EUROPEAN UNION
Solar panel tariffs mulled
The EU executive yesterday proposed heavy anti-dumping tariffs of about 47 percent on imports of Chinese solar panels, a EU source said. The source said “the consultation process has been launched” to see whether EU nations are in agreement with the proposal. A decision is expected to be announced on June 5. The EU ProSun industry association has been pressing the EU to take action against Chinese imports, which it says are sold below cost and given unfair subsidies.
NEW ZEALAND
Housing boom a threat
A housing boom in the country’s largest cities threatens to destabilize the country’s financial system, the central bank warned yesterday. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand said low interest rates and improving sentiment in global financial markets had resulted in a rise in household credit over the past six months, fueling the property market. It said the problem was worst in New Zealand’s biggest city, Auckland, where house prices are near record levels.
PORTUGAL
Ten-year bonds sold
The country sold 10-year bonds on Tuesday for the first time since it needed a bailout in 2011, raising 3 billion euros (US$3.9 billion) on international markets. The Treasury said the bonds were sold at a rate of 5.669 percent on Tuesday. Foreign investors bought 86 percent of the bonds, and demand was so strong that Portugal could have sold 10 billion euros’ worth, Treasury Secretary Maria Luis Albuquerque said.
AUTOMAKERS
GM China factory approved
General Motors (GM) says its Chinese joint venture has received government approval to build a Cadillac factory as the company tries to boost sales of its luxury brand. GM said yesterday that plans call for the factory in Shanghai to begin production in 2015 with an annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles. The company said total investment should be at least 8 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion).
FINANCE
Changes to JPMorgan urged
A leading shareholder advisory group on Tuesday urged JPMorgan Chase investors to end chief executive Jamie Dimon’s tenure as chairman and fire a majority of the company’s board after a US$6.2 billion trading loss. Glass Lewis became the second major proxy adviser in recent days to endorse splitting the chairman and chief executive roles at JPMorgan in the wake of the bank’s “London whale” derivatives debacle.
FINANCE
ING Groep NV earnings up
Dutch financial company ING Groep NV reported yesterday that its first-quarter earnings rose as it sold businesses and improved profit margins at its banking arm. Its insurance arm reported a loss. Net profit was 1.80 billion euros, compared with 728 million euros in the same period a year ago. This quarter’s figure includes 940 million euros in net gains on divestments, mostly from the sale of its life insurance business in Asia.
ENTERTAINMENT
Disney income up 32%
Revenue gains at Disney’s parks and movie studio led to a 32 percent increase in net income during the January-March quarter. The results, which topped analyst expectations on Tuesday, showed that the company’s record-setting investments in a new cruise ship and multiple theme park upgrades last year are starting to pay off. Net income grew to US$1.51 billion, or US$0.83 per share. Revenue grew 10 percent to US$10.55 billion.
KEEPING UP: The acquisition of a cleanroom in Taiwan would enable Micron to increase production in a market where demand continues to outpace supply, a Micron official said Micron Technology Inc has signed a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion to expand its production of memory chips. Micron would take control of the P5 site in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼) and plans to ramp up DRAM production in phases after the transaction closes in the second quarter, the company said in a statement on Saturday. The acquisition includes an existing 12 inch fab cleanroom of 27,871m2 and would further position Micron to address growing global demand for memory solutions, the company said. Micron expects the transaction to
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
US actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Several video clips and audio recordings were registered by the commercial arm of the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, a non-profit created by the Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Camila, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. Several US states have adopted
A proposed billionaires’ tax in California has ignited a political uproar in Silicon Valley, with tech titans threatening to leave the state while California Governor Gavin Newsom of the Democratic Party maneuvers to defeat a levy that he fears would lead to an exodus of wealth. A technology mecca, California has more billionaires than any other US state — a few hundred, by some estimates. About half its personal income tax revenue, a financial backbone in the nearly US$350 billion budget, comes from the top 1 percent of earners. A large healthcare union is attempting to place a proposal before
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