BRAZIL
Central bank cuts rate
The central bank on Wednesday again cut its benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points to 9.75 percent — the sixth rate cut in the past eight months — in an effort to boost the sluggish economy. The bank’s monetary policy committee justified the new cut — which mirrored last month’s cut of 75 basis points — by citing the “limited risk” to further inflation. With inflation now coming under control, the government of President Dilma Rousseff wants to focus on boosting economic growth, which slowed to 2.7 percent last year, from 7.5 percent in 2010.
AUTOMAKERS
Audi to open plant in Mexico
Audi officials say the carmaker will open a new plant in Mexico that should begin production of an SUV model starting in 2016. Officials said in a statement released in Germany on Tuesday that they would decide on a location for the factory later this year. The parent group Volkswagen AG already has an automotive plant in Puebla and an engine plant in Silao, both in central Mexico. Officials did not say how much money they would invest on the plant or how many jobs it would create. Audi AG chairman Rupert Stadler said the company chose Mexico because it was one of the world’s top 10 automotive locations and “offers a blend of tradition and experience.”
AUTOMAKERS
Ford plans Hangzhou plant
Ford Motor Co says it plans to build a US$760 million auto assembly plant in Hangzhou, China. The new factory will double Ford’s production capacity in China as it strives to catch up with its global rivals in the world’s biggest auto market. Ford said yesterday that the plant would add annual capacity of 250,000 vehicles when it begins operations in early 2015. Along with a recently announced new plant in Ford’s main production base in Chongqing, China, Ford will double its current annual capacity to 1.2 million vehicles. The new factory brings Ford’s total investment in China to US$4.9 billion.
BEVERAGES
Coca-Cola, Spotify partner
Spotify and soft drink superstar Coca-Cola on Wednesday announced they will combine the global beverage company’s reach and brand appeal with Spotify’s online music platform. The partnership will include Coca-Cola software applications that tap into the Spotify platform. The first new app will be unveiled for the Olympics in London, Coca-Cola said. Spotify, which was launched in Spotify founder Daniel Ek’s native Sweden in 2008, boasts a library of 15 million tracks and is adding about 20,000 a day. It has more than 10 million active users and 2.5 million paying subscribers.
CREDIT CARDS
Amex usage up 12 percent
American Express (Amex) said on Wednesday that its cardholders charged 12 percent more in the first three months of this year than a year earlier, and past-due accounts stayed at historic lows. The figures helped the company beat Wall Street expectations for quarterly earnings and added to evidence that the well-off are feeling more comfortable about increasing their spending than other income groups. The average American Express household brings in US$97,000 a year, compared with US$71,000 for credit card customers overall, according to industry research. The company said it earned US$1.25 billion, or US$1.07 per share, in the first quarter. Earnings were 7 percent higher than the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue rose 8 percent to US$7.6 billion.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer specializing in server chips, expects revenue to decline this year due to sagging demand for 5-nanometer artificial intelligence (AI) chips from a North America-based major customer, a company executive said yesterday. That would be the first contraction in revenue for Alchip as it has been enjoying strong revenue growth over the past few years, benefiting from cloud-service providers’ moves to reduce dependence on Nvidia Corp’s expensive AI chips by building their own AI accelerator by outsourcing chip design. The 5-nanometer chip was supposed to be a new growth engine as the lifecycle
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