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President, Sazaby form JV

President Chain Store Corp (統一超商), the nation's largest convenience store chain, announced yesterday that it would form a joint venture with Japan's Sazaby League to introduce the "Afternoon Tea TEAROOM" brand in Taiwan.

The venture -- with a 51 percent stake owned by President Chain and the remainder owned by Sazaby -- will have NT$70 million (US$2.15 million) in capitalization and is expected to start operating in the first quarter of next year, the Taipei-based retailer said.

The entry of "Afternoon Tea TEAROOM" will be the fourth foreign restaurant brand that the company has introduced locally since 1998, following Starbucks, Mister Donut and Cold Stone.

Sazaby League runs fashion clothing, lifestyle stores and restaurant businesses with a total network of 519 outlets in Japan under two main brands: Afternoon Tea TEAROOM and Afternoon Tea LIVING.

Sazaby reported ¥81.94 billion (US$719 million) in consolidated revenues for last year, according to President Chain.

M2 figure rose last month

The central bank said yesterday that the nation's M2 money supply rose 2.78 percent last month year-on-year after it expanded 3.22 percent in October. M2 is the broadest measure of the nation's money supply.

M1B money supply also saw growth slow to 4.34 percent last month from 5.66 percent in the previous month, the central bank statement said. M1B refers to money supply in M2 formula subtracting time deposits and foreign currency deposits.

"The smaller annual growth rates in M1B and M2 last month were mainly due to thinner stock market transaction, net outflows of foreign capital, and slower increases in both bank loans and investment," the statement said.

For the first 11 months of the year, M2 saw an annual growth rate of 4.52 percent, while M1B rose 6.95 percent during the same period, the central bank said.

The 4.52 percent increase in M2 money supply for the January-November period remains within the central bank's target range of growth for this year.

Cultural industry outlook rosy

Output from creative and cultural industries is expected to top NT$55 billion (US$1.7 billion) by 2011 from last year's NT$47.9 billion and will create more than 6,000 new jobs, an economic official said yesterday.

The forecast followed approval by the Council for Economic Planning and Development for a Council for Cultural Affairs (CCA) plan to boost the development of the arts and cultural industries.

Under the terms of the plan, NT$5.64 billion will be invested in the industry over the next four years, a CCA official said, adding that the industry is high value-added and could boost Taiwan's international profile.

The CCA would use the investment to push for the industrialization of the country's culture, crafts and arts in an effort to transform Taiwan's economy, the official said.

Chinese bank to restructure

The debt-laden Agricultural Bank of China (中國農業銀行) is ready for a long-awaited restructuring, the nation's chief central banker said yesterday, with a bailout expected to cost the taxpayer US$40 billion.

People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan (周小川) spoke at a financial forum in Beijing, saying reform of the weakest of the nation's big four state commercial lenders would start next year.

"Soon there will an initial plan to carry out research, design and policy steps," Zhou said.

The number of bad debts on the bank's books is unknown, but independent analysts have estimated that it carries at least US$100 billion in unrecoverable loans.
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