AVIATION
Boeing sells 110 planes
Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways and VietJet Aviation JSC have signed deals to buy 110 aircraft from Boeing Co during US President Donald Trump’s visit to Hanoi for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Bamboo agreed to purchase 10 787-9 Dreamliners for about US$3 billion, while VietJet’s order is for 100 737 Max planes valued at US$12.7 billion, Boeing said yesterday. However, VietJet’s 100-plane commitment was announced at the Farnborough Air Show in England last year. The agreements were signed in the presence of Trump and Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong. Vietnam’s airlines are expanding their fleets as the region’s growing economies are spurring many to fly for the first time. Demand is also expected to climb after US regulators last month approved the nation’s air-safety system, making its airlines eligible to begin direct flights to the US.
RESTAURANTS
Papa John’s sales decline
Papa John’s closed out a tough year on a weak note, but says it expects improvement this year. The Louisville, Kentucky-based pizza chain on Tuesday said that sales at established locations in North America dropped 8 percent in the fourth quarter last year compared with the same period the previous year. International same-store sales were down 3 percent. Papa John’s lost US$14 million, or US$0.44 per share, in the fourth quarter. Excluding one-time items, the company earned US$0.15 per share. Analysts had expected US$0.17. Papa John’s said its fourth-quarter revenue fell 20 percent to US$374 million.
EQUITIES
Emerging markets riskier
Investors who put their money in emerging-market equities back in 1900 have failed to match the returns of their counterparts in advanced economies, according to a Credit Suisse-backed study by London Business School. One US dollar invested in developed markets in 1900 was worth US$11,821 by last year, compared with just US$3,745 in emerging markets. Investors can blame World War II and the Chinese revolution. From 1945 to 1949 equities lost 98 percent of their value in Japan, which was not classified as a developed market until 1967, while their counterparts in China were all but wiped out financially by the Chinese Communist Party’s victory in 1949. It is a different story since 1950, though, as emerging markets have generated annual returns of 11.7 percent, compared with 10.5 percent for advanced economies.
AUTOMAKERS
Hyundai to invest US$40bn
Hyundai Motor Co joined automakers pledging massive spending in the years ahead to address the industry’s transformation and fend off new competition from the likes of Tesla Inc. The South Korean maker of Sonata sedans and Tucson SUVs plans to invest 45.3 trillion won (US$40 billion) in the next five years in development of electric and autonomous vehicles, as well as transportation services. The average annual spending would be 58 percent more than over the past five years, the firm said.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Mylan shares fall 9.2%
Shares of Mylan NV, one of the world’s biggest makers of generic drugs, fell in late trading on Tuesday after it forecast declining earnings this year and said that its North American sales slowed in the fourth quarter last year. The company sees adjusted earnings per share for the year of US$3.80 to US$4.80, below the US$5.02 average of Wall Street estimates. Mylan shares fell 9.2 percent.
DIVIDED VIEWS: Although the Fed agreed on holding rates steady, some officials see no rate cuts for this year, while 10 policymakers foresee two or more cuts There are a lot of unknowns about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, but US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at least one thing seems certain: Higher prices are coming. Fed policymakers voted unanimously to hold interest rates steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, as they await clarity on whether tariffs would leave a one-time or more lasting mark on inflation. Powell said it is still unclear how much of the bill would fall on the shoulders of consumers, but he expects to learn more about tariffs
NOT JUSTIFIED: The bank’s governor said there would only be a rate cut if inflation falls below 1.5% and economic conditions deteriorate, which have not been detected The central bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive quarter, aligning with market expectations, while slightly lowering its inflation outlook amid signs of cooling price pressures. The move came after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut borrowing costs. Central bank board members unanimously voted to maintain the discount rate at 2 percent, the secured loan rate at 2.375 percent and the overnight lending rate at 4.25 percent. “We consider the policy decision appropriate, although it suggests tightening leaning after factoring in slackening inflation and stable GDP growth,”
Meta Platforms Inc offered US$100 million bonuses to OpenAI employees in an unsuccessful bid to poach the ChatGPT maker’s talent and strengthen its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) teams, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said. Facebook’s parent company — a competitor of OpenAI — also offered “giant” annual salaries exceeding US$100 million to OpenAI staffers, Altman said in an interview on the Uncapped with Jack Altman podcast released on Tuesday. “It is crazy,” Sam Altman told his brother Jack in the interview. “I’m really happy that at least so far none of our best people have decided to take them
PLANS: MSI is also planning to upgrade its service center in the Netherlands Micro-Star International Co (MSI, 微星) yesterday said it plans to set up a server assembly line at its Poland service center this year at the earliest. The computer and peripherals manufacturer expects that the new server assembly line would shorten transportation times in shipments to European countries, a company spokesperson told the Taipei Times by telephone. MSI manufactures motherboards, graphics cards, notebook computers, servers, optical storage devices and communication devices. The company operates plants in Taiwan and China, and runs a global network of service centers. The company is also considering upgrading its service center in the Netherlands into a
RSS