■JAPAN
Drop in exports easing
Japan’s exports fell by the smallest margin in 10 months last month, showing a deep slump in the world’s second-largest economy may be easing. Exports were down 30.7 percent last month from a year earlier, the 12th straight month of declines, to ¥5.1 trillion (US$56 billion), the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Imports, meanwhile, fell 36.9 percent to ¥4.6 trillion, the smallest drop fall in five months. The monthly trade surplus, or the amount exports exceed imports, for last month was ¥521 billion.
■PHARMACEUTICALS
Novartis net profit slides
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis said yesterday its nine-month net profit slid 8 percent to US$6.1 billion, hit by a weak dollar and acquisition costs. However, the drugmaker raised its full-year sales forecast, as its new swine flu pandemic vaccines alone are expected to rake in up to US$700 million in revenues in the fourth quarter. “Approximately 90 million to 120 million doses are expected to be produced by the end of 2009, with expected fourth-quarter net sales contributions of approximately 400 million to 700 million US dollars,” it said in a statement.
■AUTOMOBILES
Hyundai net profits surge
South Korea’s largest automaker, Hyundai Motor, yesterday reported record net profit in the third quarter, helped by strong sales overseas. Net profit in the three months to the end of last month more than tripled to 979.1 billion won (US$826 million) from 264.7 billion won a year earlier, the company said. Sales rose 33.8 percent year-on-year to 8.09 trillion won while operating profit jumped to 586.8 billion won from 104.5 billion won at the same point last year.
■INSURANCE
Aviva moving to Ireland
Britain’s second-biggest insurer, Aviva, plans to cut costs and exploit growth opportunities by centralizing all its continental European operations in a holding company in low-tax Ireland. As part of the plan, Aviva will also simplify the range of products it offers across 12 European businesses and speed up new product launches, the company said in a statement yesterday. “Aviva will make significant efficiency gains and build competitive advantage in the region,” the company said.
■FOOD
Nestle sales slip 2.3%
Global food giant Nestle said yesterday its nine-month sales slipped 2.3 percent to 79.5 billion Swiss francs (US$78.9 billion), hurt by the strong local currency. The currency impact took 5.2 percent off its sales for the first nine months of the year, it said, while divestitures added an impact of 0.6 percent. Organic growth — which excludes effects from acquisitions and currency fluctuations — stood at 3.6 percent for the period, it said.
■ELECTRONICS
LM Ericsson profits drop
Wireless equipment maker LM Ericsson AB on Thursday said profits tumbled 71 percent in the third quarter, worse than markets expected, as cash-strapped mobile operators cut spending on their networks. The world’s leading supplier of broadband networks said net profit in the third quarter was 810 million Swedish kronor (US$117.6 million), down from 2.84 billion kronor in the same three months last year. Sales fell by 5.6 percent to 46.4 billion kronor from 49.2 billion kronor in the third quarter of last 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
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
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