SRI LANKA
Visa deals announced
Colombo yesterday said that it would sell long-term visas to attract desperately needed foreign currency after the nation ran out of US dollars to pay for food and fuel. Foreigners who deposit a minimum of US$100,000 locally would be granted permission to live and work in Sri Lanka for 10 years under the “Golden Paradise Visa Program,” the government said. The money should be locked in a local bank account for the duration of the stay, the government said in a statement. The government also approved the granting of five-year visas to any foreigner spending a minimum of US$75,000 to buy an apartment in the nation.
FINANCE
Nomura posts profit
Nomura Holdings Inc posted a fourth straight quarter of profit as Japan’s largest brokerage booked gains from a stake sale in one of its affiliated companies, offsetting further provisions for a legal case in the US. Net income totaled ￥31 billion (US$242 million) in the three months ended March 31, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Revenue in the retail division dropped 27 percent as market volatility arising from the Russia-Ukraine war and uncertainty around the speed of monetary policy tightening in the US kept some individual traders on the sidelines. The firm’s equities and investment banking business also suffered and geopolitical uncertainty is expected to continue, it said.
BANKING
Santander beats expectations
Spanish giant Banco Santander SA yesterday said that net profit exceeded expectations in the first three months of this year thanks to its diversified geographical footprint, rising interest rates and increased customer numbers. Santander said in a statement that its bottom-line net profit jumped by 58 percent to 2.5 billion euros (US$2.7 billion) in the period from January to last month. Santander said that it attracted 7 million new customers in the three-month period, bringing its total number of clients worldwide to 155 million.
AUTOMAKERS
Electric Corvette announced
US firm General Motors Co (GM) on Monday announced that it is developing an electric version of its Chevrolet Corvette. “We will offer an electrified Corvette as early as next year. Details and names to come at a later date,” the Detroit-based auto manufacturer said in a statement. “Yes, in addition to the amazing new Chevrolet Corvette Z06 and other gas-powered variants coming, we will offer an electrified and a fully electric” Corvette in the future, GM president Mark Reuss said on the professional site LinkedIn. GM and Honda Motor Co this month announced that they would codevelop a new line of electric vehicles at “affordable” prices, with production due to begin in 2027.
MEDICAL
Softbank adds start-up
Softbank Group Corp added a Japanese start-up specializing in endoscopy to its list of portfolio companies, making the third Vision Fund investment in its home country. The world’s largest tech fund is leading an ￥8 billion investment in AI Medical Service Inc, which develops systems and software for gastrointestinal diagnostics, using artificial intelligence to help clinicians more reliably identify potential cancers of the stomach and intestines. Softbank Group founder Masayoshi Son said earlier this year that Softbank plans to expand its Japan investment team.
Sweeping policy changes under US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr are having a chilling effect on vaccine makers as anti-vaccine rhetoric has turned into concrete changes in inoculation schedules and recommendations, investors and executives said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has in the past year upended vaccine recommendations, with the country last month ending its longstanding guidance that all children receive inoculations against flu, hepatitis A and other diseases. The unprecedented changes have led to diminished vaccine usage, hurt the investment case for some biotechs, and created a drag that would likely dent revenues and
Macronix International Co (旺宏), the world’s biggest NOR flash memory supplier, yesterday said it would spend NT$22 billion (US$699.1 million) on capacity expansion this year to increase its production of mid-to-low-density memory chips as the world’s major memorychip suppliers are phasing out the market. The company said its planned capital expenditures are about 11 times higher than the NT$1.8 billion it spent on new facilities and equipment last year. A majority of this year’s outlay would be allocated to step up capacity of multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory chips, which are used in embedded multimedia cards (eMMC), a managed
CULPRITS: Factors that affected the slip included falling global crude oil prices, wait-and-see consumer attitudes due to US tariffs and a different Lunar New Year holiday schedule Taiwan’s retail sales ended a nine-year growth streak last year, slipping 0.2 percent from a year earlier as uncertainty over US tariff policies affected demand for durable goods, data released on Friday by the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed. Last year’s retail sales totaled NT$4.84 trillion (US$153.27 billion), down about NT$9.5 billion, or 0.2 percent, from 2024. Despite the decline, the figure was still the second-highest annual sales total on record. Ministry statistics department deputy head Chen Yu-fang (陳玉芳) said sales of cars, motorcycles and related products, which accounted for 17.4 percent of total retail rales last year, fell NT$68.1 billion, or
In the wake of strong global demand for AI applications, Taiwan’s export-oriented economy accelerated with the composite index of economic indicators flashing the first “red” light in December for one year, indicating the economy is in booming mode, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Moreover, the index of leading indicators, which gauges the potential state of the economy over the next six months, also moved higher in December amid growing optimism over the outlook, the NDC said. In December, the index of economic indicators rose one point from a month earlier to 38, at the lower end of the “red” light.
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