■ MANUFACTURING
Nestle sales rise 3.4%
Nestle SA, the world’s biggest food and drink company, said yesterday that sales for the first nine months of the year rose 3.4 percent to 81.4 billion Swiss francs (US$70.1 billion), with growth both in its food and beverage business and in pharmaceuticals. Sales growth was particularly strong in Asia, Oceania and Africa, but gains were also recorded in the Americas and Europe, a company statement said. Chief executive Paul Bulcke said the performance reflected “strong growth momentum in both the developing and the developed world.” Nestle said in view of the third quarter, it was hiking its organic growth to about 8 percent for the full year, up from the at least 7.4 percent it forecast in August.
■ NEW ZEALAND
Interest rate cut by 1%
The Reserve Bank cut its benchmark interest rate by an unprecedented 1 percent to 6.5 percent yesterday, its third cut in 13 weeks after making no reductions for five years. The central bank had cut its official cash rate to 8 percent on July 24 after keeping it at 8.25 percent — one of the highest in the developed world — for 12 months and reduced it again to 7.5 percent on Sept. 11. The 1 percent cut had been widely anticipated by analysts despite this week’s revelation that the inflation rate had hit an 18-year high of 5.1 percent — well over the bank’s maximum target of 3 percent.
■ TRADE
Japan’s surplus drops 94%
Japan’s trade surplus plunged 94 percent last month from a year earlier, official figures showed yesterday, adding to fears that the export-dependent economy is in a recession. The steep fall came as exports to the ailing US economy declined for a 13th straight month. Exports to the rest of Asia — which until recently had been holding up relatively well — showed only tepid growth. Last month’s surplus of ¥95.1 billion (US$973 million) followed a deficit of ¥324.0 billion in August, which was the first in 26 years excluding January, when exports are usually slow due to the New Year holiday.
■ FINANCE
Goldman Sachs plans layoffs
Goldman Sachs Group Inc is preparing to cut about 10 percent of its 32,500 employees, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter. The cuts are expected throughout the company, the paper said. The downsizing wave is likely to get worse on Wall Street in the next several months. Barclays PLC plans to cut at least 3,000 jobs from its payroll in the US, which includes former Lehman operations, the paper said. Of the 61,000 employees at Merrill Lynch & Co, thousands are likely to lose their jobs as part of the firm’s takeover by Bank of America Corp, it said.
■ PHARMACEUTICALS
Merck’s Q3 profits plunge
US pharmaceutical giant Merck announced on Wednesday it would cut its worldwide workforce by 7,200 jobs by 2011 as third-quarter net profit plunged 28 percent. Third-quarter net profit fell to US$1.09 billion from US$1.52 billion a year ago, while sales fell 2 percent from the third quarter of last year to US$5.9 billion, the company said in a statement. Earnings per share were US$0.80, beating analysts’ consensus forecast by US$0.01. But taking into account restructuring costs of US$612 million, earnings per share fell to US$0.51.The company said it would slash 12 percent of its workforce by eliminating 6,800 active employees and 400 vacancies by the end of 2011.
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
NOVEL METHODS: The PLA has adopted new approaches and recently conducted three combat readiness drills at night which included aircraft and ships, an official said Taiwan is monitoring China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises for changes in their size or pattern as the nation prepares for president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comment at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, in response to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu’s (王定宇) questions. China continues to employ a carrot-and-stick approach, in which it applies pressure with “gray zone” tactics, while attempting to entice Taiwanese with perks, Tsai said. These actions aim to help Beijing look like it has
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
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,