INVESTMENT
Companies curb Italy travel
Investment banks including Citigroup Inc, Credit Suisse Group AG and Nomura Holdings Inc have curbed trips to Italy over fears that an outbreak of COVID-19 in the country’s north could quickly spread across Europe, four sources said. Milan, Italy-based Mediobanca SpA and UniCredit SpA have also banned all nonessential trips inside and outside of Italy, two sources said. Other banks including Barclays PLC and Morgan Stanley have told their Milan staff to avoid traveling to their offices in the city, two other sources said.
GERMANY
Firms reduced Q4 spending
Companies cut spending in the fourth quarter of last year, leaving the economy struggling and vulnerable even before the coronavirus outbreak created a fresh threat for global growth. Business investment fell 0.2 percent and household spending stagnated, the Federal Statistical Office said yesterday. The economy flatlined, a weak end to the country’s worst full-year performance since 2013. An Ifo survey unexpectedly rose this month, but the measure of business confidence did not capture the latest escalation in Europe, which sent global stock markets tumbling.
TRAVEL
Expedia to cut staff by 3,000
Online travel giant Expedia Inc is to cut 3,000 jobs worldwide after what the company called a “disappointing” performance last year, US media reported on Monday. The firm operates its flagship travel site, as well as Hotels.com, Hotwire, Travelocity, Cheaptickets, Egencia and CarRentals.com. Over the course of last year, sales increased by 8 percent, net income by 4 percent and earnings per share by 6 percent. By the end of December last year, the company had 25,400 employees worldwide. The job cuts would eliminate about 12 percent of its workforce.
TRANSPORTATION
Gojek denies Grab merger
Indonesia’s Gojek yesterday denied a report that it is discussing a merger with rival Grab Holdings Inc, a deal that would combine the leading ride-hailing businesses in Southeast Asia. “There are no plans for any sort of merger and recent media reports regarding discussions of this nature are not accurate,” Gojek said in an e-mailed statement. The Information reported that talks are believed to be ongoing, but a big roadblock to a deal is agreeing on control of the combined entity.
RETAIL
Tesco sells share in venture
Britain’s biggest retailer, Tesco PLC, has sold its 20 percent share of a joint venture in China to a unit of its partner China Resources Holdings Co (CRH, 華潤集團), raising £275 million (US$356.9 million) and completing its exit from the country. Tesco had established the Gain Land Ltd joint venture with CRH in 2014, when it started its retreat from China.
AUTOMAKERS
Renault files Ghosn claim
French car giant Renault SA on Monday said that it was filing a civil claim for damages against former CEO Carlos Ghosn over alleged financial misconduct. The company said in a statement that it reserved the right “to solicit damages with interest” from an investigation into numerous claims of financial misconduct in France. Ghosn faces a French inquiry into two parties he threw at the Palace of Versailles. He is also under investigation by France’s tax fraud office over suspicious financial transactions.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks