■GERMANY
Sales fall beats expectations
Retail sales fell 1.8 percent last year, final figures showed yesterday, better than a preliminary estimate of a 2 percent drop given last month, the national statistics office said. The figures suggested that consumption in Europe’s biggest economy held up better than expected in the midst of its worst post-war recession. “Apparently, German consumers did not let the financial crisis ruin their Christmas shopping,” ING senior economist Carsten Brzeski said. “Still, private consumption seems to be caught in a zig-zag pattern without getting to a real upward trend.”
■INSURANCE
Munich Re profits soar
The world’s biggest reinsurer, Munich Re, reported yesterday that net profit soared 62 percent last year, exceeding the group’s own forecast. Munich Re posted a net profit of 2.56 billion euros (US$3.56 billion), up from 1.58 billion euros in 2008, and said it would raise its dividend by 4.5 percent to 5.75 euros. “This is another good result that demonstrates Munich Re’s earnings strength,” a statement quoted finance director Jorg Schneider as saying. “We are realistic in our expectations and remain dependable for investors.”
■INDUSTRY
Siemens doubles investment
German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG said yesterday it would double its annual investment in India to 250 million euros, as it continues to grow in emerging market economies. Siemens, based in Munich, said it was expected that the Indian economy would grow 7 percent this year and 8 percent next year and that it wants to expand its market share to 10 percent by 2012. The bulk of the new investment will go to energy technology. The company said that currently about 30 percent of India’s population has no access to power, which is why the Indian government is planning to add 150 gigawatts over the next seven years — an amount equal to Germany’s entire installed capacity. In addition, 20 percent of the energy mix should be generated from renewable sources by the year 2020.
■FINANCE
Normura still in the black
Japan’s top securities firm Nomura reported yesterday a third straight quarter in the black, boosted by its purchase of large parts of failed Wall Street bank Lehman Brothers. Nomura Holdings posted net earnings of ¥10.2 billion (US$113 million) for the fiscal third quarter through December — a significant improvement on a year-earlier loss of ¥343.0 billion. “We were profitable for the third straight quarter, booking increased revenues and net income in both the retail and wholesale businesses,” Nomura chief executive Kenichi Watanabe said in a statement.
■REAL ESTATE
Singapore tycoon dies
Property tycoon Ng Teng Fong (黃廷芳), listed by Forbes business magazine as Singapore’s richest man with a fortune of more than US$8 billion, died yesterday, his flagship company said. The 82-year-old founder of privately held Far East Organization (遠東機構) suffered a brain hemorrhage on Jan. 23 and underwent an operation before he passed away peacefully in Singapore, a company press release said. Far East Organization and its Hong Kong-based sister company Sino Group (信和集團) comprise one of Asia’s biggest property groups, with a combined annual turnover of US$5.5 billion and total assets valued at more than US$40 billion, the company Web site said.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
RSS