SOUTH KOREA
Output up, key exports down
The country’s industrial output last month edged up from a month earlier, but falling production of key export items signalled overall weakness, government data showed yesterday. Output in manufacturing remained unchanged from the previous month, with falls in key export items such as semiconductors and autos offset by growth in machinery equipment. “As industrial output and domestic demand remain sluggish, exports are also running out of steam,” Minister of Finance Choi Kyung-hwan said yesterday.
INDIA
Bad loans hit three-year high
Soured loans in the country’s banking system are at a three-year high, global credit rating agency Moody’s said on Wednesday, as it warned that a muted economic recovery means the sector’s outlook could stay bleak. “High leverage in the corporate sector could prevent any meaningful recovery in [loan] asset quality,” even with “a moderate rebound in economic growth,” Moody’s said in a report. The economy may grow 5 percent in the financial year through March next year, Moody’s said, while retaining its negative outlook on the banking sector.
BRAZIL
Key interest rate hiked
The central bank on Wednesday raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 11.25 percent — the first hike since April — in the wake of President Dilma Rousseff’s re-election. Analysts had predicted the bank would leave the main Selic rate on hold at 11 percent. However, with the country fighting inflationary pressures, the rates committee elected to send out a signal given what it termed a “less favorable risk balance for inflation.
AUTOMAKERS
Fiat to spin off Ferrari
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles on Wednesday announced it will spin off sports car maker Ferrari into a separate company, a move to unlock the luxury brand’s value and distinguish it from its mass-market parent. The spinoff aims to raise money to support the newly merged carmaker’s plans to invest 48 billion euros (US$61 billion) over five years to compete with global giants Toyota and Volkswagen. Shares in Fiat Chrysler soared on the news.
TAXATION
Nations sign data agreement
Fifty-one countries have signed an agreement to share financial data and boost efforts to crack down on tax evasion. The standard agreed upon in Berlin on Wednesday was developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in consultation with the world’s top 20 economies. The countries that signed include most EU nations, as well as traditional tax havens like Liechtenstein, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands. They will begin automatically exchanging data collected by financial institutions as early as 2017, the OECD said. The US has not signed, but says it will share information as part of bilateral deals.
BANKING
Barclays preps for probes
British bank Barclays yesterday set aside ￡500 million (US$800 million) linked to probes into price-rigging allegations in foreign exchange markets, and posted slumping third-quarter net profits. “A ￡500 million provision has been recognized relating to ongoing investigations into foreign exchange with certain regulatory authorities,” Barclays said in a results statement, adding the net profits sank 25 percent to ￡379 million in the third quarter from a year earlier.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
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