Uni-President to boost ads
Uni-President Enterprises Co (統一企業) plans to raise advertising and promotional spending by a fifth next year as the foodmaker braces for new competition from China's biggest instant-noodle maker.
Uni-President expects to spend as much as NT$400 million (US$12 million) to advertise its noodles, spokesman Simon Hung (洪世民) said.
The company, which has half of the NT$10 billion instant noodle market, has begun its campaign to keep customers.
"We have always been concerned about new brands," Hung said. "We won't be so proud as to do nothing [about the situation]."
Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp (鼎益控股) will introduce its Taiwanese version of China's popular Master Kang (康師傅) brand noodles on the island Dec. 2.
President Chain Store Corp (統一超商), controlled by Uni-President, has no immediate plans to sell new instant noodle products in its convenience stores, President Chain spokeswoman Lillian Lin (林立莉) said. President Chain operates about 3,000 7-Eleven stores.
Safeco wins court action
A Taipei Court granted Safeco Insurance Co's request to freeze NT$1.2 billion (US$35 million) in assets from Pacific Electric Wire & Cable Co (太平洋電線電纜) in compensation after the cable maker's US unit failed to honor a contract.
The order came after Safeco filed a complaint last month against Texas-based Pacific USA Holdings Corp, a wholly owned unit of the company, said Yen Chien-tsun, a Pacific Electric spokesman. Safeco is suing Pacific USA in a US Federal Court for the alleged contract breach. Pacific Electric Wire is the co-defendant in the case.
"Pacific Electric has faced stormy conditions," Yen said. "We only learned about the court decision when they came to seize our assets."
CPC to lunge for China market
Chinese Petroleum Corp (中油) (CPC) plans to capture 5 percent China's oil lubricants market after it opens an office in Beijing to market its products, Oilchina.com said, citing an unidentified company official.
The company will focus its investments in China and it hopes to establish an office in Beijing to oversee its exploration business throughout China, the Web-based news service reported.
Taiwanese authorities may approve Chinese Petroleum's application to open the Beijing office next year, Oilchina.com said, quoting the official.
S&P cuts CMC Magnetic's rating
CMC Magnetics Corp's (中環) debt ratings were cut one level by Standard & Poor's, which cited weak earnings at the world's second-largest maker of recordable compact discs because of falling prices amid an industry glut.
The company's foreign- and local-currency ratings were cut to BB- from BB, both of which are junk grade. The outlook on the ratings is stable. A downgrade may raise a company's borrowing costs because it increases the perceived risk of lending.
The downgrade affects CMC Magnetics' US$100 million of zero-coupon convertible bonds due March 6, 2007, S&P said. CMC Magnetics' net income in the first nine months plunged 99.4 percent from the same period a year ago to NT$2.6 billion (US$76million). Sales in the period rose 5.5 percent to NT$14.2 billion.
NT dollar rises
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rose against its US counterpart, edging up NT$0.031 to close at NT$34.773 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$285 million, compared with the previous day's US$372 million.
Agencies
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