■AUTOMOBILES
Cash running out: GM
The target date for General Motors Corp (GM) to get its second installment of government loans passed last week, but a top company executive says he expected the money to arrive in the next several days. GM president and chief operating officer Fritz Henderson said without the second installment of US$5.4 billion, the company would run out of cash long before March 31. Last month, the US Treasury Department authorized US$13.4 billion in loans for GM and US$4 billion for Chrysler LLC to keep both automakers out of bankruptcy. GM received US$4 billion late last year and was to get US$5.4 billion on Friday and US$4 billion on Saturday.
■SEMICONDUCTORS
Samsung replaces chiefs
South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, the world’s top memory chipmaker, said yesterday it was replacing the chiefs of most overseas units as part of a major overhaul to counter the recession. New bosses have been appointed at five out of eight regional headquarters, the latest move in what the firm described as the biggest reshuffle in its history. More than 80 percent of 1,200 staff at the firm’s Seoul headquarters have been posted to local production or marketing units.
■PHARMACEUTICALS
Japan approves drugs
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis has received approval from the Japanese authorities for four drugs, including a medication for the treatment of leukemia, the group said yesterday. Leukemia medication Tasigna, severe asthma medicine Xolair, high blood pressure drug Co-Dio and eye disease drug Lucentis can now be sold in Japan. Tasigna, Xolair and Lucentis generated sales of US$871 million in the first nine months of last year.
■BANKING
SG expects solid profits
French bank Societe Generale said yesterday it expected net profits last year to reach 2 billion euros (US$2.59 billion) and to break even for the fourth quarter despite an exceptionally rocky year. The bank, hurt by a massive trading loss early last year, cited “the solidity of its retail banking activities and its diversified business portfolio” as the reason for its overall solid performance last year.
■SOUTH KOREA
Exports sharply down
South Korea’s exports fell sharply this month as recession gripped many overseas markets, Customs Service data released yesterday showed. Customs said that outbound shipments fell an estimated 29 percent to US$12.48 billion in the first 20 days compared with the same period last year. Imports fell 22.5 percent to US$17.05 billion, leaving a US$4.57 billion trade deficit. A state-run think tank yesterday forecast export growth of just 0.7 percent this year, the slowest since the East Asian financial crisis of a decade ago.
■SHIPPING
Bank scraps shipyard deal
A US$4.6 billion deal to sell South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering — the world’s third largest shipyard — to Hanwha has been called off, a news report said yesterday. The directors of the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) have decided to abort what would have been the shipbuilding industry’s largest acquisition to date, Yonhap news agency said, quoting an unidentified KDB official. Hanwha, a major conglomerate focused on chemical and energy firms, signed a deal in November to buy KDB’s 50.4 percent stake in the shipbuilder for 6.3 trillion won.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
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