■ TECHNOLOGY
HP's profit beats estimates
Hewlett-Packard Co's fourth-quarter profit easily exceeded Wall Street's expectations, bolstered by surging laptop sales and continued strong demand for highly profitable printer ink. The board of the Palo Alto-based computer and printer maker also authorized an additional US$8 billion for stock buybacks, a sign the company believes its shares are undervalued. Net income leaped 28 percent in the three months ended Oct. 31 to US$2.16 billion or US$0.81 per share. Excluding one-time charges, HP's profit was US$0.86 per share, US$0.04 higher than the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial.
■ BEVERAGES
Beer sales plummeting
Sales of beer in Britain have dropped to the lowest levels since the 1930s, brewers said yesterday, as the country turns increasingly to wine and spirits. The number of pints per day sold in British pubs peaked in 1979, but has slumped by 22 percent -- or 7 million pints -- since then, the British Beer and Pub Association said. The group claims that from 1997 to last year beer duties grew by 27 percent, against 16 percent for wine, 11 percent for cider and 3 percent for spirits, cutting brewers' profits by 78 percent between 2004 and last year alone.
■ AUTOMOBILES
Ssangyong may drop SUV
South Korea's Chinese-owned automaker Ssangyong Motor said yesterday it was considering shutting down production lines for sport utility vehicles (SUV) amid sluggish sales. Ssangyong Motor has suffered from slow demand for its flagship SUV models Rexton and Actyon at home and abroad, company officials said. "Talks are now under way between management and union representatives to suspend the SUV lines," spokesman Kim Bum-suk said. Schedules had yet to be agreed on, he said. The Seoul Economic Daily newspaper quoted an unidentified union leader as saying the automaker would suspend the SUV lines by the end of February.
■ AVIATION
Madrid airport to rank third
Madrid's international airport will become Europe's third busiest in terms of departures in 2010, surpassing London's Heathrow and Amsterdam's Schipol, a study by Eurocontrol, Europe's air navigation agency, said on Monday. The number of takeoffs from Madrid-Barajas is expected to rise to 255,442 in 2010, a 17.4 percent jump over last year and the biggest increase among Europe's 10 busiest airports, the study showed. Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport will remain Europe's busiest airport with more than 297,000 departures in 2010, while Frankfurt's Main airport will continue in second place with over 265,000 takeoffs, the study said.
■ CHINA
Wen warns of asset bubble
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) said that the nation needed to prevent an equity bubble from forming and to curb real estate speculation, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday, quoting Wen's speech during a visit to Singapore. The report made no mention of specific new measures to regulate stock and real estate prices following a boom in both markets. "At a time when stock prices are high, there are voices that want to stop an asset bubble, and in addition saying that if the bubble bursts, it will hurt China's economy," Wen was quoted as saying in a speech on Monday. "I feel both views are correct.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source