JAPAN
Economic assessment raised
The government raised its assessment of the economy for the first time in nine months as the recovery from last year’s earthquake and tsunami disaster gains momentum. The Cabinet Office said in a report yesterday that reconstruction, rising consumer spending and exports were lifting its economy to a moderate recovery. It warned about uncertainties in the global economy, such as slowing growth in China and weak recoveries in Europe and the US. The report said corporate spending plunged after the earthquake last year, but the slide was now ending.
FINANCE
Banks must raise US$566bn
Fitch Ratings said on Thursday that the world’s 29 biggest banks together might have to raise US$566 billion by the end of 2018 to meet new international requirements for holding cushions against risk. In the report, Fitch said that having to raise that much capital could crimp the banks’ ability to increase dividends or buy back their own shares. The so-called Basel III rules for banks to increase capital reserves are designed to prevent another global financial crisis. The 29 banks, in 12 countries, were designated “global systemically important financial institutions” in November last year by the Financial Stability Board, an international regulators’ group. That means they are deemed so big and connected to other firms that a failure of one could bring down the financial system. They have a total US$47 trillion in assets, according to Fitch.
PHARMACEUTICALS
GSK persists with HGS bid
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) said it was persisting with its hostile bid to take over US company Human Genome Sciences (HGS) despite the target’s new “poison pill” defense. In a statement issued after the market closed on Thursday, GSK said it believed its US$13 per share offer represents full value for HGS, its partner in developing new drug treatments. Rockville, Maryland-based HGS on Thursday announced its defensive move, which will dilute holdings if anyone attempts to acquire 15 percent or more of its stock without board approval. GSK’s offer closes on June 7.
FINANCE
LSE annual profits surge
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) said yesterday that annual net profits surged, as the group was boosted by rising revenues and a string of acquisitions, despite the uncertain economic backdrop. Earnings after taxation rocketed to ￡522 million (US$823 million) in the group’s financial year to the end of March, compared with ￡151.6 million last time around, the LSE said in a results statement. Total revenues climbed 10 percent to ￡679.89 million, added the group, which operates the London Stock Exchange and Italy’s Borsa Italiana. It also hiked the annual shareholder dividend by 6 percent to ￡0.283 per share.
RETAIL
Wal-Mart beats expectations
Wal-Mart Stores Inc’s profit and sales surpassed expectations as more people shopped at its US stores and spent more, pushing shares up more than 4 percent despite probes into possible bribery. The first-quarter results, including a 10.1 percent increase in profit, showed that Wal-Mart’s US recovery was on track and efforts were progressing to cut costs and lower prices in markets such as China. Wal-Mart earned US$3.74 billion, or US$1.09 per share, up from US$3.40 billion or US$0.97 a share a year ago. Sales rose 8.6 percent to US$112.27 billion, ahead of analysts’ forecast of US$110.54 billion.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
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