BANKING
ABN Amro misses estimates
ABN Amro Group NV missed fourth-quarter profit estimates on increased anti-money laundering costs and as an anticipated dividend increase failed to materialize. The Dutch lender kept its dividend at 1.45 euros for last year, the same as the year before, missing analyst estimates of 1.54 euros. Fourth-quarter net income was 316 million euros (US$357.7 million), including 85 million euros in pre-tax for additional costs of customer due diligence programs and elevated loan impairments. The CET 1 ratio declined to 18.4 percent from 18.6 percent in the previous quarter, maintaining one of the highest capital buffers in Europe. Net interest income fell to 1.64 billion euros from 1.7 billion euros a year earlier, as ABN Amro faced increased competitions from new players — mostly pension funds and insurers — in the mortgage market.
BEVERAGES
Heineken beats forecast
Heineken NV, the second-largest brewer in the world, reported full-year earnings that beat analysts’ estimates, helped by the fastest sales growth of its namesake brand in a decade. Adjusted operating profit on an organic basis rose 6.4 percent to 3.87 billion euros last year, beating the average analyst estimate of 3.84 billion euros. Full-year beer volume rose 4.2 percent, the Dutch company said. Analysts expected 4 percent growth. The rise of low and no-alcohol beers is increasing demand for Heineken 0.0, helping the brewer’s flagship brand boost volumes by 7.7 percent. Heineken reported that profit growth was partly due to running its business more efficiently as commodity expenses rise. The company has forecast a mid-single-digit percentage growth in operating profit this year as it tries to manage those costs.
AUTOMAKERS
Ghosn lawyers withdraw
Carlos Ghosn’s Japanese lawyers, hired after the former Nissan Motor Co chairman was sent to jail in November last year, have asked to be removed from the case, potentially hurting the executive’s defense against the financial misconduct allegations that have shocked the global auto industry. Ghosn has selected Junichiro Hironaka as his new lawyer, the Sankei reported, citing unidentified people. The previous lawyers, including Motonari Otsuru, have notified the court that they will no longer represent him as counsel, an e-mailed statement showed yesterday.
UNITED KINGDOM
Inflation slows to 1.9%
Cheaper gasoline and energy brought cheer to households last month as consumer prices likely rose at their slowest annual pace in two years, data showed yesterday. Inflation probably eased to 1.9 percent, below the Bank of England’s 2 percent target for the first time since January 2017. The figures were expected to provide policymakers with further reasons to refrain from increasing interest rates as Brexit uncertainty grips the economy.
RENEWABLES
India poses opportunity
India is presenting a potential investment opportunity of US$50 billion in battery storage facilities that could help integrate renewable energy into the grid, replace polluting diesel-fueled power and boosting electric mobility, US energy firm AES Corp chief executive Andres Gluski said. AES completed the nation’s first 10-megawatt battery-storage system to support the grid in the capital, New Delhi. Built in partnership with Mitsubishi Corp for almost US$9 million, the project would demonstrate the benefits of energy storage to clients, regulators and the government, Gluski said.
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
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,”
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
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