■BANKING
Credit Suisse earnings soar
Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse yesterday said its second-quarter earnings soared 29 percent to 1.571 billion Swiss francs (US$1.47 billion), adding that it was well positioned to “perform well” even if the economic environment were to worsen. The earnings marked a second consecutive quarter of profits made by the bank as it recovers from a full-year loss of SF8.2 billion last year. The bank’s chief executive Brady Dougan said the global economic climate was expected to “remain challenging and uneven business conditions” should persist.
■AUTOMOBILES
BAIC out of Opel race
General Motors Europe said yesterday it was no longer talking to China’s Beijing Automotive Industry Holding (BAIC, 北京汽車工業) about it acquiring Opel, leaving just two bidders: Magna and RHJ International. “We had a good and thoughtful discussion around the key operating metrics and key issues associated with the three final offers we received on Monday evening,” said John Smith, GM’s chief negotiator for the sale of Opel. “We have agreed to continue detailed talks with both Magna and RHJI to secure Opel’s future.”
■INTERNET
Amazon buying Zappos
Online retail giant Amazon said on Wednesday that it was purchasing Internet shoe shop Zappos.com in a stock and cash deal valued at nearly US$850 million. Amazon said it expects the transaction to be complete by the end of this year. Zappos was founded in 1999 and gained fans with free shipping of shoe buys and a liberal return policy. Under the terms of the deal, Amazon will get all shares of Zappos stock in exchange for 10 million shares of Amazon stock valued at US$807 million based on an average of share prices in the 45 days ending on July 17.
■INTERNET
Yahoo to buy Xoopit
Yahoo said on Wednesday it would buy Xoopit, a San Francisco startup specializing in finding and organizing photos buried in e-mail inboxes. “In short, Xoopit will bring phenomenal photo organization, improved photo sharing, and the serendipity of discovering forgotten photos to Yahoo Mail,” Yahoo Applications senior vice president Bryan Lamkin said in an online post. Xoopit-driven “My Photos” has become the third-most popular application at Yahoo Mail since it was added at the end of last year, Lamkin said.
■AUTOMAKERS
Hyundai posts record profit
South Korea’s largest automaker, Hyundai Motor, yesterday reported its highest-ever quarterly net profit, despite the global economic downturn. Hyundai said net profit in April-June was 811.8 billion won (US$648.4 million), a 48 percent rise on 546.9 billion won for the same period last year. Operating profit fell 0.8 percent year-on-year to 657.3 billion won from 662.5 billion on higher marketing costs and lower exports. Declining exports dragged sales down 11 percent to 8.08 trillion won from 9.107 trillion won.
■BEVERAGES
Kirin plans Suntory merger
Japanese drinks giant Kirin wants to seal a merger with smaller rival Suntory as soon as possible to create a top industry player in Asia, Kirin’s president said in an interview published yesterday. “We aim to be a leading company in Asia and Oceania,” Kirin Holdings Co president Kazuyasu Kato told the Nikkei economic daily. Kato said the two companies would proceed with “the spirit of equal partners.”
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
MISINFORMATION: The generated content tends to adopt China’s official stance, such as ‘Taiwan is currently governed by the Chinese central government,’ the NSB said Five China-developed artificial intelligence (AI) language models exhibit cybersecurity risks and content biases, an inspection conducted by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The five AI tools are: DeepSeek, Doubao (豆包), Yiyan (文心一言), Tongyi (通義千問) and Yuanbao (騰訊元寶), the bureau said, advising people to remain vigilant to protect personal data privacy and corporate business secrets. The NSB said it, in accordance with the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法), has reviewed international cybersecurity reports and intelligence, and coordinated with the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau and the National Police Agency’s Criminal Investigation Bureau to conduct an inspection of China-made AI language
SELF-DETERMINATION: German lawmakers add earth to an art installation in front of the Reichstag to show that the face of a nation lies with its people, Tsai Ing-wen said Taiwan’s future should be decided by Taiwanese, German-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group chairman Till Steffen said yesterday, while giving former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) a tour of the German parliament building. Tsai arrived in Berlin on Sunday and the following day delivered a keynote speech at the Berlin Freedom Conference titled “Threats facing democracies: Taiwan’s experience defending freedom.” Tsai yesterday attended a tea gathering at the Bundestag, joined by former friendship group chairman of 15 years Klaus-Peter Willsch, German defense affairs specialist Roderich Kiesewetter and Federal Ministry of Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth Parliamentary State Secretary Michael Brand. Noting that the
BOOST IN CONFIDENCE: The sale sends a clear message of support for Taiwan and dispels rumors that US President Donald Trump ‘sold out’ the nation, an expert said The US government on Thursday announced a possible sale to Taiwan of fighter jet parts, which was estimated to cost about US$330 million, in a move that an expert said “sends a clear message of support for Taiwan” amid fears that Washington might be wavering in its attitude toward Taipei. It was the first announcement of an arms sale to Taiwan since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House earlier this year. The proposed package includes non-standard components, spare and repair parts, consumables and accessories, as well repair and return support for the F-16, C-130 and Indigenous Defense Fighter aircraft,
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