■FINANCE
Aiful warns of losses
Japanese consumer finance firm Aiful Corp said yesterday that it would cut 2,000 jobs, or almost half of its regular work force, as it braces to slide into the red this year. Kyoto-based Aiful, one of Japan’s biggest consumer finance companies, said that it would apply to reschedule its debt repayment to creditors. The company expects a net loss of ¥311 billion (US$3.4 billion) in the year to March, compared with its earlier forecast of a profit of ¥8.1 billion. Last year it logged a net profit of ¥4.3 billion. Aiful said the job cuts would save ¥12 billion a year in labor costs, while it will need to pay one-off special allowances of ¥8.9 billion for the early retirement program.
■FINANCE
Bankers set to reap rewards
About 300 staff from Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse stand to receive about US$1.8 billion in stock under a bonus scheme introduced about five years ago, a report said yesterday. The bankers and executives are set to cash in on their rewards under the performance-based scheme introduced in 2005 as the bank struggled to retain staff, the Financial Times said. The scheme saved Credit Suisse much needed funds at the time, but proved unpopular among staff because it forced them to wait five years and remain at the bank before cashing in on their rewards.
■AUTOMOBILES
UK questions Opel deal
Britain has written to Europe’s competition chief challenging plans by auto parts maker Magna to buy carmaker Opel, as fears of job losses gather steam, a report said yesterday. Business Secretary Peter Mandelson said the Canadian company’s plans for restructuring of Opel were too expensive and susceptible to “political intervention,” the Financial Times said. “We do not believe the case has been demonstrated that the current Magna proposal is commercially the most viable plan,” Mandelson said in the letter, obtained by the newspaper.
■GERMANY
Business confidence rises
German business confidence edged higher for a sixth straight month to its highest level in a year, a key index showed yesterday, three days from elections in Europe’s biggest economy. Business sentiment gained 0.8 points from last month to 91.3 this month, the Ifo research institute said. It was the Ifo survey’s highest level since September last year, when the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers plunged the global financial system into crisis. With German elections scheduled on Sunday, the increasingly positive economic mood is likely to work in favor of Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose Christian Democrats are leading in the polls.
■TELECOMS
Vodafone offers new service
Vodafone announced a new Internet service yesterday, offering access to a host of integrated social networks and applications, in its fight to grow data revenues and compete with smartphones like the iPhone. The firm, the world’s largest mobile phone operator by revenue, said its new Vodafone 360 service would use the open source Limo operating system to allow users to store contacts from the phone and social networks all in one place. The service will allow Vodafone to compete with the likes of Apple and its iPhone, Google and the Android operating system and RIM’s Blackberry, in its bid to retain a direct link with customers.
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
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
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