■ AUTOMOBILES
Minister against Fiat aid
A right-wing Italian Cabinet minister said on Sunday there would be a popular revolt if carmaker Fiat was given help by the Italian government, warning the government before talks with the auto sector this week. “There would be a popular revolt if once again we were to give aid to Fiat,” said Roberto Calderoli, who has the task of whittling down bureaucracy and legislation in the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. “We have already paid up to intervene in Fiat so many times and you can’t keep sharing the debt and keeping the profit,” he told state television RAI. Last week Fiat said that this year would be its “toughest year ever” and revealed a debt pile three times its forecasts.
■STEEL
Corus to cut 3,500 jobs
Corus, Europe’s second-largest steel producer, is to cut 3,500 jobs, Britain’s Sunday Times reported on Sunday. The company would not comment on the report. The newspaper said the move was part of a long-term restructuring plan and numbers would be finalized over the weekend. It said the cuts — precipitated by falling demand in the construction and auto industries — would not lead to the closure of any of Corus’ British sites. Corus, a subsidiary of India’s Tata Steel, employs 24,000 people in Britain.
■OIL
Field found off Gabon
Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp said yesterday that it has discovered an oil field in Gabon, raising hope for more energy production from West Africa. The oil field, in the Atlantic Ocean, has up to 14 million barrels in possible reserves, Mitsubishi said. By comparison, Africa as a whole had close to 115 million barrels of proven oil reserves last year, the US’ Energy Information Administration has said. Mitsubishi said its subsidiary, MPDC Gabon Co, has a 50 percent stake in the oil field, with the other half held by France’s Perenco. The field, named Loche East Marine, is already producing 1,000 barrels a day, Mitsubishi said in a statement.
■ENERGY
Suez Energy cancels deal
French power firm Suez Energy has pulled out of a US$787 million deal to take over a Philippine power station, citing a deterioration of the plant, reports said yesterday. Emerald Energy Corp, the vehicle used by Suez Energy to bid for the 600-megawatt coal-fired power plant at Calaca, north of Manila, submitted the highest bid in a government auction in October 2007 for the plant. The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp, which has been assigned to sell off Philippine government power assets, said the company pulled out citing a “deterioration in the condition of the Calaca plant.”
■PORTS
Dubai feeling the pinch
Dubai port operator DP World says that while trade at its terminals grew last year, the slowing economy has begun hurting business. The government-owned company, one of the world’s biggest cargo handlers, said yesterday that business growth slowed at many of its 46 ports in the second half of the year. The slowdown was most noticeable over the last few months, suggesting the drop in global trade may be accelerating. DP World chief financial officer Yuvraj Narayan said the impact is being felt most in Asia and parts of Europe. He said management is now focused on “cash preservation” and spending is under review.
■ HONG KONG
Tsang upbeat on Ox year
Chief Executive Donald Tsang (曾蔭權) issued a bullish assessment yesterday of the territory’s prospects for recovering from the global economic downturn in the Year of the Ox. In his Lunar New Year address Tsang said: “Hong Kongers are no strangers to adversity. We are used to thriving on challenges. “I believe that if we pull together as a community, no challenge will be too big for Hong Kong.” Tsang said he believed the retail market was doing “better than expected” despite the global slump. Hong Kong officially entered recession at the end of last year when it recorded its second consecutive quarter of economic contraction. Unemployment has climbed to more than 4 percent.
■AVIATION
Paris to help buy aircraft
The French government will provide aircraft manufacturer Airbus and its parent company, EADS, with 5 billion euros (US$6.48 billion) in aid, the business daily Les Echos reported yesterday. The money, which will be issued in dollars, is to be used to help cash-strapped airlines honor their orders for Airbus aircraft and other EADS products, the daily said, citing Finance Ministry experts. The newly created Company for the Refinancement of the French Economy will provide 7 billion euros to the banking system, obliging the banks to use the funds to support export contracts, the paper said.
■GOLD
Bangkok dealers shut doors
Erratic price fluctuations on the international market have forced gold shops in Bangkok’s Chinatown district to shut their doors yesterday. Jitti Tangsitpakdi, president of the Gold Traders’ Association of Thailand, said gold jewelry shops in Yaowarat, Bangkok’s Chinatown, will stay closed until tomorrow to weather out the wild fluctuations in gold prices. “The world gold prices have been changing several times in a day. Our shops have to change the prices many times so we decide to stop selling gold items on Monday and Tuesday,” Jitti said. This is the first time gold shops have closed during the Lunar New Year, usually a period of heavy sales.
■INVESTMENT
Lehman chief sells house
Lehman Brothers chief executive Richard Fuld sold his US$13.3 million mansion to his wife for just US$100 last November, Florida real estate records show. The 62-year old executive, who could face civil lawsuits after overseeing the storied investment bank’s collapse into Chapter 11 proceedings last September, transferred ownership of the seaside home to Kathleen Fuld on Nov. 10, records show. The couple had jointly bought the home for US$13.75 million in March 2004, as first reported by Cityfile.com. Lehman collapsed on Sept. 15 after it was weighed down by bad assets leading to the largest-ever US bankruptcy.
■FRANCE
New businesses increase
The country saw a record number of new businesses created last year, junior minister Herve Novelli said in Monday’s issue of Le Figaro Economie. The government estimate of 325,700 new businesses is a 1.3 percent rise on 2007. “The figures are excellent given the very marked economic slowdown at the end of the year,” said Novelli, in charge of support for small and medium-sized businesses. Business creation was strong in the services sector, particularly in new services for the elderly. Novelli said there had been considerable interest in new regulations for the self-employed, which cut red tape and reduced the tax burden.
TECH RACE: The Chinese firm showed off its new Mate XT hours after the latest iPhone launch, but its price tag and limited supply could be drawbacks China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為) yesterday unveiled the world’s first tri-foldable phone, as it seeks to expand its lead in the world’s biggest smartphone market and steal the spotlight from Apple Inc hours after it debuted a new iPhone. The Chinese tech giant showed off its new Mate XT, which users can fold three ways like an accordion screen door, during a launch ceremony in Shenzhen. The Mate XT comes in red and black and has a 10.2-inch display screen. At 3.6mm thick, it is the world’s slimmest foldable smartphone, Huawei said. The company’s Web site showed that it has garnered more than
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進) and Episil Technologies Inc (漢磊) yesterday announced plans to jointly build an 8-inch fab to produce silicon carbide (SiC) chips through an equity acquisition deal. SiC chips offer higher efficiency and lower energy loss than pure silicon chips, and they are able to operate at higher temperatures. They have become crucial to the development of electric vehicles, artificial intelligence data centers, green energy storage and industrial devices. Vanguard, a contract chipmaker focused on making power management chips and driver ICs for displays, is to acquire a 13 percent stake in Episil for NT$2.48 billion (US$77.1 million).
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