AVIATION
Airbus sees profit soar
Airbus SE more than doubled third-quarter profits as higher deliveries of its A350 wide-bodies swelled cash, outweighing production stumbles with other models. Earnings before interest, tax and one-time items climbed to 1.58 billion euros (US$1.8 billion), beating the 1.4 billion euros forecast of analysts. The company delivered 52 more jets than a year earlier and got a boost from a stronger US dollar, in which planes are priced. Airbus is still seeking to catch up on A320neo narrow-body deliveries after the program was held up by engine glitches. That has been compounded by internal industrial challenges, it said, so that meeting targeted handovers would be “a greater stretch.” The company stuck with its full-year delivery target of about 800 planes.
INTERNET
Baidu forecast disappoints
Baidu Inc (百度) predicted sales below analysts’ estimates as the Chinese search giant warned about a potential hit from regulatory changes, a slowing economy and the overhaul of its medical ads business. Revenue would be as high as 26.72 billion yuan (US$3.8 billion) in the fourth quarter, the Beijing-based company said on Tuesday. Baidu said the effect could last for the next few quarters as it ramps up spending on video content. While Baidu dominates desktop search in China, questions hang over the ad outlook as businesses adopt a more cautious approach to spending with US trade tensions escalating. Restrictions on video game licenses have forced many key customers to pull back advertising as they wait for permission to make money from their titles.
TELECOMS
Docomo to splurge on 5G
NTT Docomo Inc, Japan’s second-biggest mobile phone carrier by sales, plans to invest ￥1 trillion (US$8.8 billion) on infrastructure over five years for 5G services that allow faster data transmission. The carrier also increased planned investment this year by ￥10 billion for offering “pre-commercial” 5G services at limited locations, including airports, stadiums and Docomo premises, by September next year, the company said in a presentation yesterday, along with second-quarter earnings. The company also raised its estimate for capital spending this year to ￥590 billion, from a previous target of ￥570 billion.
BANKING
Standard seeks profitability
Standard Chartered PLC is working on a three-year plan to improve profitability after growth in Asia boosted the emerging markets lender’s income and has given it some breathing space for the next few months. Operating expenses, which have been a key concern for investors, fell by 1 percent in the third quarter and were below estimates. The bank also said yesterday that it would present its strategy in February next year to improve “financial returns” after its shares dropped by almost one-third this year.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Sanofi boosts outlook
Sanofi is moving in the right direction, modestly boosting its outlook for this year after reporting its first increase in quarterly earnings in more than a year. Earnings per share would rise 4 to 5 percent this year. The low end of the range is 1 percentage point higher than Sanofi’s previous forecast. Sanofi’s third-quarter earnings — the first gain since the second quarter of last year — beat analysts’ estimates.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure
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