RETAIL
UK sales increase
UK retail sales climbed more sharply than expected last month, returning to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels as discounts enticed consumers back into the shops. The volume of goods sold in stores and online rose by 1.2 percent from January, the most since October last year, the Office for National Statistics said, exceeding the 0.2 percent uptick expected by economists in a Bloomberg survey. It was the second consecutive month in which sales beat forecasts, following an upwardly revised 0.9 percent rise in January. The data add to the impression that consumers in the UK are weathering a cost-of-living crisis better than expected, and would help to bolster the Bank of England’s decision earlier this week to hike its base interest rate by another 25 basis points to 4.25 percent. The figures leave the retail sector on course to contribute to economic growth in the first quarter of this year.
BANKING
UBS eyes retention bonuses
UBS has promised retention packages to wealth management staff in Asia at Credit Suisse, two people with knowledge of the matter said, as the Swiss bank tries to stem a talent exodus after the takeover of its former rival. In a town hall address at Credit Suisse’s Hong Kong office yesterday, UBS global wealth management president Iqbal Khan focused on stabilizing the Credit Suisse Asia team and boosting confidence, one of the people said. Credit Suisse had been steadily losing wealth management market share to UBS and to more well-capitalized US banks in investment banking in the last few years, but remained the second-biggest wealth manager in Asia, behind only its acquirer. Asia, particularly the greater China region, is seen as a growth engine for both banks. In his address, Khan said the top performers at the Credit Suisse wealth business in Asia would get retention packages, the second person said.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Canada, IBM to cooperate
Canada and International Business Machines Corp (IBM) were yesterday to seal a high-level agreement on expanding semiconductor cooperation, during US President Joe Biden’s visit to Ottawa. The memorandum of understanding seeks to capitalize on the US push for semiconductor investment with its Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act, a US government official familiar with the matter said. The deal was likely to be announced after Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were to meet yesterday morning. IBM already operates a large facility for testing and packaging semiconductors in Bromont, Quebec, less than an hour north of the US border. The agreement would lay out a plan to build out the microchip ecosystem in the region, particularly when it comes to workforce development.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
LG to build Arizona plant
LG Energy Solution Ltd is to invest 7.2 trillion won (US$5.5 billion) building a giant manufacturing complex in Arizona, as the electric-vehicle (EV) battery maker seeks to speed up production to meet rising demand for clean vehicles. The company is to spend 4.2 trillion won on a plant with an annual production capacity of 27 gigawatt-hours for cylindrical batteries, enough to power 350,000 electric vehicles per year, the Seoul-based company yesterday said in a statement. It aims to begin mass production in 2025. LG would build a separate plant with 16 gigawatt-hours capacity for energy storage systems using lithium-iron-phosphate pouch-type batteries.
STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
‘DECENT RESULTS’: The company said it is confident thanks to an improving world economy and uptakes in new wireless and AI technologies, despite US uncertainty Pegatron Corp (和碩) yesterday said it plans to build a new server manufacturing factory in the US this year to address US President Donald Trump’s new tariff policy. That would be the second server production base for Pegatron in addition to the existing facilities in Taoyuan, the iPhone assembler said. Servers are one of the new businesses Pegatron has explored in recent years to develop a more balanced product lineup. “We aim to provide our services from a location in the vicinity of our customers,” Pegatron president and chief executive officer Gary Cheng (鄭光治) told an online earnings conference yesterday. “We
LEAK SOURCE? There would be concern over the possibility of tech leaks if TSMC were to form a joint venture to operate Intel’s factories, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday stayed mum after a report said that the chipmaker has pitched chip designers Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc and Broadcom Inc about taking a stake in a joint venture to operate Intel Corp’s factories. Industry sources told the Central News Agency (CNA) that the possibility of TSMC proposing to operate Intel’s wafer fabs is low, as the Taiwanese chipmaker has always focused on its core business. There is also concern over possible technology leaks if TSMC were to form a joint venture to operate Intel’s factories, Concord Securities Co (康和證券) analyst Kerry Huang (黃志祺)
It was late morning and steam was rising from water tanks atop the colorful, but opaque-windowed, “soapland” sex parlors in a historic Tokyo red-light district. Walking through the narrow streets, camera in hand, was Beniko — a former sex worker who is trying to capture the spirit of the area once known as Yoshiwara through photography. “People often talk about this neighborhood having a ‘bad history,’” said Beniko, who goes by her nickname. “But the truth is that through the years people have lived here, made a life here, sometimes struggled to survive. I want to share that reality.” In its mid-17th to
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