SOUTH KOREA
Economy still weak: official
South Korea’s economic recovery is weak and may need additional government stimulus, new Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said yesterday, adding that growth might not reach the government’s target of 3 percent for this year. Meanwhile, the jobless rate rose to a one-year high last month, state data showed, as more university graduates flooded the market. The seasonally adjusted jobless rate of 3.4 percent was the highest since the 3.7 percent posted in February last year, and was up from 3.2 percent in January.
INTERNET
Google to pay US$7m fine
Google on Tuesday agreed to pay a US$7 million fine in the US for stealthily collecting data from private Wi-Fi hotspots in a mapping service slip that irked an array of countries. In a legal settlement with attorneys general in 38 states, the Internet giant also agreed to ramp up employee training about data privacy and back a nationwide campaign to teach people about securing wireless networks. According to the Electronic Privacy Information Center, at least nine countries have found Google violated local laws.
AIRLINES
Cathay profit plummets 83%
Cathay Pacific yesterday said that net profit last year plunged 83.3 percent, as the Hong Kong flag carrier was hit by persistently high fuel prices and the eurozone financial crisis. The airline said profit stood at HK$916 million (US$118 million), down from the HK$5.5 billion it recorded in 2011. Revenue rose 1 percent to HK$99.4 billion, from HK$98.4 billion in 2011. Cathay said it carried a total of 29 million passengers last year, a 5 percent rise year-on-year, but its premium-class sales were hit as companies cut back on travel for executives.
ELECTRONICS
Sharp rejects copier offer
Samsung Electronics Co, which last week agreed to invest more than US$100 million in Sharp Corp to secure LCDs for phones and televisions, said an offer to buy the Japanese company’s photocopier business was rejected. “We initially showed interest to take over Sharp’s photocopier operation, but Sharp refused the proposal,” Chenny Kim, a spokeswoman for Samsung, said by telephone yesterday, without disclosing a price. Miyuki Nakayama, a spokeswoman for Sharp, confirmed the approach was rejected.
BANKING
China Everbright plans IPO
China Everbright Bank (光大銀行), a mid-sized lender, yesterday said it would relaunch plans to list shares in Hong Kong, after earlier aborted attempts at an overseas stock offer. The Beijing-based bank is looking to raise US$1.5 billion from the planned initial public offering (IPO), its third attempt to list on Hong Kong’s stock exchange, Dow Jones Newswires reported. The bank’s board had approved launching the IPO “at an appropriate time” by issuing up to 12 billion shares, it said in a statement.
ENERGY
Chevron output rise on track
Chevron Corp on Tuesday reaffirmed that it would meet its target for a large increase in oil and natural gas output in 2017. The US oil giant, outlining its medium-term investment strategy to analysts, said it would hit 3.3 million barrels a day of oil-equivalent in 2017, up from 2.6 million barrels a day last year. Chevron also hinted it expects to keep growing output beyond the 2017 timeframe.
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Aramco), the Saudi state-owned oil giant, yesterday posted first-quarter profits of US$26 billion, down 4.6 percent from the prior year as falling global oil prices undermine the kingdom’s multitrillion-dollar development plans. Aramco had revenues of US$108.1 billion over the quarter, the company reported in a filing on Riyadh’s Tadawul stock exchange. The company saw US$107.2 billion in revenues and profits of US$27.2 billion for the same period last year. Saudi Arabia has promised to invest US$600 billion in the US over the course of US President Donald Trump’s second term. Trump, who is set to touch
SKEPTICAL: An economist said it is possible US and Chinese officials would walk away from the meeting saying talks were productive, without reducing tariffs at all US President Donald Trump hailed a “total reset” in US-China trade relations, ahead of a second day of talks yesterday between top officials from Washington and Beijing aimed at de-escalating trade tensions sparked by his aggressive tariff rollout. In a Truth Social post early yesterday, Trump praised the “very good” discussions and deemed them “a total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner.” The second day of closed-door meetings between US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) were due to restart yesterday morning, said a person familiar
RSS