LABOR
Google settles suit
Alphabet Inc’s Google has reached a settlement for an undisclosed amount with Chelsey Glasson, who said she faced discrimination by the search giant after she became pregnant. Glasson sued Google in 2020 after repeated efforts to report pregnancy discrimination were ignored, she said in October last year. She estimated that her legal fight would cost more than US$100,000 and take a heavy toll on her mental health. Glasson said that her experience at Google left her with insomnia, panic attacks and heart palpitations. Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Glasson confirmed the settlement, but did not provide details.
JAPAN
PM touts ‘new capitalism’
The benefits of growth should not belong to a limited group, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said yesterday, as he faced questions in parliament over policies that some say are negative for stock prices. “Capitalism isn’t sustainable unless it is something that belongs to all stakeholders,” Kishida said of his “new capitalism” policies. “From that point of view, it’s important to accept that the fruits of growth are flowing to shareholders and to think about that situation.” While the full details of Kishida’s economic policy program have yet to be unveiled, he has talked of a shift away from shareholder-focused capitalism and a bid to expand the middle classes.
REAL ESTATE
Colliers sees expansion
Colliers International Group Inc expects more real-estate investment trusts (REITs) to be formed in India’s nascent market following the robust performance of their listed peers in the country. “We expect a lot more REITs to happen over the next one year, given that all REITs have done well in spite of uncertainties,” Ramesh Nair, chief executive officer for the property consultancy firm’s Indian operations, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “Going forward, there would also be industrial and retail REITs, while office REITs will continue.”
LOGISTICS
GXO nears Clipper buyout
GXO Logistics Inc reached a preliminary agreement to buy Clipper Logistics PLC for about ￡943 million (US$1.29 billion) in a deal that would combine two global supply chain management giants. Greenwich, Connecticut-based GXO’s offer is valued at ￡9.20 per share for Clipper, with ￡6.90 in cash and the rest in new GXO shares, the companies said in a statement on Sunday. London-based Clipper said its board would unanimously recommend the offer to shareholders. Clipper handles logistics for many major European retailers including Asda Stores Ltd and ASOS PLC. GXO operates hundreds of warehouses globally.
METALS
Amplats plans payout
Anglo American Platinum Ltd (Amplats) is to pay out 80 billion rands (US$5.26 billion) in dividends after the world’s biggest platinum miner by market value reported bumper profit driven by surging metal prices and higher output, it said yesterday. The Johannesburg-based company’s dividend equates to 100 percent of headline earnings, it said in a statement. Amplats declared a second-half payout, including a special dividend, of 33 billion rands, or 125 rands per share, raising the full-year return to 80 billion rands. The payout beefs up the coffers of Anglo American PLC, which owns about 79 percent of Amplats — one of its most profitable units.
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
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
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure
RSS