■ COSMETICS
L'Oreal Q4 revenues rise
French cosmetics giant L'Oreal SA said on Thursday that its fourth-quarter revenues rose 6.6 percent amid strong growth in Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. Revenues for the fourth quarter were 4.42 billion euros (US$6.48 billion). L'Oreal did not provide last year's figure in its revenue statement, but previous releases show it was 4.15 billion euros. The latest revenue figure met analyst expectations of 4.4 billion euros, according to a Dow Jones Newswires poll of five analysts. For all of last year, revenues rose 8 percent to 17.1 billion euros, the company said.
■ TECHNOLOGY
Broadcom founders probed
Federal prosecutors identified Broadcom Corp co-founders Henry Nicholas and Henry Samueli as "unindicted potential co-conspirators" in an investigation into the illegal backdating of stock options. The revelation came as former human resources executive Nancy Tullos pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice as part of the probe. Tullos struck a deal with prosecutors late last year and agreed to the plea in exchange for her cooperation in the case. Nicholas and Samueli were identified as "Executive A" and "Executive B" in the plea agreement, but US District Judge Cormac Carney told prosecutors not identifying them would undermine the factual basis of the plea deal and violate the principles of open court hearings.
■ AUTOMOBILES
Porsche sales up 14.2%
German luxury sports car maker Porsche said yesterday that sales in the first half of its 2007-2008 fiscal year grew by 14.2 percent to 3.5 billion euros (US$5.2 billion). Unit sales gained 18.7 percent to 46,600 between Aug. 1 and Jan. 31, the company said in a statement which cited provisional figures. For the full year, Porsche was confident of continuing on its growth path, company chief Wendelin Wiedeking was quoted as saying. The group did not release an estimation of net profit, and would wait until March and the release of fourth-quarter results of Volkswagen, in which it has a 31 percent stake.
■ TECHNOLOGY
Sun's profit nearly doubles
Sun Microsystems Inc's fiscal second-quarter profit nearly doubled to edge past Wall Street's estimates on Thursday, reflecting the server and software maker's cost-cutting efforts and maneuvers to shore up demand amid fierce competition. Sun's net profit leaped 95 percent to US$260 million, or US$0.31 per share, for the three months ended Dec. 30. That was a penny higher than the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, and nearly twice as high as Sun's profit during the same period a year earlier.
■ SOFTWARE
IBM acquisition approved
IBM Corp on Thursday won EU approval for its largest acquisition ever, the US$5 billion cash purchase of business intelligence specialist Cognos Inc. EU antitrust officials said the deal would not cause competition problems in Europe because the combined market share for business analytics would be moderate with several strong rivals that could offer alternatives to customers. Business-intelligence software helps large organizations gather data that can be used to model such things as the financial impact of staffing changes or marketing moves.
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