■MEXICO
Economy may shrink 4%
The economy will contract by 4 percent this year, largely because of the global recession and weak internal demand, private analysts said in a central bank report released on Monday. The previous bank survey of analysts, issued last month, had predicted a 3.3 percent contraction. Mexico’s economy grew by 1.3 percent last year. Monday’s figures do not account for the impact of the H1N1 virus scare. Authorities ordered most businesses closed to contain the spread of the virus, and trade and commercial flights have been disrupted. Treasury Secretary Agustin Carstens said the flu could cost the economy an additional 0.3 percent to 0.5 percent of GDP.
■MANAGEMENT
CFOs at top firms lose pay
Chief financial officers (CFOs) at more than 300 companies in Standard and Poor’s 500 Index took a median compensation cut of 4 percent last year as cash bonuses plunged, a study showed. The total compensation of the finance directors dropped to US$2.73 million from US$2.84 million the previous year, according to Equilar Inc. Base salaries increased 6.6 percent, while cash bonuses slid 22.6 percent and incentive plan payouts linked to company performance fell 18.4 percent, the study showed. The CFOs had to have held the job for at least two years to participate in the survey.
■RETAIL
Adidas profits plunge
German sports equipment and clothing maker Adidas yesterday posted a 97 percent drop in first-quarter net profit to 5 million euros (US$6.7 million). A company statement also said sales had fallen by a much more modest 2 percent to 2.58 billion euros in the first three months of the year. Company chairman and chief executive Herbert Hainer said the group’s results had been “materially affected by higher input prices, currency devaluation effects and restructuring costs.” Adidas also announced a major restructuring of its operations that would include the elimination of regional headquarters in Europe and Asia. Employee reductions were planned at the group’s Reebok, Rockport and TaylorMade-Adidas Golf divisions, the statement said. Looking ahead, it said Adidas’ operating margin was expected to decline, but earnings per share would “be around break-even in the first six months of 2009” before getting well back into the black later this year.
■RETAIL
Metro reports quarterly loss
Giant German retailer Metro AG reported widening quarterly losses yesterday as the global recession hit consumer demand. Metro, which has a global business empire said its net loss in the first three months of the year widened to 100 million euros from 15 million euros in the same period last year. But Germany’s biggest retailer also pointed to signs of improvement in business conditions, saying it had experienced a “positive development of business” last month. The company said first first-quarter sales dropped 2.5 percent to 15.2 billion euros.
■FINANCE
Resignation boosts RBS
Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS) shares rose as much as 17 percent yesterday, or £0.074, to £0.514 in London trading after the company said that Guy Whittaker, its finance director, would step down from the board, leaving the company by the end of the year.
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