ELECTRONICS
Philips warns of weak profit
Royal Philips Electronics NV yesterday warned that its fourth-quarter profits were worse than expected owing to a weak European market, making it harder to charge consumers as much as it wanted for light bulbs. Philips, the world’s largest lighting maker, is scheduled to report full earnings on Jan. 30. The company did not release profit or loss figures, but said free cash flow would be 1 billion euros (US$1.28 billion) versus 1.2 billion euros a year ago. Sales grew by a “mid single digit” amount, the company said.
RETAIL
Food lifts M&S’ sales
British retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) yesterday said sales at its stores rose 0.5 percent in the final three months of last year, helped by a better-than-expected performance at its food unit. The group’s overall sales in Britain grew 0.5 percent in the 13 weeks to Dec. 31 compared with a year earlier, M&S said in a trading update published as much of Britain’s retail sector struggles to overcome a weak economic climate. Food sales rose 3 percent, above analyst expectations for a gain of 1.5 percent, according to Dow Jones Newswires. Sales of general merchandise, including clothing, dropped 1.8 percent in the period.
COMPENSATION
Cook likely topped pay list
Tim Cook could well end up being the highest-paid CEO in the US last year, after Apple Inc granted him 1 million restricted stock units in August for taking the reins shortly before co-founder Steve Jobs died. An Associated Press review of a securities filing shows Cook’s pay package was valued at US$378 million. The vast majority came in a grant of 1 million restricted stock units worth US$376 million at the time. Half of the stock units will vest in August 2016, the other half in August 2021. In comparison, Jobs accepted a US$1 annual salary for years and owned about 5.5 million shares, worth about US$2.3 billion today.
ENGINEERING
Siemens warns on earnings
German engineer Siemens said it would struggle to reach its full-year targets because the volatile global economy was forcing its clients to cut spending, German news Web site the Wall Street Journal Deutschland reported. Chief financial officer Joe Kaeser yesterday said it would require “tough work” to meet the company’s outlook, adding “our guidance is very ambitious.” Siemens has said it sees profit from continuing operations for its 2011/2012 year to September flat at 7.01 billion euros, excluding a 1 billion euro positive effect related to the exit from a nuclear power joint venture with French group Areva.
FRANCE
Economy flat in final quarter
The French economy was flat in the last three months of last year, the Bank of France said yesterday, confirming an earlier estimate amid concerns the eurozone debt crisis could spark a recession. The central bank said there was no growth between the third and fourth quarters of last year, an outcome which should allow the government to come very close to meeting its full-year target for a 1.5 percent expansion. Third-quarter growth came in at 0.3 percent, the national statistics institute INSEE said last month. On the basis of the third-quarter performance, the French economy should grow 1.7 percent growth for the year, it said.
Taiwanese firms have increased investment in the Philippines in recent years as Manila’s ties with Washington deepen and global supply chains continue to shift away from China, an expert at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The Philippines had not been among Taiwanese investors’ top choices in Southeast Asia, CIER Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center director Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈) said at a seminar in Taipei. However, Taiwan’s investment in the country has grown significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching US $257 million last year, a high in recent years, she said. Although Taiwan’s total investment in the Philippines still lags
HSBC Holdings PLC is deepening its commitment to Taiwan as the economy emerges as one of the bank’s fastest-growing markets globally, driven by an artificial intelligence (AI) investment boom, expanding cross-border trade, and rising wealth creation. “The advantage that Taiwan has is a growth story linked to the semiconductor and broader AI industries, strong underlying corporate performance, and wealth creation,” said Surendra Rosha, HSBC’s co-chief executive for Asia and the Middle East, in an exclusive interview with the Taipei Times on June 2, during this year’s HSBC Taiwan Conference. That combination has helped HSBC cement its position as the most profitable international
Intel Corp regards Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) as a longstanding partner, as the US chipmaker would continue outsourcing production of advanced chips to TSMC, Intel chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) said yesterday. “I don’t look at people as competitors. I look at the collaboration... Nvidia is also, you know, a good friend,” Tan told a news conference following his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei. “It’s a very trusted partnership for us... We are a big, top customer for them, and we’re going to continue doing that,” he said, referring to TSMC, the world’s largest foundry
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said it would work with US chipmaker Intel Corp to jointly develop and deploy next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and intelligent computing platforms in a move to capture booming demand for AI computing systems. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康), said in a statement that the partnership would combine its global manufacturing scale, system integration expertise and AI data center deployment capabilities with Intel’s strengths in processor architecture, silicon technologies and software ecosystem. The companies said they plan to work on equipment used in AI data centers, including server racks powered by
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