CONGLOMERATES
Olympus official found dead
A top executive of Japan’s scandal-ridden Olympus Corp has been found dead in a park outside New Delhi, an apparent suicide, the Times of India said yesterday, quoting police. Tsutomi Omori, 49, who was head of Olympus’ medical equipment business in India, was found hanging from a boundary wall by a gardener in the park, which was part of an apartment complex in Gurgaon, just outside the capital, the daily said. “Police have recovered two suicide notes written in Japanese. While one of them was meant for Omori’s family, the other note only said: ‘I am sorry for bothering you’ in Japanese,” the newspaper added.
AUTOMAKERS
Mazda shares plummet 14%
Share prices of Japan’s Mazda Motor Corp tumbled more than 14 percent yesterday after reports that the troubled automaker plans to raise ¥100 billion (US$1.25 billion) in a new share issue. Mazda is to raise the cash as it comes under pressure from the strong yen and slow global demand, according to a report by national television network NHK, which did not cite its sources. The car company will also take out subordinated loans totaling ¥70 billion.
INTERNET
Twitter ‘firehose’ licensed
Twitter Inc agreed to license its “firehose” of data to Yandex NV, Russia’s most-used search engine, the companies said in a statement. Internet users can search for Twitter “tweets” via twitter.yandex.ru, the companies said. “New tweets will now become available in Yandex’s Blog Search results in a matter of moments,” according to the statement.
SHIPPING
TNT reports major Q4 loss
Expensive fuel, a weak European economy and charges on its Brazilian operations have pushed TNT Express NV, the package delivery company, into a loss of 173 million euros (US$229 million) in the fourth quarter. The company had profits of 4 million euros in the same period a year ago. Revenues rose 2.8 percent to 1.85 billion euros. TNT rejected a hostile offer of 9 euros a share from United Parcel Service after the close of European trade on Friday, a bid that values TNT at US$6.43 billion. TNT said yesterday it is exploring “strategic partnerships” in Brazil and China.
MEXICO
Foreign investment up 9.7%
The economics ministry said foreign investment was up 9.7 percent last year compared with the previous year, totaling US$19.44 billion. A press release on Monday has the US as the top foreign investor with 55 percent. It is followed by Spain with 15 percent and the Netherlands with 6.7 percent of foreign direct investment. Most of the money went into manufacturing, at 44.1 percent. Financial services and insurance received 18 percent of the investment and commerce 9.5.
AIRLINES
Mandala cleared to fly again
Indonesian carrier PT Mandala Airlines has been cleared to fly after being grounded for a year because of a massive debt, its second-biggest shareholder, Tiger Airways Singapore Pte Ltd, said yesterday. Mandala Airlines’ clearance to fly culminated a year of financial restructuring after the carrier was grounded in January last year due to its enormous debt. As a result of the restructuring, Indonesian investment company Saratoga Group holds a majority 51.3 percent stake, with Singapore budget carrier Tiger Airways owning 33.0 percent through wholly-owned subsidiary Roar Aviation Pte Ltd.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last