■ Semiconductors
Chip sales to drop: Samsung
Global sales of computer memory chips are poised to drop for a second year next year because of lower prices, industry leader Samsung Electronics Co said, citing an industry group forecast. Revenue from dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips is poised to shrink 12 percent next year after falling 4 percent this year, the Suwon, South Korea-based company said in material presented to investors in Hong Kong today, citing projections by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics. DRAM oversupply will continue until the third quarter of this year before the glut ends in the fourth quarter, it said. Oversupply of DRAM, mainly used to store data in personal computers, has driven down prices and caused profit drops at Samsung and smaller rival Hynix Semiconductor Inc, while chipmakers such as Infineon Technologies AG and Elpida Memory Inc posted losses during the latest quarter.
■ Banking
Mizuho reports profit rise
Japan's largest banking group, Mizuho Financial Group, yesterday said its net profit rose 54.2 percent to a record ¥627.38 billion (US$5.8 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31 from the previous year. The rise in net profit was attributed to Japan's economic recovery. Mizuho, however, reported a group pre-tax profit of ¥657.46 billion, down 26.7 percent and on operating revenues of ¥3.03 trillion, down 5.0 percent. The balance of Mizuho's bad loans fell to ¥1.49 trillion as of March 31 from ¥2.22 trillion as of Sept. 30 last year. Its bad loan ratio stood at 2.16 percent. Japanese banks have been struggling with bad loan problems since the land-price-induced bubble economy collapsed in early 1990s. For the current fiscal year, which will end on March 31 next year, Mizuho forecasts a group net profit of ¥500 billion, down 20.3 percent from the previous year.
■ Aviation
Merger vital for US Airways
America West Airlines chief executive Doug Parker said his company's pending merger with US Airways Group Inc is vital for survival in an industry losing billions of dollars annually, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing an interview. US Airways, currently under protection from its creditors, is waiting approval to merge with America West and become a nationwide carrier, operating under the US Airways name with costs and airfares rivaling the biggest discount airline, Southwest Airlines, the newspaper said today. Parker will head the new carrier. Parker, 43, who took the helm of America West in September 2001 and kept it alive by securing loans and signing deals with creditors, made it one of the best performing low-fare airlines in an industry plagued with financial problems, the Journal said.
■ China
Industrial earnings slower
Chinese industrial companies' earnings grew at a slower pace in April as rising raw-material costs and competition hurt profit margins. Combined net income rose 15.6 percent from a year earlier to 389.3 billion yuan (US$47 billion) in the first four months, according to Beijing-based Mainland Marketing Research Co (China), which releases figures on behalf of the National Bureau of Statistics. Growth slowed from 17.2 percent in the first quarter and 38.1 percent for the whole of last year. Profit gains were led by the oil extraction, coal, steel, chemicals and non-ferrous metals industries, the statement said.
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
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
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
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