FASHION
Inditex profit plunges 70%
Zara owner Inditex SA yesterday reported that its net profit fell 70 percent last year to 1.1 billion euros (US$1.31 billion), after a year of global lockdowns and dampened demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Fourth-quarter net profit fell 53 percent to 435 million euros out of sales of 6.3 billion euros as restrictions on shopping came back into force across much of Europe around Christmas, the company said. About 15 percent of its shops worldwide were still closed due to COVID-19 restrictions as of Monday, Inditex said in a statement. The Spanish fast fashion retailer, which operates 6,829 stores worldwide, said that total sales were down 28 percent last year to 20.4 billion euros.
SPORTSWEAR
Adidas profit nosedives 78%
German sportswear group Adidas AG yesterday said that its net profit dived 78 percent last year after being pummeled by the COVID-19 pandemic, but forecast a sharp rebound ahead. The Bavaria-based company, which is trying to sell its struggling US subsidiary Reebok, reported that its net profit fell to 432 million euros last year from 1.97 billion euros in 2019. It also saw sales drop 16 percent to 19.8 billion euros. Sales of the flagship Adidas brand sunk by 13 percent last year, while Reebok sales dropped 16 percent, Adidas said in a statement. The company expects sales to grow 15 to 20 percent this year, with even higher gains expected in China, the Asia-Pacific and Latin America.
CHINA
Producer prices rise 1.7%
The producer price index (PPI), which measures the cost of goods at the factory gate, rose 1.7 percent last month, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed, exceeding analysts’ expectations. The PPI had risen for the first time in a year in January, and last month’s rate was the fastest since November 2018. Consumer prices fell 0.2 percent last month, slightly less than analysts expected, dragged partly by food prices. Pork prices were 14.9 percent lower than in the same period last year, when the cost of the staple meat soared after China’s herds were ravaged by African swine fever.
STEEL
Tsingshan eyes Zimbabwe
China’s Tsingshan Holding Group Co (青山控股) is set to start developing an iron ore mine and a carbon steel plant in Zimbabwe from May, the African nation’s Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services said late on Tuesday, three years after the firm first announced the investment deal. Tsingshan signed a US$1 billion outline agreement with Zimbabwe in June 2018 to build a 2 million tonne per annum steel plant and has been carrying out exploration and seeking more mineral concessions. The Chinese company already produces ferrochrome, which is to also be used in the production of steel.
GAMING
Roblox debuts on NYSE
Gaming platform Roblox Corp, which has skyrocketed in popularity among children and teenagers during the COVID-19 pandemic, was to make its Wall Street debut yesterday as a direct listing. The company planned to sell nearly 199 million shares, which are listed under the symbol RBLX on the New York Stock Exchange. The exchange on Tuesday set a reference price of US$45 per share, although the real price would depend on demand. Roblox was valued at US$29.5 billion at a fundraising round in late January.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer specializing in server chips, expects revenue to decline this year due to sagging demand for 5-nanometer artificial intelligence (AI) chips from a North America-based major customer, a company executive said yesterday. That would be the first contraction in revenue for Alchip as it has been enjoying strong revenue growth over the past few years, benefiting from cloud-service providers’ moves to reduce dependence on Nvidia Corp’s expensive AI chips by building their own AI accelerator by outsourcing chip design. The 5-nanometer chip was supposed to be a new growth engine as the lifecycle
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