ENTERTAINMENT
Music business growth flat
The US retail music business was essentially flat last year, as growth in streaming revenue helped offset further decline in sales of CDs, a report from the Recording Industry Association of America said on Wednesday. Overall, retail revenue declined by about 0.5 percent to US$6.97 billion. Meanwhile, wholesale revenue for the recorded music industry grew by 2 percent to US$4.86 billion, the association said. Of the revenue mix, permanent downloads made up 37 percent of the total market, down from 40 percent in 2013. Streaming revenue was 27 percent of the total, up from 21 percent a year earlier, while physical shipment revenue was 32 percent of the total, down from 35 percent, it said.
FOOD & BEVERAGE
Charoen plans expansion
Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL, Thailand’s largest meat and animal feed producer, plans to spend 20 billion baht to 25 billion baht (US$611 million to US$763 million) this year, mostly on the expansion of its international operations and overseas acquisitions. Charoen Pokphand will keep its annual investment budget at that level over the next five years, aiming to meet a sales growth target of 10 percent a year, chief executive Adirek Sripratak said yesterday. The company also plans to spin off the non-core assets of its Hong Kong-listed CP Pokphand, and put the new entity on the Hong Kong stock exchange sometime in the middle of the year, Adirek said.
OIL
ConocoPhillips to cut jobs
American oil firm ConocoPhillips Co on Wednesday announced the slashing of about 200 jobs in Canada, or 7 percent of its staff in that country, in response to plunging oil prices. This follows hundreds of job cuts announced recently by others with mines in the Alberta oil sands, including China National Offshore Oil Corp (中國海洋石油) subsidiary Nexen Inc, Suncor Energy Inc and Royal Dutch Shell PLC in response to falling oil prices. According to government statistics, 20,000 jobs have been shed in Canada’s oil sands since September last year.
FASHION
Jimmy Choo earnings up
Luxury shoemaker Jimmy Choo reported a 7.2 percent rise in annual earnings and said it would continue to grow by expanding its store portfolio in China. Adjusted core earnings reached ￡50.2 million (US$75 million) last year, compared with ￡46.9 million in 2013. Underlying sales rose 5.7 percent at its retail arm last year. That growth would come from opening 10 to 15 new directly owned shops this year, with a focus on China, as the company continues to perform well in Asia. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Jimmy Choo said that it was being impacted by fewer Russian travelers.
TRADE
US to challenge Indonesia
US trade and agriculture officials on Wednesday announced that the US is bringing a case against Indonesia at the WTO in Geneva. The US has long complained about Indonesian trade policies, including a ban on chicken and other meats, and licensing requirements that limit US farm exports. Without those barriers, Indonesia — whose population of 254 million is the world’s fourth-largest — would be a more lucrative market for US farmers, US officials said. New Zealand is joining the US in the case.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
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