■AUTOMAKERS
Mitsubishi posts Q1 profit
Mitsubishi Motors Corp posted a ¥30.5 billion (US$328 million) profit for the January-March quarter, a reversal from red ink the previous year as government incentives helped along a gradual global recovery. Japan’s No. 5 automaker posted a ¥50.1 billion loss in January-March last year, but sales and profitability improved after that for a full fiscal year in the black, the Tokyo-based company said yesterday. Mitsubishi, which makes the Pajero sport utility vehicle and the i-MiEV electric car, recorded ¥4.76 billion in profit for the fiscal year ending March 31. It had a ¥54.9 billion loss the previous fiscal year. It is forecasting net profit to improve to ¥15 billion for the fiscal year through March next year.
■INTERNET
AliExpress to accept PayPal
Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba (阿里巴巴) said yesterday its new transaction platform would accept payments from users of US online payment service PayPal, amid efforts to expand overseas. AliExpress allows small businesses to purchase products listed on the site in their preferred currency using PayPal, Alibaba said in a statement. PayPal, a subsidiary of US e-commerce giant eBay, has more than 84 million active users around the world and allows payment in 24 currencies. AliExpress was officially launched on Monday, but has been trialed since September.
■SOFTWARE
Software AG boosts profit
Germany’s Software AG yesterday cited improved sales and a recovery in demand for information technology services as its first-quarter net profit rose 9 percent. The software maker based in Darmstadt posted a net profit of 28 million euros (US$37.3 million) in the January-March period, compared with 25.6 million euros a year earlier. Revenues rose 51 percent to 250.3 million euros in the quarter, compared with 165.3 million euros a year earlier. Of those figures, the company’s maintenance revenue, a key barometer of future business, was up 17 percent to 85.4 million euros. Revenues were up across the board, including WebMethods, which includes business process management applications, which rose 9 percent to 81.4 million euros.
■HOME APPLIANCES
Electrolux returns to profit
Swedish appliance maker Electrolux AB said yesterday it returned to a profit from a loss in the first quarter, helped by favorable currency exchange rates and lower raw material prices. The company, based in Stockholm, reported a net profit for the first quarter of 911 million kronor (US$127 million), up from a loss of Kr346 million a year earlier. The company said the result was boosted by currency effects, increased efficiency in its operations and lower prices on raw materials. However, it said rising raw material prices could boost costs by up to Kr1 billion this year.
■GERMANY
Consumer confidence grows
A survey says German consumer confidence is improving for the second consecutive month, reflecting hopes for an economic recovery. Survey institute GfK, based in Nuremberg, said yesterday that both economic and income expectations for next month had risen considerably in Europe’s biggest economy. The GfK’s overall indicator forecasts a value of 3.8 points next month, following a revised value of 3.4 points for this month. Last month, Gfk had recorded a value of 3.2, when it had fallen for a fifth consecutive month, as consumers worried about jobs and the implications of the debt crisis in other European countries.
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