UNITED KINGDOM
Housing price growth slows
Housing price growth slowed this month, according to a survey published yesterday that suggests the recovery in the country’s housing market is advancing at a modest pace. Mortgage lender Nationwide said that housing prices rose by 0.1 percent in monthly terms this month compared with a 0.5 percent increase last month. Economists polled by Reuters had expected 0.5 percent growth this month. It was the weakest performance for monthly changes in house prices since June, Nationwide said. House prices rose 3.7 percent in year-on-year terms, slowing from 3.9 percent for last month.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Merck mulls sale of unit
Merck KGaA is considering a sale of its allergy business as the German company seeks to reduce debt following the US$17 billion takeover of Sigma-Aldrich Corp, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The business, known as Allergopharma, might fetch about 600 million euros (US$636 million) and could attract interest from drug companies and private-equity firms, the people said yesterday. The process is at an early stage and Merck could still decide against a sale, the people said.
SPORTS
Evergrande selling shares
China’s most successful soccer club and newly crowned Asian champions Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao (廣州恆大淘寶) are seeking to raise more than US$400 million as their financial performance fails to match the fireworks on the pitch. The team, universally known as Evergrande, won their second AFC Champions League title in just three years on Saturday last week. However, the club, which is 40 percent owned by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) and the rest by property developer Evergrande Real Estate Group (恆大地產集團), lost US$75 million last year. It is seeking to raise up to 2.65 billion yuan (US$414 million) by issuing up to 66.2 million shares on China’s little-known National Equities Exchange and Quotations market, it said in a statement.
FINANCE
Therapure IPO planned
Catalyst Capital Group Inc, a Canadian private equity firm, is seeking to raise at least C$100 million (US$75 million) in an initial public offering (IPO) of Therapure Biopharma Inc, according to people familiar with the sale. Catalyst, a Toronto-based firm founded by Newton Glassman, is also weighing an IPO of Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Ltd in the next four to six weeks, one of the sources said. Gateway, which operates in Western Canada, tried to do an IPO in 2012, but it was withdrawn. Therapure is focused on making biopharmaceuticals for customers and on developing, manufacturing and selling its own blood and plasma-related products.
NETHERLANDS
Nation to phase out coal
Lawmakers on Thursday voted in favor of phasing out coal power plants in the nation, appealing to other countries to do the same, days ahead of a crunch UN climate summit. The motion, proposed a week ago by two members of the progressive D66 party, was adopted by a small majority in the 150-seat lower house. Those in favor included the Labour Party, junior partner in the ruling coalition of Liberal Prime Minister Mark Rutte, whose own party is vehemently opposed to the plans. The motion now has to go to the Cabinet for discussion.
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Aramco), the Saudi state-owned oil giant, yesterday posted first-quarter profits of US$26 billion, down 4.6 percent from the prior year as falling global oil prices undermine the kingdom’s multitrillion-dollar development plans. Aramco had revenues of US$108.1 billion over the quarter, the company reported in a filing on Riyadh’s Tadawul stock exchange. The company saw US$107.2 billion in revenues and profits of US$27.2 billion for the same period last year. Saudi Arabia has promised to invest US$600 billion in the US over the course of US President Donald Trump’s second term. Trump, who is set to touch
SKEPTICAL: An economist said it is possible US and Chinese officials would walk away from the meeting saying talks were productive, without reducing tariffs at all US President Donald Trump hailed a “total reset” in US-China trade relations, ahead of a second day of talks yesterday between top officials from Washington and Beijing aimed at de-escalating trade tensions sparked by his aggressive tariff rollout. In a Truth Social post early yesterday, Trump praised the “very good” discussions and deemed them “a total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner.” The second day of closed-door meetings between US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) were due to restart yesterday morning, said a person familiar
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