TECHNOLOGY
Xerox announces split
Xerox Corp is separating into two independent publicly traded companies amid pressure from activist investor Carl Icahn. The company on Friday said that the document technology company would handle document management and document outsourcing. The other is a business process outsourcer that is to help companies with automating and simplifying business processes. The names of the two companies have yet to be determined.
ELECTRICITY
Iraq, US firm ink deal
Iraq has signed a US$328 million deal with US company General Electric Co that is to boost power output during peak summer months, officials said on Friday. However, the deal is to make only a small dent in the nation’s major summer production shortfall. Iraqi Ministry of Electricity spokesman Musaab al-Mudarris said the deal, which involves maintenance and improvements on more than 10 power stations in multiple provinces, would add between 700 megawatts and 1,000 megawatts to production capacity.
ENERGY
Chevron reports losses
Chevron Corp on Friday reported a loss of US$588 million for the fourth quarter of last year, as it vowed further spending cuts in response to plunging oil prices. The results reflected a terrible quarter for Chevron’s exploration and production business, which booked a loss of US$1.95 billion after garnering US$35 a barrel for oil sold in the US, compared with US$66 a barrel a year ago.
FINANCE
Puerto Rico eyes debt cuts
Puerto Rico on Friday presented a plan to creditors that asks them to take a deep discount on their debt — an aggregate of about 45 percent, two sources familiar with the situation said. The plan would see four tranches of bonds exchanged into two new bonds with different structures. Haircuts on the debt would differ according to which bonds are being exchanged and would reflect the current trading of those bonds, the sources said, with general obligation bonds getting the best treatment.
ECONOMY
EU inflation speeds up
Eurozone inflation accelerated this month, providing a breather for European Central Bank (ECB) officials that might prove temporary as commodity prices continue their descent and emerging markets slow. Consumer prices rose an annual 0.4 percent, after 0.2 percent last month, the EU’s statistical office said on Friday. However, ECB officials’ medium-term inflation goal of a little less than 2 percent remains far off, as professional forecasters surveyed by the ECB have cut their inflation outlook for this year and next year to 0.7 percent and 1.4 percent respectively.
AUTOMAKERS
Defender production ceases
The last-ever Land Rover Defender, a vehicle beloved by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and featured in Hollywood blockbusters, rolled off the production line on Friday after 68 years of being made in Britain. Indian-owned carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) had already announced in late 2013 that the group would stop making the legendary Defender at its car plant in Solihull, England.
PROTECTIONISM: China hopes to help domestic chipmakers gain more market share while preparing local tech companies for the possibility of more US sanctions Beijing is stepping up pressure on Chinese companies to buy locally produced artificial intelligence (AI) chips instead of Nvidia Corp products, part of the nation’s effort to expand its semiconductor industry and counter US sanctions. Chinese regulators have been discouraging companies from purchasing Nvidia’s H20 chips, which are used to develop and run AI models, sources familiar with the matter said. The policy has taken the form of guidance rather than an outright ban, as Beijing wants to avoid handicapping its own AI start-ups and escalating tensions with the US, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
Her white-gloved, waistcoated uniform impeccable, 22-year-old Hazuki Okuno boards a bullet train replica to rehearse the strict protocols behind the smooth operation of a Japanese institution turning 60 Tuesday. High-speed Shinkansen trains began running between Tokyo and Osaka on Oct. 1, 1964, heralding a new era for rail travel as Japan grew into an economic superpower after World War II. The service remains integral to the nation’s economy and way of life — so keeping it dazzlingly clean, punctual and accident-free is a serious job. At a 10-story, state-of-the-art staff training center, Okuno shouted from the window and signaled to imaginary colleagues, keeping
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