■SEMICONDUCTORS
TI raises profit forecast
Chipmaker Texas Instruments Inc (TI) raised expectations for its second-quarter profit and revenue on Monday, signaling that demand may be improving for the battered semiconductor industry. Dallas-based TI now expects a profit of between US$0.14 and US$0.22 per share for the current quarter ending this month. Revenue is expected to be between US$2.3 billion and US$2.5 billion. Analysts, on average, are expecting a profit of US$0.10 per share on sales of US$2.21 billion, a poll by Thomson Reuters showed.
■BANKING
Lloyds to slash 1,400 jobs
Britain’s state-controlled Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) plans to shed about 1,400 more jobs, the Press Association reported yesterday, citing industry sources. A spokeswoman for LBG said the bank would not comment on “speculation.” The Press Association said the bulk of the new cuts would come via the closure of LBG’s 164 Cheltenham & Gloucester retail bank branches in Britain. LBG has already shed about 3,000 jobs since its creation in January, when Lloyds TSB bought rival lender HBOS which had faced collapse because it was struggling to raise funds owing to the credit crunch.
■ELECTRONICS
Sony raises US$2.2bn
Sony Corp raised ¥220 billion (US$2.24 billion) through the biggest bond sale in its history. The firm sold ¥110 billion in five-year notes paying an interest rate of 1.298 percent, ¥60 billion in three-year, 0.945 percent notes and ¥50 billion in 10-year, 2.068 percent bonds, Tokyo-based Sony said in a statement yesterday. The company will use the proceeds to repay debt as slumping demand led to its first consecutive annual losses since its stock listing.
■AUTOMOBILES
Fiat committed to Chrysler
Italian auto maker Fiat vowed yesterday to stick with plans to forge an alliance with distressed US group Chrysler after a US Supreme Court decision put a temporary freeze on the transaction. “Fiat is committed [to a tie-up with Chrysler] even after June 15,” a Fiat spokesman said. The company is entitled to pull out of the deal after that date if Chrysler’s recovery plan has not been fully approved.
■PHARMACEUTICALS
Economy still weak: Glaxo
The chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline, the world’s second-largest drug maker by revenue, said the global economy could remain sluggish for some time as tight credit markets and cautious corporate investment hamper growth. Andrew Witty said banks remained leery of lending and companies were still “risk averse” as the impact of a credit crisis that began in the US subprime mortgage sector hurt investment. “I still see significant economic contraction,” Witty said yesterday at a news conference in Singapore, where Glaxo was opening a vaccine plant.
■RETAIL
Arcandor goes bankrupt
Retail and tourism giant Arcandor said yesterday it had filed for bankruptcy with the likely loss of around 43,000 jobs in Germany, after Berlin dismissed its request for emergency state aid. Travel agency Thomas Cook, in which Arcandor holds a 52 percent stake, “will remain unaffected by the insolvency proceedings,” the statement said. The group, which employs 70,000 people in Europe, two-thirds of whom work in Germany, said its department store chain Karstadt, as well as mail-order company Quelle, would also be affected by the insolvency.
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
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
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