PHILIPPINES
Economy grows 7.8% in Q1
The economy has expanded 7.8 percent in the first quarter, the fastest pace in years led by growth in services and industry. The National Statistical Coordination Board yesterday said the quarterly growth is the highest since President Benigno Aquino III took office in 2010. It is also the third consecutive quarter that the GDP grew more than 7 percent. The fourth-quarter last year growth was revised from 6.8 percent to 7.1 percent. Last year, the economy grew 6.8 percent.
SOUTH KOREA
Industrial output up 0.8%
Industrial output rose last month for the first time in four months, with production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries rising 0.8 percent from March, Statistics Korea said yesterday. Last month’s figure was up 1.7 percent from a year earlier. Manufacturing production also rose 0.7 percent from a month earlier, the agency said.
ECONOMY
Brazil hikes rates
Brazil’s central bank hiked the benchmark interest rate by 0.50 points to 8 percent on Wednesday, after it pushed the rate up by 0.25 points to 7.5 percent last month, the first increase since July 2011. The bank’s monetary policy panel said that the increase should rein in inflation “and help keep that trend on course into next year.”
GAMBLING
Judge backs Suen’s win
A Nevada judge affirmed a US$70 million verdict against Las Vegas Sands Corp on Tuesday and tacked on another US$31.6 million in interest. Earlier this month, a jury found against the casino company and in favor of Hong Kong businessman Richard Suen (孫志達). The jury agreed Suen should be compensated for helping Sands earn a Macau gambling license in 2002. The interest of 5.25 percent, or US$8,400 per day, was calculated from the date Suen filed his suit in 2004.
TELECOM
Sprint deal passes security
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the US has approved Japanese telecom giant Softbank’s planned US$20 billion takeover of Sprint, the third-largest US mobile carrier, the companies said on Wednesday. The committee completed the investigation with “no unresolved national security issues relating to the transaction,” the companies said in a statement. The deal still awaits Sprint Nextel Corp shareholder approval and clearance from the US Federal Communications Commission.
ENERGY
NV Energy bought
Berkshire Hathaway unit MidAmerican Energy will buy NV Energy for US$5.6 billion, the companies announced on Wednesday, as investor Warren Buffett eyes Nevada’s abundant renewable energy resources. Under the deal, announced after the market close, MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company will purchase all outstanding shares of NV Energy for US$23.75 per share in cash, a 23.1 percent premium over the Las Vegas-based firm’s closing price on Wednesday.
BANKING
Citigroup settles lawsuit
Citigroup has settled a lawsuit by the US Federal Housing Finance Agency over the sale of mortgage-backed securities to government-backed lenders, a court document showed on Wednesday. According to the New York court filing, Judge Denise Cote said that both sides had reached an agreement that ends the lawsuit. Settlement terms were not disclosed.
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
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
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
Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer specializing in server chips, expects revenue to decline this year due to sagging demand for 5-nanometer artificial intelligence (AI) chips from a North America-based major customer, a company executive said yesterday. That would be the first contraction in revenue for Alchip as it has been enjoying strong revenue growth over the past few years, benefiting from cloud-service providers’ moves to reduce dependence on Nvidia Corp’s expensive AI chips by building their own AI accelerator by outsourcing chip design. The 5-nanometer chip was supposed to be a new growth engine as the lifecycle
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