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World Business Quick Take

■ Airlines
HK approves surcharges
Hong Kong said yesterday it has approved applications by 13 airlines to raise their ticket prices to cover the rising cost of jet fuel. Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, Hong Kong's largest airline, will be allowed to increase its surcharge to HK$86 (US$11) from HK$42 for each leg of short-haul flights, Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department said. For long-haul flights, Cathay will raise the surcharge to HK$250, up from HK$118. China Eastern Airlines Corp, China Southern Airlines Co, Air China Ltd and Hong Kong's No. 2 airline, Dragonair, will increase their surcharges to HK$86 from HK$42 for each leg of a flight. Other airlines using the Hong Kong international airport will hike surcharges, including Singapore Airlines, Air Canada and Northwest Airlines. The current surcharges are due to expire at the end of this month, and the new levies will take effect from June 1 to July 31.

■ Banking
British HSBC staffers strike
British staff at HSBC, Europe's biggest bank by market value, staged a one-day strike over pay yesterday with union officials warning further protests might follow if no settlement is achieved. The 24-hour strike took place on the same day as HSBC's annual shareholder meeting in London. The Amicus trade union says the strike is in protest against a pay award that gave 55 percent of British HSBC workers no pay rise or a rise that was no more than inflation. "Amicus believes that staff are paid peanuts and will be asking shareholders if they think that's fair," the union said in a statement ahead of the shareholders' meeting. About 10,000 members at HSBC's branches and call centers around the UK had been called out, a spokesman for the Amicus union said.

■ Economy
Central banks ink swap pact
The Bank of Korea yesterday signed local-currency swap agreements worth the equivalent of US$3 billion with the Bank of Japan and US$4 billion with the People's Bank of China as part of a planned expansion of ties among Asian central banks. The agreements fall under the Chiang Mai Initiative, which allows Asian central banks to borrow money from each other to cover short-term requirements during financial market shocks that could lead to a balance-of-payments crisis. Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui said he hopes the local-currency agreements "will encourage greater flows of local-currency-denominated capital in the Asian region."

■ Banking
Chinese bank plans IPO
China's fifth-biggest state-owned commercial bank, the Bank of Communications, plans to sell shares in Hong Kong as early as next month, state media reported yesterday. The initial public offering by the Shanghai-based bank is one of a spate of multibillion-dollar share listings by China-based companies seeking to raise cash overseas. Bank of Communications plans to sell 6.9 billion shares at between HK$1.9 and HK$2.30 (US$0.22 to US$0.29), aiming to raise between HK$13.2 billion to HK$15.6 billion, the state-run newspaper China Securities Journal reported. Meanwhile, China COSCO Holdings, the shipping arm of China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company, has won approval from the Hong Kong stock exchange for a US$1.5 billion initial share sale, the Hong Kong newspaper the Standard reported. Citing market sources, the newspaper reported that China COSCO will begin marketing its IPO next month.

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