JAPAN
Inflation far below target
Consumer prices edged up 0.9 percent last month, government data showed yesterday, but inflation was still far below a longstanding target of 2.0 percent. Government data showed the core inflation rate stood at the same pace as the previous two months. That was largely in line with market expectations of a 0.8 percent rise in prices, data compiled by Bloomberg News showed. When volatile fresh food and energy were stripped out, prices rose by even less — just 0.4 percent, the Ministry of Finance said.
UNITED KINGDOM
Growth slows on Brexit
The economy grew at its slowest rate in five years during last year as consumers and businesses were held back by factors directly related to Brexit. Armed with more information following an initial estimate, the Office for National Statistics on Thursday said that the economy expanded by only 0.4 percent in the October-to-December period last year, down from 0.5 percent before. The downgrade reduced overall growth to 1.7 percent for last year, its lowest since 2012.
INSURANCE
Swiss Re predicts benefits
Swiss Reinsurance Co Led said it expects to benefit from rising prices even as natural disasters all but wiped out its full-year profit. The Zurich-based reinsurer yesterday reported a slump in net income to US$331 million from US$3.6 billion a year earlier, following one of the most costly hurricane seasons in history. Still, that beat the US$287 million average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. It also said it would raise the dividend to 5 Swiss francs (US$5.35) and would authorize a new share buyback program.
BANKING
RBS turns post-crisis profit
State-rescued Royal Bank of Scotland PLC (RBS) yesterday announced its first annual post-tax profit since 2007, or the eve of the global financial crisis, following a huge drop in litigation costs. RBS, saved a decade ago by the UK government in the world’s biggest banking bailout, posted a net profit of US$1.05 billion last year following nine straight annual losses, the Edinburgh-based lender said in a statement.
ENERGY
First Solar scores industry win
While most of the US solar industry has blasted US President Donald Trump for slapping tariffs on panel imports, one company still managed to score a quantifiable win. First Solar Inc on Thursday raised sales for this year to as much as US$2.65 billion from an estimate of as much as US$2.5 billion made in December last year, a statement on Thursday said. However, the boost to the sales outlook comes at the same time that First Solar got knocked with a US$408 million charge attributable to the tax overhaul Trump signed late last year.
AUTOMAKERS
Ford appoints new US head
A veteran executive who has led Ford Motor Co’s Lincoln luxury brand is now to head US operations, replacing an executive who was ousted this week over allegations of inappropriate behavior. Kumar Galhotra, 52, is to replace Raj Nair on Thursday next week, the company said. Ford said in a printed release that Galhotra is to lead all aspects of the North American business, the company’s primary source of revenue and profits. Galhotra has been with Ford for 29 years in a number of senior engineering and product strategy positions.
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
TECH PARTNERSHIP: The deal with Arizona-based Amkor would provide TSMC with advanced packing and test capacities, a requirement to serve US customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is collaborating with Amkor Technology Inc to provide local advanced packaging and test capacities in Arizona to address customer requirements for geographical flexibility in chip manufacturing. As part of the agreement, TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, would contract turnkey advanced packaging and test services from Amkor at their planned facility in Peoria, Arizona, a joint statement released yesterday said. TSMC would leverage these services to support its customers, particularly those using TSMC’s advanced wafer fabrication facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, it said. The companies would jointly define the specific packaging technologies, such as TSMC’s Integrated
An Indian factory producing iPhone components resumed work yesterday after a fire that halted production — the third blaze to disrupt Apple Inc’s local supply chain since the start of last year. Local industrial behemoth Tata Group’s plant in Tamil Nadu, which was shut down by the unexplained fire on Saturday, is a key linchpin of Apple’s nascent supply chain in the country. A spokesperson for subsidiary Tata Electronics Pvt yesterday said that the company would restart work in “many areas of the facility today.” “We’ve been working diligently since Saturday to support our team and to identify the cause of the fire,”
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