GAMBLING
Tabcorp-Tatts merger okayed
A merger between Australian gambling giants Tabcorp Holdings Ltd and Tatts Group Ltd is back on track after the Australian Competition Tribunal (ACT) yesterday approved the A$8.6 billion (US$6.5 billion) deal. Tabcorp and Tatts first announced the deal in October last year to forge closer ties to try to cut costs and pursue opportunities globally. ACT said Tabcorp would be granted authorization to acquire shares in Tatts, but added that the “detriments identified” by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission were “unlikely to either arise or are not otherwise material.”
ONLINE MEDIA
Oath cuts hundreds of jobs
Verizon’s online unit Oath — which includes the AOL and recently acquired Yahoo brands — is cutting several hundred jobs as part of a reorganization, a source familiar with the move said on Thursday. The reductions represent “less than four percent” of the Oath global workforce of an estimated 12,000, the source said. The move represents a second round of cuts at Oath since the US$4.5 billion acquisition of Yahoo in June. Oath offered no details on the numbers or segments facing cuts.
BROADCASTING
Amazon to stream tennis
Amazon.com Inc is to exclusively stream 37 top men’s tennis tournaments from 2019 to its Amazon Prime Video subscribers in Britain and Ireland after it won the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) broadcast rights from pay-TV group Sky. Amazon is also to be the pay-TV partner for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals at The O2 in London, and from 2018 the Queen’s Club Championships and the Eastbourne International, ATP said. ATP declined to say how much Amazon was paying for the rights.
MALAYSIA
Manufacturing boosts growth
Malaysia’s economy grew at the fastest pace in more than three years in the third quarter, supported by resilient domestic demand and a manufacturing sector that is benefiting from booming global trade. GDP rose 6.2 percent from a year earlier, after climbing 5.8 percent in the second quarter, Bank Negara Malaysia said yesterday. The median estimate of 19 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was 5.7 percent. GDP rose a seasonally adjusted 1.8 percent from the previous three months.
UNITED KINGDOM
Christmas sales start slowly
Britain’s retailers have begun the fourth quarter on a weak footing before the busy Christmas period, official data showed on Thursday. Sales rose just 0.3 percent last month from the previous month, buoyed partly by second-hand goods stores, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement. However, on an annual basis, retail sales fell 0.3 percent compared with one year ago — when retailers had experienced unusually strong performance. That marked the first annual decline since March 2013.
RETAILERS
Wal-Mart earns US$1.75bn
Wal-Mart Stores Inc on Thursday reported fiscal third-quarter net income of US$1.75 billion. On a per-share basis, the Arkansas-based company said it had net income of US$0.58. Earnings, adjusted to extinguish debt and for non-recurring costs, came to US$1 per share. The world’s largest retailer said it posted revenue of US$123.18 billion in the period and forecast full-year earnings in the range of US$4.38 to US$4.46 per share.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
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