Fri, Apr 18, 2014 page15

• World Business Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  BANKING

  China to cut reserve rate

  China is to cut the amount of funds that rural banks must keep in reserve, Xinhua news agency said, in a small easing of monetary policy by the government as it tries to provide support to the slowing economy. The State Council said it would allow a cut in the reserve requirements for some county-level commercial banks and cooperative banks in rural areas, Xinhua reported late on Wednesday, but gave no details. The announcement came on the day the government said GDP grew 7.4 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, sharply down from 7.7 percent the previous quarter, owing to a slow global recovery as well as domestic structural reforms.

  ECONOMY

  Japanese confidence tanks

  Japan’s consumer confidence fell last month to the lowest level since August 2011, a reading that may tumble more this month after an April 1 sales-tax increase hit the public’s spending power. The reading was 37.5 last month, down from 38.5 in February, the Cabinet Office said yesterday. About 90 percent of respondents expect prices to rise over the next 12 months, the highest in comparable data back to 2004.

  INTERNET

  ‘Heartbleed’ cited in arrest

  Canadian federal police said on Wednesday they had arrested and charged a 19-year-old man in the theft of 900 Canadian taxpayers’ data, which was made vulnerable by the “Heartbleed” bug. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Stephen Arthuro Solis-Reyes was arrested at his London, Ontario, home on Tuesday without incident. He was scheduled to appear in court yesterday to face charges of mischief and unauthorized use of a computer to steal data from the Canada Revenue Agency’s Web site.

  COMPUTERS

  IBM revenues disappoint

  IBM Corp’s first-quarter earnings fell and revenue came in below analyst expectations amid an ongoing decline in its hardware business, one that was exacerbated by weaker demand in China and emerging markets. The company said on Wednesday that it earned US$2.38 billion, or US$2.29 per share, in the January-to-March period. That is down 21 percent from US$3.03 billion, or US$2.70 per share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 4 percent to US$22.5 billion, marking the eighth consecutive quarter of decline. The biggest drop was in hardware, where revenue tumbled 23 percent to US$2.39 billion from US$3.11 billion.

  CREDIT

  Amex profit climbs 12%

  American Express said its net income climbed 12 percent in the first quarter, helped by higher spending by its cardholders even as cold winter weather gripped much of the US. The New York-based company said on Wednesday that its net profit rose to US$1.43 billion, or US$1.33 per share, in the three months ending March 31. That compares with a net income of US$1.28 billion, or US$1.15 per share, in the same period last year. Revenue rose 4 percent to US$8.2 billion from US$7.88 billion the year before.

  SOFTWARE

  SAP profit rose 3% in Q1

  German software giant SAP yesterday said it was sticking to its full-year forecasts for this year after profits rose slightly in the first quarter. SAP said that net profit rose 3 percent to 534 million euros (US$739 million) in the period from January to March, while operating profit climbed 12 percent to 723 million euros on a 3 percent increase in revenues to 3.7 billion euros.
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