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.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
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
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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