■FINANCE
D&B responds to report
More than 90 percent of companies in Taiwan have low financial risk, an executive of the Taiwan branch of the world’s largest business information provider, Dun & Bradstreet Corp (D&B), said on Friday. The statement came one day after D&B International Ltd Taiwan was quoted by the Chinese-language Economic Daily News as saying that more than 20 publicly listed companies were in dire financial straits. Alexander Lo (羅立基), general manager of the Taiwan branch, said the US-based company had not provided any such data. Lo said the D&B Paydex report cited in the news story was simply one of the factors used to evaluate a company’s financial risk. A D&B statement also explained that 92 percent of the 94,926 Taiwanese companies in its database were at the lowest level of financial risk.
■ENERGY
Electricity bills down
More than 4.7 million households and public schools around the country benefited from pricing incentives to conserve energy, collectively saving NT$1.74 billion (US$54.17 million) on their electricity bills for July and last month, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Friday. The Bureau of Energy said in a statement that because of the incentives, families and schools had saved 1.17 billion kilowatts per hour in electricity compared with a year earlier. The savings represent a 740,000-tonne reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, based on the formula of 1.637kg of emissions per 1kWh of electricity, the statement said.
■CLOTHING
H&M opens shop in Japan
Swedish clothing giant Hennes and Mauritz (H&M) opened its first outlet in Japan yesterday, where competition in the casual fashion industry is fierce. More than 3,000 people, mostly women in their 20s and 30s, lined up at the company’s first store in Tokyo’s shopping district of Ginza ahead of a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Japan becomes the 30th country with H&M outlets. The company has 1,600 shops and 800 production bases worldwide. Rolf Eriksen, chief executive of the Stockholm-based company, recently told Japanese media that he plans to expand outlets across the country. It has already decided to open two more stores in the capital’s leading fashion districts of Harajuku and Shibuya.
■TELECOMS
PRC firms win contracts
Chinese telecom firms Huawei (華為) and ZTE (中興通訊) have won contracts worth US$75 million to expand the mobile phone network in Libya, the state-run telecommunications office said on Friday. A total of US$58 million has been awarded to expand the existing network of the Libyana public mobile phone company from 1 million lines to 6.5 million lines, a statement said. ZTE and Huawei will also expand the mobile network along the Libyan coast.
■FOOD
Campbell recalls soup
Campbell Soup Asia Ltd has recalled 330,000 cans of soup in Hong Kong and Macau after fielding complaints that some cans emitted an “objectionable smell,” the company said on Friday. It is the first time Campbell has called back products in Asia, Campbell commercial director Heidi Nam said through a spokeswoman. The recall covered cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup and creamy chicken mushroom soup manufactured in Malaysia, Nam said. All cans were exclusively distributed in Hong Kong and Macau, she said.
When an apartment comes up for rent in Germany’s big cities, hundreds of prospective tenants often queue down the street to view it, but the acute shortage of affordable housing is getting scant attention ahead of today’s snap general election. “Housing is one of the main problems for people, but nobody talks about it, nobody takes it seriously,” said Andreas Ibel, president of Build Europe, an association representing housing developers. Migration and the sluggish economy top the list of voters’ concerns, but analysts say housing policy fails to break through as returns on investment take time to register, making the
EARLY TALKS: Measures under consideration include convincing allies to match US curbs, further restricting exports of AI chips or GPUs, and blocking Chinese investments US President Donald Trump’s administration is sketching out tougher versions of US semiconductor curbs and pressuring key allies to escalate their restrictions on China’s chip industry, an early indication the new US president plans to expand efforts that began under former US president Joe Biden to limit Beijing’s technological prowess. Trump officials recently met with their Japanese and Dutch counterparts about restricting Tokyo Electron Ltd and ASML Holding NV engineers from maintaining semiconductor gear in China, people familiar with the matter said. The aim, which was also a priority for Biden, is to see key allies match China curbs the US
The popular Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) arbitrage trade might soon see a change in dynamics that could affect the trading of the US listing versus the local one. And for anyone who wants to monetize the elevated premium, Goldman Sachs Group Inc highlights potential trades. A note from the bank’s sales desk published on Friday said that demand for TSMC’s Taipei-traded stock could rise as Taiwan’s regulator is considering an amendment to local exchange-traded funds’ (ETFs) ownership. The changes, which could come in the first half of this year, could push up the current 30 percent single-stock weight limit
NOT TO WORRY: Some people are concerned funds might continue moving out of the country, but the central bank said financial account outflows are not unusual in Taiwan Taiwan’s outbound investments hit a new high last year due to investments made by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and other major manufacturers to boost global expansion, the central bank said on Thursday. The net increase in outbound investments last year reached a record US$21.05 billion, while the net increase in outbound investments by Taiwanese residents reached a record US$31.98 billion, central bank data showed. Chen Fei-wen (陳斐紋), deputy director of the central bank’s Department of Economic Research, said the increase was largely due to TSMC’s efforts to expand production in the US and Japan. Investments by Vanguard International
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