E-CoMMERCE
Pinduoduo expanding to US
Pinduoduo Inc (拼多多), one of China’s biggest e-commerce operators, is preparing to enter the North American market in its first cross-border expansion, people familiar with its plans said. The Shanghai-based company is looking for new growth avenues at a time when its domestic economy is sputtering, and would follow in the footsteps of successful international ventures like Shein and AliExpress, they said. It is preparing its merchant partners for the move, the people said. US-traded Pinduoduo holds about a 13 percent share of Chinese online retail, industry intelligence firm EMarketer said.
ENTERTAINMENT
Cineworld mulls Chapter 11
Cineworld Group PLC is considering a voluntary Chapter 11 filing in the US as it seeks to cut its US$5 billion debt pile, the second-largest cinema operator in the world said in a filing yesterday. Its theaters remain open for business, it said. On Friday, its shares plunged more than 80 percent after reports that the firm was to file for bankruptcy within weeks. The London-based cinema chain said it was in discussions with many of its major stakeholders, including its secured lenders, over options, which could also include obtaining additional liquidity. Centerbridge Partners, Eaton Vance, Invesco Ltd and State Street Corp are among Cineworld’s creditors, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
COMMODITIES
Sugar shortage ‘artificial’
A sugar shortage in the Philippines is “artificial” and was caused by some traders allegedly hoarding supply to rake in profits, the government said. About 60,000 bags of suspected hoarded sugar from Thailand were found in warehouses during weekend inspections, a news release posted on Saturday on the Office of the Press Secretary’s Facebook page showed. “The huge volume of sugar discovered by authorities in the various inspected warehouses in Luzon has led Malacanang to conclude that the sugar shortage is artificial,” the statement said. Customs officials are checking if the warehouses had authentic import permits, it added.
TELECOMS
Vodafone to exit Hungary
Vodafone Group PLC has agreed to sell its business in Hungary in a deal valued at 1.8 billion euros (US$1.8 billion) including debt. The company sold the assets to 4iG Public Ltd and Corvinus Zrt, a Hungarian state holding company, Vodafone said in a statement yesterday. The companies aim to close the deal by the end of the year. The combination with 4iG would create the second-largest mobile and fixed communications company in the country, and would go toward the government’s strategy of creating a “national champion in the ICT sector,” Vodafone CEO Nick Read said in the statement.
BANKING
Credit Suisse reshuffles
Credit Suisse Group AG tapped Deutsche Bank AG treasurer Dixit Joshi as chief financial officer and elevated Francesca McDonagh to operating chief in the first big leadership reshuffle under new CEO Ulrich Koerner. Joshi is to take over on Oct. 1, replacing David Mathers who has announced he is stepping down. McDonagh, the outgoing CEO of Bank of Ireland Group PLC, was originally hired this year to oversee the Europe, Middle East and Africa region when she joins in next month. That role will now fall to wealth management head Francesco de Ferrari, who has run the region in the interim.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
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