ENTERTAINMENT
Recon to buy Millennium
A Chinese wire and cable maker is buying independent studio Millennium Films, which produced Rambo and The Expendables. Recon Holding (睿康) on Thursday said it was taking a 51 percent stake in Millennium for US$100 million. Recon, based in Yixing, China, near Shanghai, is controlled by Tony Xia (夏建統). Xia was a little-known businessman until last year, when he bought English soccer club Aston Villa. The terms of the deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter, give Recon majority ownership of Millennium and its library of 300 films.
BANKING
RBS plans to reduce costs
Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS), Britain’s largest taxpayer-owned bank, laid out a plan to cut costs by ￡2 billion (US$2.5 billion) over the next four years as it posted its ninth straight annual loss. The net loss last year widened from ￡1.98 billion in 2015 to ￡6.96 billion, the Edinburgh, Scotland-based lender said in a statement yesterday. Excluding conduct charges and restructuring costs, operating profit was ￡3.67 billion, topping the ￡3.1 billion average estimate of seven analysts compiled by Bloomberg News.
INTERNET
Baidu earnings beat forecast
Chinese Internet giant Baidu Inc (百度) on Thursday reported that its quarterly earnings topped expectations, despite falling revenue in the final three months of last year. Revenue totaled US$2.62 billion, down 2.6 percent from the same period in 2015, the company reported in New York, where it is listed. Income in the fourth quarter plunged 83 percent from a year earlier to US$1.7 billion. It was the second quarter in a row the company has reported a slump in revenue, following authorities’ introduction of new controls on advertising.
INTERNET
HPE revenue misses target
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (HPE) on Thursday reported quarterly revenue that fell far short of estimates and trimmed its profit forecasts, hampered by rising component costs and competition from cloud-based rivals. Profit, excluding some items, is to be US$0.41 to US$0.45 per share in the current quarter, the Palo Alto, California-based company said in a statement. The company also reduced its annual forecast to US$1.88 to US$1.98 per share. Hewlett Packard Enterprise cited currency fluctuations, higher commodities pricing and “near-term execution issues” in reducing its forecast. Revenue declined 10 percent to US$11.4 billion in the first quarter ended on Jan. 31, the company said.
APPAREL
Old Navy buoys Gap profit
The Gap Inc on Thursday met Wall Street expectations with its fourth-quarter profit, helped again by results at its Old Navy brand. The clothing company with brands including Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy and Athleta, said it earned US$220 million, or US$0.55 per share, in the period that ended on Jan. 28. That compared with US$214 million, or US$0.53 per share, a year earlier. The clothing chain posted revenue of US$4.43 billion, up from US$4.39 billion a year earlier. Net sales at Old Navy rose in the quarter, while those at Gap and Banana Republic fell from a year earlier. The San Francisco-based company said it planned to focus its store openings in the current fiscal year on Old Navy and Athleta branches, with store closings expected in the Gap brand.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
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
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