■BANKING
Lehman to cut more jobs
Lehman Brothers is preparing to cut 1,500 more jobs this year, the New York Times reported on Thursday. The cuts would equal about 6 percent of the investment bank’s work force and are expected before the middle of next month, the newspaper said in a report published on its Web site, citing a person briefed on the plan. Lehman has already cut more than 6,000 jobs since June last year, the newspaper said.
■INTERNET
Microsoft to buy Greenfield
Microsoft Corp, the world’s biggest software maker, agreed to buy Greenfield Online Inc and its subsidiary Ciao GmbH for about US$486 million in cash to add price-comparison sites in Europe. Greenfield shareholders will get US$17.50 a share, Microsoft said yesterday in a statement. The price is 1.4 percent more than the previous day’s close, and 32 percent higher than June 13, the last trading day before Greenfield agreed to sell itself to Quadrangle Group LLC for US$15.50 a share. Greenfield ended the Quadrangle deal on Tuesday to pursue a higher offer. “Acquiring one of Europe’s leading price comparison, shopping and consumer reviews sites will further extend Microsoft’s search and e-commerce services in Europe,” said Tami Reller, corporate vice president for Windows and online services at Microsoft.
■BROKERAGE
Woori mulls acquisition
South Korean brokerage Woori Investment and Securities said yesterday it was considering spending up to US$2 billion buying a European investment bank and was looking at about 20 possibilities. “We’ve been analyzing their financial statements and business environment to find out whether there will be any synergy,” a spokesman said. “The value of a possible deal will not be greater than US$2 billion.” He said such acquisitions would help South Korean companies compensate for their lack of overseas experience and expand international networks. Woori Investment and Securities, a subsidiary of state-financed Woori Finance Holdings, operates a brokerage in London. It also has an investment banking operation and a hedge fund operation in Singapore, the spokesman said.
■BANKING
ADB issues US dollar bond
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said yesterday that it returned to the US dollar bond market with a US$1.25 billion five-year global benchmark bond issue. The Manila-based bank said the proceeds of the issue would be used to finance its non-concessional operations. It added that it plans to raise about US$9 billion this year. Thursday’s issue was lead-managed by BNP Paribas, JP Morgan and Nomura. The bonds are to mature on Sept. 5, 2013, and were priced at 99.552 percent to yield 67.25 basis points over the 3.375 percent US Treasury note.
■RETAILING
Carrefour posts higher profit
Carrefour, the world’s second-largest retailer, posted a 5.5 percent rise in first-half operating profit yesterday, lifted by a strong performance in Latin American growth markets and reiterated its targets for this year. Chief executive Jose-Luis Duran told a conference call that sales in French hypermarkets were slightly better last month and this month than in the first half. Although the economic climate remained difficult, he said “we do not see any further deterioration in the environment” compared with last month. Carrefour’s operating profit rose 5.5 percent to 1.404 billion euros (US$2.07 billion).
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