CHIPMAKERS
Micron names new CEO
Micron Technology Inc named Mark Durcan as its chief executive on Saturday, replacing Steve Appleton, who died on Friday after crashing an experimental plane. Durcan, 51, who had been planning to retire in August, was appointed by the board of Boise, Idaho-based Micron after agreeing to fill in temporarily. Robert Switz will become chairman of the board and Mark Adams, head of sales, was named company president, Micron said in a statement. Durcan, who joined Micron in 1984, had been scheduled to hand over his role as chief operating office to Adams in August. Adams joined Micron in 2006 as part of Micron’s acquisition of Lexar Media Inc. They will pick up where Appleton left off, navigating the sole US maker of computer memory through a period of volatile price swings that left Micron unprofitable eight of the past 14 years.
HUNGARY
Official outlines bailout path
Budapest must improve its investment environment and slow legislative changes to obtain an international bailout, Mihaly Varga, chief of staff to Prime Minister Viktor Orban, told Magyar Hirlap in an interview. Budapest is seeking an aid package from the IMF and EU of about 15 billion euros (US$20 billion) to 20 billion euros, Varga said. The “outlines” of a deal might be done in one or two months as it is in the interest of both sides to come to an agreement quickly, Varga told the newspaper. The IMF had several suggestions which the government “must take seriously,” including on the country’s investment environment, Varga said, adding that speed of changes initiated by the Cabinet had been difficult to follow for some investors.
PHILIPPINES
Deficit comes in under cap
Manilas’ budget deficit for last year will be about 192 billion pesos (US$4.5 billion), or 2 percent of GDP, against a ceiling of 300 billion pesos, according to Budget Secretary Butch Abad. The deficit will be capped at 2.6 percent of GDP this year, Abad said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. The revenue target for this year is 1.5 trillion pesos, against planned spending of 1.8 trillion pesos, Abad said. Overseas remittances are “projected to spike” 6 percent to 7 percent a year, and the business process outsourcing industry might grow 20 percent this year, he said. Inflation will be within a 3 percent to 5 percent target, Abad said.
BANKING
South Korean profits fall
Profits at South Korean branches of foreign banks fell 16 percent last year as income from interest and securities trading fell, the country’s financial watchdog said. Combined net income of the 38 branches of overseas lenders totaled 1.23 trillion won (US$1.1 billion), the South Korean Financial Supervisory Service said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. Five of the outlets posted losses, while combined profit at 16 investment banks declined 30 percent from a year earlier, according to the report, which did not identify the companies. Profits at six banks from the Americas declined 30 percent, while net income at 15 European banks slid 33 percent, the watchdog said. In contrast, 15 Asian lenders boosted their profit by 6.6 percent, while earnings at two Australian banks also rose. The regulator said it would increase monitoring of any strategic changes by the banks, as well as the effect of the branches’ operations on the local market.
CHIP WAR: Tariffs on Taiwanese chips would prompt companies to move their factories, but not necessarily to the US, unleashing a ‘global cross-sector tariff war’ US President Donald Trump would “shoot himself in the foot” if he follows through on his recent pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese and other foreign semiconductors entering the US, analysts said. Trump’s plans to raise tariffs on chips manufactured in Taiwan to as high as 100 percent would backfire, macroeconomist Henry Wu (吳嘉隆) said. He would “shoot himself in the foot,” Wu said on Saturday, as such economic measures would lead Taiwanese chip suppliers to pass on additional costs to their US clients and consumers, and ultimately cause another wave of inflation. Trump has claimed that Taiwan took up to
SUPPORT: The government said it would help firms deal with supply disruptions, after Trump signed orders imposing tariffs of 25 percent on imports from Canada and Mexico The government pledged to help companies with operations in Mexico, such as iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), shift production lines and investment if needed to deal with higher US tariffs. The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday announced measures to help local firms cope with the US tariff increases on Canada, Mexico, China and other potential areas. The ministry said that it would establish an investment and trade service center in the US to help Taiwanese firms assess the investment environment in different US states, plan supply chain relocation strategies and
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is reportedly making another pass at Nissan Motor Co, as the Japanese automaker's tie-up with Honda Motor Co falls apart. Nissan shares rose as much as 6 percent after Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) instructed former Nissan executive Jun Seki to connect with French carmaker Renault SA, which holds about 36 percent of Nissan’s stock. Hon Hai, the Taiwanese iPhone-maker also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), was exploring an investment or buyout of Nissan last year, but backed off in December after the Japanese carmaker penned a deal
WASHINGTON POLICY: Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs are tipped to hit shipments of small parcels, cutting export growth by 1.3 percentage points The decision by US President Donald Trump to ban Chinese companies from using a US tariff loophole would hit tens of billions of dollars of trade and reduce China’s economic growth this year, according to new estimates by economists at Nomura Holdings Inc. According to Nomura’s estimates, last year companies such as Shein (希音) and PDD Holdings Inc’s (拼多多控股) Temu shipped US$46 billion of small parcels to the US to take advantage of the rule that allows items with a declared value under US$800 to enter the US tariff-free. Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs would slash such