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[BUSINESS BRIEFS]

Local airlines lower surcharge

Taiwan’s airlines have been asked to lower fuel surcharges by 30 percent from Wednesday next week to reflect lower oil prices, the Civil Aeronautics Administration said.

The levy for short-haul flights will fall by US$7.50 to US$17.50, the aviation authority said in a statement on its Web site today.

Fuel fees for New Zealand, Australia and other long-haul destinations will drop by US$19.50 to US$45.50, it said.

China Airlines (中華航空) and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), Taiwan’s largest airlines, posted third-quarter losses after betting the wrong way on fuel prices. The two carriers paid to hedge rising fuel costs while prices fell for the period.

The administration adjusted the fuel surcharge last month, when CPC Taiwan (台灣中油) cut the international fuel price to US$129.86 per barrel from US$146.

This month, the price dropped further to US$98.44 per barrel.

Central bank raises rates

Taiwan’s central bank said it has increased the interest it pays financial institutions on reserves that originate from passbook deposits and slashed payments on those from time deposits.

The central bank will pay an interest rate of 0.374 percent on reserves from passbook deposits and 2.423 percent on reserves from time deposits, effective today, the monetary authority said in a faxed statement.

The rates were changed from 0.25 percent and 2.75 percent respectively, the central bank’s Web site said.

The monetary authority said on Thursday it would change them to reflect market interest rates, without elaborating.

The interest is paid to financial institutions’ B accounts, which make up 55 percent of their reserves, the central bank said today.

The monetary authority doesn’t pay interest on A accounts, which make up the rest of the reserves.

Yuanta downgrades Quanta

Yuanta Securities yesterday downgraded Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦), the world’s biggest contract laptop computer maker, to “sell” from “hold” in light of rising competition from EMS players such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密 ) and slower outsourcing orders from Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) and Lenovo Group (聯想).

Although the company’s third quarter net income saw huge non-operation gains owing to forex gains and cash dividends, Yuanta expects operating profit to decline next year.

Last week, Quanta cut its laptop shipments forecast for this year, expecting shipments of up to 38 million units from the previous 40 million because of the weak market outlook.

Gou looks at operations center

Hon Hai Group (鴻海) chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) visited the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) yesterday, expressing a keen interest in establishing an operations center for the group in Taiwan.

MOTC chief secretary Ying Chen-pong (尹承蓬) said that Gou specifically mentioned in his meeting with Minister Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) that there are three potential sites for the center, including Kaohsiung Port, Taichung Port and the mooted Taoyuan Airport Zone (桃園航空城).

This is the first time that the tycoon mentioned Taichung and Taoyuan as options. On several occasions in the past, Gou had shown interest in investing in Kaohsiung Port.

Ying said that the meeting was a courtesy call because both met each other for the first time. Gou did not mention any specific details regarding the operation center, he said.


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