PHARMACEUTICALS
GSK fined for bribery
A Chinese court yesterday fined British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 3 billion yuan (US$490 million) following a nearly year-long bribery probe, the company said. The fine, levied by the Changsha Intermediate People’s Court after a closed hearing in Hunan Province, was the largest ever handed down by a Chinese court, Xinhua news agency said. Chinese authorities had accused GSK employees of bribing hospitals, doctors and health institutions to gain billions of dollars in illegal revenue. The Changsha court also sentenced British national Mark Reilly, the former head of GSK’s China operations, and an unstated number of other company officials to between two to four years in prison.
MACROECONOMICS
Italy GDP to shrink 0.1%
Italy’s government must overhaul its labor market to kick-start its economy, which is set to shrink for the third year running this year, the IMF said on Thursday. GDP is expected to contract 0.1 percent, the Washington-based fund said in a report, cutting its previous forecast that Italy’s economy would expand by 0.3 percent. Unemployment is set to average a record 12.6 percent, the IMF predicted.
MONETARY
S Africa bank chief quitting
South African Reserve Bank Governor Gill Marcus on Thursday announced that she would not stay in the job after her term expires in November. Marcus, 65, became the bank’s first female governor in late 2009, guiding Africa’s most developed economy out of a recession in the wake of the global economic meltdown. South African President Jacob Zuma’s government said that a replacement would be named “in due course.”
SOFTWARE
SAP to acquire Concur
German business software maker SAP said it would buy travel and expense management software company Concur Technologies for US$129 per share, or about US$7.36 billion. That represents a premium of 19.7 percent to Concur’s closing price on Thursday. SAP values the deal at US$8.3 billion. It said the acquisition should close in the fourth quarter of this year or the first quarter of next year, assuming Concur shareholders approve the sale. SAP says Concur has 25 million users in 150 countries.
AIRLINES
JetBlue to see CEO change
JetBlue Airways Corp CEO Dave Barger is to step down in February and be replaced by the company’s president after months of speculation about leadership at the airline, which is profitable, but has lagged its rivals. Barger has been CEO since 2007. The new CEO, just the third in JetBlue’s 14-year history, will be Robin Hayes, a 48-year-old former British Airways executive who joined JetBlue in 2008. Hayes will take over on Feb. 16, after Barger’s contract expires.
REAL ESTATE
Puerto Rico plans project
Puerto Rico’s government has announced the construction of a US$108 million real-estate development project as the island tries to emerge from a nearly decade-long economic slump with help from US investors. New York real-estate developer Nicholas Prouty said on Thursday that his firm would build 252 apartments as part of the third phase of a mixed-use complex considered the largest in Puerto Rico. His Putnam Bridge Holding LLC will also build 4,645m2 of commercial space.
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
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