MEDIA
Nielsen sells unit to Advent
Nielsen Holdings PLC has agreed to the sale of its Global Connect Unit, which provides research data to consumer goods companies, to private equity firm Advent International in a US$2.7 billion deal. Advent is to buy the unit in partnership with James Peck, the former chief executive officer of the credit reporting company TransUnion, according to a statement. Nielsen, best known for its television ratings that are used to determine advertising rates for TV commercials, said the sale of its Connect business would help it focus on the media arm. The sale would also help Nielsen reduce debt, it added.
VEHICLES
Japanese sales rise 31.6%
Japan’s auto sales surged last month, rising at the fastest pace in more than eight years as the economy continued to bounce back in the fourth quarter from a record economic contraction. Vehicle sales rose 31.6 percent from a year earlier, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said yesterday. “Auto sales are showing a stronger pickup than expected,” said Taro Saito, head of economic research at NLI Research Institute. “Automakers are back in production and many Japanese households have extra money to spend thanks to the government’s cash handouts.”
INVESTMENTS
Fund settles climate lawsuit
A US$41 billion pension fund being sued in Australia for failing to properly account for climate change in its investments has settled the lawsuit ahead of a three-day hearing yesterday. The Federal Court in Sydney was adjourned after Retail Employees Superannuation Trust and Mark McVeigh, a 25-year-old fund member who brought the action, reached a settlement. Details of the agreement were not revealed in court. McVeigh brought the case in 2018 claiming Rest was not doing enough to protect his retirement savings against the impact of rising world temperatures.
HEALTH
Siemens upbeat on growth
Siemens Healthineers AG is targeting adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of between 1.58 euros and 1.72 euros (US$1.84 and US$2) in the current fiscal year and comparable sales growth of as much as 8 percent as new restrictions across Europe to fight the COVID-19 pandemic stoke recession fears. The outlook is based on the assumption that the pandemic could be brought under control, the German maker of hospital scanners said in a statement yesterday. Fourth-quarter adjusted EPS fell 11 percent to 0.48 euros in the fiscal year that started on Oct. 1. Revenue fell 2 percent in the fourth quarter due to slight declines in the Imaging and Diagnostics operations, and a more pronounced decrease in Advanced Therapies.
RETAIL
Ocado raises profit forecast
Ocado Group PLC raised its profit forecast as the COVID-19 pandemic boosts demand for online groceries, and agreed to buy two robotics companies for about US$287 million. The company said it expects full-year earnings to exceed ￡60 million (US$77 million) before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). The previous target was for EBITDA of more than ￡40 million. Ocado said its joint venture with Marks & Spencer Group PLC has had strong sales, and the company said it is buying Kindred Systems Inc for US$262 million and Haddington Dynamics Inc for US$25 million to add more robotics technology for its warehouses.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
Popular vape brands such as Geek Bar might get more expensive in the US — if you can find them at all. Shipments of vapes from China to the US ground to a near halt last month from a year ago, official data showed, hit by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and a crackdown on unauthorized e-cigarettes in the world’s biggest market for smoking alternatives. That includes Geek Bar, a brand of flavored vapes that is not authorized to sell in the US, but which had been widely available due to porous import controls. One retailer, who asked not to be named, because
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
MINERAL DIPLOMACY: The Chinese commerce ministry said it approved applications for the export of rare earths in a move that could help ease US-China trade tensions Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) is today to meet a US delegation for talks in the UK, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He is to visit the UK from yesterday to Friday at the invitation of the British government, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He and US representatives are to cochair the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, it said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a new round of trade talks with China would start in London beginning today,
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