Japan
Trade deficit narrows
The nation’s trade deficit narrowed sharply last month from the previous month’s record shortfall, as the impact from the Lunar New Year in China reversed, slowing imports and encouraging exports. The trade gap shrank to ￥897.7 billion (US$6.7 billion) from ￥3.5 trillion in January, the finance ministry reported yesterday. Imports rose 8.3 percent from a year earlier, while exports climbed 6.5 percent as vehicles pushed up gains. The trade report showed exports to the US were up 14.9 percent from the previous year, while those to Europe gained 18.6 percent, both gaining pace from the previous month. Shipments to China fell 10.9 percent, slowing from the previous month’s 17.1 percent decline.
Sri Lanka
Economy shrinks 7.8%
The nation’s crisis-hit economy shrank a record 7.8 percent last year as long blackouts and critical fuel shortages put a choke hold on local commerce, official data showed yesterday. Last year’s contraction — the biggest in the country’s 75 years of independence — compared with 3.5 percent growth in 2021 and a 4.6 percent contraction in 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The data showed some improvement in the fiscal position, with inflation moderating to about 50 percent last month, down from a record high of 69.8 percent in September last year.
Retail
Couche-Tard bids in Europe
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc agreed to buy 2,193 gasoline stations in Europe from TotalEnergies SE for 3.1 billion euros (US$3.3 billion). The Canadian convenience-store operator yesterday said that it would buy all of the French oil company’s retail assets in Germany and the Netherlands as well as a 60 percent stake in businesses in Belgium and the Netherlands. Couche-Tard would finance the acquisition with cash, existing credit facilities and a new term loan. The agreement comes about two years after a bid by Couche-Tard to buy French retailer Carrefour SA failed amid government opposition.
Conglomerates
CK Hutchison profit up 10%
CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd’s (長和集團) profit rose about 10 percent last year, topping analyst estimates, as a diversified global portfolio helped the conglomerate founded by billionaire Li Ka-shing (李嘉誠) weather headwinds including China’s COVID-19 lockdowns, a downturn in Europe and currency fluctuations. The company, led by his eldest son Victor Li (李澤鉅), reported net income of HK$36.68 billion (US$4.67 billion) for last year, with total revenue climbing 2.7 percent to HK$457 billion. The company announced a full-year dividend of HK$2.9 per share, a 10 percent increase from the year before.
Equities
A1 Ansari IPO starts strong
The Dubai initial public offering (IPO) of remittances and money exchange firm Al Ansari Financial Services received orders for all shares offered within one hour of books opening, marking a strong start for the emirate’s first listing of the year. The owners of Al Ansari are seeking to raise as much as US$210 million in the IPO, with the price range set at 1 dirham to 1.03 dirham per share, a company statement said yesterday. Al Ansari Holding LLC is selling 750 million shares in the offering, or a 10 percent stake. Al Ansari is the first IPO in Dubai this year, as well as one of the first family-owned businesses in the United Arab Emirates to go public.
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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