Business Briefs

■ Agriculture
Overdue loan ratio down
The average overdue loan ratio of Taiwan's credit cooperatives run by farmers' and fishermen's associations registered 9.57 percent as of the end of June, down 0.31 percentage points from the previous month's level, according to tallies released yesterday by the Council of Agriculture's Bureau of Agricultural Finance. As of the end of last month, the combined assets of the credit cooperatives totalled NT$1.57 trillion (US$47.8 billion), a decrease of NT$12.5 billion compared to the previous month. The net asset value amounted to NT$84.8 billion, up NT$600 million over the previous month. While deposits at the credit cooperatives amounted to NT$1.36 trillion as of the end of June, up NT$1.5 billion from the previous month, loans granted by the credit cooperatives amounted to NT$633.5 billion, up NT$8.1 billion from May.

■ Semiconductors
Qimonda price fair: CEO
Infineon Technologies AG chief executive officer Wolfgang Ziebart said that the price of shares in its Qimonda memory chip unit is "appropriate and fair" when compared with rivals, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said, citing an interview. Infineon plans to sell shares in the world's second-largest maker of memory chips for between US$16 and US$18 each as soon as the week starting on Aug. 7. Analysts said that price range is too ambitious, FAZ reported.

■ Internet
Crooks pose as central bank
Internet criminals trying to dupe customers into revealing bank details have become so brazen they are posing as Singapore's central bank, its Web site said yesterday. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said it has learned of "isolated cases of fraudulent e-mails containing the MAS' name, logo and letterhead," the central bank said. The messages typically ask the recipients for personal information or to transfer funds to a particular party or account. The central bank warned people to ignore such unsolicited e-mail and to report them to banking regulators.

■ Singapore
Firms' investment up
Singapore companies invested S$328 billion (US$208 billion) in 2004, up 8 percent from the previous year, according to a report released this week. The annual survey from the Department of Statistics, released on Friday, said almost half of the investments were focused in other Asian countries, mainly China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Hong Kong. The report said direct investments accounted for 53.1 percent of the total investments, mainly in the financial services sector, followed by manufacturing and commerce. The rest of the invested money went to portfolio investments and other foreign assets.

■ Automotive
Hyundai workers accept deal
Hyundai Motor Co workers have voted to accept a wage package negotiated by management and union leaders, the company said yesterday, officially ending a month of unrest at South Korea's largest automaker. A total of 54.7 percent of the 41,109 union members who participated in voting on Friday cast ballots in favor of accepting the deal, company spokesman William Park said. Hyundai's union has 43,497 members, he said. The agreement, reached on Wednesday, is for a 5.1 percent increase in basic monthly pay, a bonus payment of 1 million won (US$1,050) and an extra month's salary.