Japanese companies, returning from a summer lull in corporate bond deals, face the highest funding costs in five months. That is not holding back issuance.
Sony Corp on Wednesday said it is planning its first non-convertible bond sale in three years, after an earlier announcement by Panasonic Corp that it is looking to sell as much as ￥400 billion (US$4 billion) in debt.
BONDS
The average yield on yen corporate bonds was 0.24 percent on Wednesday, near the highest since March, and up from a low of 0.096 percent last month, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes.
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) is undertaking a review of its policy measures ahead of its next meeting on Saturday and Sunday, and some companies might prefer to issue before then given uncertainty about how market rates might respond, Mizuho Securities Co chief credit strategist in Tokyo Hidetoshi Ohashi said.
While only two firms have sold bonds so far this month, more than two dozen companies, including utilities and railway operators, have announced plans to sell debt in the next two weeks.
“Nobody really knows what will be in the BOJ’s review that’s coming in September and there is a possibility it could be a further catalyst that pushes up interest rates,” Ohashi said. “For issuers who think that, there is an incentive to sell ahead.”
Given current low bond market yields and a decline in volatility since the start of the month, issuers will probably be willing to pay investors a little more to buy their debt, Ohashi said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said its materials management head, Vanessa Lee (李文如), had tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The personnel adjustment takes effect tomorrow, TSMC said in a statement. The latest development came one month after Lee reportedly took leave from the middle of last month. Cliff Hou (侯永清), senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer, is to concurrently take on the role of head of the materials management division, which has been under his supervision, TSMC said. Lee, who joined TSMC in 2022, was appointed senior director of materials management and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Thursday met with US President Donald Trump at the White House, days before a planned trip to China by the head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, people familiar with the matter said. Details of what the two men discussed were not immediately available, and the people familiar with the meeting declined to elaborate on the agenda. Spokespeople for the White House had no immediate comment. Nvidia declined to comment. Nvidia’s CEO has been vocal about the need for US companies to access the world’s largest semiconductor market and is a frequent visitor to China.
Hypermarket chain Carrefour Taiwan and upscale supermarket chain Mia C’bon on Saturday announced the suspension of their partnership with Jkopay Co (街口支付), one of Taiwan’s largest digital payment providers, amid a lawsuit involving its parent company. Carrefour and Mia C’bon said they would notify customers once Jkopay services are reinstated. The two retailers joined an array of other firms in suspending their partnerships with Jkopay. On Friday night, popular beverage chain TP Tea (茶湯會) also suspended its use of the platform, urging customers to opt for alternative payment methods. Another drinks brand, Guiji (龜記), on Friday said that it is up to individual
READY TO BUY: Shortly after Nvidia announced the approval, Chinese firms scrambled to order the H20 GPUs, which the company must send to the US government for approval Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) late on Monday said the technology giant has won approval from US President Donald Trump’s administration to sell its advanced H20 graphics processing units (GPUs) used to develop artificial intelligence (AI) to China. The news came in a company blog post late on Monday and Huang also spoke about the coup on China’s state-run China Global Television Network in remarks shown on X. “The US government has assured Nvidia that licenses will be granted, and Nvidia hopes to start deliveries soon,” the post said. “Today, I’m announcing that the US government has approved for us
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