CURRENCIES
Yuan falls to 11-year low
The yuan yesterday sank to an 11-year low against the greenback after US President Donald Trump threatened to block US companies from doing business with Beijing. The yuan yesterday declined to 7.1468 to the US dollar, its weakest rate since January 2008. Chinese leaders have promised to avoid “competitive devaluation” to hold down export prices in the face of Trump’s tariff hikes. However, regulators are trying to make the state-controlled exchange more market oriented, and investor jitters about the tariff war are pushing the yuan lower.
INVESTMENTS
Brexit benefits Netherlands
Nearly 100 companies have relocated from Britain to the Netherlands or set up offices there to be within the EU due to the UK’s planned departure from the bloc, a Dutch government agency said yesterday. Another 325 companies worried about losing access to the European market are considering a move, the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency said. The businesses are in finance, information technology, media, advertising, life sciences and health, the agency said. The Netherlands has been competing with Germany, France, Belgium and Ireland to attract Brexit-related moves.
PROPERTY
Vonovia sees rent cap effect
Vonovia SE expects a rent cap proposed by the Berlin city government would cut revenue next year by as much as 25 million euros (US$28 million), or about 10 percent of its rental income in the German capital. Germany’s biggest landlord, which confirmed its guidance for this year, said it plans to redirect cash earmarked for modernization of its Berlin properties to other regions and that it remains convinced that the planned rental legislation is unconstitutional. Under the plan, expected to take effect in January, tenants living in houses built before 2014 should pay no more than 7.97 euros a square meter, Berliner Morgenpost newspaper reported on Sunday. The measure will likely “exacerbate the problem of insufficient supply of new housing” and “prevent much needed investments in energy efficiency,” Vonovia said.
STEEL
India to see slower growth
Demand for steel in India could grow at the slowest pace in three years as an economic slowdown in the global industry’s bright spot deepens. Steel consumption is likely to increase by less than 6 percent this fiscal year, said ICRA Ltd, the local arm of Moody’s Investors Service. That would make it the slowest pace since a 3.1 percent increase in the year ended March 2017. “Our earlier view was that demand should grow at 6 to 7 percent,” ICRA senior vice president Jayanta Roy said in an interview. “A growth of 7 percent would be out of line with the current situation now and even 6 percent in today’s environment would be optimistic.”
ENERGY
Shell appeals tax verdict
Royal Dutch Shell PLC is appealing a decision by the Australian Taxation Office that has left the company with a bill estimated at A$755 million (US$510 million), the Guardian reported. The office has been battling with Shell’s local subsidiary for six years regarding the tax treatment of its stake in the Browse gas project off the nation’s northwest coast, the newspaper reported, citing court documents. The bill relates to a dispute over A$2.2 billion in tax deductions for the project, the newspaper said. Shell said it is engaging with the office over its 2012 acquisition of interests in the Browse project.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
CUSTOMERS’ BURDEN: TSMC already has operations in the US and is a foundry, so any tariff increase would mostly affect US customers, not the company, the minister said Taiwanese manufacturers are “not afraid” of US tariffs, but are concerned about being affected more heavily than regional economic competitors Japan and South Korea, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said. “Taiwan has many advantages that other countries do not have, the most notable of which is its semiconductor ecosystem,” Kuo said. The US “must rely on Taiwan” to boost its microchip manufacturing capacities, Kuo said in an interview ahead of his one-year anniversary in office tomorrow. Taiwan has submitted a position paper under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act to explain the “complementary relationship” between Taiwan and the US
Pegatron Corp (和碩), an iPhone assembler for Apple Inc, is to spend NT$5.64 billion (US$186.82 million) to acquire HTC Corp’s (宏達電) factories in Taoyuan and invest NT$578.57 million in its India subsidiary to expand manufacturing capacity, after its board approved the plans on Wednesday. The Taoyuan factories would expand production of consumer electronics, and communication and computing devices, while the India investment would boost production of communications devices and possibly automotive electronics later, a Pegatron official told the Taipei Times by telephone yesterday. Pegatron expects to complete the Taoyuan factory transaction in the third quarter, said the official, who declined to be
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