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■ Bigger bonuses paid
The economy's recovery has encouraged more employers to pay bonuses for the Dragon Boat Festival, according to a poll released yesterday by an online job bank. Some 72.83 percent of the companies polled said they would provide employees a bonus -- NT$1,279 per person, on average -- for this year's festival, which occurs today, the 9999 Job Bank said. Those figures are increases on the 66.38 percent of employers who paid bonuses averaging NT$1,161 per person last year, the job bank said. Among employers who planned to give out cash bonuses, 21.29 percent said the payments would come in under NT$500 and 43.61 percent said the bonuses would be between NT$501 and NT$1,000. In addition to cash, about 14 percent of employers planned to give rice dumplings to employees, while 8.56 percent planned to provide gift coupons, according to the survey. The poll was based on 935 respondents polled between June 6 and June 17.

■ China Airlines gets financing
China Airlines (CAL, 華航) yesterday signed a US$ 235 million (US$7.12 million) financing contract with Calyon, a leading French bank, for the airline's acquisition of three new Airbus A330-300 aircraft, the company said in a statement. China Airlines ordered 14 A330-300s from Airbus Industrie in 2002, and will take delivery between this year and 2007. The A330s will eventually replace the carrier's A300-600Rs on Asian regional routes departing from Taipei and Kaohsiung. "We are pleased to entrust Calyon as the manager, underwriter and security trustee for this financing," said Phillip Wei (魏幸雄), president of CAL, during a ceremony. Wei declined to disclose the interest rate for the 12-year loan contract, but said the financing is guaranteed by European export credit agencies. The first three aircraft are to be delivered late this month, next month and in December. Despite high fuel prices, CAL has managed to keep fuel costs low through hedging. As a result, the carrier foresees solid growth for this year, and expects to post an after-tax profit of NT$ 3.1 billion for the year.

■ Chi Mei denies rumor
Chi Mei Group (奇美), whose founder was criticized by the Chinese state media for supposed pro-independence views, denied reports that it planned to close a plastics plant in eastern China after the government issues a ban on river shipments of a key raw material. China's decision this month to ban transportation of acrylonitrile on the Yangtze River and to impose a US$10 per tonne surcharge on ground shipments will force the company to raise prices or find ways to cut costs at the plant in Zhenjiang, a company official said. Acrylonitrile is a toxic raw material used to make acrylic rubber and fibers. "Chi Mei intends to continue the Zhenjiang operation even though China's environmental protection measures will increase our costs," the official said, denying a report in a Chinese-language newspaper that the plant may shut down.

■ NT dollar rises
The NT dollar strengthened for the first time in three days after Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc (MSCI) said it would include the nation's stocks in its global indexes, a step that will encourage overseas investors to buy local shares. Fund managers who control US$3 trillion use MSCI's indexes to gauge performance. Foreign investors will need to buy local currency to pay for their equity purchases. The NT rose NT$0.010 to close at NT$33.775 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$515.5 million.

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