COMPUTERS
IBM income jumps 7%
Information technology giant IBM said on Thursday that its net income jumped 7 percent last year, driven by surging business in dynamic emerging economies. Net income for the year hit US$15.9 billion on revenues of US$106.9 billion, also up 7 percent for the year. Earnings per share (EPS) rose 13 percent to US$13.06, the ninth straight year EPS scored double-digit growth, the company said. The company said revenues in the BRIC countries — Brazil, Russia, India and China — increased 10 percent.
RETAIL
IKEA profits up 10.3%
IKEA says its profit jumped 10.3 percent last year as the Swedish furniture retailer increased sales despite economic uncertainty in some of its key markets. IKEA said yesterday it made a net profit of 2.97 billion euros (US$3.81 billion) in the year ended Aug. 31, while revenue grew 6.9 percent to 25.17 billion euros. CEO Mikael Ohlsson said IKEA is examining the details of recent legislation that will open up India to foreign companies and allow large single-brand retailers to own 100 percent of their stores there.
CREDIT
American Express income up
American Express Co, the biggest credit-card issuer by purchases, reported a 12 percent increase in fourth-quarter net income as card spending reached a record. Net income was US$1.19 billion, or US$1.01 a share, compared with US$1.06 billion, or US$0.88, a year earlier, the New York-based lender said on Thursday. “Cardmembers spent a record amount on their American Express cards, continuing a trend that has translated into overall share gains during the last two years,” CEO Kenneth Chenault said in the statement. “The overall recovery in the US remains uneven and the environment in Europe continues to pose challenges for the global economy.”
AUSTRIA
Fifty-year bonds issued
Austria has issued 50-year bonds for the first time in its history, the federal financing agency said on Thursday. The offering raised 2 billion euros (US$2.58 billion) with the yield at 3.837 percent, slightly higher than the 3.434 percent rate for 3 billion euros’ of 10-year bonds issued the same day, the state agency said. The move comes after Austria last week lost its cherished “AAA” rating from Standard & Poor’s, although it retains the top credit rank with fellow rating agencies Fitch and Moody’s.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Merck pays up over Vioxx
Pharmaceutical giant Merck said on Thursday it has agreed to pay up to C$36.8 million (US$36.3 million) to resolve all suits brought against it in Canada over its former hit painkiller Vioxx. Merck voluntarily withdrew the popular medicine, known by its generic name Rofecoxib, from the market in 2004 after interim clinical trials linked the drug to a higher risk of heart attacks and stroke. Since then Merck has faced numerous lawsuits over the medicine from customers.
AUTOMAKERS
Ford workers get bonuses
Ford is giving pay raises and bonuses to about 20,000 workers, mainly in the US and Canada. Letters sent to workers last week say they will get 2.7 percent raises on April 1. They will also get bonuses based on performance. Spokeswoman Marcey Evans says the raises are needed to keep pay competitive with other Fortune 100 companies. Ford Motor Co made US$6.6 billion in the first three quarters of last year.
STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
‘DECENT RESULTS’: The company said it is confident thanks to an improving world economy and uptakes in new wireless and AI technologies, despite US uncertainty Pegatron Corp (和碩) yesterday said it plans to build a new server manufacturing factory in the US this year to address US President Donald Trump’s new tariff policy. That would be the second server production base for Pegatron in addition to the existing facilities in Taoyuan, the iPhone assembler said. Servers are one of the new businesses Pegatron has explored in recent years to develop a more balanced product lineup. “We aim to provide our services from a location in the vicinity of our customers,” Pegatron president and chief executive officer Gary Cheng (鄭光治) told an online earnings conference yesterday. “We
LEAK SOURCE? There would be concern over the possibility of tech leaks if TSMC were to form a joint venture to operate Intel’s factories, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday stayed mum after a report said that the chipmaker has pitched chip designers Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc and Broadcom Inc about taking a stake in a joint venture to operate Intel Corp’s factories. Industry sources told the Central News Agency (CNA) that the possibility of TSMC proposing to operate Intel’s wafer fabs is low, as the Taiwanese chipmaker has always focused on its core business. There is also concern over possible technology leaks if TSMC were to form a joint venture to operate Intel’s factories, Concord Securities Co (康和證券) analyst Kerry Huang (黃志祺)
It was late morning and steam was rising from water tanks atop the colorful, but opaque-windowed, “soapland” sex parlors in a historic Tokyo red-light district. Walking through the narrow streets, camera in hand, was Beniko — a former sex worker who is trying to capture the spirit of the area once known as Yoshiwara through photography. “People often talk about this neighborhood having a ‘bad history,’” said Beniko, who goes by her nickname. “But the truth is that through the years people have lived here, made a life here, sometimes struggled to survive. I want to share that reality.” In its mid-17th to
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