MALAYSIA
Incentives to be raised
The government yesterday said that it would expand tax incentives for companies that use the country as a base for conducting their regional or global business. Effective this year, companies eligible for the government’s Principal Hub incentive would be subjected to a 10 percent tax rate for their operations instead of the wider corporate tax rate of 24 percent.
JAPAN
Household spending up 1%
Households in August increased spending for a ninth month without splurging ahead of a sales tax hike that took effect this month, suggesting the boom-and-bust consumption pattern that accompanied previous tax increases might not materialize this time. Household spending rose 1 percent from a year earlier, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications data showed yesterday, matching the median forecast of economists. Separate figures showed that wages fell for a seventh month this year, offering little hope that higher pay might fuel consumption over the coming months.
RETAIL
Two firms drop e-cigarettes
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc and Kroger Co are to stop selling electronic cigarettes, making them the latest retailers to take action in the wake of the outbreak of vaping-related lung injuries in the US. “We have made the decision to stop selling e-cigarette products at our stores nationwide,” a Walgreens spokesman said on Monday. The drugstore chain, which operates thousands of locations around the country, would still sell regular cigarettes. Kroger said earlier that it too would halt the sale of all electronic nicotine-delivery products, citing mounting health questions.
TELECOMS
Cellnex buying Arqiva towers
Cellnex Telecom SA is buying Arqiva’s UK telecommunication towers for ￡2 billion (US$2.5 billion) and selling new shares to help the fast-growing Spanish infrastructure company pursue more deals. Cellnex would acquire 7,400 mobile towers that privately held Arqiva is carving out from its broadcasting mast business. The deal includes commercial rights over a further 900 tower sites, and concessions to use London street infrastructure as locations for mobile equipment, Cellnex said in a statement.
COSMETICS
Shiseido agrees to buy firm
Shiseido Co agreed to buy skincare brand Drunk Elephant Holdings LLC for US$845 million as the Japanese beauty company seeks to appeal to younger consumers in the US. The deal for Drunk Elephant would not have a significant effect on full-year earnings, Shiseido said in a statement yesterday. It would be financed with a combination of cash and credit, and is expected to close by the end of the year, it said.
AUDIO
B&O fires chief executive
Bang & Olufsen A/S (B&O) replaced its chief executive officer as the Danish maker of luxury audio systems grew impatient with the slow pace of the company’s turnaround. B&O named Kristian Tear, 55, as its new chief executive officer with immediate effect. He replaces Henrik Clausen, who would be “at the company’s disposal in the short term,” according to a statement. The company earlier this month reported a second consecutive quarterly loss, missing analyst estimates, as sales declined 30 percent.
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to remain Apple Inc’s primary chip manufacturing partner despite reports that Apple could shift some orders to Intel Corp, industry experts said yesterday. The comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary agreement following more than a year of negotiations for Intel to manufacture some chips for Apple devices. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) economist Arisa Liu (劉佩真) said TSMC’s advanced packaging technologies, including integrated fan-out and chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, remain critical to the performance of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips. She said Intel and Samsung
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has approved a capital budget of US$31.28 billion for production expansion to meet long-term development needs during the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The company’s board meeting yesterday approved the capital appropriation plan for purposes such as the installation of advanced technology capacity and fab construction, the world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement. At an earnings conference last month, TSMC forecast that its capital expenditure for this year would be at the higher end of the US$52 billion to US$56 billion range it forecast in January in response to robust demand for 5G, AI and
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