JAPAN
Consumer prices fall again
Consumer prices last month fell for the seventh straight month, data showed yesterday, heaping more pressure on the central bank to push back its inflation target deadline. Core consumer prices, excluding volatile fresh-food costs, declined 0.5 percent year-on-year — in line with the market forecast — putting the Bank of Japan’s 2 percent inflation target further out of reach. Separately, government figures also showed that household spending last month shrank 2.1 percent from a year earlier, slightly better than expectations for a drop of 2.7 percent. Unemployment remained at a multi-decade low of 3 percent.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter confirms job cuts
Still losing money and without a merger partner, Twitter on Thursday said it sees a path to profitability as the struggling social network unveiled job cuts as part of a reorganization. The messaging platform said it would cut 9 percent of its workforce after another money-losing quarter, but suggested it could reach profitability for the first time next year. Twitter reported a net loss for the quarter of US$103 million, compared with a US$132 million loss a year earlier. Revenue grew 8 percent to US$616 million, mostly from advertising. The key metric of monthly active users rose only modestly to 317 million from 313 million in the prior quarter.
SHIPPERS
Hanjin bids received
Hanjin Shipping Co received five initial bids for its Asia-US business as a South Korean court began the process to sell the nation’s largest container line, which fell victim to excess capacity and slowing global trade. Hyundai Merchant Marine Co and four others have expressed interest, according to Hyundai and the Seoul Central District Court, overseeing the bankruptcy protection filing. The submissions will be followed by due diligence of the assets, which include offices and vessels that operate on trans-Pacific trade outes. Final bids are due by Nov. 7. Hanjin, which filed for bankruptcy protection in August, this week said it was winding down its Europe route.
BANKING
UBS earnings decline
UBS Group AG reported a drop in earnings at its wealth-management business and the securities unit was hurt by a slump in equities trading, as chief executive officer Sergio Ermotti pledged to continue cost cuts. Pretax profit rose 11 percent to 877 million Swiss francs (US$883 million) from 788 million francs a year earlier, the Zurich, Switzerland-based bank said in a statement yesterday. That compares with the 862-million-franc average of six analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
INTERNET
Alphabet beats estimates
Google parent Alphabet Inc on Thursday bested analysts’ estimates for third-quarter profit and revenue as the search company showed it has honed its core business for the mobile era and is closing in on the next wave of computing. Propelled by strong advertising on mobile devices and video site YouTube, Alphabet’s net income climbed 27 percent to US$5.06 billion. Revenue jumped 20 percent to US$22.45 billion, marking the search giant’s seventh straight quarter of double-digit revenue growth. The company posted third-quarter adjusted earnings per share of US$9.06, beating expectations of US$8.63 per share on revenue of US$22.05 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S estimates.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.2 and NT$0.3 per liter respectively, after international crude oil prices increased last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week snapped a two-week losing streak as the geopolitical situation between Russia and Ukraine turned increasingly tense, CPC said in a statement. News that some oil production facilities in Alberta, Canada, were shut down due to wildfires and that US-Iran nuclear talks made no progress also helped push oil prices to a significant weekly gain, Formosa said
MINERAL DIPLOMACY: The Chinese commerce ministry said it approved applications for the export of rare earths in a move that could help ease US-China trade tensions Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) is today to meet a US delegation for talks in the UK, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He is to visit the UK from yesterday to Friday at the invitation of the British government, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He and US representatives are to cochair the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, it said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a new round of trade talks with China would start in London beginning today,
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