JAPAN
New ADB head nominated
The government has nominated Takehiko Nakao, deputy finance minister for international affairs, to become president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The Finance Ministry proposed that Nakao succeed current ADB president Haruhiko Kuroda, who has been nominated to become the next central bank governor and resigned as ADB president effective March 18. The government nominates the president of the Manila, Philippines-based regional lender due to its status as the ADB’s biggest donor. Kuroda’s planned departure has raised speculation that China might seek a chance to lead the bank.
AUTOMAKERS
GM to hire 1,000 workers
General Motors (GM) announced plans on Wednesday to hire 1,000 high-tech workers to staff a new IT innovation center in suburban Phoenix, Arizona. The largest US automaker said it expects to hire more than 4,000 new information technology workers over the next three to five years to staff centers in Arizona, Texas, Georgia and Michigan. More than 1,000 people have already been hired to staff the other three centers.
AUTOMAKERS
Continental reports profit
Continental, the German maker of automotive parts and tyres, said it achieved record results last year and expects its success to continue this year. “In 2012, Continental set new records in a market environment that was difficult in part,” the group said in a statement. “This success is set to continue in 2013.” Last year, net profit zoomed ahead by 51.6 percent to 1.884 billion euros (US$ 2.451 billion) and underlying or operating profit was up 18.3 percent at 3.073 billion euros on a 7.3 percent increase in sales to 32.736 billion euros.
INSURANCE
Aviva earnings slump
British insurer Aviva yesterday said it slumped into a net loss of ￡3 billion (US$4.5 billion) last year, mainly owing to a massive writedown following the sale of its US business. Aviva said last year’s earnings after tax compared with a net profit of 60 million pounds in 2011. Meanwhile, Aviva reported underlying operating profit — an indicator of its day-to-day business — of ￡1.78 billion, the company said in an earnings statement.
RETAIL
Carrefour profits triple
French big box retailer Carrefour’s pullout of struggling underperforming markets and asset sales more than tripled its profits last year to 1.2 billion euros, up from 371 million euros in 2011, the company reported yesterday. The huge jump in profit hides a more modest rise of 0.9 percent in revenue to 76.8 billion euros, excluding sales tax. Last year, Carrefour closed its stores in Singapore and either pulled out of or handed over its operations to partners in Greece, Colombia, Malaysia and Indonesia.
APPAREL
Adidas’ net profit declines
German sportswear and equipment maker Adidas said yesterday that one-off writedowns hit its bottom line last year, but underlying profits increased due to higher sales. Adidas said in a statement its year-end net profit declined by 14.2 percent to 526 million euros last year. However, the group said the figure included goodwill writedowns of 265 million euros largely related to “adjusted growth assumptions for the Reebok brand, especially in North America, Latin America and Brazil.” Excluding these, net profit grew by 29 percent to 791 million euros, Adidas said.
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
Hong Kong authorities ramped up sales of the local dollar as the greenback’s slide threatened the foreign-exchange peg. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) sold a record HK$60.5 billion (US$7.8 billion) of the city’s currency, according to an alert sent on its Bloomberg page yesterday in Asia, after it tested the upper end of its trading band. That added to the HK$56.1 billion of sales versus the greenback since Friday. The rapid intervention signals efforts from the city’s authorities to limit the local currency’s moves within its HK$7.75 to HK$7.85 per US dollar trading band. Heavy sales of the local dollar by
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
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
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