■BANKING
Citi wants to pay bonuses
Citigroup Inc, which has received US$45 billion in federal bailout funds and potentially could have to raise more capital based on “stress test” results, is requesting permission from the Treasury Department to pay out special bonuses to certain workers, the Wall Street Journal said late on Tuesday. Citigroup is seeking Treasury permission to pay retention bonuses to workers it says are demoralized amid the company’s restructuring and the sharp drop in the value of its stock, the paper reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The Treasury Department hasn’t made a decision on the request, the paper said. The amount of bonuses requested wasn’t disclosed.
■PHARMACEUTICALS
Bayer profits fall 44 percent
German pharmaceutical and chemical company Bayer AG said yesterday that its first-quarter net profit fell 44 percent as the global economic crisis cut sharply into demand. The Leverkusen-based company said net profit for the January to March period was down to 425 million euros (US$561 million) from 762 million euros a year earlier. Sales for the company fell 7.5 percent, dropping to 7.9 billion euros from 8.5 billion euros.
■COMPUTERS
Sun’s losses balloon
Sun Microsystems Inc’s loss ballooned in the latest quarter as restructuring charges and a 20 percent drop in sales compounded the financial woes that Oracle Corp is set to inherit by acquiring Sun for US$7.4 billion. Sun, a server and software maker whose wobbly performance for most of the last decade pushed it into Oracle’s clutches, said after the market closed on Tuesday that it lost US$201 million, or US$0.27 per share, in the three months ended March 29. A year ago, Sun lost US$34 million, or US$0.04 per share.
■SOUTH KOREA
Surplus hits record high
South Korea achieved a record current account surplus of US$6.65 billion last month as imports fell more sharply than exports, the central bank said yesterday. The figure was the highest since January 1980 when records began and sharply up on a revised US$3.56 billion surplus in February, the Bank of Korea said in a report. South Korea’s current account, which measures trade, service and investment flows between the country and the rest of the world, had been in the black between October and December before it swung into deficit in January.
■EUROPEAN UNION
Confidence bounces back
European business and consumer confidence has bounced back this month for the first time in nearly two years. The European Commission says businesses and shoppers in both the 27-member EU and the 16 countries that use the euro are more optimistic for the first time since May 2007. Officials say yesterday’s report indicates “a clear improvement in sentiment in industry and among consumers.”
■SINGAPORE
Recession likely hit bottom
Singapore’s worst-ever recession likely bottomed out in the first quarter, but the city-state faces a tepid recovery as global demand for its exports struggles to rebound, the central bank said yesterday. The country’s economy could shrink as much as 9 percent this year as a “deep and prolonged” global downturn batters sales abroad, which account for about 60 percent of GDP. The economy contracted 11.5 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier.
RESTRAINTS: Should China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, China would be excluded from major financial institutions, the bill says The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the PROTECT Taiwan Act, which states that Washington would exclude China from participating in major global financial organizations if its actions directly threaten Taiwan’s security. The bill, proposed by Republican Representative Frank Lucas, passed with 395 votes in favor and two against. It stipulates that if China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, the US would, “to the maximum extent practicable,” exclude Beijing from international financial institutions, including the G20, the Bank for International Settlements and the Financial Stability Board. The bill makes it clear that China must be prepared
PEACE AT LAST? UN experts had warned of threats and attacks ahead of the voting, but after a turbulent period, Bangladesh has seemingly reacted to the result with calm The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) yesterday celebrated a landslide victory in the first elections held since a deadly 2024 uprising, with party leader Tarique Rahman to become prime minister. Bangladesh Election Commission figures showed that the BNP alliance had won 212 seats, compared with 77 for the Islamist-led Jamaat-e-Islami alliance. The US embassy congratulated Rahman and the BNP for a “historic victory,” while India praised Rahman’s “decisive win” in a significant step after recent rocky relations with Bangladesh. China and Pakistan, which grew closer to Bangladesh since the uprising and the souring of ties with India, where ousted Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina
FAST-TRACK: The deal is to be sent to the legislature, but time is of the essence, as Trump had raised tariffs on Seoul when it failed to quickly ratify a similar pact Taiwan and the US on Thursday signed a trade agreement that caps US tariffs on Taiwanese goods at 15 percent and provides preferential market access for US industrial and agricultural exports, including cars, and beef and pork products. The Taiwan-US Agreement on Reciprocal Trade confirms a 15 percent US tariff for Taiwanese goods, and grants Taiwanese semiconductors and related products the most-favorable-treatment under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, the Executive Yuan said. In addition, 2,072 items — representing nearly 20 percent of Taiwan’s total exports to the US — would be exempt from additional tariffs and be subject only to
The Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) yesterday released the first images from its Formosat-8A satellite, featuring high-resolution views of Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區), Tainan’s Anping District (安平), Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor (興達港), Japan’s National Stadium in Tokyo and Barcelona airport. Formosat-8A, named the “Chi Po-lin Satellite” after the late Taiwanese documentary filmmaker Chi Po-lin (齊柏林), was launched on Nov. 29 last year. It is designed to capture images at a 1m resolution, which can be sharpened to 0.7m after processing, surpassing the capabilities of its predecessor, Formosat-5, the agency said. It is the first of TASA’s eight-satellite Formosat-8 constellation to be sent into orbit and
RSS