SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook tests payments
Facebook says it plans to test a mobile payments service that lets users make purchases inside mobile applications using payment information they have added to their account on the social network. Facebook is working on a “very small test” and the company says there is no set schedule for making the service available to users. The service would use payment information that shoppers store on Facebook to automatically complete checkout forms of certain mobile apps. Then, the app would process the purchase. Facebook says the company has a “great relationship with PayPal” and the service will not involve moving payment processing “away from an app’s current payments provider, such as PayPal.”
AUTOMAKERS
GM shuts down in Egypt
General Motors Co (GM) has closed its operations in Egypt indefinitely because of violence in the country. The company said on Thursday it closed its plant in the Cairo suburb of 6th October City, where it makes cars, light trucks and minibuses. It also closed its offices in Cairo. GM has around 1,400 workers in Egypt. In 1983, it became the first private automaker to establish operations in the country. GM said in a statement that its chief concern is for the safety and security of its employees.
AVIATION
Korean Air pays US$65m
South Korea’s largest carrier, Korean Air (KAL), said yesterday it had agreed to pay US$65 million to settle a class-action lawsuit by US passengers over alleged price fixing. Korean Air said it would pay US$39 million in cash and US$26 million in coupons to passengers who have accused the airline of conspiring with local rival Asiana Airlines to establish artificially high prices for travel between South Korea and the US group of passengers launched a lawsuit after the US Department of Justice slapped Korean Air with a US$300 million fine and Asiana with US$50 million over anti-trust violations in 2000.
SHIPPING
Moller-Maersk profit dented
Denmark’s shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk says a drop in freight rates and lower oil production dented its second-quarter profit. Net profit in the period fell 13 percent to 4.9 billion kroner (US$856 million) compared with a year earlier, while revenue dropped 9 percent to 81 billion kroner. The world’s largest container shipping company cautioned that this year is “subject to considerable uncertainty, not least due to developments in the global economy.” It expects full-year net profit to be around US$3.3 billion, below last year’s result of US$4 billion. Maersk shares fell 1.4 percent in early trading yesterday in Copenhagen to 44,760 kroner.
RETAIL
Spain’s richest woman dies
The Spanish company that owns the Zara chain of clothing stores says co-founder Rosalia Mera has died. She was 69 and Spain’s richest woman. Inditex SA did not give details in its statement yesterday about how she died. However, Spanish media widely reported that Mera suffered a stroke while on vacation on the Mediterranean island of Menorca and died on Thursday night in a hospital that she was transported to in northwestern Spain. Mera was a seamstress who helped build Inditex from the clothing store she started with her then-husband, Armancio Ortega. Mera held 5.1 percent of Inditex, and her fortune was estimated by Forbes at US$6.1 billion. The magazine says she was the world’s 195th-richest person.
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
PORTFOLIO REBALANCING: The adjustments in three global equity indices reflect rising investor appetite for semiconductor and artificial intelligence-related stocks Taiwan’s weighting in major global equity indices compiled by MSCI Inc is to rise modestly following the latest quarterly review, underscoring the market’s expanding role in emerging-market portfolios, as global investors continue to favor the nation’s technology sector. Taiwan’s weighting in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index is to increase by 0.30 percentage points to 23.76 percent, after the changes take effect at the close of the May 29 session. Its weighting in the MSCI All-Country Asia ex-Japan Index is to rise 0.37 percentage points to 27.16 percent, while that in the MSCI All Country World Index is to edge up slightly to
NEW MARKET: The partnership opens up India to the Dutch company, which already has a strong hold in the semiconductor market of South Korea, Taiwan and China ASML Holding NV entered into a partnership agreement with Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd aimed at ramping up India’s goal to develop domestic chip-manufacturing capabilities. The Dutch company’s technology would help power Tata Electronics’ planned 300 millimeter (mm) semiconductor foundry in Gujarat, according to a joint statement from the two companies on Saturday. The signing of a memorandum of understanding coincides with a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Netherlands, which is looking to deepen bilateral relations with New Delhi. ASML, whose top customers include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co, makes lithography machines that can print
The Hsinchu County Government’s Labor Affairs Department yesterday said that it has received a plan from cosmetics brand Taiwan Shiseido Co (台灣資生堂) detailing mass layoffs at its plant in Hukou Township (湖口). While the labor authorities did not disclose the number of employees to be laid off, Japanese news media earlier in the day reported that the closure of the company’s factory in Hukou would result in 170 employees losing their jobs. Shiseido followed the law by reporting its layoff plan, the department said, adding that authorities would closely monitor negotiations between the management and affected employees and step in if any
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