AUTOMAKERS
Nissan head stays in custody
Nissan Motor Co chairman Carlos Ghosn is to be held in custody for another 10 days, Japanese media reported. Ghosn was arrested earlier this week on suspicion of falsifying income reports by millions of US dollars and misusing company assets for personal gain. Kyodo News yesterday reported that another Nissan executive, Greg Kelly, would also be detained for another 10 days.
FINANCE
Sell-off ‘not surprising’
Tighter monetary conditions worldwide and political discord mean Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman is not surprised there is an ongoing market sell-off. “It’s not surprising the markets have been anxious; it’s not surprising you’re seeing some correction,” Gorman said in an interview on Tuesday. “It’s not 2008, it’s not the dot-com bubble burst of 2000.” There are limitations to what monetary authorities can do given their shrinking balance sheets and there is a lot of political turmoil, he said.
INDUSTRY
Thyssenkrupp profits tumble
German industrial conglomerate Thyssenkrupp AG yesterday reported a sharp fall in annual profits after months of boardroom turmoil and a cartel probe, as it prepares to tackle a massive restructuring. The group reported net profit of 60 million euros (US$68.43 million) for its 2017-2018 financial year to September, down 78 percent after taking into account the sell-off of its Americas steel business. Sales rose 3 percent to 42.7 billion euros.
E-COMMERCE
Shopee drags Sea’s profits
Sea Ltd, operator of Southeast Asia’s biggest gaming platform, reported a wider third-quarter loss on rising investments at e-commerce unit Shopee. Net losses increased to US$218 million in the three months ending on Sept. 30 from US$132.8 million during the period a year earlier, the company said. Total revenue rose to US$204.9 million from US$94.1 million year-on-year. Sea has been struggling to keep its footing since going public in October last year.
E-COMMERCE
Tokopedia raising US$1bn
PT Tokopedia, Indonesia’s largest online marketplace, is raising US$1 billion from existing investors, people familiar with the matter said. The firm is valued at about US$7 billion after the round, the people said. That would make it the most valuable start-up in Indonesia, CB Insights said. While it was not clear if the backing comes from SoftBank Group Corp or its Vision Fund, the Tokyo-based company transferred prior holdings in Tokopedia to the fund earlier this year.
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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