AIRLINES
Virgin sees delayed recovery
Britain’s Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd said it would not return to profitability until next year, pushing back its previous forecast of a recovery this year, as a weaker pound, rising costs and higher interest rates offset strong demand for travel. For last year, Virgin Atlantic posted a pretax loss of ￡206 million (US$260 million) on revenue of ￡2.9 billion, recovering to 98 percent of levels last seen in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic shut travel markets. Virgin, founded by billionaire Richard Branson, said that summer bookings were ahead of expectations.
TRANSPORTATION
Alstom losses narrow
French train maker Alstom SA narrowed its losses in its 2022-2023 fiscal year, but delayed its profitability target due to high inflation, the company said yesterday. The maker of TGV high-speed trains reported a loss of 132 million euros (US$144.6 million) between April last year and March this year in the wake of its acquisition of the rail division of Canadian group Bombardier Inc. Alstom delayed its mid-term target for a key measure of profitability — adjusted earnings before interest and taxes — by a year to 2025-2026, citing the “new macroeconomic environment in particular the effect of inflation.”
RETAIL
ASOS first-half loss widens
Asos PLC sales fell and its loss grew in the first half, as the British online retailer tried to cut inventory and excessive discounting. Sales dropped 8 percent in the six months through February and operating losses widened to ￡272.5 million, it said yesterday. Chief executive officer Jose Antonio Ramos Calamonte said the business has made progress in its turnaround, despite “some very challenging conditions.” Meanwhile, supermarket group Ahold Delhaize NV beat expectations with its first-quarter sales, thanks to a strong performance in the US and loyalty programs, it said yesterday. The Netherlands-headquartered company announced quarterly sales of 21.62 billion euros, beating the 21.5 billion euros expected by analysts.
FINANCE
Latitude under investigation
The privacy regulators for Australia and New Zealand yesterday said they had begun a joint investigation into the personal information handling practices at consumer finance firm Latitude Group, which was hit by a cyberattack. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and the New Zealand Office of the Privacy Commissioner said the decision followed preliminary inquiries into the matter by both regulators. Latitude Group, a provider of credit cards and personal loans for some of Australia’s biggest retailers, in March said that hackers stole nearly 8 million Australian and New Zealand drivers’ license numbers.
LODGING
Airbnb cautious on outlook
Vacation home-rental company Airbnb Inc on Tuesday gave a cautious forecast for revenue in the second quarter, suggesting rising prices and a murky economic outlook are beginning to weigh on consumer appetite for trips. The San Francisco-based home-sharing company expects revenue of US$2.35 billion to US$2.45 billion in the three months ending in June, representing an increase of 12 to 16 percent from a year earlier and its slowest pace of growth yet. Airbnb said it expects earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, excluding some costs, to be similar to the second quarter last year.
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) yesterday expressed a downbeat view about the prospects of humanoid robots, given high manufacturing costs and a lack of target customers. Despite rising demand and high expectations for humanoid robots, high research-and-development costs and uncertain profitability remain major concerns, Lam told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taoyuan. “Since it seems a bit unworthy to use such high-cost robots to do household chores, I believe robots designed for specific purposes would be more valuable and present a better business opportunity,” Lam said Instead of investing in humanoid robots, Quanta has opted to invest
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