FINANCE
BOE’s Hogg hinted Visa CEO
Charlotte Hogg, who resigned as the Bank of England’s (BOE) deputy governor in March over concerns about a potential conflict of interest, is in talks to take over as chief executive at Visa Europe, Sky News reported on Saturday. Hogg, who was one of BOE Governor Mark Carney’s most trusted lieutenants, stepped down following criticism by lawmakers that her role was untenable because her brother was responsible for guiding Barclays’ response to bank regulation, which is overseen by the BOE. Sky, citing an unnamed source close to the central bank, said Visa Europe had held preliminary talks with the central bank about the implications of Hogg taking on the job as its chief executive. A Visa Europe spokeswoman declined to comment on the report.
AUTOMOTIVE
Continental flanges probed
US safety regulators are trying to track down gas tank flanges that can crack and cause fuel leaks on what could be millions of cars and trucks. The government began investigating parts made by German supplier Continental AG after the company filed recall documents this week saying the flanges could be defective. Documents posted on Friday say Continental sold the flanges to 11 automakers and five parts companies. The polymer flanges cover openings in the fuel tank. If they leak, that increases the risk of fire. Volkswagen AG, Porsche and Audi already have recalled nearly a half-million vehicles due to the problem. With other automakers possibly involved, Continental’s recall could spread to millions of vehicles.
REAL-ESTATE
Ashkenazy buys hotel
Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp, the US real-estate investor that recently bought a stake in New York’s Plaza Hotel, said that it has acquired the Grosvenor House hotel in London, helping resolve an imbroglio that kept ownership of the famed properties in limbo for three years. Terms of the purchase, announced on Friday, have not been disclosed. The Grosvenor House acquisition “reflects a continued aggressive focus” on buying an additional 2 billion euros (US$2.3 billion) of “global iconic assets” over the next two years, New York-based Ashkenazy said in a statement. The Grosvenor House opened in 1929 on Park Lane in the Mayfair neighborhood, one of London’s poshest. Ashkenazy’s other holdings include Union Station in Washington, Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston, and 625 Madison Avenue in New York. The firm has assets valued at more than US$10 billion with a focus on retail, hotel, office and residential properties, according to the statement.
MINING
Iron ore predicted to plunge
Iron ore could sink back below US$50 a tonne next year as global supply expands and demand moderates in China, according to Australia, the biggest exporter, which released its revised outlook just hours before the country’s largest port reported record shipments for last month. The raw material would average US$49.10 next year, 4.8 percent below a previous estimate, and hold near that level in 2019, the Australian Department of Industry, Innovation and Science estimated in a regular quarterly report on Friday. Prices are seen at US$62.40 this year, bolstered by demand from China’s steel sector before easing over the next two years, according to the forecaster. The department’s projections add to warnings from Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Citigroup Inc that increasing supply from low-cost miners would probably hurt prices.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) forecast that its wafer shipments this quarter would grow up to 7 percent sequentially and the factory utilization rate would rise to 75 percent, indicating that customers did not alter their ordering behavior due to the US President Donald Trump’s capricious US tariff policies. However, the uncertainty about US tariffs has weighed on the chipmaker’s business visibility for the second half of this year, UMC chief financial officer Liu Chi-tung (劉啟東) said at an online earnings conference yesterday. “Although the escalating trade tensions and global tariff policies have increased uncertainty in the semiconductor industry, we have not
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
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