AUTOMAKERS
hosn to head Mitsubishi
Nissan Motor Co and Renault SA chairman Carlos Ghosn is set to add that title at Mitsubishi Motors Corp, people with knowledge of the matter said, putting him on track to become the first executive to head three different automakers at the same time. Nissan is acquiring a 34 percent stake in Mitsubishi Motors, which sought a rescue following an admission that it improperly measured for fuel economy and manipulated testing data. Mitsubishi yesterday forecast a steeper loss, its first in eight years, due to costs tied to the scandal. The Tokyo-based automaker said the net loss for the fiscal year ending March 31 would probably balloon to ￥240 billion (US$2.32 billion) from an earlier prediction of a deficit of ￥145 billion.
AUTOMAKERS
Ford cuts production
Ford Motor Co is cutting production as US demand for new vehicles slows. The company on Tuesday said it would temporarily idle four of its North American assembly plants this month to better align production with demand. After six consecutive years of growth, US sales of new vehicles are slowing. In the first nine months of the year, US sales totaled 13.1 million new vehicles, up less than 1 percent from the same period last year. Rivals General Motors Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV on Tuesday both said that all of their plants are operating normally.
RETAIL
Carrefour beats estimates
Carrefour SA, France’s largest retailer, reported third-quarter revenue that beat analysts’ estimates on stronger-than-expected growth in its home country. Sales rose 3.2 percent on a like-for-like basis to 21.8 billion euros (US$23.97 billion), Boulogne-Billancourt, France-based Carrefour said in a statement yesterday. Analysts expected 21.7 billion euros. In France, sales climbed 1.2 percent, beating the estimate of 0.5 percent growth. Carrefour shares have fallen 12 percent this year, compared with a 9.4 percent decline in the STOXX 600 Retail Index.
ENERGY
Shanghai eyes K-Electric
Shanghai Electric Power Co (上海電力) is nearing a deal to acquire a controlling stake in Pakistani utility K-Electric Ltd from buyout firm Abraaj Group, people familiar with the matter said. The state-backed Chinese company has been in exclusive negotiations to buy Abraaj’s 66 percent stake in the US$2.4 billion power generator, the people said. A formal agreement could come as early as this week, though the timing is still fluid, the people said. Pakistani regulations would require Shanghai Electric to make a mandatory offer to minority shareholders of K-Electric, the people said.
SEMICONDUCTORS
ASML forecast surprises
ASML Holding NV, Europe’s largest semiconductor-equipment maker, forecast profitability above analysts’ estimates in the final three months of the year. Gross margin will be as high as 48 percent in the fourth quarter, the Veldhoven, Netherlands-based company said in a statement yesterday. That prediction compared with the average estimate of 43.6 percent as more customers ordered its so-called extreme ultraviolet lithography technology. Revenue in the fourth quarter will be 1.7 billion euros to 1.8 billion euros, ASML forecast. The company reported its third-quarter sales rose 17 percent to 1.82 billion euros, while net income rose 23 percent to 396 million euros.
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has approved a capital budget of US$31.28 billion for production expansion to meet long-term development needs during the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The company’s board meeting yesterday approved the capital appropriation plan for purposes such as the installation of advanced technology capacity and fab construction, the world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement. At an earnings conference last month, TSMC forecast that its capital expenditure for this year would be at the higher end of the US$52 billion to US$56 billion range it forecast in January in response to robust demand for 5G, AI and
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) investment project in Arizona has progressed better than expected, but it still faces challenges such as water and labor shortages, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Yeh Chun-hsien (葉俊顯) said yesterday. Speaking with reporters after visiting TSMC’s Arizona hub and attending the SelectUSA Investment Summit in Maryland last week, Yeh said TSMC’s Arizona site turned a profit of NT$16.14 billion (US$514 million) last year in its first full year of mass production. “TSMC told me it was surprised by the smooth trial run of the first fab, which has left the company optimistic about the project’s outlook,”
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