GERMANY
Industry orders slide
Industrial orders fell for the third month in a row in April, official data published yesterday showed. New orders fell by 2.7 percent over the previous month, figures provided by the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed. The renewed drop was “primarily due to the escalation of the Ukraine conflict,” the ministry said in a statement. Overall, incoming orders were 6.2 percent below their level of a year earlier. Some sectors’ volumes increased despite the overall downward trend, with orders in mechanical engineering up 3.8 percent. By contrast, Germany’s flagship auto industry struggled, with orders down 8.6 percent month-on-month.
RETAIL
UK spending disappoints
UK consumers are tightening their belts in the face of soaring inflation, with retailers warning that the cost of living crisis has punctured a post-COVID-19 pandemic spending boom. Sales decreased 1.1 percent last month compared with a year earlier, the British Retail Consortium said yesterday, with big-ticket items such as furniture and electronics hit hardest by the cutbacks. A separate report from Barclaycard showed consumers are cutting down on luxuries such as digital subscriptions and dining out. The UK inflation hit a 40-year high of 9 percent in April.
TOURISM
US lures travelers
In an effort to win back billions of dollars in tourism revenue lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, the US government on Monday launched a plan to attract 90 million international travelers a year. The five-year plan aims to add jobs and bring in an estimated US$279 billion a year in spending by visiting tourists, the US Department of Commerce said. The National Travel and Tourism Strategy will focus on increasing promotion of US destinations, especially to underrepresented sites, and improving communication about health status and requirements, the department said. It is also to offer help for local authorities to improve infrastructure at tourist sites, it said.
AUDITING
UK fines PwC ￡5m
PricewaterhouseCoopers was fined almost ￡5 million (US$6.22 million) for a series of poor audits of two British construction companies, as the regulator continued to crack down on audit failings. PwC is to pay ￡3 million in relation to its audits of Galliford Try PLC and ￡1.96 million over a review of Kier Group PLC, the Financial Reporting Council said yesterday. It was also ordered to report on its most modern audits that considered long-term contracts, the council said. The UK is bringing in sweeping audit reforms aimed at reining in the dominance of the largest accountancy firms and cleaning up the industry following a string of high-profile scandals.
CONGLOMERATES
Ex-Sony boss dies
Former Sony Group Corp chief executive officer Nobuyuki Idei, who led the Japanese conglomerate for a decade, died of liver failure on June 2, aged 84, the company said yesterday. Idei took the helm in 1995 to drive Sony’s shift into content from hardware, but under his leadership the company behind the Walkman missed the shift to MP3s and flat-panel TVs. Idei stepped down in 2005 to take responsibility for slumping earnings and was replaced by Britain-born Howard Stringer, who became the first foreigner to lead the company.
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
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