RETAIL
M&S profit rises 2 percent
Marks & Spencer PLC (M&S) yesterday reported a 2 percent rise in first-half profit, but underlying sales declined in both clothing and food, hurt by disruption from its latest attempt at a turnaround after more than a decade of failed reinventions. M&S, one of the best known names in British retail, said it made a pretax profit before one-off items of ￡223.5 million (US$293.2 million) in the six months to Sept. 29 — ahead of analysts’ average forecast of ￡203 million and ￡219.1 million made in the same period last year. Clothing and home like-for-like sales fell 1.1 percent, while food sales slid 2.9 percent. Profit was up due to the phasing of its cost program.
TOURISM
Hanoi plans Formula One
Vietnam plans to host a Formula One race in 2020 in Hanoi as the government steps up efforts to boost tourism to be a major economic driver. The People’s Committee of Hanoi was to hold a briefing on the plan yesterday. The city plans to hold the race in April 2020 near its convention center, Thanh Nien newspaper reported. The government expects funding for the event, estimated to cost as much as US$200 million, to come from private companies. Vietnamese officials want to lure more overseas visitors to reduce the nation’s reliance on exports to power growth.
CONSTRUCTION
Persimmon boss quits
The boss of Persimmon PLC is to step down after Britain’s second-biggest housebuilder said controversy surrounding his multimillion-dollar bonus was a continuing distraction that had hit the company’s reputation. Chief executive Jeff Fairburn was the highest paid CEO last year, according to a survey, receiving ￡47.1 million, more than 20 times his pay in 2016, largely due to a long-term incentive plan dating back to 2012. Fairburn is to leave the company on Dec. 31 and is to be replaced on an interim basis by group managing director David Jenkinson while the board finds a permanent successor.
MATERIALS
Livent forecasts tight market
The lithium industry’s struggle to match booming demand for the rechargeable-battery ingredient is “problematic” and would further tighten the market, according to the only lithium pure-play trading in New York. “It’s almost impossible for me to see a meaningful decrease” in lithium prices,” Livent Corp CEO Paul Graves said in a telephone interview on Tuesday after the company presented quarterly earnings. Livent is also planning to expand operations at the Hombre Muerto salt flat in Argentina. The company has all the approvals it needs to start construction there, Graves said. Livent plans to ramp up its first 8,600 tonnes per year expansion in the second half of 2020 and will work toward three more expansions of similar size through 2024.
RESTAURANTS
Papa John sales surprise
Papa John’s International Inc rose in late trading on Tuesday after reporting a drop in North American franchisees’ same-store sales that was not quite as bad as analysts had been expecting. Systemwide same-store sales fell 9.8 percent, just beating industry expectations. Still, third-quarter revenue missed estimates and the pizza chain lowered the top end of its earnings outlook as it battles through scandal and steep competition. The chain has been fighting back with more ads and discounts, and executives said it would test more value offers in the fourth quarter.
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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