■ Accounting
KPMG charged with fraud
KPMG LLP, the world's No. 3 accounting firm, and four current and former partners were charged with civil fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly allowing Xerox Corp to manipulate its books to inflate revenue. The lawsuit alleges the firm and its partners were aware of accounting irregularities at Xerox and still signed off on the company's financial statements. Named in the suit were partners Michael Conway, 59, Ronald Safran, 49, Joseph Boyle, 59, and former partner Anthony Dolanski, 56. The charges signal a shift in tactics by the SEC, which typically has charged individual accountants rather than entire firms. KPMG, which audits Citigroup Inc, General Electric Co and about 2,000 other US public companies, is only the second firm to face SEC charges for audit failures since 1990.
■ Semiconductors
Loss at Hynix narrows
Hynix Semiconductor Inc, the world's third-largest maker of computer memory chips, said its fourth-quarter loss narrowed as sales improved. The company posted a net loss of 917 billion won (US$783 million), compared with a loss of 1.37 trillion won in the same period a year earlier. Its operating loss narrowed to 347 billion won from 564 billion won. Sales increased by 48 percent to 746 billion won from 505 billion won, the company said in a statement to the stock exchange. Hynix, which was given a third bailout by its creditors last year, said sales shrank by a quarter to 3 trillion won last year, causing an operating loss of 940 billion won, in a report to the Korea stock exchange. Its net loss for last year was 1.9 trillion won.
■ Semiconductors
NEC narrows Q3 loss
NEC Corp's third-quarter net loss narrowed, aided by a rebound in semiconductor sales and lower costs following last year's job cuts. Japan's second-biggest chipmaker trimmed its full-year sales forecast by 3.3 percent. Tokyo-based NEC posted a group net loss of 4.5 billion yen (US$38 million), or 2.76 yen a share, in the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with a 155 billion yen net loss, or 93.73 yen, a year earlier, the company said in a statement to the Tokyo Stock Exchange. NEC, which yesterday left unchanged its 10 billion yen profit forecast, may be too optimistic about the outlook, investors said. "They've still got a long way to go in deducting costs until they can actually start to generate profit," said Hiromichi Tsuyukubo, who helps manage about US$650 million in securities at Tokyo-Mitsubishi Asset Management Ltd. "A company with its shareholder equity decreasing is far from being attractive as an investment pick," he said.
■ Deregulation
Japan to present action plan
In an effort to bring about comprehensive deregulation of the Japanese economy, the government has decided to compile an action plan of 15 to 20 priority measures for implementation by March 2005, a news report said yesterday. The government intends to select priority measures that are expected to have a significant impact on creating jobs and demand, such as allowing stock companies to run hospitals and schools, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said. The details of the plan will be spelled out next month by the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, which is chaired by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, the newspaper said.Agencies
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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