■PHARMACEUTICALS
GSK to buy 9.9% of Dong-A
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) stepped up its drive into emerging markets yesterday by agreeing to buy a 9.9 percent stake in South Korea’s Dong-A Pharmaceuticals for £73.9 million (US$114 million). The deal wins the British-based group an alliance with the leading pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter medicines company in South Korea — a market expected to grow about 10 percent a year through 2012.
■BEVERAGES
Carlsberg posts sound profit
Danish brewer Carlsberg reported a better-than-expected first-quarter profit of 471 million kroner (US$62.3 million) yesterday and maintained its outlook for this year as it improved sales and margins in Asia and northern and western Europe. The world’s fourth-largest brewer, however, said its results had been hurt by an increased sales tax on beer in Russia, which caused sales to fall 12 percent in the country, one of its main markets.
■AVIATION
EasyJet trims profit forecast
British no-frills airline easyJet yesterday lowered its full-year profit forecast after announcing that travel disruption caused by the volcanic ash cloud had cost it between £50 million and £75 million. The carrier also reported that its net losses had narrowed during the first six months of its fiscal year. An easyJet statement said it expected annual pre-tax profit of £100 million to £150 million.
■RETAIL
Carrefour to open India shop
French supermarket giant Carrefour, the world’s second-largest retailer, said yesterday it would soon open its first wholesale store in India, without a local partner. “We are starting our ‘cash and carry’ business in India as the government allows 100 percent foreign investment in this segment,” Jean Noel Bironneau, general manager of Carrefour India, told reporters. “So far FDI [foreign direct investment] is not relaxed for us to launch a hypermarket,” he said.
■ENERGY
E.ON’s Q1 profit drops 7%
German energy producer E.ON AG said that its first-quarter net profit fell 7 percent, as taxes hurt otherwise buoyant underlying earnings growth. Duesseldorf-based E.ON said yesterday that net profit dropped to 2.3 billion euros (US$2.97 billion) from 2.5 billion euros a year earlier, or 1.20 euros per share compared with last year’s 1.29. Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes, however, were up to about 3.7 billion euros from 3.1 billion euros a year earlier.
■LEISURE
Euro Disney losses expand
Theme park operator Euro Disney yesterday reported a 32.4 percent deepening in its first-half net loss, which it blamed on falling attendance, notably by British visitors. The group said profit in the first half of its 2009-2010 fiscal year, which ended on March 31, came to 95.2 million euros on sales that were down 7 percent from the same period a year earlier at 519 million euros.
■TELECOMS
Telefonica to buy Brasilcel
Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica said yesterday it had offered to acquire Portugal Telecom unit Brasilcel for 5.7 billion euros by buying the 50 percent stake it does not already own. The unit is 50 percent owned by Telefonica and 50 percent by Portugal Telecom. The Telefonica offer expires on June 6, the Spanish telecoms group said.
Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has died of pneumonia at the age of 48 while on a trip to Japan, where she contracted influenza during the Lunar New Year holiday, her sister confirmed today through an agent. "Our whole family came to Japan for a trip, and my dearest and most kindhearted sister Barbie Hsu died of influenza-induced pneumonia and unfortunately left us," Hsu's sister and talk show hostess Dee Hsu (徐熙娣) said. "I was grateful to be her sister in this life and that we got to care for and spend time with each other. I will always be grateful to
REMINDER: Of the 6.78 million doses of flu vaccine Taiwan purchased for this flu season, about 200,000 are still available, an official said, following Big S’ death As news broke of the death of Taiwanese actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), also known as Big S (大S), from severe flu complications, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and doctors yesterday urged people at high risk to get vaccinated and be alert to signs of severe illness. Hsu’s family yesterday confirmed that the actress died on a family holiday in Japan due to pneumonia during the Lunar New Year holiday. CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told an impromptu news conference that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 reached 162,352 — the highest
TAIWAN DEFENSE: The initiative would involve integrating various systems in a fast-paced manner through the use of common software to obstruct a Chinese invasion The first tranche of the US Navy’s “Replicator” initiative aimed at obstructing a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be ready by August, a US Naval Institute (USNI) News report on Tuesday said. The initiative is part of a larger defense strategy for Taiwan, and would involve launching thousands of uncrewed submarines, surface vessels and aerial vehicles around Taiwan to buy the nation and its partners time to assemble a response. The plan was first made public by the Washington Post in June last year, when it cited comments by US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station