AIRLINES
TransNusa snubs Chinese jet
A new budget carrier meant to be the first international customer for China’s homegrown passenger jet is going with Airbus SE for its first plane, the carrier’s Web site said. Indonesian low-cost carrier PT TransNusa Aviation Mandiri might eventually have as many as six Airbus jets in its fleet, with a second due to arrive next month, a person familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Ltd (中國飛機租賃) — a shareholder of TransNusa — in January last year said that it would provide the Indonesian carrier with 30 ARJ21 single-aisle jets made by state-backed plane maker Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd (中國商用飛機), making the Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara-based airline the first outside China to fly the company’s planes.
AIRLINES
United looks to make profit
United Airlines Holdings Inc expects to be profitable this year, overcoming a first-quarter loss as people increasingly resume air travel. The carrier’s operating margin in the second quarter is to be about 10 percent, United said in a statement on Wednesday. Fueled by booming leisure sales heading into the summer and “rapidly returning” business travel, the performance would end a series of nine consecutive quarterly losses. “The demand environment is the strongest it’s been in my 30 years in the industry,” United CEO Scott Kirby said.
FOOD
Price hike lifts Nestle sales
Nestle yesterday reported better-than-expected sales in the first quarter after the Swiss food giant raised prices to cope with soaring global inflation, and signaled that more hikes were coming. Nestle, which makes everything from chocolate to coffee to baby and pet food, said that its sales in the first quarter grew 5.4 percent to 22.2 billion Swiss francs (US$23.4 billion) from a year earlier. “We stepped up pricing in a responsible manner and saw sustained consumer demand,” Nestle CEO Mark Schneider said in a results statement. Nestle’s organic growth — which excludes the effects of acquisitions or divestments to focus on a company’s core operations — reached 7.6 percent in the first quarter.
SOUTH KOREA
Exports gain on US demand
The country’s early trade data indicate that exports are to post robust gains this month as powerful US demand shores up global commerce in the face of a slowdown in China due to COVID-19 restrictions. Exports in the first 20 days of the month increased 16.9 percent from a year earlier, led by semiconductors, the customs office reported yesterday. Exports to China, the biggest buyer of the country’s goods, rose just 1.8 percent, while shipments to the US surged 29.1 percent. The country releases trade data earlier than most countries and its 20-day performance is closely watched as an indicator of global demand, as the country’s companies are deeply integrated into the world’s supply chains. This was reflected in the divergent results for the world’s two largest economies, which are also the country’s top two overseas markets. The data yesterday indicate that overall exports remain robust, as the Bank of Korea had predicted earlier in the year. Semiconductor shipments increased 22.9 percent, the data showed. Exports of vehicles edged down 1 percent, while oil products jumped 82 percent. However, sales of wireless communication devices fell 10.7 percent.
PROTECTIONISM: China hopes to help domestic chipmakers gain more market share while preparing local tech companies for the possibility of more US sanctions Beijing is stepping up pressure on Chinese companies to buy locally produced artificial intelligence (AI) chips instead of Nvidia Corp products, part of the nation’s effort to expand its semiconductor industry and counter US sanctions. Chinese regulators have been discouraging companies from purchasing Nvidia’s H20 chips, which are used to develop and run AI models, sources familiar with the matter said. The policy has taken the form of guidance rather than an outright ban, as Beijing wants to avoid handicapping its own AI start-ups and escalating tensions with the US, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
CHEMICAL FIRE: 10 Indian employees were injured by smoke inhalation at a Tata Electronics plant in Tamil Nadu state that produces components for Apple Inc At least 10 people received medical treatment, with two hospitalized after a major fire on Saturday disrupted production at a key Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd plant in southern India that makes Apple Inc’s iPhone components. The fire occurred at the plant in the city of Hosur in Tamil Nadu state that makes some iPhone components. It broke out near another building inside the Tata complex, which was to begin producing complete iPhones in the coming months. The fire was contained to one building and has been extinguished fully, top district administrative official K.M. Sarayu said. No decision has been made on when
RSS