AUTOMAKERS
Renault revenue could drop
Renault SA warned that revenue might decline this year, scrapping a previous goal, after first-half profit was hit by weakening vehicle demand and an earnings collapse at alliance partner Nissan Motor Co in the wake of the scandal over former chairmam Carlos Ghosn. Net income slumped by more than half to 970 million euros (US$1.08 billion) in the January-to-June period, as revenue fell 6.4 percent to 28.05 billion, the French automaker said yesterday. Operating profit also dropped 13.6 percent to 1.654 billion euros. A broad-based downturn has rattled the sector, prompting profit warnings and compounding challenges for Renault and Nissan as they struggle to turn the page on the Ghosn era. Renault’s bottom line was hit by an 826 million euro drop in earnings from its 43.4 percent-owned alliance partner.
NORTH KOREA
GDP contracts 4.1 percent
North Korea’s economy shrank for a second straight year last year, and by the most in 21 years, as it was battered by international sanctions aimed at stopping its nuclear program and by drought, South Korea’s central bank said on Friday. North Korea’s GDP contracted by 4.1 percent last year in real terms, the worst since 1997 and the second consecutive year of decline after a 3.5 percent fall in 2017, the South’s Bank of Korea estimated. North Korea does not disclose any statistics on its economy. The South Korean central bank has been publishing its estimates since 1991, based on information from various sources, including the South’s foreign trading agencies. North Korea’s international trade fell 48.4 percent in value in last year as toughened international sanctions cut exports by nearly 90 percent.
TELECOMS
Vodafone plans separation
Vodafone Group PLC plans to carve out its phone towers into a new business and consider an initial public offering or minority stake sale to lower debt. The shares rose as much as 8.5 percent in early London trading after the carrier announced plans to separate Europe’s largest towers portfolio by May next year. The business is to consist of 61,700 masts in 10 countries, Vodafone said in a statement alongside financial results that beat expectations. Telecom infrastructure businesses that are separate from their phone-carrier customers command richer valuations, because they have steady income streams that are insulated from the underlying consumer.
CHEMICALS
Judge cuts Roundup payout
A California judge on Thursday reduced a US$2 billion jury verdict, slashing the award for a couple who blamed Bayer AG’s glyphosate-based weed killer Roundup for their cancer to US$86.7 million. Superior Court Judge Winifred Smith of the California Superior Court in Oakland said that the jury’s punitive damages awards were excessive and unconstitutional, but rejected Bayer’s request to strike the punitive award outright. Under Smith’s final order, California couple Alva and Alberta Pilliod would receive about US$17 million in compensatory and US$69 million in punitive damages, down from US$55 million and US$2 billion, respectively. The plaintiffs still have to formally accept the reduced award. Bayer said in a statement that Smith’s decision to slash the award was a step in the right direction, but added it would file an appeal.
Anna Bhobho, a 31-year-old housewife from rural Zimbabwe, was once a silent observer in her home, excluded from financial and family decisionmaking in the deeply patriarchal society. Today, she is a driver of change in her village, thanks to an electric tricycle she owns. In many parts of rural sub-Saharan Africa, women have long been excluded from mainstream economic activities such as operating public transportation. However, three-wheelers powered by green energy are reversing that trend, offering financial opportunities and a newfound sense of importance. “My husband now looks up to me to take care of a large chunk of expenses,
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
NEXT GENERATION: The company also showcased automated machines, including a nursing robot called Nurabot, which is to enter service at a Taichung hospital this year Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) expects server revenue to exceed its iPhone revenue within two years, with the possibility of achieving this goal as early as this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said on Tuesday at Nvidia Corp’s annual technology conference in San Jose, California. AI would be the primary focus this year for the company, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), as rapidly advancing AI applications are driving up demand for AI servers, Liu said. The production and shipment of Nvidia’s GB200 chips and the anticipated launch of GB300 chips in the second half of the year would propel
‘MAKE OR BREAK’: Nvidia shares remain down more than 9 percent, but investors are hoping CEO Jensen Huang’s speech can stave off fears that the sales boom is peaking Shares in Nvidia Corp’s Taiwanese suppliers mostly closed higher yesterday on hopes that the US artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer would showcase next-generation technologies at its annual AI conference slated to open later in the day. The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in California is to feature developers, engineers, researchers, inventors and information technology professionals, and would focus on AI, computer graphics, data science, machine learning and autonomous machines. The event comes at a make-or-break moment for the firm, as it heads into the next few quarters, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) keynote speech today seen as having the ability to
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