BANKING
UBS profit plummets
Swiss banking giant UBS said yesterday that its net profit fell 18 percent to 1.8 billion Swiss francs (US$2 billion) in the first quarter, hurt by a tax charge and higher personnel costs. Nevertheless, the result was slightly better than the SF1.7 billion forecast by analysts for the period. The group also recorded net new money of SF22.3 billion in the first quarter, marking a recovery from a year ago when outflow reached SF18 billion. UBS said it expected improvement in parts of its investment banking business in the coming quarter, but that competition for talent and salary increases would put pressure on its expenses.
ELECTRONICS
Canon cuts its forecasts
Canon Inc, the world’s largest maker of cameras, cut its annual profit and sales forecasts after Japan’s earthquake and tsunami disaster last month disrupted production. Net income in the year ending December will probably fall 11 percent to ￥220 billion (US$2.7 billion), Tokyo-based Canon said in a statement yesterday, abandoning its previous forecast of a 26 percent increase. Canon also cut its sales target for camera sales this year to 20 million units from 23 million units. “Many uncertainties remain, such as the negative impact of the earthquake in northeastern Japan, further appreciation of fuel prices and the financial crises in some European countries,” Canon said.
FOOD
Lactalis bids for Parmalat
French dairy giant Lactalis yesterday launched a controversial takeover bid worth about 3.4 billion euros (US$4.9 billion) for Italy’s Parmalat in which it already holds 29 percent. Lactalis offered 2.60 euros per share for the remaining stake in Parmalat. A group of Italian companies has been scrambling to block the takeover of amid nationalist sentiment and fears over the French company’s increasingly powerful role in the Italian dairy products market. Lactalis said it would keep the headquarters of Parmalat in Italy. Lactalis and Parmalat combined would have an annual turnover of 14 billion euros, which would make it the global leader in the sector, Lactalis said.
INSURANCE
Aegon sells reinsurance unit
Dutch insurer Aegon NV says it has agreed to sell the reinsurance business of its Transamerica arm to France’s Scor Group SA for US$1.4 billion in cash and capital released. Aegon said it would use the proceeds to repay the remaining 750 million euros of the 3 billion euros in support it received from the Dutch state during the 2008 financial crisis and will now focus on its life insurance, asset management and pensions businesses. Scor said yesterday it is paying US$912.5 million, which it will finance with cash on hand or debt, and will not issue shares. It said the deal would make it the second-largest life reinsurance company in the US and strengthen its Asian and Latin American operations.
AUTOMAKERS
Indian Honda to cut output
Honda’s India unit will halve auto production because of a shortage of components following last month’s tsunami in Japan. “Honda Motors Japan is doing a 50 percent production cut,” company spokesman Jnaneswar Sen said yesterday. “We are still evaluating parts supply with some vendors only in Japan. They were severely hit by the tsunami.” Honda’s plant outside New Delhi turned out 61,000 vehicles in the year ending March 31, Sen said, less than its full capacity of 100,000 vehicles a year. The company hopes to resume full production after July.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
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