■ELECTRONICS
Philips reports profit drop
Dutch electronics giant Philips yesterday reported a net profit of 45 million euros (US$62.6 million) in the second quarter, a drop of 94 percent compared with the same period last year. The results were higher than expected by analysts, who had predicted a net loss of 125 million euros after a net profit of 732 million euros in the second quarter of last year. Philips turnover stood at 5.23 billion euros in the second quarter, down 19 percent from 6.46 billion euros in the same period last year, because of “continuing weakness in consumer and professional markets,” the group said.
■CURRENCIES
US unconcerned about dollar
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Sunday he was not concerned that the US dollar is weakening as a reserve currency, despite recent criticism from China, Russia and France. “A strong dollar is in the interest of the United States,” Geithner said in an interview on CNN, “and our commitment to the world, and of course, the American people, is to make sure we’ll put in place the policies that can sustain confidence in this economy and this financial system.” Geithner’s comments come as France joined a chorus of other countries critical of the dollar’s dominance over other currencies, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy saying on Thursday that a “multipolar world must be a multicurrency world.” Sarkozy is the first European leader to join with China and Russia, who have called for a new international reserve currency similar to the Special Drawing Rights — an artificial currency used by the IMF.
■TRADE
S Korea posts record surplus
South Korea posted a record trade surplus last month as the value of imports fell more than exports amid the global recession, government figures showed yesterday. The Korea Customs Service said the surplus was US$7.27 billion last month, the highest since data began to be compiled in 1952. It was the fifth consecutive month of surpluses since February, with the cumulative surplus for the first half standing at US$28 billion. Exports fell 12.4 percent last month from a year earlier to US$32.63 billion, while imports dropped 32.9 percent over the same period to US$25.36 billion.
■AUTOMOBILES
Honda to expand hybrids
Honda Motor Co, Japan’s second-biggest carmaker, plans to expand the number of hybrid vehicles it offers domestically to compete with Toyota Motor Corp’s best-selling Prius. The carmaker will bring out a hybrid version of the Fit car next year and the hybrid CR-Z sports coupe in February, chief executive officer Takanobu Ito, told reporters yesterday in Tokyo. The new vehicles will give Tokyo-based Honda four hybrids in its lineup.
■HONG KONG
Slump leads to depression
The number of people in Hong Kong suffering from depression has risen by more than a third as the global economic crisis rocks the wealthy city of 7 million people, a survey released yesterday showed. Twelve percent of the city’s adult population now suffer from mild or more severe depression, said the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, which surveyed more than 2,000 people. The percentage is the highest level in seven years and a sharp rise on the 8.8 percent recorded last year and 8.3 percent recorded in 2007, researchers said.
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
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
SECURITY: The New Zealand and Australian navies also sailed military vessels through the Strait yesterday to assert the right of freedom of navigation The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force on Wednesday made its first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait in response to the intrusion by a Chinese reconnaissance aircraft into Japan’s sovereign airspace last month, Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday. The Japanese news platform reported that the destroyer JS Sazanamisailed down through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, citing sources in the Japanese government with knowledge of the matter. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi declined to comment on the reports at a regular briefing because they concern military operations. Military vessels from New Zealand and Australia also sailed through the Strait on the same day, Wellington’s defense ministry
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) is set to issue sea and land warnings for Tropical Storm Krathon as projections showed that the tropical storm could strengthen into a typhoon as it approaches Taiwan proper, the CWA said yesterday. The sea warning is scheduled to take effect this morning and the land warning this evening, it said. The storm formed yesterday morning and in the evening reached a point 620 nautical miles (1,148km) southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, moving west-southwest at 4 kph as it strengthened, the CWA said. Its radius measured between 220km and 250km, it added. Krathon is projected