CHEMICALS
DuPont cutting 1,500 jobs
The DuPont Co said on Tuesday that it would cut about 1,500 jobs and take other steps to increase its competitiveness, after weak demand for a key industrial pigment and uncertainty in the solar panel market led to a sharp drop in third-quarter earnings. The chemical company, based in Wilmington, Deleware, reported net income of US$10 million, or US$0.01 per share, compared with US$452 million, or US$0.48 per share, for the same period last year. Revenue from continuing operations totaled about US$7.4 billion, down 9 percent from US$8.1 billion.
CHEMICALS
Dow dropping 2,400 jobs
Dow Chemical said on Tuesday it planned to cut 5 percent of its global workforce, or 2,400 people, and shut 20 plants in an effort to slash costs as the global economy slows. The company will also cut capital investment on programs it no longer sees as priorities, for another US$50 million in savings, it said. The shuttered facilities will include plants in Tessenderlo, Belgium; Delfzijl, the Netherlands; Ribaforada, Spain; Birch Vale, UK; Kina Ura, Japan; and in the US, in Midland, Michigan, and Solon, Ohio.
SOFTWARE
SAP’s Q3 profit down 51%
Business software maker SAP AG saw its third-quarter profit fall from a year ago because of a large one-time gain booked then. Net profit came in at 618 million euros (US$802.59 million), down 51 percent from 1.25 billion euros a year ago. Revenue grew 16 percent to 3.95 billion euros, while operating earnings — which exclude the court decision — rose 10 percent. However, the Walldorf, Germany-based company said its business was developing strongly, with increased sales in North America and China outweighing flat revenue in Europe.
BREWING
Heineken misses estimates
Heineken NV, the world’s third-biggest brewer, reported sales growth that missed estimates as sales fell in Western Europe. Revenue increased 4 percent in the third quarter, the company said yesterday in a statement, compared with the first half’s 4.5 percent growth and the 5 percent median estimate of nine analysts compiled by Bloomberg. The consolidated volume of beer sold rose 2.2 percent, compared with the median estimate of 3.2 percent. Both figures were reported on an organic basis, which excludes the effects of acquisitions and disposals.
ELECTRONICS
LG reports quarterly profit
South Korean consumer electronics maker LG Electronics Inc reported a third straight quarterly profit yesterday as it sold more smartphones designed for faster wireless networks. LG Electronics said its net profit totaled 157 billion won (US$142 million) for the three months ending Sept. 30, compared with a 414 billion won loss a year earlier. Sales fell 4 percent to 12.4 trillion won as LG sold fewer low-end cellphones and the weak economy pressured demand for TVs. The result sent its shares up 2 percent in Seoul.
BANKING
UBS mulling job cuts
The Wall Street Journal says the Swiss bank UBS is preparing to cut about 400 jobs. The Journal reports that the cuts will come in the investment banking division of UBS. The paper says the bank could shed thousands of additional jobs later. The paper says the bank could begin notifying employees of the cuts yesterday. It quotes people involved in the process. The bank declined to comment.
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
A start-up in Mexico is trying to help get a handle on one coastal city’s plastic waste problem by converting it into gasoline, diesel and other fuels. With less than 10 percent of the world’s plastics being recycled, Petgas’ idea is that rather than letting discarded plastic become waste, it can become productive again as fuel. Petgas developed a machine in the port city of Boca del Rio that uses pyrolysis, a thermodynamic process that heats plastics in the absence of oxygen, breaking it down to produce gasoline, diesel, kerosene, paraffin and coke. Petgas chief technology officer Carlos Parraguirre Diaz said that in
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
Japan intends to closely monitor the impact on its currency of US President Donald Trump’s new tariffs and is worried about the international fallout from the trade imposts, Japanese Minister of Finance Katsunobu Kato said. “We need to carefully see how the exchange rate and other factors will be affected and what form US monetary policy will take in the future,” Kato said yesterday in an interview with Fuji Television. Japan is very concerned about how the tariffs might impact the global economy, he added. Kato spoke as nations and firms brace for potential repercussions after Trump unleashed the first salvo of