■CHINA
CIC invests in SouthGobi
China’s main sovereign wealth fund is investing US$500 million in a Canada-based company that mines coal in Mongolia, expanding its multibillion-dollar global shopping spree for resource assets. China Investment Corp (CIC, 中國投資公司) is investing in a 30-year secured debenture issued by SouthGobi Energy Resources Ltd, CIC said in a statement yesterday. It said the instrument is convertible to common equity. SouthGobi’s majority owner is Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. Its flagship mine, Ovoot Tolgoi, is in southern Mongolia near the Chinese border and sells coal to customers in China.
■AUTOMOBILES
Honda raises profit forecast
Honda Motor Co raised its full year profit forecast despite earnings diving by more than half last quarter with “green” car incentives and growth in markets like China expected to further boost vehicle sales. Net profit for the July-to-September quarter fell 56.2 percent from a year earlier to ¥54.0 billion (US$587.0 million), the company said yesterday, hit by a strong yen and the weak global auto market. But Honda, Japan’s No. 2 automaker, now expects a CHINAnet profit for the fiscal year ending March of ¥155 billion, nearly four times its initial outlook for a ¥40 billion profit. The automaker also raised its forecast for sales this fiscal year to 3.4 million vehicles.
■GAMBLING
Casino sparks dispute
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI is among a number of investors embroiled in a bitter financial restructuring of a loss-making Macau casino and hotel firm, a report said yesterday. The king is one of about 20 wealthy people who were sold a US$400 million stake in Macau Legend, the South China Morning Post cited sources as saying. The investors, who bought the stake from investment bank Merrill Lynch in 2006, anticipated a quick profit from a listing of the Fisherman’s Wharf theme park on the Hong Kong stock exchange earlier this year, the report said, but the listing never happened.
■TELECOMS
Verizon income drops 9.8%
The US telecommunications firm Verizon, the country’s second largest, reported on Monday that net income had dropped 9.8 percent compared with the third quarter of last year, to US$2.89 billion. But the figures topped analysts’ estimates, Bloomberg financial news agency reported. The cost of cutting 4,000 jobs last quarter in the declining land-line business had eaten into net income, and another 4,000 jobs are to be cut in the current quarter, Verizon’s chief financial officer John Killian said. Revenues climbed 10.2 percent to US$27.26 billion, in part from the one-time boost from the takeover of Alltel. Without considering the acquisition, revenues climbed 0.6 percent.
■SOFTWARE
Wipro reports rise in profit
India’s third-largest software group Wipro yesterday reported a 19 percent rise in net profit and forecast improving demand, underscoring new optimism in the sector. In the fiscal second quarter to last month, the Bangalore-based firm said it turned a profit of 11.62 billion rupees (US$248 million) on 6 percent rise in sales to 69.17 billion rupees. “We see more stability in volumes and pricing as well as an improving demand environment,” Wipro chairman Azim Premji said in a statement.
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
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