■Retailers
Tesco may bid for Ahold
Tesco Plc, the UK's largest retailer, is considering a UK Pound 10 billion (US$15.7 billion) bid for the assets of Royal Ahold NV, a Dutch grocer whose shares tumbled 64 percent last week, the Independent reported yesterday, without citing anyone. Ahold, the world's biggest food distributor, said last week that it overstated profit for the past two years by more than US$500 million and ousted its chief executive and chief financial officer. Analysts expect Ahold will sell businesses to finance debt of more than 13 billion euros (US$14 billion), the paper said. Five Tesco executives, including Marketing Director Tim Mason and Financial Director Andrew Higginson, are examining Ahold and will report to Chief Executive Terry Leahy later this week, according to the paper.
■ Coffee chains
Starbucks to buy Appetit
Starbucks Coffee Co, the biggest US coffee-shop chain, will buy its licensed operations in Switzerland and Austria from international partner Bon Appetit Group AG. Terms weren't disclosed. The cash purchase is expected to close by the end of April. It includes 14 stores in Switzerland and seven stores in Austria, Starbucks said in a statement. The purchase is part of the company's expansion plans, Starbucks said. Starbucks said the acquisition won't affect fiscal 2003 earnings, and it still expects to earn US$0.67 a share to US$0.68 a share. In January, Starbucks said fiscal first-quarter earnings rose 17 percent to US$80 million, or US$0.20 a share, on sales of US$1 billion. Prepaid Starbucks gift cards and peppermint holiday-coffee drinks bolstered sales in the period.
■ Gas Stations
Woolworths wants pumps
Woolworths Ltd, Australia's biggest supermarket chain, is considering adding to its 280 gas stations with acquisitions, Chief Executive Roger Corbett said. "There are several major petrol companies that are interested in doing something with their retail assets," Corbett said in an interview with Nine Network's Business Sunday program. "We're giving it some consideration," he added, without naming the companies or giving other details. Sydney-based Woolworths is using its gas stations to bring people into its stores, offering shoppers who spend A$30 or more at its supermarkets a discount of US$0.04 a liter off the price of gasoline. Rival Coles Myer Ltd cited the campaign as a key factor in its sales slowdown and said providing a petrol offer of its own was a priority.
■ Merger
Lehman to cut investment
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc may reduce its planned investment by as much as 80 percent to Japanese Yen 10 billion (US$85 million) in a merger of Japanese trading companies Nissho Iwai Corp and Nichimen Corp, the Nihon Keizai said. Lehman will probably cut its planned stake because it's unclear how much money may be lost in the two companies' reorganization, the Nikkei reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter. Jackie Kestenbaum, a Lehman spokeswoman, declined to comment on the report. In January, Nissho Iwai and Nichimen said they agreed to terms for an April merger to form the nation's sixth-biggest trading company. At the time, Nissho Iwai said Lehman planned to buy Japanese Yen 10 billion in preferred shares and Japanese Yen 50 billion in convertible bonds of the companies.
Agencies
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique