Print

Mail

wiki links

World Business Quick Take

■ Computers
IBM to buy India's Daksh
International Business Machines Corp (IBM), the world's largest computer maker, plans to acquire Daksh eServices Pvt, an Indian operator of customer-contact centers, IBM said in a statement sent by e-mail. Armonk, New York-based IBM did not disclose how much it will pay for Daksh, based in Gurgaon, near New Delhi. IBM expects to complete the transaction by next month, the statement said. The acquisition will give IBM contact-center capabilities in India and the Philippines and Daksh's expertise in providing services to customers in industries such as banking, insurance, retail, telecommunications and travel, the statement said. The deal will add to IBM's 22 customer contact-and-transaction processing centers globally.

■ Automobiles
DaimlerChrysler CEO upbeat
DaimlerChrysler head Juergen Schrempp said yesterday that first-quarter earnings at the troubled US division Chrysler would continue an upward trend that saw it earn US$173 million in the fourth quarter of last year. "At Chrysler Group the positive earning trend that has started since the third quarter of last year has continued during the first quarter of 2004," Schrempp said in a prepared statement ahead of a speech to shareholders at the company's annual meeting. Chrysler is trying to bounce back from an overall loss last year, due mainly to a disastrous second-quarter loss due to heavy price competition in the US market. Later yesterday, Schrempp was to face criticism from some of the 10,000 shareholders at the meeting in Berlin.

■ Transportation
Eurotunnel rebels win votes
Rebel shareholders seeking to oust the current management of Eurotunnel Group have won a majority of the votes cast so far in a no-confidence vote, the cross-channel tunnel operator said in a statement Tuesday. A win for the rebels would mean a change in management for the tunnel operator. The company said leaders of the shareholder revolt have won proxy votes representing 20.5 percent of its capital ahead of a general meeting yesterday, compared to 8.3 percent for the current management. Together with the proxy votes, the shareholders who have voted by correspondence and those registered to attend the meeting represent a total of 39 percent of Eurotunnel's capital, the company said. But the final participation figure is likely to be higher since some shareholders who plan to attend the meeting have not registered, it added. The ballot is taking place after disgruntled small investors obtained a court order last year forcing Eurotunnel to hold a no-confidence vote.

■ Life insurance
China Life faces fines
The China-based parent company of China Life Insurance faces 67.49 million yuan (US$8.2 million) in fines and unpaid taxes for alleged accounting irregularities, the company said yesterday. China Life Insurance, whose shares are traded in New York and Hong Kong, outlined allegations by the National Audit Office against its Beijing-based parent company, China Life Group, in a legal notice made to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In February, the National Audit Office reported finding illegal practices involving 5.4 billion yuan (US$653.7 million) by the parent company before China Life was restructured for its US$3.4 billion overseas share listings in December.

This story has been viewed 1748 times.