Thu, Oct 31, 2019 page10

• World Business Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  EUROZONE

  Lagarde criticizes members

  Bloc members running budgetary surpluses, such as Germany, have failed to make enough effort to increase spending, incoming European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said yesterday. Although member countries had coordinated well their fiscal policies to save the bloc during their sovereign debt crisis, since then “the countries which have budgetary space have not really made the necessary efforts, countries like the Netherlands and Germany, a few others in the world” to help the slowing global economy, she told France’s RTL radio.

  BANKING

  Lender beats forecast

  Standard Chartered PLC beat expectations to record a 16 percent jump in pre-tax profit in the third quarter of this year and yesterday said that revenue rose in Hong Kong, despite months of protests in its major market. The lender said it earned US$1.24 billion before tax in the July-to-September period, against forecasts for a drop, although chief executive Bill Winters warned of “a challenging external environment.” Net profit came in at US$772 million, slightly up from US$752 million in the same quarter last year, while revenue jumped 7 percent in the period. The bank posted an 8.6 percent return on tangible equity, a key profit target, but said it hoped to increase that to 10 percent by 2021.

  FOOD

  Nestle mulls China units sale

  Nestle SA is weighing options including a sale of two ailing Chinese units after years of attempting to turn them around, people familiar with the matter said. The food giant has been reviewing its ownership of Hsu Fu Chi International Ltd (徐福記國際集團), a local confectionery brand, and Yinlu Foods Group (銀鷺食品集團), known for its ready-made porridge, the people said. It is seeking more than US$1 billion for its controlling stakes in the two companies, they said. The two labels could fetch about 1.5 billion francs (US$1.5 billion), MainFirst analyst Alain Oberhuber said in a note, adding that there is a “high probability” they would be divested next year.

  SEMICONDUCTORS

  AMD forecast meets estimates

  Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) on Tuesday gave a quarterly sales forecast that was in line with analysts’ estimates, suggesting the No. 2 maker of computer processors is gaining ground on Intel Corp. Revenue this period would be about US$2.1 billion, plus or minus US$50 million, Santa Clara, California-based AMD said in a statement. Third-quarter net income rose to US$120 million, or US$0.11 a share, compared with US$102 million, or US$0.09, a year earlier. Revenue in the period was US$1.8 billion, up 9 percent from the same period a year earlier, while gross margin widened to 43 percent in the third quarter.

  AUTOMAKERS

  Tesla US revenue down 39%

  Tesla Inc’s third-quarter revenue tumbled 39 percent in the US, its first drop in more than two years, but sales in China and other regions surged, the electric-vehicle maker’s breakdown of sales by geography showed on Tuesday. US sales, which account for the biggest share of the company’s total revenue, fell to US$3.13 billion from US$5.13 billion a year earlier. Sales in China rose 64 percent to US$669 million and its other segment, which covers the rest of the world, rose by more than US$1 billion to US$1.83 billion, a regulatory filing showed.

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