WASTE MANAGEMENT
Veolia to sell Suez unit
Veolia Environnement SA has agreed to sell Suez SA’s waste activities in the UK to Macquarie Group Ltd for 2.4 billion euros (US$2.4 billion), after the country’s antitrust authority raised competition concerns. The disposal marks the last step in Veolia’s acquisition of a large chunk of French rival Suez, which was completed in other parts of the world earlier this year. “It’s a very attractive valuation,” Veolia chief executive officer Estelle Brachlianoff said on a conference call yesterday. The proceeds would give the firm “room to maneuver on our balance sheet to invest in strategic projects,” she said, citing interest in recycling businesses and water-treatment technologies.
SOUTH KOREA
LNG needed for winter
The country is looking to buy more liquefied natural gas (LNG) to replenish stockpiles before winter. The world’s third-biggest importer of the chilled fuel is seeking additional cargoes to meet forecasts for increased domestic demand and is targeting to lift inventories to about 90 percent full by November, from about 34 percent at present, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said yesterday. That comes after heat waves in the summer and “high” uncertainties internationally from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the ministry said. The nation last year bought 16.6 million tonnes on spot markets, or 35 percent of total imports, data from International Group of LNG Importers showed.
JAPAN
Record foreign bonds sold
Life insurers and pension funds last month sold record amounts of foreign bonds, as heightened volatility in global debt markets dampened appetite. Lifers disposed of a net ￥1.56 trillion (US$11.5 billion) of the securities, while trust banks’ trust accounts, which are seen as proxies for pension funds, sold ￥865.8 billion of the notes, preliminary data from the Ministry of Finance showed. Both sales amounts were the highest ever for the two groups. Overall, Japanese investors’ net selling of foreign bonds, mostly US debt, extended to a record sixth month.
AUTOMAKERS
Renault EV selling well
Renault SA CEO Luca de Meo said the uptake of the new Megane E-Tech electric vehicle (EV) model shows the French automaker is on the right track with its turnaround at a time of increased challenges for the automotive industry. Renault sold 25,000 Megane E-Tech vehicles in three months, De Meo told Le Journal du Dimanche in an interview published in its Sunday edition. Total new vehicles registrations have fallen this year in France. The Megane E-Tech model was the country’s best-selling EV last month, Avere-France data showed.
INVESTMENT
Berkshire posts Q2 loss
Warren Buffett’s company reported a US$43.76 billion loss in the second quarter as the paper value of its investments plummeted, but Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s many operating companies generally performed well, suggesting the overall economy is weathering the pressure from inflation and rising interest rates. Revenue grew more than 10 percent to US$76.2 billion in the quarter, as many of its businesses increased prices. Berkshire on Saturday said that a largely unrealized US$53 billion decline in the value of its investments forced it to report a loss of nearly US$44 billion, or US$29,754 per Class A share. That is down from US$28.1 billion, or US$18,488 per Class A share, a year earlier.
DOLLAR CHALLENGE: BRICS countries’ growing share of global GDP threatens the US dollar’s dominance, which some member states seek to displace for world trade US president-elect Donald Trump on Saturday threatened 100 percent tariffs against a bloc of nine nations if they act to undermine the US dollar. His threat was directed at countries in the so-called BRICS alliance, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have applied to become members and several other countries have expressed interest in joining. While the US dollar is by far the most-used currency in global business and has survived past challenges to its preeminence, members of the alliance and other developing nations say they are fed
LIMITED MEASURES: The proposed restrictions on Chinese chip exports are weaker than previously considered, following lobbying by major US firms, sources said US President Joe Biden’s administration is weighing additional curbs on sales of semiconductor equipment and artificial intelligence (AI) memory chips to China that would escalate the US crackdown on Beijing’s tech ambitions, but stop short of some stricter measures previously considered, said sources familiar with the matter. The restrictions could be unveiled as soon as next week, said the sources, who emphasized that the timing and contours of the rules have changed several times, and that nothing is final until they are published. The measures follow months of deliberations by US officials, negotiations with allies in Japan and the Netherlands, and
Qualcomm Inc’s interest in pursuing an acquisition of Intel Corp has cooled, people familiar with the matter said, upending what would have likely been one of the largest technology deals of all time. The complexities associated with acquiring all of Intel has made a deal less attractive to Qualcomm, said some of the people, asking not to be identified discussing confidential matters. It is always possible Qualcomm looks at pieces of Intel instead or rekindles its interest later, they added. Representatives for Qualcomm and Intel declined to comment. Qualcomm made a preliminary approach to Intel on a possible takeover, Bloomberg News and other media
Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) yesterday said it expects any impact of new tariffs from US president-elect Donald Trump to hit the company less than its rivals, citing its global manufacturing footprint. Young Liu (劉揚偉), chairman of the contract manufacturer and key Apple Inc supplier, told reporters after a forum in Taipei that it saw the primary impact of any fresh tariffs falling on its clients because its business model is based on contract manufacturing. “Clients may decide to shift production locations, but looking at Foxconn’s global footprint, we are ahead. As a result, the impact on us is likely smaller compared to
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