■PHARMACEUTICALS
British giant to axe jobs
British giant GlaxoSmithKline is to cut up to 4,000 more jobs as it restructures its workforce and focuses increasingly on emerging markets, the Sunday Times reported yesterday. The majority of the jobs will be lost in the US and Europe, the newspaper said. GlaxoSmithKline, which employs just under 100,000 staff globally, is expected to reveal plans for the job cuts when it releases its annual results on Thursday, the report said. Its Anglo-Swedish rival, AstraZeneca, announced on Thursday it plans to axe 8,000 more jobs worldwide by 2014, extending a cost-cutting drive despite soaring profits.
■MEDIA
News Corp settles lawsuit
News Corp said on Saturday it had reached a US$500 million settlement over lawsuits filed by Valassis Communications Inc against a division of Rupert Murdoch’s entertainment and media giant. In legal action begun in 2006, Valassis accused News America Marketing of unfair business practices and seeking to monopolize the market for in-store coupons known as free standing inserts. Valassis said under the terms of the settlement News America Marketing will pay Valassis US$500 million, a sum that includes the jury award, and enter into a 10-year shared mail distribution agreement.
■JAPAN
Profits increase 14 percent
Japan’s listed companies saw their profits rise 14 percent in the October to December period for a third straight quarter-on-quarter gain, a newspaper survey showed yesterday. The survey, conducted by the leading business daily the Nikkei, covered 438 non-financial firms that had released their October to December earnings reports by Friday. It excluded start-up markets. The pretax profits represented a 120 percent gain from a year earlier to about ¥1.78 trillion (US$20 billion), the Nikkei said. The survey showed an impressive turnaround after combined pretax profits plunged to ¥93 billion in January to March last year in the midst of the global financial crisis, the daily added.
■MINING
Association expels Doe Run
Peru’s mining, oil and energy association (SNMPE) said on Saturday it had expelled US mining company Doe Run from its roster for not cleaning up its pollution problems, which environmentalists say are among the worst in the world. Doe Run in 1997 took over La Oroya mining complex and the Cobriza copper mine in Peru’s central Andean mountain region, where it mines for lead, copper, zinc, silver, gold and a series of byproducts, including sulfuric acid. SNMPE said expelling Doe Run from the association would not affect its mining business, but it noted that the company was presently in “a serious financial crisis.”
■BANKING
S Korean bad loans down
South Korean banks’ bad-loan ratios dropped to 1.22 percent of total lending at the end of December as they reduced the amount of non-performing loans through sales and write-downs. The ratio declined 26 basis points from three months earlier, with the total of non-performing loans falling to 15.7 trillion won (US$13.5 billion), the Financial Services Commission said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. Excluding 3 trillion won of one-off bad loans from restructuring debt at two Kumho Asiana Group units, the ratio was 0.99 percent, meeting the government’s 1 percent target, the regulator said.
CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台灣國際造船) yesterday released the first video documenting the submerged sea trials of Taiwan’s indigenous defense submarine prototype, the Hai Kun (海鯤), or Narwhal, showing underwater navigation and the launch of countermeasures. The footage shows the vessel’s first dive, steering and control system tests, and the raising and lowering of the periscope and antenna masts. It offered a rare look at the progress in the submarine’s sea acceptance tests. The Hai Kun carried out its first shallow-water diving trial late last month and has since completed four submerged tests, CSBC said. The newly released video compiles images recorded from Jan. 29 to
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to make advanced 3-nanometer chips in Japan, stepping up its semiconductor manufacturing roadmap in the country in a triumph for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s technology ambitions. TSMC is to adopt cutting-edge technology for its second wafer fab in Kumamoto, company chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. That is an upgrade from an original blueprint to produce 7-nanometer chips by late next year, people familiar with the matter said. TSMC began mass production at its first plant in Japan’s Kumamoto in late 2024. Its second fab, which is still under construction, was originally focused on
DETERRENCE EFFORTS: Washington and partners hope demonstrations of force would convince Beijing that military action against Taiwan would carry high costs The US is considering using HMAS Stirling in Western Australia as a forward base to strengthen its naval posture in a potential conflict with China, particularly over Taiwan, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. As part of its Indo-Pacific strategy, Washington plans to deploy up to four nuclear-powered submarines at Stirling starting in 2027, providing a base near potential hot spots such as Taiwan and the South China Sea. The move also aims to enhance military integration with Pacific allies under the Australia-UK-US trilateral security partnership, the report said. Currently, US submarines operate from Guam, but the island could
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
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