■ 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.
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
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
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