■ Economy
Fitch upgrades HK rating
Fitch Ratings said yesterday it had upgraded its outlook on Hong Kong's long-term foreign currency issuer default rating to "positive" from "stable." The ratings agency said the revision mainly reflects the territory's strong external financial position and the continued reform of its public finances. Fitch expects the Hong Kong economy to grow 6.3 percent this year and 4 percent to 5 percent in the medium term, against the government's forecast of 4 percent to 5 percent for this year and 4 percent per annum from next year to 2010.
■ Automobilies
Lower tax aids Nissan profit
Nissan Motor Co said yesterday that its net profit in the first quarter rose 4.2 percent from the same period a year earlier to ¥110.2 billion (US$945 million) as lower taxes made up for a sales slump. However, its operating profit in the April-to-June quarter fell 25.7 percent year-on-year. Operating profit, which measures earnings before the deduction of interest payments and income taxes, declined to ¥153.3 billion. Japan's second automobile manufacturer sold 826,000 vehicles in the three-month period, down 6 percent, on a lack of new models, but group sales rose 3.1 percent to ¥2.21 trillion, it said.
■ Telecoms
PCCW trading suspended
Shares of Hong Kong phone operator PCCW Ltd (電訊盈科) were suspended from trading yesterday following a news report saying the company would reject offers by foreign investors for its core telecommunications and media assets. Citing people familiar with the situation, the South China Morning Post reported yesterday that PCCW's board of directors would reject separate bids for its assets from Australia's Macquarie Bank Ltd and US investment firm Texas Pacific Group and its Asia-focused unit Newbridge. The report did not name its sources. The proposed asset sale had faced fierce opposition from Chinese state-owned phone operator China Network Communications Group, which owns 20 percent of PCCW. China Netcom suggested it didn't want to see telecom infrastructure on Chinese soil falling into foreign hands.
■ Oil
BP's Q2 profits up 23%
Despite a drop in output, British energy giant BP announced yesterday a 22.8 percent increase in second-quarter earnings on the back of soaring crude oil prices. Net profit, excluding gains in the value of its crude oil inventories, rose to US$6.12 billion in the three months to June, compared with US$4.98 billion in the same period last year, BP said in a results statement.
■ Gas
Watchdog raids 20 firms
Japan's anti-monopoly watchdog raided about 20 gas companies yesterday over suspected bid-rigging for natural gas station projects subsidized by the government, Fair Trade Commission spokesman Akinori Yamada said. The gas companies are suspected of having colluded on bids for projects to build gas stations for natural gas-powered vehicles around Japan, and financed by the government, Yamada said. The projects, worth between ¥3 billion (US$235.64 million) and ¥4 billion a year, are ordered by gas suppliers, gas station operators and local governments, Yamada said.
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
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