■ELECTRONICS
Hitachi posts record loss
Hitachi Ltd posted the worst-ever annual loss for a Japanese manufacturer and doesn’t expect to the global economy to recover until next year at the earliest. Hitachi said yesterday it booked a net loss of ¥787.3 billion (US$8.1 billion) for the fiscal year through March. That was worse than last year’s ¥58.1 billion loss. Annual revenue tumbled 11 percent to ¥10 trillion. But it managed an operating profit — which reflects its core business — of ¥127 billion for the year. Hitachi’s net loss represents the worst annual loss for a Japanese manufacturer, Shinko Research Institute Co reported. It would be the second-largest in Japanese corporate history after an ¥834.6 billion loss reported by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp for the fiscal year ending March 2002.
■ELECTRONICS
NEC falls into the red
Japanese giant NEC Corp said yesterday it fell into the red last fiscal year because of business restructuring costs and stock losses from the economic downturn, but it expects to return to a modest profit this year. NEC recorded a group net loss of ¥297 billion for the 12 months through March, down sharply from last year’s net profit of ¥22.7 billion. Annual sales fell 8.7 percent to ¥4.2 trillion. For the fiscal year through next March, NEC expects to return to profit of ¥10 billion on a sales forecast of ¥3.7 trillion, down 11 percent.
■OIL
Japan, Russia ink deal
Japanese and Russian energy companies signed a deal yesterday to jointly develop two major oil fields in eastern Siberia, the Japanese partner in the agreement said. The deal, which was inked on the margins of a visit to Tokyo by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, will help resource-poor Japan diversify its energy sources, said the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. The Nikkei Shimbun earlier reported that the project would cost ¥15 billion in its initial phase. The Japanese state-run company said it would hold 49 percent and Russia’s Irkutsk Oil Co would hold the remainder of the project to develop the fields, believed to hold up to several hundred million barrels.
■INTERNET
Greece restricts Google
Greece’s data protection agency barred Google from taking any more images on the nation’s streets for its Street View feature on Monday, pending “additional information” from the US search engine service. In a statement, Greece said it wanted Google to disclose how long it intends to keep the images it takes and what steps it is taking to alert residents liable to be photographed of their rights. For the same reasons, the Greek Data Protection Authority also suspended a comparable service run by Greek Internet service provider Kapou that depicted streets in Athens, Thessaloniki and Larissa.
■AVIATION
Delays hurt EADS profits
Costly development delays for a new Airbus cargo plane dragged down profits for European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co (EADS) in the first quarter, Europe’s largest aerospace company said yesterday. Net profits for the first three months of this year were down 40 percent to 170 million euros (US$231.5 million), as its Airbus SAS division, which contributes two-thirds of EADS’ revenues, delivered only 116 planes in the first quarter, down from 123 in the same period last year. EADS revenue fell from 9.9 billion euros to 8.5 billion euros year-on-year.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
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
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