JAPAN
Yahoo to ban ivory sales
Yahoo Japan Corp plans to end the sale of ivory on the nation’s biggest online auction site, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said yesterday, finally joining competitors in a ban. Yahoo Japan is to end ivory trading, blamed by wildlife campaigners for perpetuating an illegal international black market, from Nov. 1, the sources said. They declined to be identified as the information is not public. Rival auction sites Rakuten Inc and Mercari Inc banned ivory sales two years ago.
TRANSPORTATION
Grab to expand in Vietnam
Ride-hailing giant Grab yesterday said that it would invest US$500 million over five years in Vietnam, the company’s latest expansion in a key Southeast Asian market. The Singapore-based firm, which operates in eight nations, has already invested more than US$200 million in Vietnam since entering the market in 2014. The investment would be used for new services in areas such as financial technology and logistics.
ENTERTAINMENT
Tencent Music falls on probe
Tencent Music Entertainment Group (騰訊音樂) yesterday fell the most in five months as China’s antitrust authority investigates exclusive licensing deals it forged with the world’s biggest record labels. The Chinese State Administration of Market Regulation, which launched the probe in January, is scrutinizing the Shenzhen-based company’s dealings with music labels, including Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group Corp. Shares of Tencent Music slid 6.8 percent in New York, marking their steepest drop since March 20.
BANKING
Japan profit ranking released
Morgan Stanley kept its position as the most profitable investment bank in Japan last year, as demand for overseas bonds from yield-hungry investors helped offset weakness in its trading business. Net income at Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities Co rose 8 percent to ￥21.3 billion (US$201.5 million) in the year that ended in March, the highest among 10 large global banks that filed annual financial reports in Japan. A jump in trading losses at Goldman Sachs Japan Co helped push the US bank into third place behind BNP Paribas Securities (Japan) Ltd.
AVIATION
Virgin cuts jobs, to review
Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd, the airline backed by China’s HNA Group Co (海航集團), yesterday announced 750 job cuts and a wide-ranging operational review after reporting a seventh consecutive annual loss. The shares fell to a decade-low. The job losses, which affect almost 8 percent of the airline’s total workforce, is to shrink corporate and head office staff, Virgin Australia said in a statement. It plans to review its fleet and routes, and would cut some international and domestic flights. All contracts with suppliers are also being reassessed.
MEXICO
Gas pipeline deal reached
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Tuesday said that his government has reached a deal with gas pipeline operators to settle a dispute over contracts signed under his predecessor, defusing a row that had spooked investors. The deal, reached with four companies based in the US, Canada and Mexico, would save the government US$4.5 billion, Lopez Obrador said.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
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
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