■TELECOMS
India blocking imports: PRC
A trade industry group in China said yesterday India had been blocking purchases of telecommunications equipment from Chinese companies for several months. The China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products said it had received complaints from domestic telecoms equipment makers and has contacted several government agencies over the issue. India’s decision to block the purchases of telecoms products from China was based on national security grounds, the Financial Times reported yesterday. “Proposals for procurement of equipment from Chinese original equipment manufacturing vendors have not been recommended due to security concerns,” India’s Department of Telecommunications said this week, in correspondence to the prime minister’s office seen by the newspaper. “Therefore, the proposals from the service providers for purchase of Chinese equipment are turned down.” The practice has sparked complaints from Beijing and is causing havoc for mobile operators in India, which need huge amounts of equipment to support an industry that is adding 20 million new users a month, the report said.
■RETAIL
Metro posts Q1 pretax profit
Germany’s Metro, the third-largest global retail chain, said yesterday that first-quarter sales and pretax profit edged higher owing to a pick-up in many of its markets. Metro’s sales gained 2.3 percent year-on-year to 5.5 billion euros (US$20.5 billion), a statement said. Pretax profit reached 4 million euros, compared with a loss of 117 million euros in the first three months of last year, but the group did not provide a net figure, which is likely to have remained in the red. It did report a loss of 0.05 euro per share, a figure that was nonetheless better than the 0.30 euro per share loss a year earlier.
■OIL
Total’s Q1 profit jumps 14%
French oil company Total SA said yesterday quarterly profit jumped 14 percent thanks to higher crude prices and a return to production growth during the period. Total’s net profit grew to 2.61 billion euros in the first quarter, up from 2.29 billion euros a year earlier. France’s largest company by market capitalization said its combined production of oil and gas rose 4.5 percent in the first quarter to 2.43 million barrels a day. The company credited the lift to a production ramp-up on new fields, as well as lower OPEC cuts and fewer disruptions in Nigeria related to security issues. On an adjusted basis, a closely watched measure of profitability that excludes inventory gains and losses and tax charges and credits, Total’s net profit grew 9 percent in the quarter.
■AIRLINES
ANA posts smaller loss
Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) reported yesterday a net loss of ¥57.4 billion (US$610 million) for the year to March, citing weak air travel demand. The figure was smaller than the firm’s own net loss projection of ¥65 billion announced in March. ANA’s operating loss reached ¥54.2 billion, compared with an operating profit of ¥7.6 billion a year ago. Sales fell 11.8 percent to ¥1.23 trillion. For the fiscal year ending next March, ANA said it expected to return to the black, forecasting a net profit of ¥5 billion and operating profit of ¥42 on sales of ¥1.36 trillion. Business conditions continue to deteriorate “to an extent not experienced in recent years” because of high oil prices, currency fluctuations and Japan’s falling consumer prices, ANA said in a statement.
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RULES BROKEN: The MAC warned Chinese not to say anything that would be harmful to the autonomous status of Taiwan or undermine its sovereignty A Chinese couple accused of disrupting a pro-democracy event in Taipei organized by Hong Kong residents has been deported, the National Immigration Agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon. A Chinese man, surnamed Yao (姚), and his wife were escorted by immigration officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where they boarded a flight to China before noon yesterday, the agency said. The agency said that it had annulled the couple’s entry permits, citing alleged contraventions of the Regulations Governing the Approval of Entry of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入台灣地區許可辦法). The couple applied to visit a family member in
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