■ Telecoms
NTT profits plummet
Japanese telecom giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT) said yesterday its profit fell by almost one-third in the nine months to December as revenue slackened amid intense competition. Group net profit for the period dropped 31.6 percent from a year earlier to ¥477.77 billion (US$4.0 billion), with pretax profit falling 31.1 percent to ¥1.13 trillion. Revenue slipped 0.9 percent to ¥7.92 trillion. In fixed-line phone services revenue dropped 6.1 percent to ¥164.8 billion due to price cuts while income from mobile phone services shrank 2.3 percent to ¥56.6 billion owing to discount packages, it said. Revenue was also hit by reduced sales of mobile handsets. NTT left its net-profit forecast for the full year to March unchanged at ¥525 billion and pretax profit of ¥1.26 trillion on sales of ¥10.71 trillion.
■ Airline industry
US, EU certify Worldliner
US and European authorities have certified the Boeing Co's longest-range jetliner to begin flying airline passengers worldwide, the company said on Thursday. The announcement came after the US Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency formally recognized that the 777-200LR successfully completed testing and safety requirements during its six-month flight-test program. The Worldliner, as Boeing calls its latest 777, broke the world record last November for the longest nonstop flight by a commercial jet. It flew 21,596km from Hong Kong to London, a flight that took 22 hours and 43 minutes. The twin-aisle jet is designed to carry 301 passengers up to 17,441km. Boeing has received 36 orders for the 777-200LR from five airlines, including Taiwanese carrier EVA Airways (長榮航空), Emirates Airlines, Air Canada and Air India.
■ Investment
Icahn eyes KT&G Corp
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is seeking to put directors on the board at KT&G Corp, South Korea's biggest tobacco company, to influence management after teaming up with Warren Lichtenstein, who pioneered hostile takeover bids in Japan. Funds controlled by Icahn and Lichtenstein hold 6.6 percent of Seoul-based KT&G, Icahn Partners Master Fund LP said in a filing to regulators yesterday. Lichtenstein's Steel Partners LP will nominate directors at KT&G's annual shareholder meeting with support from Icahn's funds, the filing said. Icahn, who raised US$1.6 billion for two hedge funds last year to pursue "activist" investing, has been pressing KT&G to sell assets to raise the firm's share price.
■ Airline industry
UAL shares drop 10 percent
Shares of United Airlines parent UAL Corp fell 10 percent on their first day of trading on the NASDAQ Stock Market, after some analysts said the stock price was higher than the company's prospects justified. The new shares began trading yesterday under the symbol UAUA after the company emerged from more than three years of bankruptcy on Thursday. They fell US$4.11 to US$35.89 at 4:30pm. The price had risen as high as US$43.75 in trading since Jan. 26 on a "when issued" basis. United, the world's second-largest airline, had forecast in its plan to exit bankruptcy protection that the new stock would trade at US$15 a share. The company is issuing 125 million shares, mainly to creditors and to United employees, who provided more than US$4 billion in pay and benefit concessions to help reduce UAL's costs and stem losses.
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
North Korea tested nuclear-capable rocket launchers, state media reported yesterday, a day after Seoul detected the launch of about 10 ballistic missiles. The test comes after South Korean and US forces launched their springtime military drills, due to run until Thursday. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Saturday oversaw the testing of the multiple rocket launcher system (MRLS), the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The test involved 12 600mm-caliber ultra-precision multiple rocket launchers and two artillery companies, it said. Kim said the drill gave Pyongyang’s enemies, within the 420km striking range, a sense of “uneasiness” and “a deep understanding
North Korea yesterday fired about 10 ballistic missiles to the sea toward Japan, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, days after Pyongyang warned of “terrible consequences” over ongoing South Korea-US military drills. Pyongyang recently dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul, Washington’s security ally, describing its latest peace efforts as a “clumsy, deceptive farce.” Seoul’s military detected “around 10 ballistic missiles launched from the Sunan area in North Korea toward the East Sea [Sea of Japan] at around 1:20pm,” JCS said in a statement, referring to South Korea’s name for the body of water. The missiles
‘UNWAVERING FRIENDSHIP’: A representative of a Japanese group that co-organized a memorial, said he hopes Japanese never forget Taiwan’s kindness President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, urging continued cooperation between Taiwan and Japan on disaster prevention and humanitarian assistance. Lai wrote on social media that Taiwan and Japan have always helped each other in the aftermath of major disasters. The magnitude 9 earthquake struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, triggering a massive tsunami that claimed more than 19,000 lives, according to data from Japanese authorities. Following the disaster, Taiwan donated more than US$240 million in aid, making it one of the largest contributors of financial assistance to Japan. In addition to cash donations and
RSS