Cathay Pacific yesterday confirmed that it is in talks to buy a stake in Hong Kong’s sole low-cost airline, as it competes to counter the growth of budget carriers in the region.
Asia’s largest airline said it was “in active discussions about an acquisition involving HKE [Hong Kong Express].”
“No agreement for the acquisition has been entered into and there can be no certainty that any agreement will be entered into,” it added in a statement to Hong Kong’s stock exchange.
Hong Kong Express is owned by HNA Group Co (海航集團), a struggling Chinese conglomerate that has been looking to lower its debt pile.
The group also owns Hong Kong Airlines, another Cathay competitor that has found itself in financial difficulties in the past few months.
Local and international media previously reported that Cathay had held preliminary talks to buy stakes in Hong Kong Express and Hong Kong Airlines, but yesterday’s statement only confirmed talks to acquire a stake in Hong Kong Express.
Cathay shares were up 2.3 percent at HK$13.32 in morning trading after the announcement.
Hong Kong Express is the territory’s sole budget carrier — a sector of the industry that a marquee brand such as Cathay has struggled to compete against.
Cathay in 2016 embarked on a three-year plan to overhaul its operations after posting its first losses in eight years, as it faced stiff competition from budget rivals on the mainland.
It fired more than 600 workers, cut back overseas offices and crew stations, and added international routes and better on-board services in a bid to compete with well-heeled Middle Eastern carriers.
The overhaul appears to be paying dividends. Last month, Cathay said it expects to have swung back to black last year, recording consolidated profit of about US$293 million.
However, last year also saw a massive breach, with hackers making off with the data of 9.4 million customers, including some passport numbers and credit card details.
The airline faces potentially steep payouts in Europe, which boasts strong protection laws and financial penalties for companies that do not swiftly own up to data breaches.
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