PROPERTY
London homes unaffordable
London homes are less affordable than ever before, despite slowing price growth and government attempts to cut the cost of housing for first-time buyers. It now costs the average Londoner 14.5 times their annual salary to purchase a home, the highest level on record, according to a report yesterday by researcher Hometrack. Cambridge, Oxford and the English seaside town of Bournemouth also have price-to-earnings ratios in the double digits, the report showed. “Unaffordability in London has reached a record high, despite a material slowdown in the rate of house-price growth over the last year,” Hometrack research director Richard Donnell said in an interview. “The gap between average earnings and house prices in the capital has never been wider.”
BANKING
Metrobank officials punished
The Philippine central bank sanctioned Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co after the regulator investigated an alleged internal fraud that cost the lender 1.75 billion pesos (US$35 million). Sanctions ranged from a reprimand to the suspension of directors and officials who were complacent in their duties, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said, without naming them. The nation’s second-largest lender was also ordered to allocate about 4.45 billion pesos of its capital to cover higher operational risk, the central bank said in a statement. Police in July arrested a Metrobank official after she was suspected of funneling loans into fictitious accounts that were transferred electronically to other private accounts she owned.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Temasek mulls stake sale
Temasek Holdings Pte is exploring a sale of its stake in Asian drug distributor Zuellig Pharma, people familiar with the matter said. The Singapore state investment firm has been speaking with advisers about a potential sale of its 20 percent stake in Zuellig Pharma, which commands vast pharmaceutical distribution networks in about a dozen Asian markets, the people said. Temasek could seek about US$1 billion for its holding in the Singapore-based company, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private. The stake could draw interest from strategic buyers including Mitsui & Co, the Japanese trading house that has been expanding its healthcare operations, as well as private equity firms, the people said. Zuellig Group was founded in 1922 by businessman Frederick Zuellig, who moved to Manila from Switzerland. The family trading house built out a number of different businesses and now has interests ranging from healthcare and pharmaceuticals to insurance and property, its Web site says.
RESTAURANTS
Roark to buy US chain
Roark Capital Group, the owner of Arby’s and Cinnabon, has agreed to buy restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings Inc for about US$2.4 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said. Roark agreed to pay about US$157 a share in cash for the Minneapolis-based restaurant operator, according to the people. That would represent a premium of about 34 percent to the stock’s Nov. 13 closing price, before Roark’s opening bid of about US$150 a share was reported. A deal could be announced as soon yesterday, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. The private equity firm plans to merge Buffalo Wild Wings with Arby’s, though the two brands would remain distinct. Arby’s chief executive Paul Brown would be chief executive of the combined business, the people said.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
Taiwan is open to joining a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) program if one is created, but on the condition that countries provide delivery even in a scenario where there is a conflict with China, an energy department official said yesterday. While Taiwan’s priority is to have enough LNG at home, the nation is open to exploring potential strategic reserves in other countries such as Japan or South Korea, Energy Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said. While the LNG market does not have a global reserve for emergencies like that of oil, the concept has been raised a few times —
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