■IRELAND
Government helps bank
Struggling lender Bank of Ireland said yesterday it intends to raise 3.4 billion euros (US$4.6 billion) in fresh capital with the help of the government. The government’s 34 percent stake in the bailed-out bank will rise to 36 percent after the exercise, which will also see a private placement worth 500 million euros to institutional investors. The state will contribute 1.04 billion euros and existing shareholders another 1.89 billion euros, the Bank of Ireland said. The plan to raise extra funds was announced last month, aiming to strengthen the bank after its near-collapse during the global financial crisis.
■ELECTRONICS
Canon Q1 profit soars
Canon’s first quarter net profit more than tripled from a year earlier as a recovering global economy drove demand for cameras and office equipment. The Tokyo-based company said yesterday its net profit for the January-March quarter totaled ¥56.8 billion (US$602 million), up from ¥17.7 billion a year earlier. Operating profit more than quadrupled to ¥86.8 billion, while sales rose 10 percent to ¥755.5 billion. Canon credited its results to a turnaround in US and Japanese consumer spending, as well as expanding markets in China, India and elsewhere in Asia.
■ELECTRONICS
TomTom makes small profit
TomTom NV reported a small profit for the first quarter as more drivers bought its personal navigation devices, but selling prices continued to fall. Net profit was 3 million euros, or 0.01 euro per share, in what is usually its weakest quarter, from a loss of 37 million euros in the same period a year ago. Revenues rose 26 percent to 268 million euros. The company has forecast sales for this year at about the same level as last year, at 1.48 billion euros. It says it expects earnings per share of 0.47 euros. TomTom said it sold 1.6 million devices, up 15 percent from a year ago. Its average selling price was 89 euros, down 10 percent from a year ago.
■JAPAN
Fiscal problems growing
A senior IMF official warned of the country’s growing fiscal problems in an interview published yesterday, describing the pace of deterioration as “pretty high.” IMF deputy managing director Naoyuki Shinohara made the comments in an interview with Kyodo news agency in Washington. “Although Japan’s problem should not be treated in the same way as the Greece debt crisis, its fiscal vulnerability is rising fairly high,” he said. While the fiscal deficit has been financed by high levels of saving, the pace of deterioration is now “pretty high” and the country must implement consolidation plans, he said.
■OIL
Minister defends prices
Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah al-Sabah said yesterday that current oil prices of between US$75 and US$85 dollars a barrel did not hamper the global economic recovery. “This price will not create hurdles for the world economic recovery,” the minister told the opening session of the 18th Middle East Petroleum and Gas Conference. Oil prices extended gains in Asian trade yesterday after a rise in US home sales stoked optimism for a firmer rebound in the world’s biggest economy, analysts said. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, rose US$0.41 to US$85.53 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for June was up US$0.35 to US$87.60.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from