■ ECONOMY
UK retailers face crisis
About 1,600 UK retailers could go out of business this year as stores struggle to contend with a slumping consumer economy, Experian Ltd said yesterday. The number of collapses was set to increase 21 percent from a year earlier, with sellers of electronics goods and household and home renovation products the worst affected, the researcher forecast in an e-mailed report. UK shopping numbers rose 1.2 percent last month from a year earlier as retailers engaged in an “exceptional level of discounting,” Experian said. Any increase in store owners’ sales last month was at the cost of lower profitability, as slashed prices and an increase in purchasing costs ate into margins, Experian said. “It seems unlikely that consumer sentiment will show much if any improvement in the first three months of 2009,” Experian senior economist Matthew Sherwood said.
■PHARMACEUTICALS
Drug giant cuts jobs
British drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will announce it is cutting up to 10,000 jobs when it posts full-year results this week, Sky News reports said on Sunday. The group had confirmed it would cut thousands of jobs when it publishes its results on Thursday, the report said. The Sunday Telegraph also reported that 6,000 jobs would go, while the Observer put the figure at 10,000, which would represent 10 percent of the group’s worldwide workforce. The global pharmaceuticals giants are facing a growing commercial challenge from cheap, generic drugs as dozens of high-selling medicines lose patent protection. GSK’s rival, AstraZeneca, said on Thursday it would axe more than 6,000 jobs by 2013, extending a cost-cutting program that had already shed about 8,000 positions since 2007.
■OIL
Crude prices slightly down
World prices were mixed in Asian trade yesterday, with weak global demand continuing to be a major factor, dealers said. New York’s main futures contract, light sweet crude for March delivery, was down US$0.11 to US$41.57 a barrel in afternoon trade. Brent North Sea crude for March delivery rose US$0.07 to US$45.95. Jonathan Kornafel, Asia director of Hudson Capital Energy, a trading firm, said a slight rise in prices late last week would not be sustained. The gains followed wildcat strikes at oil refineries in Britain, as well as data showing a milder-than-expected economic contraction in the US.
■BONDS
Banker rejects issue plan
German central bank chief Axel Weber, rejected the idea of a European bond issue floated by Italy to help countries finding it harder to obtain credit, a press report said yesterday. Weber, who is also a governor of the European Central Bank told the business daily Handelsblatt that such a move would undermine the disciplinary character of financial markets. He said that a commitment by eurozone members to respect common fiscal rules was a cornerstone of European monetary union. That was “a basic condition for adoption of the single currency,” Weber was quoted as saying. Italian Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti recently launched the idea of pan-European loans that would be backed by bond issues. Italy is one of the most indebted countries in the 16-member eurozone. But German is wary of increasing its own debt after working in recent years to bring its finances into line with eurozone regulations and having to stimulate its economy — Europe’s biggest — with a massive economic aid package.
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
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
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