ITALY
Central bank defends actions
The Bank of Italy “positively” fulfilled its supervision duties and is ready to account for its actions on failing lender Banca Popolare di Bari, Bank of Italy Governor Ignazio Visco told the Corriere della Sera daily in an interview published yesterday. Prosecutors in the southern Italian town of Bari are investigating the former chairman of Popolare di Bari for alleged corruption in relation to the central bank’s supervisory activity over the failing local lender, a judicial source said on Sunday. Earlier this month, the central bank put Popolare di Bari, the biggest lender in the poorer south of the country, under special administration.
KUWAIT
Saudi oil deal possible
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia could reach an agreement by the end of this year to renew oil output in the shared neutral zone along their border, Kuwaiti Minister of Oil Khaled al-Fadhel said. The neutral zone, which has been shuttered for more than four years, can produce as much as 500,000 barrels a day. The zone’s Wafra and Khafji fields stopped pumping due to disputes between the two countries. “We hope that by the end of the year things will be cleared out and things will go back to normal,” al-Fadhel told reporters in Kuwait City on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries.
GERMANY
BASF to sell unit
Chemical giant BASF AG on Saturday said that it has agreed to sell its construction chemicals business for 3.17 billion euros (US$3.5 billion) to American private equity firm Lone Star. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of next year subject to the competition authority approval, BASF said in a statement. It said the deal would allow it to develop its full potential under Lone Star, which owns several companies in the construction equipment sector. The unit, which offers insulation products for the construction industry, has more than 7,000 employees, operates in more than 60 countries and generated sales of about 2.5 billion euros last year.
CYBERSECURITY
ARM courting bidders
UK chip designer ARM Holdings PLC is courting bidders for a loss-making cybersecurity joint venture, the Telegraph reported. The Trustonic Ltd venture, which ARM and its Dutch partner founded seven years ago, said in a regulatory filing that its owners decided “to make the business available for sale,” the newspaper said. ARM and its partner’s parent, Thales SA, declined to comment, the Telegraph said, adding that the venture’s documents suggest its last fundraising valued it at about ￡60 million (US$78 million). ARM chief executive officer Simon Segars is also considering a return to the public markets, the Telegraph said.
REAL ESTATE
Unizo backs takeover offer
Unizo Holdings Co backed a takeover offer made by its employees in partnership with Lone Star Group worth US$1.6 billion as the bidding war for the Japanese real-estate operator dragged on. The offer price of ￥5,100 (US$46.60) per common share is above the current market value as well as proposals made by other bidders, and is “best” for Unizo’s shareholders, the company said in a statement on Sunday. The board recommends the proposal, made as a tender offer through the Tokyo-based Chitocea Investment Co, to Unizo shareholders, the company said.
China’s economic planning agency yesterday outlined details of measures aimed at boosting the economy, but refrained from major spending initiatives. The piecemeal nature of the plans announced yesterday appeared to disappoint investors who were hoping for bolder moves, and the Shanghai Composite Index gave up a 10 percent initial gain as markets reopened after a weeklong holiday to end 4.59 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dived 9.41 percent. Chinese National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zheng Shanjie (鄭珊潔) said the government would frontload 100 billion yuan (US$14.2 billion) in spending from the government’s budget for next year in addition
Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) suffered its biggest stock decline in more than a month after the company unveiled new artificial intelligence (AI) chips, but did not provide hoped-for information on customers or financial performance. The stock slid 4 percent to US$164.18 on Thursday, the biggest single-day drop since Sept. 3. Shares of the company remain up 11 percent this year. AMD has emerged as the biggest contender to Nvidia Corp in the lucrative market of AI processors. The company’s latest chips would exceed some capabilities of its rival, AMD chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) said at an event hosted by
AVIATION: Despite production issues in the US, the Taoyuan-based airline expects to receive 24 passenger planes on schedule, while one freight plane is delayed The ongoing strike at Boeing Co has had only a minor impact on China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空), although the delivery of a new cargo jet might be postponed, CAL chairman Hsieh Su-chien (謝世謙) said on Saturday. The 24 Boeing 787-9 passenger aircraft on order would be delivered on schedule from next year to 2028, while one 777F freight aircraft would be delayed, Hsieh told reporters at a company event. Boeing, which announced a decision on Friday to cut 17,000 jobs — about one-tenth of its workforce — is facing a strike by 33,000 US west coast workers that has halted production
TECH JUGGERNAUT: TSMC shares have more than doubled since ChatGPT’s launch in late 2022, as demand for cutting-edge artificial intelligence chips remains high Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday posted a better-than-expected 39 percent rise in quarterly revenue, assuaging concerns that artificial intelligence (AI) hardware spending is beginning to taper off. The main chipmaker for Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc reported third-quarter sales of NT$759.69 billion (US$23.6 billion), compared with the average analyst projection of NT$748 billion. For last month alone, TSMC reported revenue jumped 39.6 percent year-on-year to NT$251.87 billion. Taiwan’s largest company is to disclose its full third-quarter earnings on Thursday next week and update its outlook. Hsinchu-based TSMC produces the cutting-edge chips needed to train AI. The company now makes more
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