looking at two scenarios, both of which envisage 1,500 job cuts worldwide, with about 700 of them in France, the report said, citing internal bank documents. The company said in a statement on Saturday that it is still reviewing activities in its corporate and investor client business, so it could not comment on the impact on jobs.
UNITED KINGDOM
Banks eye £44bn in claims
Banks face a final bill of £44 billion to settle claims that they mis-sold payment protection insurance, the Mail said on Sunday, citing its own analysis. The study is based on published information extrapolated over the period until the Aug. 29 cutoff that the Financial Conduct Authority has set for claims, the report said. Lenders have already set aside about 40 billion pounds to compensate customers.
TECHNOLOGY
Newest HoloLens unveiled
Microsoft Corp unveiled the latest version of its HoloLens augmented reality headset on Sunday, promising wearers would feel more immersed in the augmented reality experience and more comfortable. The company showed off how the HoloLens 2 can track eye movements, and allow wearers to feel as though they can touch and manipulate holograms. The devices were also attached to hard hats for construction workers.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
Apple Inc has been developing a homegrown chip to run artificial intelligence (AI) tools in data centers, although it is unclear if the semiconductor would ever be deployed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The effort would build on Apple’s previous efforts to make in-house chips, which run in its iPhones, Macs and other devices, according to the Journal, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. The server project is code-named ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center) within the company, aiming to utilize Apple’s expertise in chip design for the company’s server infrastructure, the newspaper said. While this initiative has been
GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said that revenue would rise moderately in the second half of this year, driven primarily by robust demand for advanced wafers used in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a key component of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. “The first quarter is the lowest point of this cycle. The second half will be better than the first for the whole semiconductor industry and for GlobalWafers,” chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) said during an online investors’ conference. “HBM would definitely be the key growth driver in the second half,” Hsu said. “That is our big hope
The consumer price index (CPI) last month eased to 1.95 percent, below the central bank’s 2 percent target, as food and entertainment cost increases decelerated, helped by stable egg prices, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. The slowdown bucked predictions by policymakers and academics that inflationary pressures would build up following double-digit electricity rate hikes on April 1. “The latest CPI data came after the cost of eating out and rent grew moderately amid mixed international raw material prices,” DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) told a news conference in Taipei. The central bank in March raised interest rates by