■NETWORKING
LM Ericsson profits drop
Swedish wireless equipment maker LM Ericsson AB yesterday reported a 26 percent drop in first-quarter net profits, with worse-than-expected sales and large restructuring costs weighing on the results. Net profit for the three months ended March 31 came to 1.3 billion kronor (US$180 million), down from Kr1.72 billion a year ago. Stockholm-headquartered Ericsson said first-quarter revenues amounted to Kr45.1 billion, down from Kr49.6 billion in the same three months last year.
■CREDIT CARDS
Amex clients spend more
American Express Co says a big jump in its cardholders’ spending helped its first-quarter earnings more than double to US$885 million. American Express said on Thursday it set aside less money for losses on its credit cards. It joined the US’ big banks in reporting improvement in credit card operations. Meanwhile, cardholder spending is up 16 percent. The company earned US$0.73 per share, compared with US$437 million, or US$0.31, a year earlier.
■AVIATION
Air China swings into profit
Air China (中國國際航空) swung into profit last year on the back of improving domestic demand and reduced fuel costs, China’s flag-carrier said yesterday. The carrier earned 5.03 billion yuan (US$736.9 million) in net profit, recovering from a net loss of 9.1 billion yuan in 2008, a statement filed with the Shanghai stock exchange said. In the first quarter, net profit reached 2.17 billion yuan, up 121.3 percent from the same period last year. Total revenue fell 3.5 percent year on year to 51.09 billion yuan last year, it added.
■SOFTWARE
Wipro Q4 profit rose 21%
India’s third-biggest software company Wipro Ltd yesterday said fourth-quarter net profit rose 21 percent as demand picked up and billing rates improved. Net profit for the three months to March was 12.09 billion rupees (US$270 million) from 10.01 billion rupees the previous year under international accounting norms. Analysts had forecast a net profit of 12 billion rupees for the Bangalore-based outsourcing firm. Revenues rose 8 percent to 69.83 billion rupees, a statement to the Mumbai stock exchange said.
■AUTOMAKERS
BMW aims to lift PRC sales
Germany’s BMW AG aims to lift its sales in China, a key market for the luxury automaker and one of its biggest. Speaking to reporters yesterday at the Auto 2010 motor show in Beijing, BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer said the company hoped to sell about 120,000 cars in China this year. That’s above its previous target of around 100,000 cars and sales last year of more than 90,000 cars. In the first quarter of this year, BMW has seen its deliveries rise 106 percent to nearly 34,200 cars sold. Worldwide, Reithofer says BMW is looking to sell more than 1.3 million cars this year.
■GERMANY
Business confidence soars
Business confidence in Germany rose sharply to a near two-year high this month, the closely watched Ifo index showed yesterday, in another sign of recovery in Europe’s top economy. The index rose to 101.6 points this month from 98.2 last month, smashing forecasts by analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires, who were looking for a rise to 98.9 points. “The German economy has shifted into a higher gear,” institute president Hans-Werner Sinn 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
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
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
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