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.
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
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
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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