■GERMANY
Sales fall beats expectations
Retail sales fell 1.8 percent last year, final figures showed yesterday, better than a preliminary estimate of a 2 percent drop given last month, the national statistics office said. The figures suggested that consumption in Europe’s biggest economy held up better than expected in the midst of its worst post-war recession. “Apparently, German consumers did not let the financial crisis ruin their Christmas shopping,” ING senior economist Carsten Brzeski said. “Still, private consumption seems to be caught in a zig-zag pattern without getting to a real upward trend.”
■INSURANCE
Munich Re profits soar
The world’s biggest reinsurer, Munich Re, reported yesterday that net profit soared 62 percent last year, exceeding the group’s own forecast. Munich Re posted a net profit of 2.56 billion euros (US$3.56 billion), up from 1.58 billion euros in 2008, and said it would raise its dividend by 4.5 percent to 5.75 euros. “This is another good result that demonstrates Munich Re’s earnings strength,” a statement quoted finance director Jorg Schneider as saying. “We are realistic in our expectations and remain dependable for investors.”
■INDUSTRY
Siemens doubles investment
German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG said yesterday it would double its annual investment in India to 250 million euros, as it continues to grow in emerging market economies. Siemens, based in Munich, said it was expected that the Indian economy would grow 7 percent this year and 8 percent next year and that it wants to expand its market share to 10 percent by 2012. The bulk of the new investment will go to energy technology. The company said that currently about 30 percent of India’s population has no access to power, which is why the Indian government is planning to add 150 gigawatts over the next seven years — an amount equal to Germany’s entire installed capacity. In addition, 20 percent of the energy mix should be generated from renewable sources by the year 2020.
■FINANCE
Normura still in the black
Japan’s top securities firm Nomura reported yesterday a third straight quarter in the black, boosted by its purchase of large parts of failed Wall Street bank Lehman Brothers. Nomura Holdings posted net earnings of ¥10.2 billion (US$113 million) for the fiscal third quarter through December — a significant improvement on a year-earlier loss of ¥343.0 billion. “We were profitable for the third straight quarter, booking increased revenues and net income in both the retail and wholesale businesses,” Nomura chief executive Kenichi Watanabe said in a statement.
■REAL ESTATE
Singapore tycoon dies
Property tycoon Ng Teng Fong (黃廷芳), listed by Forbes business magazine as Singapore’s richest man with a fortune of more than US$8 billion, died yesterday, his flagship company said. The 82-year-old founder of privately held Far East Organization (遠東機構) suffered a brain hemorrhage on Jan. 23 and underwent an operation before he passed away peacefully in Singapore, a company press release said. Far East Organization and its Hong Kong-based sister company Sino Group (信和集團) comprise one of Asia’s biggest property groups, with a combined annual turnover of US$5.5 billion and total assets valued at more than US$40 billion, the company Web site said.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats
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