■ Electronics
LG profits rise
South Korea's largest home appliance maker, LG Electronics Inc, said yesterday its third quarter operating profit was up 94.5 percent from the previous three months to 279.9 billion won (US$267 million). The result beat market forecasts of around 206.2 billion won for the three months to September. Compared with a year earlier, however, operating profit was down 21.2 percent. Sales stood at 6.01 trillion won, up 7.2 percent from the previous quarter but down 1.5 percent from a year earlier. Net profit was up 4.2 percent quarter-on-quarter to 156.9 billion won but down 48.5 percent year-on-year.
■ Electronics
IBM reports earnings drop
IBM's net profit dropped in the third quarter by 2.4 percent to US$1.52 billion as a US$525 million charge on overseas profits cut into better than expected revenue. Third-quarter revenue fell 7.8 percent to US$21.5 billion from US$23.4 billion a year earlier, but the shortfall reflected the fact that IBM no longer includes revenue from its PC business, which it sold in May to China's Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想). In other key sectors, revenue ticked upward. The company's global services business, which provides computer consulting and outsourcing to companies, rose 3 percent to US$11.7 billion from US$11.3 billion a year earlier, while sales of mainframe computers and servers rose 7 percent to US$5.1 billion. Software also rose 5 percent to US$3.8 billion, the company said. The tax charge of US$525 million was to allow IBM to repatriate to the US some US$9 billion in overseas profit.
■ Gambling
Singapore gets culture
Singapore's Keppel Land Ltd. and US-based Harrah's Entertainment Inc. yesterday said they are teaming up with Paris-based Centre Pompidou, a contemporary museum, to create a cultural center in Singapore as part of their bid to operate a casino resort in the city-state. "The new [cultural] center, to be designed by the world-renowned architect Daniel Libeskind, will provide a `Uniquely Singapore' experience for visitors" that will complement Harrah's and Keppel's vision for a world-class integrated resort, the two companies said in a joint statement. Among the most visited places in France since opening in 1977, the Centre Pompidou boasts a rich collection of modern and contemporary art, a vast public library, cinemas and performance halls, a music research institute, and educational activity areas.
■ Energy
Analysts praise Russia
Russia's growing state energy role has attracted investors and has brought greater clarity to the sector, despite criticism from free market proponents, analysts at the Moscow conclave of the World Economic Forum said yesterday. The forum -- best known for its influential annual gathering of top business executives, politicians and social leaders in Davos, Switzerland -- is holding a session in Moscow, the first in Russia since the 2003 arrest of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky raised widespread concerns about Russia's path. The discussions yesterday, the second and last day of the meeting, were focused on how Russia can best manage the colossal oil revenues filling state coffers as well as improving conditions to attract much-needed foreign direct investment. The Russian state has moved to take over 30 percent of the country's oil output.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2