UNITED STATES
Hiring hits seven-year low
A measure of hiring by US companies has fallen to a seven-year low and fewer employers are raising pay, a business survey found. Just one-fifth of the economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics said that their companies have added to their workforces over the past three months. That is down from one-third in July. Job totals were unchanged at 69 percent of companies, up from 57 percent in July. The survey also found that 43 percent of companies reported shortages of skilled workers, although that figure has declined for three straight surveys.
UNITED KINGDOM
Big Four boost market share
The so-called “Big Four” accounting giants have strengthened their grip and now audit all of the companies listed on London’s FTSE 100 shares index, the Financial Reporting Council watchdog said in a statement on Monday. Last year, the country’s four largest players — Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd, Ernst & Young Global, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers — advised and monitored all of the top 100 listed businesses, up from 99 in 2017, the council said.
FOOD AND BEVERAGE
Beyond Meat eyes big sales
Beyond Meat Inc is facing a growing field of competitors, but on Monday it raised its sales forecast for the year, citing its leading role in a new wave of vegetarian products intended to more closely mimic meat. For the three months ending on Sept. 28, the California-based company’s sales more than tripled year-on-year to US$92 million, while net income reached US$4.1 million, marking its first quarterly profit. The company, which went public in May, said that it expects revenue of US$265 million to US$275 million for the year. It previously forecast sales of more than US$240 million.
AVIATION
ANA profit revised downward
ANA Holdings Inc on Tuesday cut its full-year operating income guidance by 15 percent, citing a decline in cargo demand stemming from US-China trade issues, a slowdown in business demand and intensifying competition in the budget sector. Japan’s largest airline by revenue reported operating income of ￥78.8 billion (US$723.54 million) for the six months that ended on Sept. 30, down 25 percent from a year earlier. It lowered its full-year operating income forecast to ￥140 billion, from ￥165 billion previously.
SECURITIES
Nomura rebounds in Q3
Nomura Holdings Inc posted a profit for a third straight quarter as trading revenue made up for a slump in the domestic retail business. Net income was ￥138.6 billion in the three months ending on Sept. 30, compared with a ￥11.2 billion loss a year earlier, Japan’s biggest brokerage reported yesterday. A one-time, ￥73.3 billion boost from the sale of a stake in the firm’s Nomura Research Institute Ltd affiliate buoyed the results.
ELECTRONICS
Apple launches AirPods Pro
Apple Inc on Monday launched Apple AirPods Pro, an upgraded version of its premium wireless earphones with a noise cancelation feature. Priced at US$249, the earphones are to start shipping today, Apple said, adding that the new AirPods are also sweat and water resistant. The company is doubling down on its wearables and services units to increase revenue, as it has faced slowing iPhone sales over the past few quarters.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
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