INDONESIA
Growth on the wane
Growth slipped below 6 percent last quarter as exports and investment fell in Southeast Asia’s top economy due to global weakness, official data showed yesterday. GDP was 5.81 percent in the three months to the end of June year-on-year, below economists’ expectations, according to data from the Central Statistics Agency. This compared to 6.02 percent in the January to March quarter. The country’s trade deficit widened to US$850 million in June from US$590 million in May due to weak demand for exports, data showed this week.
BRAZIL
Imports boost trade gap
The nation posted a US$4.98 billion trade deficit in the first seven months of the year, due to record imports, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said on Thursday. Imports rose 10 percent compared with the same period last year to US$140 billion, while exports fell 1.5 percent to US$135.2 billion during the period. Last month alone, the country recorded a deficit of US$1.89 billion, with exports slumping 5.2 percent and imports surging 19.7 percent compared with the same month of last year.
UNITED STATES
Manufacturing on the up
Factories revved up production, hired more workers and received a surge of new orders last month, helping them expand at the fastest pace in two years. The gains suggest manufacturing may be rebounding and could provide a spark to economic growth. The Institute for Supply Management said on Thursday that its index of factory activity jumped to 55.4 in July, up from 50.9 in June. A reading above 50 indicates growth. The institute is a trade group of purchasing managers. A gauge of production soared 11.6 points to 65, the highest reading since May 2004, while a measure of hiring at factories rose to its best level in a year.
UNITED STATES
Auto sales best since 2006
Auto sales across the nation continued to accelerate, posting the best performance for July since 2006 on Thursday as consumers flocked to dealerships to replace ageing vehicles with new models at low interest rates. Total industry sales rose 14 percent from results in the same period last year, according to Autodata. The sales came in at an adjusted, annualized rate of 15.7 million units, down slightly from the 16 million posted in June but up sharply from the 14.1 million set a year ago.
AUTOMAKERS
Toyota enjoys profit surge
Toyota Motor Corp said yesterday net profit soared 93.6 percent in the three months to June, adding that it is on track to produce more than 10 million vehicles worldwide this year. The world’s biggest automaker earned ￥562.19 billion (US$5.64 billion) in the quarter on sales of ￥6.25 trillion, which were up 13.7 percent from a year earlier. Toyota credited a sharp decline in the yen among the factors for its improved results. The company added that it expects a net profit of ￥1.48 trillion for the fiscal year to March on sales of ￥24 trillion.
INTERNET
LinkedIn income up 33%
LinkedIn’s second-quarter net income rose 33 percent as the online professional networking service’s membership growth accelerated, the company said on Thursday. The Mountain View, California-based company earned US$3.7 million, or US$0.03 per share, during the quarter, from US$2.8 million, or US$0.03 per share, last year.
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has approved a capital budget of US$31.28 billion for production expansion to meet long-term development needs during the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The company’s board meeting yesterday approved the capital appropriation plan for purposes such as the installation of advanced technology capacity and fab construction, the world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement. At an earnings conference last month, TSMC forecast that its capital expenditure for this year would be at the higher end of the US$52 billion to US$56 billion range it forecast in January in response to robust demand for 5G, AI and
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) investment project in Arizona has progressed better than expected, but it still faces challenges such as water and labor shortages, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Yeh Chun-hsien (葉俊顯) said yesterday. Speaking with reporters after visiting TSMC’s Arizona hub and attending the SelectUSA Investment Summit in Maryland last week, Yeh said TSMC’s Arizona site turned a profit of NT$16.14 billion (US$514 million) last year in its first full year of mass production. “TSMC told me it was surprised by the smooth trial run of the first fab, which has left the company optimistic about the project’s outlook,”
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