■INSURANCE
Swiss Re reports profit surge
Swiss Re, one of the world’s biggest reinsurers, yesterday reported a surge in first-quarter profit, although its results were dampened by losses from Chile’s earthquake and European storm Xynthia. Net profit rose by 21 percent to US$158 million in the first three months of this year against US$130 million a year earlier, the company said in a statement. “In the first quarter of 2010, we continued to deliver strong underlying performance, even though the result was impacted by high natural catastrophe losses, mainly from the earthquake in Chile and European winter storm Xynthia,” chief executive Stefan Lippe said.
■ELECTRONICS
Sanyo set for return to profit
Sanyo Electric said yesterday it expected to return to profit in the year to March next year, thanks to rising global demand for environmental products such as solar panels. For the year Sanyo, which became part of industry giant Panasonic in December, expected a net profit of ¥5 billion (US$53.4 million) and operating profit of ¥40 billion on sales of ¥1.75 trillion. The company said it expected to see continued moderate recovery in the global economy, although it also warned against the risk of rising prices of raw materials and falling prices of electronics products.
■BANKING
Commerzbank makes profit
Germany’s Commerzbank, hard hit by the financial crisis, reported yesterday its first profit since the second quarter of 2008, saying the result far exceeded expectations. Q1 profit was 708 million euros (US$909 million), against a loss of 864 million euros for the first quarter last year, the company said. Analysts had forecast a profit of US$435 million.
■RECRUITMENT
Adecco posts Q1 profit
Swiss-based staffing company Adecco SA yesterday posted a first-quarter net profit of 57 million euros thanks to improved market conditions. The profit compares to 23 million euros for the same period last year. Adecco CEO Patrick De Maeseneire said market conditions have significantly improved in most regions with higher demand in France and North America. Group revenues for the quarter were up 7 percent at 4 billion euros, Adecco said.
■AUTOMOBILES
French firm eyes venture
PSA Peugeot Citroen says it is creating a Chinese joint venture with Changan Automobile Group to make small, low-emission vehicles. The French carmaker said yesterday it is teaming up with the state-owned Chinese automaker for a 50-50 venture to produce “environmentally friendly light commercial vehicles and passenger cars.” A letter of intent has been signed, but details are still being discussed. The deal won’t compete with existing partnerships with other companies, Peugeot Citroen said.
■RATINGS
Goldman review possible
Fitch Ratings said on Wednesday that Goldman Sachs’ recent legal troubles and the evolving regulatory landscape might lead the agency to eventually review the bank’s top-tier credit rating. Fitch Ratings, a major credit ratings agency, said in a release that it left Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s rating of “A+” alone for now given its strong performance. Fitch noted that Goldman “consistently” outperforms its global banking peers. However, Fitch said it lowered its long-term view of Goldman’s debt ratings because of the legal issues Goldman is facing, which could hurt its reputation and ability to generate revenue.
WHAT WAS ALL THAT FOR? Jaw Shaw-kong said that Cheng Li-wen had pushed for more drastic cuts and attacked him, just for the outcome to be nearly identical to his bill The legislature yesterday passed a supplementary budget bill to fund the purchase of separate packages of US military equipment, with the combined amount of spending capped at NT$780 billion (US$24.8 billion). The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their legislative majority to pass the bill, which runs until 2033 and has two main funding provisions. One was for NT$300 billion of arms sales already approved by the US for Taiwan on Dec. 17 last year, the other was for NT$480 billion for another arms package expected to be announced by Washington. The bill, which fell short of the NT$1.25
Taiwanese shares yesterday posted a record daily gain of more than 1,700 points to close above 40,000 points for the first time, led by large-cap semiconductor stocks such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) amid optimism about the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The TAIEX ended up 1,778.51 points, or 4.57 percent, at 40,705.14 after moving between 39,228.39 and 40,755.52, while the New Taiwan dollar closed up NT$0.038 at NT$31.610 per US dollar, ending three consecutive sessions of declines. Turnover on the main board totaled NT$1.007 trillion (US$31.9 billion), with foreign institutional investors buying a net NT$66.98 billion
A former television news host and six military personnel — active and retired — have been indicted on espionage charges, Kaohsiung prosecutors said yesterday. Lin Chen-you (林宸佑), a former CTi News host and YouTuber, last year allegedly made videos at the direction of a Chinese agent criticizing the Democratic Progressive Party’s recall campaign, the Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office told a news conference in Kaohsiung. He allegedly received 4,325 tether coins for the videos from an unidentified person surnamed Huang (黃), believed to be an agent of a hostile foreign power, they said. Lin, also known as Ma Te (馬德), has a show named
NON-INTERFERENCE: The US called Taiwan a trusted and capable partner, while an African Union leader urged nations to reflect on respect for sovereign choices Taiwan is a “trusted and capable” partner of the US and Taipei’s global relationships, including with Eswatini, provide significant benefits, the US Department of State said of President William Lai’s (賴清德) trip to the southern African kingdom. Lai arrived in the former Swaziland on Saturday on a surprise visit after a planned trip last month was canceled when Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar denied overflight permission for his aircraft due to Chinese pressure. “Taiwan is a trusted and capable partner of the United States and many others, and its relationships around the world provide significant benefits to the citizens of those countries,
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