INTERNET
Baidu cautious on outlook
Baidu Inc (百度) delivered a conservative outlook for the current quarter as a resurgent COVID-19 outbreak in China overshadowed the Internet search giant’s push into newer arenas like cloud and smart devices. Revenue for the three months ended June climbed 20 percent from a year earlier to 31.35 billion yuan (US$4.8 billion), compared with forecasts of 30.9 billion yuan. For the September quarter, Baidu projected sales of 30.6 billion yuan to 33.5 billion yuan, versus analysts’ forecasts of 33.1 billion yuan. It said that the recent increase in COVID-19 cases across large parts of China left business visibility “limited.” Baidu swung to a net loss of 583 million yuan in the second quarter, after marking down the value of its stake in Kuaishou Technology (快手科技).
CRYPTOCURRENCIES
Poly Network thanks hacker
Poly Network, the cryptocurrency platform which lost US$610 million in a hack earlier this week, yesterday confirmed it had offered the hacker or hackers a US$500,000 “bug bounty.” In a statement it thanked the hacker — who it dubbed a “white hat,” sector jargon for an ethical hacker who generally aims to expose cybervulnerabilities — who had returned the bulk of the funds for “helping us improve Poly Network’s security.” The network also said it hoped “Mr White Hat” would contribute to the blockchain sector’s continued development upon accepting the US$500,000 reward, which it had offered as part of negotiations around the return of the digital coins. It said the hacker had responded to the offer, but did not say if it was accepted.
SPORTSWEAR
Adidas sells Reebok
Adidas AG has agreed to sell its underperforming Reebok business to Authentic Brands Group Inc for up to 2.1 billion euros (US$2.47 billion), adding another well-known name to the buyer’s growing lineup of consumer companies. The majority of the price would be paid in cash at closing, with the rest coming as deferred and contingent consideration, the companies said in a statement on Thursday. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of next year. Authentic Brands CEO Jamie Salter said in the statement that the deal is “an important milestone” in the company’s growth. The company, which last month filed for an initial public offering in the US, has already acquired more than 30 names, including bankrupt assets such as Barneys New York and Brooks Brothers. Reebok has been formally on the block since early this year after Adidas had tried to revive the brand’s performance for more than a decade.
BATTERIES
CATL plans share sale
Contemporary Amperex Technology Co’s (CATL, 新能源科技) board has approved a plan to sell up to 58.2 billion yuan of shares to expand the battery manufacturing giant’s production capacity amid intensifying competition in the clean energy space. Ningde, Fujian-based CATL, which is the world’s biggest electric vehicle (EV) battery maker, would sell the China-listed shares to 35 investors at most, it said in an exchange filing late on Thursday. The proceeds would be used specifically for lithium-ion battery projects, new energy research and to replenish liquidity. CATL controls about 30 percent of the world’s EV battery market, ahead of South Korea’s LG Energy Solution, Japan’s Panasonic Corp and fellow Chinese company BYD Co (比亞迪).
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) expects its addressable market to grow by a low single-digit percentage this year, lower than the overall foundry industry’s 15 percent expansion and the global semiconductor industry’s 10 percent growth, the contract chipmaker said yesterday after reporting the worst profit in four-and-a-half years in the fourth quarter of last year. Growth would be fueled by demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, a moderate recovery in consumer electronics and an increase in semiconductor content, UMC said. “UMC’s goal is to outgrow our addressable market while maintaining our structural profitability,” UMC copresident Jason Wang (王石) told an online earnings
Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登精密), the sole extreme ultraviolet (EUV) pod supplier to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), is aiming to expand revenue to NT$10 billion (US$304.8 million) this year, as it expects the artificial intelligence (AI) boom to drive demand for wafer delivery pods and pods used in advanced packaging technology. That suggests the firm’s revenue could grow as much as 53 percent this year, after it posted a 28.91 percent increase to NT$6.55 billion last year, exceeding its 20 percent growth target. “We usually set an aggressive target internally to drive further growth. This year, our target is to
The TAIEX ended the Year of the Dragon yesterday up about 30 percent, led by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電). The benchmark index closed up 225.40 points, or 0.97 percent, at 23,525.41 on the last trading session of the Year of the Dragon before the Lunar New Year holiday ushers in the Year of the Snake. During the Year of the Dragon, the TAIEX rose 5,429.34 points, the highest ever, while the 30 percent increase in the year was the second-highest behind only a 30.84 percent gain in the Year of the Rat from Jan. 25, 2020, to Feb.
Cryptocurrencies gave a lukewarm reception to US President Donald Trump’s first policy moves on digital assets, notching small gains after he commissioned a report on regulation and a crypto reserve. Bitcoin has been broadly steady since Trump took office on Monday and was trading at about US$105,000 yesterday as some of the euphoria around a hoped-for revolution in cryptocurrency regulation ebbed. Smaller cryptocurrency ether has likewise had a fairly steady week, although was up 5 percent in the Asia day to US$3,420. Bitcoin had been one of the most spectacular “Trump trades” in financial markets, gaining 50 percent to break above US$100,000 and
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