■TRADE
Japan exports jump 43.5%
Japanese exports rose for a fourth straight month last month as a recovering global economy drove demand for the nation’s cars and gadgets. Exports jumped 43.5 percent from a year earlier to ¥6 trillion (US$63.5 billion), the government said yesterday. Imports rose 20.7 percent, leading to a trade surplus of ¥948.9 billion (US$10.2 billion) for the month, the finance ministry said. For the full fiscal year ending March 31, exports tumbled 17.1 percent to ¥59 trillion, while imports slid 25.2 percent, resulting in a trade surplus of ¥5.23 trillion, a reversal from the previous year’s deficit.
■BANKING
Credit Suisse Q1 profit up
Credit Suisse Group yesterday reported a near tripling of first-quarter net profit to 2.1 billion Swiss francs (US$1.96 billion) as the Swiss bank strengthened its recovery. CEO Brady Dougan said the bank was maintaining “stable, high-quality earnings” following its turnaround last year in the wake of the financial crisis. Revenue grew to SF9 billion in the first quarter as the bank reported strong inflows of new client assets.
■FOOD
Nestle Q1 sales rose 4.4%
Nestle AG yesterday reported a 4.4 percent increase in first-quarter sales as the world’s largest food and drink maker made strong gains in emerging economies. The Swiss-based company said sales totaled SF26.3 billion (US$24.6 billion), which it described as a strong performance in a still-difficult economic environment. Nestle is aiming for a third successive full-year turnover above SF100 billion, offering new low-cost products in developing countries.
■RETAIL
Starbucks Q1 profit surges
Cost-cutting and an influx of US customers helped Starbucks Corp post an eight-fold increase in its second-quarter profit. The increase in customers — Starbucks’ first in 13 quarters — helped boost a key performance measure to a four-year high. Starbucks posted a better-than-expected profit of US$217.3 million, or US$0.28 per share. That figure, for the three months that ended late last month, includes a one-time charge that amounted to US$0.01 per share. During the same period last year, the coffee chain earned just US$25 million, or US$0.03 per share, weighed down by hefty charges. Its revenue rose 9 percent to US$2.53 billion.
■AUTOMOBILES
Hyundai profit rises five-fold
South Korea’s Hyundai Motor said yesterday its net profit jumped nearly five-fold in the first quarter of this year on the back of strong sales abroad. Net profit jumped to a record 1.12 trillion won (US$1 billion), compared with 225 billion won a year ago, the country’s top carmaker said. Sales rose 39.6 percent year on year to 8.4 trillion won, while operating profit soared to 702.7 billion won from 153.8 billion won a year ago, it said.
■HOME APPLIANCES
Chinese tycoon on trial
A home appliance dealer who once was China’s richest businessman went on trial yesterday on charges of insider trading, bribery and other business offenses, a state news agency said. Huang Guangyu (黃光裕), also known as Wong Kwong-yu, built his Gome Electronics (國美電器) into China’s biggest appliance retailer. Estimated to be worth US$6.3 billion at one time, he was detained in November 2008 and news reports said he was accused of manipulating share prices. Huang’s trial began in the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate Court yesterday, Xinhua news agency said.
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