AUTOMAKERS
Ford eyes Indian growth
Ford Motor Co is aiming to expand its presence in the fast-growing auto markets of India and China with an eye toward increasing the number of vehicles it sells per year by 50 percent by the middle of the decade. A 50 percent sales increase by the middle of the decade would bring Ford’s annual vehicle sales to 8 million. Ford also said on Tuesday it would cut its debt by 15.7 percent to about US$14 billion by the end of this month, bringing it to less than half the US$33.6 billion it was carrying in 2009. Ford chief financial officer Lewis Booth said Ford planned to cut its overall debt to about US$10 billion by the middle of the decade.
JAPAN
Consolidation needed: IMF
Tokyo must tackle fiscal consolidation to reduce its debt burden in the long run in order to boost public confidence about the sustainability of its economy, the IMF’s acting chief John Lipsky said yesterday. The world’s third-largest economy will rebound from the damage of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in the coming year as supply networks are restored, Lipsky said. Recent data has already shown factory output is recovering, he added. The country’s public debt is already about twice the size of its US$5 trillion economy.
AUTOMAKERS
BYD eyes share sales
BYD Co (比亞迪), a Chinese car and battery maker backed by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, is moving ahead with a share offering meant to raise cash for a major expansion. BYD said yesterday in a notice to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it was beginning price consultations with investors after receiving regulatory approval for the initial public offering on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. The company, which already has shares traded in Hong Kong, plans to list 79 million shares, or 3.4 percent of its enlarged capital.
BRANDS
Sanrio, Dutch firm end row
The Japanese company behind Hello Kitty announced on Tuesday it had agreed with the Dutch creator of bunny character Miffy to end a copyright row and instead donate legal costs of 150,000 euros (US$220,000) to victims of the March quake and tsunami. An Amsterdam court in November last year ordered Sanrio to halt production and sales of Cathy — Kitty’s rabbit friend — merchandise in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg after finding the Japanese bunny closely resembled Miffy, created by a Dutch children’s author in the 1950s.
ENERGY
Little to change: PRC makers
China’s wind energy turbine makers have said scrapping subsidies for the domestic sector will have little impact, even as US manufacturers hailed the move as a victory, state media reported yesterday. Beijing has stopped offering subsidies to the country’s wind power sector six months after the US lodged a complaint with the WTO, US officials said on Tuesday in Washington.
EQUITIES
Citigroup, Axa make deal
Citigroup has agreed to sell a portfolio of private equity assets to Axa Private Equity for US$1.7 billion, the French insurer said yesterday. The portfolio comprises 207 stakes in various buyout funds as well as some direct stakes in companies, Axa said, adding that Citi — which has been looking to focus on its core businesses — was financing the purchase.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
Pegatron Corp (和碩), an iPhone assembler for Apple Inc, is to spend NT$5.64 billion (US$186.82 million) to acquire HTC Corp’s (宏達電) factories in Taoyuan and invest NT$578.57 million in its India subsidiary to expand manufacturing capacity, after its board approved the plans on Wednesday. The Taoyuan factories would expand production of consumer electronics, and communication and computing devices, while the India investment would boost production of communications devices and possibly automotive electronics later, a Pegatron official told the Taipei Times by telephone yesterday. Pegatron expects to complete the Taoyuan factory transaction in the third quarter, said the official, who declined to be
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