BANKING
UBS doubles net income
UBS Group AG’s net income more than doubled in the third quarter as the Swiss bank booked a tax gain and set aside fewer provisions for legal probes. Net income rose to 2.07 billion Swiss francs (US$2.1 billion) in the three months through September from SF762 million a year ago, UBS said in a statement. The bank pushed next year’s profitability target back a year, citing stricter capital rules at home and changes in the economic outlook and conditions. UBS now wants to achieve 15 percent return on tangible equity by 2017. It said it will beat this year’s target of a 10 percent return and will aim for that next year as well.
AUTOMAKERS
BMW posts profit rise
BMW AG posted a surprise 4.3 percent increase in third-quarter profit as demand for the 2-Series, 4-Series and X5 sport utility vehicle rose. Earnings before interest and taxes increased to 2.35 billion euros (US$2.59 billion) beating expectations for a decline to 2.16 billion euros, according to 13 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Revenue rose 14 percent to 22.3 billion euros, the Munich-based automaker said yesterday. BMW repeated its forecast of a solid rise in car sales, revenue and Ebit this year. Gains will be held back by “fierce” competition, higher personnel costs, spending on new models and slower growth in China, the company said in the statement.
BANKING
S&P eyes credit grade cuts
JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America Corp and Citigroup Inc are among eight large US banks that may have credit grades cut by Standard & Poor’s on the prospect that the US government is less likely to provide aid in a crisis. The companies — along with Wells Fargo & Co, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Morgan Stanley, Bank of New York Mellon Corp and State Street Corp — had senior unsecured and non-deferrable subordinated debt ratings placed on negative credit watch, S&P said on Monday. S&P said it expects to resolve the credit reviews by early December.
TECHNOLOGY
Drone deliveries expected
Internet giant Alphabet Inc, the new holding company for Google, expects to begin delivering packages to consumers via drones some time in 2017, the executive in charge of its drone effort said on Monday. David Vos, the leader for Alphabet’s Project Wing, said his company is in talks with the Federal Aviation Administration and other stakeholders about setting up an air traffic control system for drones that would use cellular and Internet technology to coordinate remote-controlled aerial vehicle flights at altitudes under 152m.
MACROECONOMICS
Non-commodity growth dips
A measure of growth in Saudi Arabia’s non-oil private industries dropped to the lowest level in six years in October as the slump in oil prices slowed the biggest Arab economy’s momentum. The Emirates NBD purchasing managers’ index fell to 55.7 from 56.5 in September, the lowest level since the survey began, driven by weaker expansion in new business. The same measure for the United Arab Emirates fell to 54 from 56 in September, the lowest since April 2013, the Dubai-based bank said yesterday. Readings above 50 signal expansion, while those below indicate contraction.
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
Elon Musk’s lieutenants have reached out to chip industry suppliers, including Applied Materials Inc, Tokyo Electron Ltd and Lam Research Corp, for his envisioned Terafab, early steps in an audacious and likely arduous attempt to break into the production of cutting-edge chips. Staff working for the joint venture between Tesla Inc and Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) have sought price quotes and delivery times for an array of chipmaking gear, people familiar with the matter said. In past weeks, they’ve contacted makers of photomasks, substrates, etchers, depositors, cleaning devices, testers and other tools, according to the people, who asked not to
Japan approved ￥631.5 billion (US$3.97 billion) in additional subsidies to hasten Rapidus Corp’s entry into the high-stakes artificial intelligence (AI) chipmaking arena, ramping up support for a project widely regarded as a long shot. The capital is intended to bankroll Rapidus’ work for information technology firm Fujitsu Ltd, one of the initial customers that Tokyo hopes would get the signature endeavor off the ground. The new money raises the fees and investments that the government is injecting into the start-up to ￥2.6 trillion by the end of the current fiscal year to March next year, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and
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