AIRLINES
Ryanair sells stake to IAG
Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair Holdings PLC yesterday said that it has finally accepted International Airlines Group’s (IAG) bid for its 29.8 percent stake in Irish rival Aer Lingus Group PLC. IAG, parent of British Airways PLC and Iberia SA, has made a takeover bid valuing Aer Lingus at a total of 1.4 billion euros (US$1.6 billion) and had secured the sale of the Irish government’s 25 percent stake in May. The deal offers Aer Lingus shareholders 2.55 euros per share — 2.50 euros plus a 0.05 euro cash dividend.
AUTOMAKERS
Ford to move production
Ford Motor Co plans to move production of two small cars outside of the US from a Michigan factory, according to person familiar with the matter. The shift is to occur in 2018, Ford said in an e-mailed statement on Thursday, without saying where. Leaflets posted by US labor union United Automobile Workers members at the Wayne, Michigan, plant said the Focus compact and C-Max hybrid would be produced in a foreign country, according to the person. The company declined to comment on a location. Ford has already laid off a shift of 700 workers in Wayne as US sales fell in this year’s first half.
ENERGY
BYD enters Australia market
BYD Co (比亞迪), the Warren Buffett-backed electric automaker that began selling energy storage units in Germany last month, has entered the Australian market. The Shenzhen, China-based company has sold more than 100 storage systems in Australia, describing it as a “strategic market” in an e-mail response to questions. The company last month said it plans to raise as much as 15 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion) to expand battery output and develop new-energy vehicles.
SOFT DRINKS
Pepsi plans to offer old Diet
The artificial sweetener in Diet Pepsi is about to change in the US, but fans of the old formula might still be able to get it. PepsiCo earlier this year said it would replace the aspartame in Diet Pepsi with sucralose, another artificial sweetener many know as Splenda, in response to customer feedback. That change is set to take place in the US starting this summer. However, during a call to discuss its earnings on Thursday, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi said: “For those consumers who still love Diet Pepsi with aspartame, we’ll figure out how to make it available online.”
INTERNET
Facebook deploys new tool
Facebook Inc on Thursday unveiled a new tool to give users more control of what they see in their news feeds, allowing them to override the choices made by algorithm. The tool allows Facebook members to select certain friends whose posts are to appear at the top of their feeds. The new tool was being rolled out on Thursday to Facebook users on Apple devices and it is to be added soon for its Android application.
REGULATORY
FCA drops Iksil investigation
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has abandoned a proposed fine of about ￡1 million (US$1.6 million) and an industry ban against the former JPMorgan Chase & Co trader known as the London Whale. The FCA sent a letter to Bruno Iksil earlier this month notifying him the agency was dropping its investigation without giving a reason.
POWERING UP: PSUs for AI servers made up about 50% of Delta’s total server PSU revenue during the first three quarters of last year, the company said Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) reported record-high revenue of NT$161.61 billion (US$5.11 billion) for last quarter and said it remains positive about this quarter. Last quarter’s figure was up 7.6 percent from the previous quarter and 41.51 percent higher than a year earlier, and largely in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$160 billion. Delta’s annual revenue last year rose 31.76 percent year-on-year to NT$554.89 billion, also a record high for the company. Its strong performance reflected continued demand for high-performance power solutions and advanced liquid-cooling products used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers,
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
A proposed billionaires’ tax in California has ignited a political uproar in Silicon Valley, with tech titans threatening to leave the state while California Governor Gavin Newsom of the Democratic Party maneuvers to defeat a levy that he fears would lead to an exodus of wealth. A technology mecca, California has more billionaires than any other US state — a few hundred, by some estimates. About half its personal income tax revenue, a financial backbone in the nearly US$350 billion budget, comes from the top 1 percent of earners. A large healthcare union is attempting to place a proposal before
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