■UNITED STATES
Trade deficit surges
The trade deficit surged to a larger-than-expected US$40.18 billion in December, the biggest imbalance in 12 months. The wider deficit reflected a rebounding economy that is pushing up demand for oil and other imports. The Commerce Department said the December deficit was 10.4 percent higher than the November imbalance. It was much larger than the US$36 billion deficit that economists had expected with much of the increase coming from a big jump in oil imports. For all of last year, the deficit totaled US$380.66 billion, the smallest imbalance in eight years, as a deep recession cut into imports.
■BEVERAGES
Diageo earnings increase
Diageo, the world’s biggest spirits group, said it was in the early stages of recovery when reporting a 5 percent rise in half-year earnings and keeping its profit growth target for the year. The London-based maker of Smirnoff vodka, Johnnie Walker whisky and Guinness beer posted underlying earnings for the second half of last year of £0.442 (US$0.69) a share, below a consensus of £0.462. The interim dividend was raised 5 percent to £0.146. The British group’s annual underlying sales were down 2 percent, while operating profit was off 3 percent.
■AVIATION
KLM losses continue
Franco-Dutch airline Air France-KLM posted a fifth straight quarterly net loss on Wednesday and forecast more heavy losses this quarter under a tough economic environment. “There were some signs of recovery in activity during the third quarter, but in an economic environment which remains difficult,” the airline said in a results statement. The group recorded a net loss of 295 million euros (US$405 million) in the third quarter, which ended on Dec. 31, but it was an improvement from a loss of 508 million euros during the same period in 2008.
■INTERNET
Alcatel-Lucent sees profit
Alcatel-Lucent SA yesterday reported a small net profit in the fourth quarter as one-off gains helped offset a nearly 20 percent drop in revenue during the period. Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent made net profit of 46 million euros in the fourth quarter, compared to a 3.9 billion euro net loss a year earlier. In a statement yesterday, Alcatel-Lucent said the economic environment “appears to be stabilizing” and that it expects its markets to recover next year.
■AUTOMOBILES
Renault predicts hard year
Renault SA says that it lost 3.07 billion euros last year, mostly in the first half, and predicts another difficult year this year. The full-year net loss is greater than the 2.59 billion euros forecast by analysts and compares with 599 million euros in net profit for 2008. Revenue fell 10.8 percent to 33.71 billion euros last year. Renault said the European car market could contract by 10 percent this year.
■UNITED STATES
Dow Jones sells stake
Dow Jones & Co is selling a 90 percent stake in its stock-market index unit to CME Group for US$607.5 million. The joint venture, announced by the companies on Wednesday, will allow the Dow Jones Industrial Average to keep its famous name. Dow Jones will retain a 10 percent stake in the business, which offers more than 130,000 stock indexes that are used as benchmarks by investors and licensed for use by mutual funds and other investment products.
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
‘RELATIVELY STRONG LANGUAGE’: An expert said the state department has not softened its language on China and was ‘probably a little more Taiwan supportive’ China’s latest drills near Taiwan on Monday were “brazen and irresponsible threats,” a US Department of State spokesperson said on Tuesday, while reiterating Washington’s decades-long support of Taipei. “China cannot credibly claim to be a ‘force for stability in a turbulent world’ while issuing brazen and irresponsible threats toward Taiwan,” the unnamed spokesperson said in an e-mailed response to media queries. Washington’s enduring commitment to Taiwan will continue as it has for 45 years and the US “will continue to support Taiwan in the face of China’s military, economic, informational and diplomatic pressure campaign,” the e-mail said. “Alongside our international partners, we firmly
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
Authorities yesterday elaborated on the rules governing Employment Gold Cards after a US cardholder was barred from entering Taiwan for six years after working without a permit during a 2023 visit. American YouTuber LeLe Farley was barred after already being approved for an Employment Gold Card, he said in a video published on his channel on Saturday. Farley, who has more than 420,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, was approved for his Gold Card last month, but was told at a check-in counter at the Los Angeles International Airport that he could not enter Taiwan. That was because he previously participated in two
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