■ TELECOMS
Sony Ericsson slips into red
Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson yesterday reported a third-quarter net loss of 25 million euros (US$33.7 million), down from a net gain of 267 million euros a year earlier. The Japanese-Swedish group also saw its operating income slump to 33 million euros from 393 million in the same period last year. “As expected the third quarter has continued to be challenging for Sony Ericsson,” company chief executive Dick Komiyama said in the earnings statement. Sony Ericsson booked sales of 2.8 billion euros in the third quarter, a 10 percent drop from the 3.1 billion euros it posted a year earlier. The company also saw the number of phones sold during the quarter slip to 25.7 million from 25.9 million a year earlier, but the figure was a slight improvement from second quarter’s 24.4 million.
■ AVIATION
Jet drops lay-off plans
India’s biggest private airline, Jet Airways, said it had dropped plans to sack hundreds of staff following angry protests. Jet chairman Naresh Goyal also apologized to the 800 people laid off earlier in the week as part of a bigger cost-cutting plan involving the shedding of 1,900 jobs. “I could not sleep at night. I was mentally disturbed when I saw tears in their eyes. I apologize for all the agony you went through,” Goyal said at a press conference in Mumbai late on Thursday. Most of the employees laid off were newly hired flight attendants and ground crew, mostly in their early 20s.
■ BANKING
Bank chief gives up bonus
Deutsche Bank head Josef Ackermann will forgo his annual bonus of several million euros to show solidarity with staff in this time of financial crisis, he told a Sunday newspaper, Bild am Sonntag, in comments to appear in its next edition. The Swiss national intended to express a “personal sign of solidarity,” which would see him do without “a few million” euros in pay. Three other senior board members at Germany’s biggest bank would follow his example, the bank said. Last year, they received a combined total of 33.2 million euros (US$44.7 million) in pay, of which 4.3 million euros were performance bonuses.
■ FINANCE
CIC to up Blackstone stake
China Investment Corp (CIC, 中國投資公司), the government’s sovereign wealth fund, may raise its stake in US investment group Blackstone LP after the two agreed to boost the Chinese company’s ownership limit. CIC had paid US$3 billion for a stake in Blackstone’s initial public offering in June last year, but has seen the value of that investment sink in the bear market, to the consternation of many in China. According to a regulatory filing, a revised agreement reached on Thursday between Blackstone and CIC unit Beijing Wonderful Investments Ltd (北京萬德福投資公司) has raised the limit on the Chinese company’s stake to 12.5 percent from 9.99 percent.
■ STEEL
Group to buy mining stake
A consortium of Japanese and South Korean steelmakers will take a US$4 billion stake in a Brazilian miner to secure supplies of iron ore, the Nikkei Shimbun reported yesterday. Five Japanese steelmakers, including Nippon Steel and JFE Steel, as well as South Korea’s Posco — will buy a roughly 40 percent stake in Nacional Minerios SA, the report said, citing unnamed company sources. The miner, a unit of Companhia Siderurgica Nacional, produces about 20 million tonnes of iron ore a year.
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
‘DANGEROUS GAME’: Legislative Yuan budget cuts have already become a point of discussion for Democrats and Republicans in Washington, Elbridge Colby said Taiwan’s fall to China “would be a disaster for American interests” and Taipei must raise defense spending to deter Beijing, US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead Pentagon policy, Elbridge Colby, said on Tuesday during his US Senate confirmation hearing. The nominee for US undersecretary of defense for policy told the Armed Services Committee that Washington needs to motivate Taiwan to avoid a conflict with China and that he is “profoundly disturbed” about its perceived reluctance to raise defense spending closer to 10 percent of GDP. Colby, a China hawk who also served in the Pentagon in Trump’s first team,
The arrival of a cold front tomorrow could plunge temperatures into the mid-teens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Temperatures yesterday rose to 28°C to 30°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and 32°C to 33°C in central and southern Taiwan, CWA data showed. Similar but mostly cloudy weather is expected today, the CWA said. However, the arrival of a cold air mass tomorrow would cause a rapid drop in temperatures to 15°C cooler than the previous day’s highs. The cold front, which is expected to last through the weekend, would bring steady rainfall tomorrow, along with multiple waves of showers
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