■ ALUMINUM
Alcoa profits grow
Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc said on Tuesday its first-quarter profit rose nearly 9 percent as favorable metal prices and strong sales boosted results. The company earned US$662 million, or US$0.75 per share, during the first three months of the year compared with US$608 million, or US$0.69 per share, during the same period last year. Revenue climbed 11 percent to US$7.9 billion, from US$7.1 billion a year earlier, because of higher metal prices, the company said. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial on average expected earnings of US$0.76 per share on revenue of US$7.65 billion. Alcoa shares climbed 13 percent during the quarter. Alcoa shares have traded between US$26.39 and US$36.96 in the past 52 weeks.
■ AUTOMAKERS
Union fears bid on Chrysler
The head of the Canadian Auto Workers Union (CAW) says he will try to thwart billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian's bid for Chrysler, fearing Kerkorian will cost thousands of workers their jobs. CAW president Buzz Hargrove said on Tuesday that Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp, as well as private equity investors who are studying Chrysler, have a history of hurting workers. "We don't have much confidence or trust in Mr Kerkorian," Hargrove said in a telephone interview. "He's made billions by coming in, buying low, cutting jobs and throwing people out of work, then selling." The CAW represents about 11,000 Chrysler workers in Canada. Its contract with Chrysler does not expire until September next year.
■ BANKING
Citigroup cuts 17,000 jobs
Citigroup Inc said yesterday that it will eliminate about 17,000 jobs as part of a company-wide restructuring to reduce costs and improve profit. That amounts to about 5 percent of the bank's 327,000-strong work force. The New York-based bank said in a statement that with previously announced information technology savings, the overhaul will save it about US$2.1 billion this year, US$3.7 billion next year and US$4.6 billion in 2009. Citigroup said it will record a pretax charge of US$1.38 billion in the first quarter of this year, and additional charges totaling approximately US$200 million pretax over the subsequent quarters.
■ FOOD
Pet food recall extended
The North American pet food recall expanded on Tuesday to include products made at a Canadian factory recently found to have used an ingredient tainted by an industrial chemical. Menu Foods previously had recalled only cat and dog food made at its plants in New Jersey and Kansas. However, it discovered on Monday that some of the tainted wheat gluten had made it to Canada. Among the products covered by the expanded recall is Royal Canin Canada's Medi-Cal Feline Dissolution Formula canned diet.
■ HOUSING
British prices double
Average house prices in Britain have more than doubled in 15 years, forcing many to continue to live with their parents for longer, according to a government report published yesterday. Last year, 58 percent of men and 39 percent of women age 20 to 24 in England were living with their parents, up 8 percent and 7 percent respectively from 1991, the Office of National Statistics said. The average cost of housing for first-time buyers increased by 204 percent between 1991 and 2005.
RISK REMAINS: An official said that with the US presidential elections so close, it is unclear if China would hold war games or keep its reaction to angry words The Ministry of National Defense said it was “on alert” as it detected a Chinese aircraft carrier group to Taiwan’s south yesterday amid concerns in Taiwan about the possibility of a new round of Chinese war games. The ministry said in a statement that a Chinese navy group led by the carrier Liaoning had entered waters near the Bashi Channel, which connects the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean and separates Taiwan from the Philippines. It said the carrier group was expected to enter the Western Pacific. The military is keeping a close watch on developments and “exercising an
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
REACTION TO LAI: A former US official said William Lai took a step toward stability with his National Day speech and the question was how Beijing would respond US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday warned China against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan after Beijing’s reaction to President William Lai’s (賴清德) speech on Double Ten National Day on Thursday. Blinken, speaking in Laos after an ASEAN East Asia Summit, called the speech by Lai, in which he vowed to “resist annexation,” a “regular exercise.” “China should not use it in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions,” Blinken told reporters. “On the contrary, we want to reinforce — and many other countries want to reinforce — the imperative of preserving the status quo, and neither party taking any
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that China has “no right to represent Taiwan,” but stressed that the nation was willing to work with Beijing on issues of mutual interest. “The Republic of China has already put down roots in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu,” Lai said in his first Double Ten National Day address outside the Presidential Office Building in Taipei. “And the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China [PRC] are not subordinate to each other.” “The People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan,” he said at the event marking the 113th National Day of
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