■TRADE
Japan exports jump 43.5%
Japanese exports rose for a fourth straight month last month as a recovering global economy drove demand for the nation’s cars and gadgets. Exports jumped 43.5 percent from a year earlier to ¥6 trillion (US$63.5 billion), the government said yesterday. Imports rose 20.7 percent, leading to a trade surplus of ¥948.9 billion (US$10.2 billion) for the month, the finance ministry said. For the full fiscal year ending March 31, exports tumbled 17.1 percent to ¥59 trillion, while imports slid 25.2 percent, resulting in a trade surplus of ¥5.23 trillion, a reversal from the previous year’s deficit.
■BANKING
Credit Suisse Q1 profit up
Credit Suisse Group yesterday reported a near tripling of first-quarter net profit to 2.1 billion Swiss francs (US$1.96 billion) as the Swiss bank strengthened its recovery. CEO Brady Dougan said the bank was maintaining “stable, high-quality earnings” following its turnaround last year in the wake of the financial crisis. Revenue grew to SF9 billion in the first quarter as the bank reported strong inflows of new client assets.
■FOOD
Nestle Q1 sales rose 4.4%
Nestle AG yesterday reported a 4.4 percent increase in first-quarter sales as the world’s largest food and drink maker made strong gains in emerging economies. The Swiss-based company said sales totaled SF26.3 billion (US$24.6 billion), which it described as a strong performance in a still-difficult economic environment. Nestle is aiming for a third successive full-year turnover above SF100 billion, offering new low-cost products in developing countries.
■RETAIL
Starbucks Q1 profit surges
Cost-cutting and an influx of US customers helped Starbucks Corp post an eight-fold increase in its second-quarter profit. The increase in customers — Starbucks’ first in 13 quarters — helped boost a key performance measure to a four-year high. Starbucks posted a better-than-expected profit of US$217.3 million, or US$0.28 per share. That figure, for the three months that ended late last month, includes a one-time charge that amounted to US$0.01 per share. During the same period last year, the coffee chain earned just US$25 million, or US$0.03 per share, weighed down by hefty charges. Its revenue rose 9 percent to US$2.53 billion.
■AUTOMOBILES
Hyundai profit rises five-fold
South Korea’s Hyundai Motor said yesterday its net profit jumped nearly five-fold in the first quarter of this year on the back of strong sales abroad. Net profit jumped to a record 1.12 trillion won (US$1 billion), compared with 225 billion won a year ago, the country’s top carmaker said. Sales rose 39.6 percent year on year to 8.4 trillion won, while operating profit soared to 702.7 billion won from 153.8 billion won a year ago, it said.
■HOME APPLIANCES
Chinese tycoon on trial
A home appliance dealer who once was China’s richest businessman went on trial yesterday on charges of insider trading, bribery and other business offenses, a state news agency said. Huang Guangyu (黃光裕), also known as Wong Kwong-yu, built his Gome Electronics (國美電器) into China’s biggest appliance retailer. Estimated to be worth US$6.3 billion at one time, he was detained in November 2008 and news reports said he was accused of manipulating share prices. Huang’s trial began in the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate Court yesterday, Xinhua news agency said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
CONSISTENT COMMITMENT: The American Institute in Taiwan director said that the US would expand investment and trade relationships to make both nations more prosperous The US would not abandon its commitment to Taiwan, and would make Taiwan safer, stronger and more prosperous, American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said. “The US’ commitment to Taiwan has been consistent over many administrations and over many years, and we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan, including our opposition to any attempt to use force or coercion to change Taiwan’s status,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Friday last week, which was published in the Chinese-language newspaper yesterday. The US would double down on its efforts
SECURITY: President William Lai has announced plans to restore the military court system that was disbanded in 2013 to address a surge in Chinese infiltration efforts Taiwan plans to reinstate military judges to hear Chinese espionage cases and other offenses involving Taiwanese service members, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. There would be a review and legal amendments “to reinstate the military trial system,” he told reporters after a national security meeting. “Military judges will return to the front line,” Lai said. Military judges would work “alongside prosecutorial and judicial agencies to handle criminal cases involving active-duty military personnel accused of treason, aiding the enemy, leaking classified information, dereliction of duty, insubordination and other military offenses,” he said. The number of people prosecuted for spying for Beijing has risen sharply,
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