GERMANY
Industrial production sags
Industrial production in Germany fell back in December, official data showed yesterday, in the latest of a series of signs pointing to slowdown in Europe’s largest economy. Output fell 0.4 percent month-on-month, federal statistics authority Destatis said in figures adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects — well short of a 0.9 percent rebound forecast by analysts. Looking to different areas of manufacturing, only capital goods makers increased production, with a boost of 0.9 percent.
SWITZERLAND
Rate hike this year unlikely
The Swiss National Bank is not likely to move interest rates off their current record low until next year as a result of the deteriorating economic environment in Europe, UBS Group AG said. Switzerland’s central bank is forecast to raise its deposit rate of minus 0.75 percent only in March 2020, according to the lender, whose previous forecast had been for a first increase late this year. Policy rates will not return to positive territory before 2021, it also said.
TRAVEL
Thomas Cook may sell airline
Thomas Cook Group PLC said yesterday it was willing to sell its airline business to raise cash and help it recover from a rough last year and weaker demand this year. The world’s oldest travel company said it was launching a strategic review as it needed more resources and financial flexibility after two profit warnings in quick succession late last year. “We are at an early stage in this review process which will consider all options to enhance value to shareholders and intensify our strategic focus,” chief executive Peter Fankhauser said.
AVIATION
Norwegian cuts forecast
Norwegian Air has cut its expected capacity growth for this year to just 9 percent from 15-20 percent seen previously as it seeks to preserve cash and prioritize profits over growth, it said yesterday while reporting a fourth-quarter loss. Europe’s third-largest budget carrier by passenger numbers, which on Wednesday postponed 16 aircraft deliveries from Boeing and Airbus, raised its capacity by 37 percent last year from 2017. The carrier’s fourth-quarter result plunged to a loss of 3 billion kroner (US$351 million) from a deficit of 713 million kroner a year ago.
AVIATION
Qantas cancels new A380s
Australian flag carrier Qantas Airways Ltd yesterday confirmed it would not take up eight Airbus A380s already ordered — the latest blow for the European airspace firm. In a statement, Sydney-based Qantas said it would focus instead on refurbishing its existing 12 Airbus super-jumbo planes. The carrier is expected to take delivery of six of Boeing’s rival Dreamliners sometime this year, and will continue to run A380s already in the fleet.
E-COMMERCE
Pinduoduo seeks US$1.5bn
China’s upstart e-commerce company Pinduoduo Inc (拼多多) and its shareholders filed to sell more than 50 million shares in a secondary offering that could raise about US$1.5 billion after the company’s public debut last year. The Shanghai-based company plans to sell 37 million American depository shares, while investors market 14.8 million, according to a securities filing. The lockup period for Pinduoduo’s shares expired last month and the selling shareholders include Banyan Partners, Sun Vantage Investment and Lightspeed China Partners (光速中國).
BANKING
NAB bosses quit in scandal
National Australia Bank (NAB) yesterday said its chief executive and chairman would resign after blistering criticism from the head of a major inquiry into financial-sector misconduct. Chief executive Andrew Thorburn and chairman Ken Henry are the first heads of one of Australia’s “Big Four” banks to lose their jobs in the fallout from the royal commission inquiry, which exposed widespread wrongdoing in the industry last year. The commission’s final report on Monday named the two as standing out from their peers by appearing unable to learn from their mistakes.
BRAZIL
Central bank plays it safe
Brazil’s central bank on Wednesday kept its key rate steady at a historically low 6.5 percent, showing caution as President Jair Bolsonaro’s government readied structural reforms meant to boost the economy. The decision adopted unanimously by the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee aligned with forecasts by most analysts. In a statement, the committee said that it has seen a “reduction of inflationary risks” since its last meeting in December.
UNITED STATES
US in a good place: Powell
US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell gave a brief but positive assessment of the economy at an event organized for educators. “The US economy is now in a good place,” Powell said on Wednesday evening in response to audience questions during a meeting with teachers at the central bank’s headquarters in Washington. “At the moment, unemployment is low, prices are near 2 percent inflation, so we’re in a good place now.”
AVIATION
EU airports growth slows
Growth in passenger numbers at European airports slowed last year and freight traffic decelerated sharply, airport association ACI Europe said on Wednesday, adding that uncertainty over the global economy and Brexit could hinder numbers this year too. Passenger growth in Europe slowed to 6.1 percent last year from 8.5 percent in 2017, which had been the quickest growth since 2004. Freight traffic declined much more sharply, from 8.4 percent growth in 2017 to 1.8 percent last year, with drops in traffic in November and December.
AUTOMAKERS
General Motors rebounds
General Motors Co posted an US$8.1 billion net profit for last year, fueled by better prices for vehicles sold in the US, a strong rebound from the previous year, when the company lost US$3.9 billion on a giant tax accounting charge. The company said on Wednesday that it made US$5.58 per share for the year. Without US$2.5 billion worth of special items largely due to restructuring, the profit was US$6.54, easily beating Wall Street expectations of US$6.29, according to a survey by FactSet. Full-year revenue rose 1 percent to US$147.05 billion, also beating estimates of just over US$145 billion.
BEVERAGES
Heat, soccer buoy Carlsberg
Danish brewer Carlsberg A/S says its full-year net profit soared to 5.31 billion kroner (US$811 million) last year, up from 1.26 billion kroner a year earlier, on strong beer sales across its major markets, boosted by unusually hot weather in western Europe and the soccer World Cup. The company said on Wednesday its revenue increased 3 percent to 62.5 billion kroner. The Copenhagen-based group said its operating profit outlook for this year was “mid-single-digit percentage organic growth.”
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,”
China’s economic planning agency yesterday outlined details of measures aimed at boosting the economy, but refrained from major spending initiatives. The piecemeal nature of the plans announced yesterday appeared to disappoint investors who were hoping for bolder moves, and the Shanghai Composite Index gave up a 10 percent initial gain as markets reopened after a weeklong holiday to end 4.59 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dived 9.41 percent. Chinese National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zheng Shanjie (鄭珊潔) said the government would frontload 100 billion yuan (US$14.2 billion) in spending from the government’s budget for next year in addition
Sales RecORD: Hon Hai’s consolidated sales rose by about 20 percent last quarter, while Largan, another Apple supplier, saw quarterly sales increase by 17 percent IPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Saturday reported its highest-ever quarterly sales for the third quarter on the back of solid global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) globally, said it posted NT$1.85 trillion (US$57.93 billion) in consolidated sales in the July-to-September quarter, up 19.46 percent from the previous quarter and up 20.15 percent from a year earlier. The figure beat the previous third-quarter high of NT$1.74 trillion recorded in 2022, company data showed. Due to rising demand for AI, Hon Hai said its cloud and networking division enjoyed strong sales
RSS