■TIRES
Bridgestone predicts losses
Tiremaker Bridgestone, wounded by the global auto industry slump, said yesterday that it expected a second year of slumping earnings this year. The firm anticipated a 71 percent drop in net profit in the 12 months through December to ¥3 billion (US$32 million), with a fall into the red seen for the first half of the year. Revenue was expected to tumble 22 percent to ¥2.53 trillion this year. Bridgestone did not break down quarterly numbers. The company posted a 92 percent plunge in net profit to ¥10.4 billion for last year. Tokyo-based Bridgestone also said it expects no quick recovery
■BANKING
BNP Paribas’ profit drops
BNP Paribas yesterday reported a profit of 3 billion euros (US$3.78 billion) for last year, less than half its record 7.8 billion euros a year earlier. The results — which come amid uncertainty over BNP’s bid to take over the Belgian assets of Fortis bank — were in line with expectations. In a statement, BNP said it lost 1.366 billion euros in the three months to Dec. 31, plus another 2 billion euros as its financing and investment arm was buffeted by the collapse of US merchant bank Lehman Brothers in September. Revenues throughout last year totaled 27.376 billion euros.
■FOOD
Nestle profits rise 70%
Swiss giant Nestle said yesterday that net profits surged 69.4 percent to 18 billion Swiss francs (US$15 billion) last year and that it would be among the industry’s fastest growing companies this year. Sales reached SF109.9 billion, up 2.2 percent compared to the previous year, as the strength of the Swiss franc against most other local currencies dented the results reported in francs. The group warned the global economic downturn “could further impact consumer demand.”
■ECHNOLOGY
HP profits drop 13%
Hewlett-Packard (HP), the world’s largest technology company, reported a 13 percent drop in quarterly net profit on Wednesday and lowered its outlook for the full fiscal year. HP said net profit declined to US$1.9 billion in the first quarter of its financial year from US$2.1 billion a year earlier. It said revenue for the quarter ending last month was up 1 percent at US$28.8 billion. HP said it expects revenue to fall by 2 percent to 5 percent in fiscal 2009.
■SEMICONDUCTORS
AMD, ATIC form link
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), the world’s second-largest computer chip maker, said on Wednesday that its stockholders had approved a manufacturing joint venture with investment from Abu Dhabi. AMD said the green light from shareholders paves the way for the creation of the venture, to be known as The Foundry Company, between AMD and the Advanced Technology Investment Co (ATIC) of Abu Dhabi.
AMD has said the move would result in one company that designs semiconductors and another that builds them.
■INSURANCE
Swiss Re posts biggest loss
The world’s biggest reinsurer Swiss Re yesterday posted its biggest annual loss of SF864 million for last year, saying earnings were hit by investment losses. The loss was slightly smaller than the SF1 billion it had forecast earlier this month. “This result is clearly disappointing,” said Stefan Lippe, the group’s chief executive.
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