■BANKING
Credit Suisse earnings soar
Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse yesterday said its second-quarter earnings soared 29 percent to 1.571 billion Swiss francs (US$1.47 billion), adding that it was well positioned to “perform well” even if the economic environment were to worsen. The earnings marked a second consecutive quarter of profits made by the bank as it recovers from a full-year loss of SF8.2 billion last year. The bank’s chief executive Brady Dougan said the global economic climate was expected to “remain challenging and uneven business conditions” should persist.
■AUTOMOBILES
BAIC out of Opel race
General Motors Europe said yesterday it was no longer talking to China’s Beijing Automotive Industry Holding (BAIC, 北京汽車工業) about it acquiring Opel, leaving just two bidders: Magna and RHJ International. “We had a good and thoughtful discussion around the key operating metrics and key issues associated with the three final offers we received on Monday evening,” said John Smith, GM’s chief negotiator for the sale of Opel. “We have agreed to continue detailed talks with both Magna and RHJI to secure Opel’s future.”
■INTERNET
Amazon buying Zappos
Online retail giant Amazon said on Wednesday that it was purchasing Internet shoe shop Zappos.com in a stock and cash deal valued at nearly US$850 million. Amazon said it expects the transaction to be complete by the end of this year. Zappos was founded in 1999 and gained fans with free shipping of shoe buys and a liberal return policy. Under the terms of the deal, Amazon will get all shares of Zappos stock in exchange for 10 million shares of Amazon stock valued at US$807 million based on an average of share prices in the 45 days ending on July 17.
■INTERNET
Yahoo to buy Xoopit
Yahoo said on Wednesday it would buy Xoopit, a San Francisco startup specializing in finding and organizing photos buried in e-mail inboxes. “In short, Xoopit will bring phenomenal photo organization, improved photo sharing, and the serendipity of discovering forgotten photos to Yahoo Mail,” Yahoo Applications senior vice president Bryan Lamkin said in an online post. Xoopit-driven “My Photos” has become the third-most popular application at Yahoo Mail since it was added at the end of last year, Lamkin said.
■AUTOMAKERS
Hyundai posts record profit
South Korea’s largest automaker, Hyundai Motor, yesterday reported its highest-ever quarterly net profit, despite the global economic downturn. Hyundai said net profit in April-June was 811.8 billion won (US$648.4 million), a 48 percent rise on 546.9 billion won for the same period last year. Operating profit fell 0.8 percent year-on-year to 657.3 billion won from 662.5 billion on higher marketing costs and lower exports. Declining exports dragged sales down 11 percent to 8.08 trillion won from 9.107 trillion won.
■BEVERAGES
Kirin plans Suntory merger
Japanese drinks giant Kirin wants to seal a merger with smaller rival Suntory as soon as possible to create a top industry player in Asia, Kirin’s president said in an interview published yesterday. “We aim to be a leading company in Asia and Oceania,” Kirin Holdings Co president Kazuyasu Kato told the Nikkei economic daily. Kato said the two companies would proceed with “the spirit of equal partners.”
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2