PETROLEUM
Shell reports profit slide
Royal Dutch Shell PLC yesterday reported a sharp drop in third-quarter profits on the back of low oil prices and a hefty US$8.2 billion charge, which included write-offs in Alaska and Canada. Third-quarter net income came in at US$1.8 billion, below analysts’ expectations of US$2.74 billion and 70 percent lower than the previous year. Shell’s oil and gas production division, known as upstream, swung to a loss for the first time in years. However, its downstream division benefited from weak prices to run refineries more profitably, with its net income reaching US$2.6 billion.
AVIATION
Air France triples Q3 profit
Air France-KLM Group yesterday said its third-quarter profit tripled to the highest level in at least a decade, spurred by strong summer sales, lower fuel prices and a lull in industrial action that hurt its figures in the previous year. Earnings before interest and tax rose to 898 million euros (US$980 million) from 247 million euros in the previous year, when a weeks-long pilot strike wiped 330 million euros from earnings, Europe’s biggest carrier said. Analysts had predicted a figure of 808 million euros, on average.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Sanofi cuts sales forecast
Sanofi, France’s biggest company by market value, cut its sales forecast for diabetes therapies in the next three years after demand for its best-selling Lantus insulin slumped. Diabetes sales are expected to drop by between 4 percent and 8 percent through 2018 at an average annualized rate and at constant exchange rates, the Paris-based company said yesterday. Net income rose to 2.1 billion euros, or 1.61 euros a share, from 1.94 billion euros, or 1.47 euros a share, a year earlier, the drugmaker said.
BANKING
Barclays cuts profit target
Barclays PLC cut its profitability target for next year after third-quarter profit dropped 10 percent, missing analysts’ estimates, hurt by a ￡290 million (US$443 million) compensation charge to customers related to foreign exchange. Pretax profit, including restructuring costs, fell to ￡1.43 billion from ￡1.59 billion in the same period in the previous year, the London-based bank said yesterday. The bank cut the target for its “core” return on equity, a measure of profitability, to 11 percent from 12 percent for next year because of restructuring costs.
CHEMICALS
Bayer beats profit estimates
Bayer AG, Germany’s biggest company by market value, posted third-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates as sales of the blood thinner Xarelto and eye treatment Eylea climbed. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, and excluding some costs, climbed 28 percent to 2.5 billion euros, the Leverkusen-based company said yesterday. That surpassed the 2.26 billion euro average estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
REAL ESTATE
British growth accelerates
British house price growth accelerated this month, according to a survey yesterday, another sign of renewed momentum in the housing market. Mortgage lender Nationwide said house prices rose 0.6 percent this month compared with a 0.5 percent increase last month. Economists polled by Reuters had expected 0.5 percent growth this month as well. House prices rose 3.9 percent year-on-year, up from the 3.8 percent annual increase last month.
ENERGY ISSUES: The TSIA urged the government to increase natural gas and helium reserves to reduce the impact of the Middle East war on semiconductor supply stability Chip testing and packaging service provider ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) yesterday said it planned to invest more than NT$100 billion (US$3.15 billion) in building a new advanced chip testing facility in Kaohsiung to keep up with customer demand driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. That would be included in the company’s capital expenditure budget next year, ASE said. There is also room to raise this year’s capital spending budget from a record-high US$7 billion estimated three months ago, it added. ASE would have six factories under construction this year, another record-breaking number, ASE chief operating officer Tien Wu
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
For weeks now, the global tech industry has been waiting for a major artificial intelligence (AI) launch from DeepSeek (深度求索), seen as a benchmark for China’s progress in the fast-moving field. More than a year has passed since the start-up put Chinese AI on the map in early last year with a low-cost chatbot that performed at a similar level to US rivals. However, despite reports and rumors about its imminent release, DeepSeek’s next-generation “V4” model is nowhere in sight. Speculation is also swirling over the geopolitical implications of which computer chips were chosen to train and power the new
TECH WINNERS: Taiwan and South Korea reported robust trade, which suggests that they have critical advantages in the rapidly expanding AI supply chain, an official said Exports last month surged to a new high, as booming demand tied to artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure fueled shipments of advanced technology components, underscoring the nation’s pivotal role in the global semiconductor supply chain. Outbound shipments climbed to US$80.18 billion, the highest ever for a single month, rising 61.8 percent from a year earlier and marking the 29th consecutive month of growth, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. “The surge was driven primarily by global investment in AI infrastructure,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) said. The mass production of next-generation AI computing systems has accelerated procurement across the semiconductor supply
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