■ELECTRONICS
Hitachi posts record loss
Hitachi Ltd posted the worst-ever annual loss for a Japanese manufacturer and doesn’t expect to the global economy to recover until next year at the earliest. Hitachi said yesterday it booked a net loss of ¥787.3 billion (US$8.1 billion) for the fiscal year through March. That was worse than last year’s ¥58.1 billion loss. Annual revenue tumbled 11 percent to ¥10 trillion. But it managed an operating profit — which reflects its core business — of ¥127 billion for the year. Hitachi’s net loss represents the worst annual loss for a Japanese manufacturer, Shinko Research Institute Co reported. It would be the second-largest in Japanese corporate history after an ¥834.6 billion loss reported by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp for the fiscal year ending March 2002.
■ELECTRONICS
NEC falls into the red
Japanese giant NEC Corp said yesterday it fell into the red last fiscal year because of business restructuring costs and stock losses from the economic downturn, but it expects to return to a modest profit this year. NEC recorded a group net loss of ¥297 billion for the 12 months through March, down sharply from last year’s net profit of ¥22.7 billion. Annual sales fell 8.7 percent to ¥4.2 trillion. For the fiscal year through next March, NEC expects to return to profit of ¥10 billion on a sales forecast of ¥3.7 trillion, down 11 percent.
■OIL
Japan, Russia ink deal
Japanese and Russian energy companies signed a deal yesterday to jointly develop two major oil fields in eastern Siberia, the Japanese partner in the agreement said. The deal, which was inked on the margins of a visit to Tokyo by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, will help resource-poor Japan diversify its energy sources, said the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. The Nikkei Shimbun earlier reported that the project would cost ¥15 billion in its initial phase. The Japanese state-run company said it would hold 49 percent and Russia’s Irkutsk Oil Co would hold the remainder of the project to develop the fields, believed to hold up to several hundred million barrels.
■INTERNET
Greece restricts Google
Greece’s data protection agency barred Google from taking any more images on the nation’s streets for its Street View feature on Monday, pending “additional information” from the US search engine service. In a statement, Greece said it wanted Google to disclose how long it intends to keep the images it takes and what steps it is taking to alert residents liable to be photographed of their rights. For the same reasons, the Greek Data Protection Authority also suspended a comparable service run by Greek Internet service provider Kapou that depicted streets in Athens, Thessaloniki and Larissa.
■AVIATION
Delays hurt EADS profits
Costly development delays for a new Airbus cargo plane dragged down profits for European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co (EADS) in the first quarter, Europe’s largest aerospace company said yesterday. Net profits for the first three months of this year were down 40 percent to 170 million euros (US$231.5 million), as its Airbus SAS division, which contributes two-thirds of EADS’ revenues, delivered only 116 planes in the first quarter, down from 123 in the same period last year. EADS revenue fell from 9.9 billion euros to 8.5 billion euros year-on-year.
Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has died of pneumonia at the age of 48 while on a trip to Japan, where she contracted influenza during the Lunar New Year holiday, her sister confirmed today through an agent. "Our whole family came to Japan for a trip, and my dearest and most kindhearted sister Barbie Hsu died of influenza-induced pneumonia and unfortunately left us," Hsu's sister and talk show hostess Dee Hsu (徐熙娣) said. "I was grateful to be her sister in this life and that we got to care for and spend time with each other. I will always be grateful to
REMINDER: Of the 6.78 million doses of flu vaccine Taiwan purchased for this flu season, about 200,000 are still available, an official said, following Big S’ death As news broke of the death of Taiwanese actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), also known as Big S (大S), from severe flu complications, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and doctors yesterday urged people at high risk to get vaccinated and be alert to signs of severe illness. Hsu’s family yesterday confirmed that the actress died on a family holiday in Japan due to pneumonia during the Lunar New Year holiday. CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told an impromptu news conference that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 reached 162,352 — the highest
TAIWAN DEFENSE: The initiative would involve integrating various systems in a fast-paced manner through the use of common software to obstruct a Chinese invasion The first tranche of the US Navy’s “Replicator” initiative aimed at obstructing a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be ready by August, a US Naval Institute (USNI) News report on Tuesday said. The initiative is part of a larger defense strategy for Taiwan, and would involve launching thousands of uncrewed submarines, surface vessels and aerial vehicles around Taiwan to buy the nation and its partners time to assemble a response. The plan was first made public by the Washington Post in June last year, when it cited comments by US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station