BANKING
China delays tech rules
Chinese regulators suspended the implementation of guidelines that would limit banks’ use of foreign technology, a person familiar with the matter said. Banks received a notice this week from the banking regulator saying that the rules need to be revised, the person said, asking not to be identified because he is not authorized to speak publicly. The guidelines, which had been due to take effect this month, have been delayed, not scrapped, the person said. Trade groups from the US, Europe and Japan this week urged China to suspend the bank technology rules, saying the policies discriminate against foreign firms and limit Chinese companies’ security options.
FOOD INDUSTRY
Nestle sales beat estimates
The world’s top packaged food maker Nestle SA yesterday posted better-than-expected growth in the first quarter despite currency exchange rates that hampered sales. The company also confirmed it expected about 5 percent growth this year. It said sales rose 0.5 percent to 20.9 billion Swiss francs (US$21.8 billion), adding that currency exchange rates, especially the strong Swiss franc, trimmed reported sales by 4.5 percent. However, organic sales rose 4.4 percent, higher than the 4.1 percent forecast by analysts polled by the Swiss financial news service AWP.
BANKING
Goldman, BofA issue debt
Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Bank of America Corp (BofA) tapped capital markets on Thursday after posting above-forecast profits as banks look to boost reserves to meet regulatory requirements. Goldman Sachs, which posted its highest earnings per share in more than five years, sold US$2 billion of perpetual preferred securities, while Bank of America, the second-largest US lender by assets, sold US$5 billion in debt. Goldman’s net income surged 40 percent to US$2.84 billion, or US$5.94 per share, from US$2.03 billion, or US$4.02, recorded a year earlier. Bank of America Corp posted profit of US$3.36 billion in the first quarter as expenses declined. Net income was US$0.27 per share, compared with a loss of US$276 million, or US$0.05 per share, in the same period a year earlier.
ENERGY
Schlumberger profits plunge
Schlumberger Ltd, the world’s largest oilfield services provider, reported its lowest first-quarter profit in four years and announced another 11,000 job cuts after customers slashed spending in response to tumbling crude prices. Net income fell to US$975 million, or US$0.76 per share, from US$1.59 billion, or US$1.21 per share, year-on-year, the company said on Thursday. That is the lowest for the period since 2011. Excluding one-time items, per-share results beat the US$0.89 average of 35 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
TECHNOLOGY
Google alters mobile search
Google Inc is about to change the way its influential search engine recommends Web sites on smartphones and tablets in a shift that is expected to sway where millions of people shop, eat and find information. The revised formula, scheduled to be released on Tuesday, is to favor Web sites that Google defines as “mobile-friendly.” Web sites that do not fit the description are to be demoted in Google’s search results on smartphones and tablets while those meeting the criteria will be more likely to appear at the top of the rankings — a prized position that can translate into more visitors and money.
CHIP RACE: Three years of overbroad export controls drove foreign competitors to pursue their own AI chips, and ‘cost US taxpayers billions of dollars,’ Nvidia said China has figured out the US strategy for allowing it to buy Nvidia Corp’s H200s and is rejecting the artificial intelligence (AI) chip in favor of domestically developed semiconductors, White House AI adviser David Sacks said, citing news reports. US President Donald Trump on Monday said that he would allow shipments of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China, part of an administration effort backed by Sacks to challenge Chinese tech champions such as Huawei Technologies Co (華為) by bringing US competition to their home market. On Friday, Sacks signaled that he was uncertain about whether that approach would work. “They’re rejecting our chips,” Sacks
Taiwan’s exports soared 56 percent year-on-year to an all-time high of US$64.05 billion last month, propelled by surging global demand for artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing and cloud service infrastructure, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) called the figure an unexpected upside surprise, citing a wave of technology orders from overseas customers alongside the usual year-end shopping season for technology products. Growth is likely to remain strong this month, she said, projecting a 40 percent to 45 percent expansion on an annual basis. The outperformance could prompt the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and
NATIONAL SECURITY: Intel’s testing of ACM tools despite US government control ‘highlights egregious gaps in US technology protection policies,’ a former official said Chipmaker Intel Corp has tested chipmaking tools this year from a toolmaker with deep roots in China and two overseas units that were targeted by US sanctions, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Intel, which fended off calls for its CEO’s resignation from US President Donald Trump in August over his alleged ties to China, got the tools from ACM Research Inc, a Fremont, California-based producer of chipmaking equipment. Two of ACM’s units, based in Shanghai and South Korea, were among a number of firms barred last year from receiving US technology over claims they have
BARRIERS: Gudeng’s chairman said it was unlikely that the US could replicate Taiwan’s science parks in Arizona, given its strict immigration policies and cultural differences Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登), which supplies wafer pods to the world’s major semiconductor firms, yesterday said it is in no rush to set up production in the US due to high costs. The company supplies its customers through a warehouse in Arizona jointly operated by TSS Holdings Ltd (德鑫控股), a joint holding of Gudeng and 17 Taiwanese firms in the semiconductor supply chain, including specialty plastic compounds producer Nytex Composites Co (耐特) and automated material handling system supplier Symtek Automation Asia Co (迅得). While the company has long been exploring the feasibility of setting up production in the US to address
RSS