TECHNOLOGY
Qualcomm sales to grow
US chipmaker Qualcomm Inc forecast double-digit sales growth this fiscal year as its quarterly results beat Wall Street estimates as a result of strong demand for its cellphone chips. The mobile chipmaker estimated full-year revenue of between US$18 billion and US$19 billion, an increase of 20 percent to 27 percent from a year ago, and 7 percent to 13 percent growth in earnings per share. In its fiscal fourth quarter, which ran until the end of September, Qualcomm posted net earnings of US$1.06 billion, or US$0.62 per share, compared with US$865 million, or US$53 per share, in the same period last year. Revenue rose 39 percent to US$4.12 billion.
CONSUMER GOODS
Unilever warns on profit
Unilever, the world’s -second-biggest consumer-goods company, said profitability could fall this year amid higher prices for raw materials. In addition, the firm’s underlying operating margin could be unchanged or fall “slightly” this year, Unilever said yesterday in a statement, after reporting third-quarter underlying sales growth of 7.8 percent, topping analysts’ expectations of 6.2 percent growth.
BANKING
BNP profits fall 72%
French bank BNP Paribas said its profit plummeted 72 percent in the third quarter after accounting for expected losses on its Greek bonds in line with a new European agreement that seeks to reduce Greece’s burden and stop the debt crisis. The bank said yesterday that its net profit was 541 million euros (US$747 million), down from 1.9 billion euros in the same period last year. That figure includes a provision for a 60 percent “haircut” on all the Greek bonds BNP holds. Revenues slumped 7.6 percent to 10 billion euros.
FINANCE
ING NV to cut 2,000 jobs
ING NV, the bank and insurer, said it would cut 2,000 jobs in response to Europe’s deepening financial crisis, despite remaining profitable in the third quarter. Net profit was 1.69 billion euros (US$2.32 billion), down from 239 million euros in the same period a year ago. Chief executive Jan Hommen said the company’s banking profits declined as interest margins narrowed, but the company was trying to remain ahead of developments by reducing costs. Insurance profits rose.
STEEL
ArcelorMittal Q3 profits fall
ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steel maker, yesterday posted a 50 percent drop in third-quarter net profit, compared with the same period a year earlier. The company blamed weakening economic conditions and increasing uncertainty in the market and said the outlook for the rest of the year was difficult. Net profit dropped to US$700 million in the third quarter, from US$1.4 billion a year earlier, but sales increased 22.6 percent to US$24.2 billion from US$19.7 billion.
AUTOMAKERS
BMW records strong sales
BMW, a leading maker of top-of-the-range cars, said yesterday that strong sales enabled it to lift profits in the third quarter of this year. The company said in a statement that its bottom-line net profit rose by 23.8 percent to 1.082 billion euros (US$1.5 billion) on a 3.8 percent increase in sales to 16.547 billion euros. In terms of vehicles sold, the firm said its unit sales increased by 9 percent to 399,218 in the period from July to September. Sales of the BMW brand were up 8.2 percent, Mini sales grew by 13.4 percent and Rolls-Royce sales were up by 12 percent.
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
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
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
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure
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