International News

  Bloomberg Canada was on pace to run a significant surplus for the last fiscal year, monthly data released Friday show, calling into question the federal government’s projection of a full-year deficit. The government raised C$3.2 billion ($2.6 billion) more than it spent in February, giving it a surplus of C$7.5 billion for the first eleven months of the fiscal …

Maracaibo / AFP Carmela de la Hoz sent a customer away with his hair half cut when the power went off in her salon. The customer will be back — but so will the blackouts. The rolling electricity cuts the Venezuelan government ordered across the country starting this week have hit the city of Maracaibo hard. Security forces are patrolling the …

  Tokyo / AFP Sony posted a $1.4 billion annual profit on Thursday, boosted by strong sales of its PlayStation console, but analysts warned that slowing smartphone demand could hit a lucrative business that makes key parts for mobile devices. The company’s full-year profit —only its second since the 2008 global financial crisis preceded years of eye-watering losses —may be …

  Seoul / AFP Booming sales of home appliances and televisions helped South Korea’s LG Electronics report a surge in first-quarter profits on Thursday, despite a continued slump in smartphone sales. Net income for January to March amounted to 198 billion won ($173.9 million), up 415 percent from a year ago, the Seoul-based company said in a statement. The tech …

  Beijing / Bloomberg China’s biggest bank ICBC on Thursday announced mounting problem loans, after International Monetary Fund staff argued that the world’s second-biggest economy needs a more “comprehensive” plan to tackle bad debts The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), believed to be the world’s largest bank by assets, said its non-performing loan ratio rose to 1.66 percent …

  Tokyo / AFP All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) announced robust annual profits on Thursday, thanks to healthy demand on China and other international routes as well as falling fuel costs. Japan’s top carriers benefitted from a record number of foreigners visiting Japan with mainland Chinese being among the most conspicuous as they flock to Japan for shopping …

  Tokyo / Bloomberg Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal said on Thursday its annual profit dived by a third as it pointed to a “severely depressed” market owing to a slowdown in China and other overseas markets. The Tokyo-based firm, one of the world’s biggest steelmakers, posted a net profit of 145.4 billion yen in its fiscal year to March, …

  New Delhi / Bloomberg Coffee production in India is set to tumble to a 19-year low as dry weather wilts plantations in Asia’s third-largest grower. Output will decline at least 30 percent in the harvesting season starting from Oct. 1, compared with a record 350,000 tons a year earlier, according to Nishant Gurjer, a member and past chairman of …

  Bloomberg German joblessness extended its decline, underscoring the strength of the labour market as Europe’s largest economy seeks to absorb a wave of refugees. The number of people out of work fell by a seasonally adjusted 16,000 to 2.706 million in April, data from the Federal Labour Agency in Nuremberg showed on Thursday. That’s the seventh consecutive drop, and …

  Bloomberg U.K. farm income tumbled by 29 percent last year as the country’s growers were hit by falling crop prices and lower subsidy payments, the government said. Total income dropped to 3.77 billion pounds ($5.5 billion) in 2015, the lowest in eight years, according to a report from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. It was the …