RUSSIA
Growth forecast downgraded
Russia’s economy minister warned yesterday that officials will probably have to downgrade this year’s growth forecast for the second time in months because of a poor first-half performance. The Federal State Statistics Service reported on Aug. 9 that Russia’s economy expanded by just 1.4 percent of gross domestic product compared to the first six months of last year. The result fell far short of President Vladimir Putin’s promise of 5 percent growth for the year and the government’s own downwardly revised forecast of 2.4 percent.
MEXICO
Growth down 3.1 percent
The Mexican government has lowered its forecast for the nation’s economic growth this year to 1.8 percent. That is down from the 3.1 percent gain it predicted earlier this year. The National Statistics Institute says the country’s GDP expanded only 1.5 percent in the second quarter of the year, compared with the same quarter of last year. Compared to the first quarter, GDP actually contracted 0.74 percent in the April-June period. Growth for the first half of this year averaged 1 percent, due to weakness in the mining and construction sectors.
SPAIN
Bank to lay off 2,500 staff
Nationalized Spanish lender Catalunya Banc plans to lay off nearly 2,500 workers under a eurozone bailout deal for Spain’s banks, a union source said on Tuesday. A union representative in the company said the bank had drawn up a restructuring plan under which 2,453 of its 7,200 workers will be laid off and 450 of its 1,200 branches shut down. Catalunya Banc was formed in 2010 from the fusion of three savings banks in the Catalonia region.
ALCOHOL
Heineken earnings fall 17%
Heineken NV says first-half earnings fell 17 percent because of bad weather, weak “consumer sentiment” in Europe and the US, and slowing growth in developing countries. Net profit at the world’s third-largest brewer was 639 million euros (US$858 million), from 766 million euros a year ago. Revenues rose 3 percent to 10.4 billion euros, but that was due to Heineken’s takeover of Asian Pacific Breweries, the maker of Tiger beer. Chief executive Jean Francois van Boxmeer said yesterday the outlook for the second half is similar. The company plans to keep cutting costs.
TELECOMS
China Telecom profits grew
State-owned China Telecom (中國電信) says profits grew in the first half of the year as revenue from iPhone sales kicked in. China’s third-biggest mobile operator by subscribers said yesterday that profit rose 16 percent to 10.2 billion yuan (US$1.7 billion) in the January-June period. Revenue rose 14 percent to 157.5 billion yuan. The company is the second Chinese phone company to offer Apple’s popular iPhone.
RETAIL
Barnes & Noble posts loss
US bookseller Barnes & Noble on Tuesday reported a net loss of US$87 million in the quarter to July 27, while its founder announced the withdrawal of an offer to buy the retail arm of the struggling company. Revenues fell both in the retail book division and the Nook digital unit, which produces tablet computers and e-readers. In its quarterly earnings statement, the firm said chairman Leonard Riggio advised the board of directors that he has “suspended his efforts to make an offer for the company’s retail business.”
ADVANCED: Previously, Taiwanese chip companies were restricted from building overseas fabs with technology less than two generations behind domestic factories Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), a major chip supplier to Nvidia Corp, would no longer be restricted from investing in next-generation 2-nanometer chip production in the US, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. However, the ministry added that the world’s biggest contract chipmaker would not be making any reckless decisions, given the weight of its up to US$30 billion investment. To safeguard Taiwan’s chip technology advantages, the government has barred local chipmakers from making chips using more advanced technologies at their overseas factories, in China particularly. Chipmakers were previously only allowed to produce chips using less advanced technologies, specifically
The New Taiwan dollar is on the verge of overtaking the yuan as Asia’s best carry-trade target given its lower risk of interest-rate and currency volatility. A strategy of borrowing the New Taiwan dollar to invest in higher-yielding alternatives has generated the second-highest return over the past month among Asian currencies behind the yuan, based on the Sharpe ratio that measures risk-adjusted relative returns. The New Taiwan dollar may soon replace its Chinese peer as the region’s favored carry trade tool, analysts say, citing Beijing’s efforts to support the yuan that can create wild swings in borrowing costs. In contrast,
VERTICAL INTEGRATION: The US fabless company’s acquisition of the data center manufacturer would not affect market competition, the Fair Trade Commission said The Fair Trade Commission has approved Advanced Micro Devices Inc’s (AMD) bid to fully acquire ZT International Group Inc for US$4.9 billion, saying it would not hamper market competition. As AMD is a fabless company that designs central processing units (CPUs) used in consumer electronics and servers, while ZT is a data center manufacturer, the vertical integration would not affect market competition, the commission said in a statement yesterday. ZT counts hyperscalers such as Microsoft Corp, Amazon.com Inc and Google among its major clients and plays a minor role in deciding the specifications of data centers, given the strong bargaining power of
TARIFF SURGE: The strong performance could be attributed to the growing artificial intelligence device market and mass orders ahead of potential US tariffs, analysts said The combined revenue of companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange and the Taipei Exchange for the whole of last year totaled NT$44.66 trillion (US$1.35 trillion), up 12.8 percent year-on-year and hit a record high, data compiled by investment consulting firm CMoney showed on Saturday. The result came after listed firms reported a 23.92 percent annual increase in combined revenue for last month at NT$4.1 trillion, the second-highest for the month of December on record, and posted a 15.63 percent rise in combined revenue for the December quarter at NT$12.25 billion, the highest quarterly figure ever, the data showed. Analysts attributed the
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