Business Brief

■ China Motor sales slip
China Motor Co (中華汽車), the nation's largest truck and van maker, said yesterday that its car sales slipped by 3.8 percent to NT$4.56 billion in November from NT$4.74 billion a year ago.
The company, 15 percent owned by Japan's Mitsubishi Motors Corp, sold 7,591 vehicles in the domestic market last month, down 15.96 percent from 9,033 cars a year ago. China Motor, however, posted a better-than-expected overseas sales last month by selling 9,323 cars -- mostly to China -- up 29.65 percent from 7,191 the previous year.
The company has been increasing its presence in China through the South East (Fujian) Motor Corp (東南汽車), China Motor's venture with Fujian Automobile Industry Corp (福建汽車工業集團).
South East started making and selling Lioncel sedan cars as well as Delica and Freeca brand light vans in China earlier this year.
For the first 11 months of the year, China Motor's vehicle sales overseas jumped by 54.37 percent to 108,536 vehicles from 70,308 cars a year ago. The domestic sales, however, declined by 5.97 percent to 8,1842 cars in the same period.
From January to November, China Motor said revenues grew 8.46 percent to NT$52.55 billion from NT$48.46 billion a year earlier.

■ CPC to get help in Chad
Ambassador to Chad Cheng Hsin (鄭欣) said yesterday he will do whatever he can to help the state-owned Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC, 中油) to join an oil exploration project in southern Chad.
Cheng, who returned to Taipei last weekend for home consultations, made the remarks at a Legislative Yuan committee meeting.
Cheng said the Chadian oil prospecting project offers promising business opportunities.
CPC is scheduled to send a delegation to the Central African country next February to inspect the planned oil prospecting sites and evaluate the commercial value of the project. If all goes smoothly, he said, a joint-venture deal may be struck in April 2004.

■ Legend to focus on computers
Legend Group Ltd (聯想), Asia's top maker of personal computers, agreed to sell half of an unprofitable computer motherboard business to a supplier to focus on making computers and mobile phones.
Ramaxel Technology Ltd, which supplies computer components to Legend, will buy 50 percent of QDI Holdings Ltd, a new venture set up for the motherboard units, Legend said in a statement. The price will be based on the asset value of the business as of Oct. 31, which wasn't disclosed, plus 12.5 million yuan (US$1.5 million).
The sale will allow Legend "to concentrate on its core line businesses of computer manufacturing, handset manufacturing and provision of IT services," the statement said.
Losses from making motherboards, the main circuit board in a computer, helped to restrict Legend's profit growth to 2 percent for the fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30. Chief executive Yang Yuanqing (楊元慶) said the company aimed to reorganize the unit this year.

■ NT dollar rises
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rose against its US counterpart, after figures showed investors abroad were net buyers of stocks for the first day in three, easing concern they would shun the island following President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) call for a referendum on sovereignty.
Money managers overseas bought a net NT$1.8 billion (US$53 million) of Taiwan's equities today, according to Taiwan Stock Exchange.
The NT dollar yesterday rose NT$0.041 to close at NT$34.167 against the greenback, on a turnover of US$453 million.