■ STEEL
Makers back in the black
German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp AG said it earned 298 million euros (US$383 million) in the April to June quarter as orders and revenues rose strongly in a recovering economy. The profit reported yesterday compared with a net loss of 630 million euros a year earlier in the company’s fiscal third quarter. ThyssenKrupp said orders rose 38 percent to 10.93 billion euros from 7.93 billion euros. Revenues were up 26 percent to 11.68 billion euros from 9.3 billion euros. Meanwhile, the world’s seventh-largest steelmaker, Tata Steel, said on Thursday it had swung to a consolidated first-quarter net profit from a loss a year earlier as demand from car and construction firms improved. The company posted a consolidated net profit for the three months to June of 18.25 billion rupees (US$388 million), against a loss of 22.08 billion rupees a year earlier.
■ EMPLOYMENT
Staffing firm takes over
Randstad Holding NV said it had agreed to buy the 79.5 percent of Japan’s FujiStaff it does not already own for ¥13.7 billion (US$159 million). Amsterdam-based Randstad, the world’s third-largest temporary staffing company, said its offer of ¥27,500 per FujiStaff share represented a 62 percent premium to the closing share price of ¥17,010 on Thursday. The deal is supported by FujiStaff’s founders, who hold a 44.6 percent stake. FujiStaff had sales of ¥60 billion last year.
■ AVIATION
Korean Air posts losses
Korean Air Lines, South Korea’s flagship carrier, fell into red in the second quarter because of foreign exchange losses sparked by a stronger local currency, it said yesterday. It posted a net loss of 233.1 billion won (US$196 million) in the three months ended June 30, a reverse from a net profit of 78.5 billion won a year earlier. However, the airline reported an all-time high operating profit of 352.1 billion won in the second quarter, a turnaround from an operating loss of 127.3 billion won a year earlier. Sales jumped 37 percent to a record 2.836 trillion won, up from 2.075 trillion a year earlier.
■ Insurance
China Life drops AIA bid
China Life and two other Chinese investors have withdrawn from bidding for stakes in American International Group’s Asian (AIA) unit ahead of its planned initial public offering, state media said yesterday. China Life, the nation’s largest life insurer, had planned to jointly bid for AIA shares with private conglomerate Fosun Group and state-run China Cinda Asset Management, the 21st Century Business Herald reported, citing unnamed investment bankers. However, the three companies have decided to temporarily pull out of the process on concerns it could be priced too high, the report said.
■ GAMING
July sales edge down: NPD
US videogame industry sales slipped last month despite a jump in the number of shoppers snatching up Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii consoles, figures released on Thursday by NPD Group showed. The US$846.5 million spent on videogame hardware and software was about 1 percent less than the revenue posted in the same month last year and came despite console sales climbing 12 percent to US$313.8 million. Sales of videogame software tallied US$403.3 million in an 8 percent drop from the US$438 million spent on titles in July last year.
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
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
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