World business quick take

■Computers
Intel shares may fall
Intel Corp shares may be poised to fall as demand for computer processors might be weakening, potentially crimping second-quarter sales at the world's biggest semiconductor maker, Barron's reported. Demand for so-called motherboards, which holds chips in place for desktop computers, has fallen in Taiwan, Barron's said. About 80 percent of motherboards are made in Taiwan and China. A big drop in sales suggests that demand for central processing units may be weak. Intel gets more than 80 percent of its revenue from processors and related semiconductors, Barron's said. Gurinder Kalra, chief of global semiconductor research at Bear Stearns Asia, said Taiwanese second-quarter mother-board sales will fall 15 percent this quarter from this year's first three months, the paper reported.

■ Electronics
Fujitsu to raise output
Fujitsu Ltd, Japan's biggest maker of business computers, will more than double production of camera sensor modules for cellular phones to meet growing demand, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported. The company will raise monthly output of the sensors to between 1 million and 1.5 million units in September from 500,000 now, the report said, without citing anyone. Fujitsu, which started mass producing so-called complementary metal-oxide semiconductor sensors in April, expects sales of the product to reach Japanese Yen 25 billion (US$210 million) in the business year started April 1, the newspaper said. Fujitsu won't invest in any new production facilities, focusing instead on improving productivity at its current facilities to raise output, the report said. It will also farm out more prod-uction to outside affiliates.

■ Fiscal policy
Britons want to keep pound
Sixty of British voters would reject the euro in a referendum, even if Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chancellor Gordon Brown said the conditions for entry were right. Brown is due to announce on June 9 whether to recommend euro entry, and while his judgment is expected to be negative, it is thought possible he will leave the door open for a referendum. A large majority of those surveyed, 71 percent, said a referendum should be held within the next two years, rather than put off until after the next general election. But 60 percent of the polled said they would vote to keep the pound, against 33 percent who wanted to switch to the euro. Some 31 percent said Britain should leave the EU, against 60 percent who thought it should stay in.

■ Petroleum
US oil firms move into Syria
Two US oil firms, Devon Energy and Gulfsands Petroleum Ltd, signed a multi-million-dollar contract yesterday with Syria to explore for oil and natural gas. Oklahoma-based Devon, which will act as the operator, has an 80 percent interest in the contract, while Texas-based Gulfsands has a 20 percent interest, according to a statement from Devon. In the first four years, the firms are to undertake prosp-ecting works and drill four exploration wells in an 11,000km2 area of north-eastern Syria known as Block 26, it said. The total period of exploitation is 25 years, with a possible 10 year extension, a Devon official said, with the state getting between 65 and 85 percent of the oil produced. The companies' are required in the first four years to invest around US$17 million.

Agencies