AUTOMAKERS
BMW Q2 profit up 14%
German luxury automaker BMW AG reported that net profit rose 14 percent in the second quarter as earnings were boosted by the new version of the 5-Series sedan. Profit rose to 2.21 billion euros (US$2.62 billion) in the April to June period from 1.95 billion euros a year earlier. The profit figure beat analyst’s expectations of 2.01 billion euros as compiled by financial information provider FactSet. Revenues rose 7.4 percent to 49.2 billion euros. CEO Harald Krueger yesterday said that strong earnings would ensure the company can expand its efforts in battery-powered and autonomous cars. “Huge changes lie ahead in the world of mobility, and it is vital that our company is in top shape to tackle them,” he said.
MANUFACTURING
Siemens profit rises 7%
Industrial equipment maker Siemens AG yesterday said net profit for the most recent quarter rose 7 percent to 1.46 billion euros and announced an extension of CEO Joe Kaeser’s contract until 2021. Profit in the April-to-June quarter rose despite costs for the company’s merger of its wind power business with Gamesa Corporacion Tecnologica SA. The profit results beat analyst estimates for 1.45 billion euros as compiled by financial information provider FactSet. Revenue rose 8 percent to 21.41 billion euros. Orders fell 6 percent due to fewer big-ticket jobs, particularly in wind power and the company’s power and gas business.
TECHNOLOGY
Bands boost Fitbit’s revenue
Fitbit Inc topped analysts’ revenue projections on better-than-expected demand for fitness bands, and announced its anticipated smartwatch will debut in time for the holiday shopping season. Second-quarter sales were US$353.3 million, a decline of 40 percent, but higher than analysts’ average estimate of US$341.2 million. Fitbit reported a loss, excluding certain costs, of US$0.08 a share, compared with a profit of US$0.12 a year earlier. The company’s slice of the wearable-device market declined to 12 percent in the first quarter — about half its share a year earlier — as Fitbit sold 3.4 million devices in the period, compared with 5.7 million in the quarter a year earlier.
BANKING
UniCredit overhaul pays off
Italian bank UniCredit, in the midst of a massive overhaul, yesterday said that its net profit rose modestly in the second quarter, beating expectations. While analysts had expected profits to decline to 676 million euros in the April to June period, instead they rose by 3.3 percent from the second quarter last year to 945 million euros. UniCredit has undertaken a major restructuring of its business after it was among the worst performers in stress test results published by Europe’s EBA banking regulator in July last year.
UNITED KINGDOM
LSE unit advising on Brexit
London Stock Exchange Group PLC (LSE) has set up a Brexit unit to advise policy makers on how to protect London as a financial hub and prevent the divorce from shattering financial-market infrastructure. The program is to engage with British and European officials to guide them on Brexit’s impact on markets. LSE’s goal is to keep continuity of cross-border financial services, and prevent financial-market fragmentation, it said. LSE reported first-half revenue of £853 million (US$1.1 billion) and raised its dividend. Total income at the company’s clearing unit amounted to £270 million in the first half, up 31 percent from a year earlier, LSE said.
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
‘LEGACY CHIPS’: Chinese companies have dramatically increased mature chip production capacity, but the West’s drive for secure supply chains offers a lifeline for Taiwan When Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) entered a deal with the eastern Chinese city of Hefei in 2015 to set up a new chip foundry, it hoped the move would help provide better access to the promising Chinese market. However, nine years later, that Chinese foundry, Nexchip Semiconductor Corp (合晶集成), has become one of its biggest rivals in the legacy chip space, leveraging steep discounts after Beijing’s localization call forced Powerchip to give up the once-lucrative business making integrated circuits for Chinese flat panels. Nexchip is among Chinese foundries quickly winning market share in the crucial US$56.3 billion industry of so-called legacy
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday held its first board of directors meeting in the US, at which it did not unveil any new US investments despite mounting tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, prompting market speculation that TSMC might consider boosting its chip capacity in the US or ramping up production of advanced chips such as those using a 2-nanometer technology process at its Arizona fabs ahead of schedule. Speculation also swirled that the chipmaker might consider building its own advanced packaging capacity in the US as part
A move by US President Donald Trump to slap a 25 percent tariff on all steel imports is expected to place Taiwan-made steel, which already has a 25 percent tariff, on an equal footing, the Taiwan Steel & Iron Industries Association said yesterday. Speaking with CNA, association chairman Hwang Chien-chih (黃建智) said such an equal footing is expected to boost Taiwan’s competitive edge against other countries in the US market, describing the tariffs as "positive" for Taiwanese steel exporters. On Monday, Trump signed two executive orders imposing the new metal tariffs on imported steel and aluminum with no exceptions and exemptions, effective