■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.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
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