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World Business Quick Take

■ BANKING

Lehman cutting 1,300 jobs

US investment bank Lehman Brothers said on Thursday it was eliminating 1,300 staff as it continues to scale back its US mortgage operations amid a housing slump. The latest job cuts lift the total number of mortgage-related job losses announced by Lehman Brothers since August above 3,000. "While it is necessary for us to structure our mortgage origination businesses in the US to reflect the change in industry dynamics, we deeply regret the impact this action has on our people," said Ted Janulis, Lehman's head of Mortgage Capital.



■ SEMICONDUCTORS

AMD's Q4 loss widens

Struggling chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) said on Thursday its fourth-quarter net loss widened, partly owing to a huge goodwill impairment charge related to its US$5.6 billion acquisition of graphics chipmaker ATI Technologies Inc. AMD posted a net loss of US$1.77 billion, or US$3.06 per share, compared with a loss of US$576 million, or US$1.08 per share, in the quarter a year earlier. Revenue rose 9 percent to US$1.77 billion from US$1.63 billion. Analysts, on average, were expecting a loss of US$0.36 cents on revenue of US$1.79 billion, a Thomson Financial poll showed.



■ COMPUTERS

IBM bullish on earnings

The International Business Machines Corp forecast substantial earnings increases for this year that beat analysts' forecasts. It expected earnings per share to rise to between US$8.20 and US$8.30, from US$7.18 last year, as its sees growth in Europe and Asia that is outdoing its US performance, it said on Thursday after the US markets closed. The Armonk, New York-based company also released fourth-quarter results, reporting an 11.6 percent increase in earnings from the same quarter a year earlier to US$3.95 billion, while sales were up 9.9 percent to US$28.9 billion.



■ EQUITIES

NYSE to acquire AMEX

NYSE Euronext said on Thursday it had agreed to acquire the American Stock Exchange, known as AMEX, in a US$260 million all-stock deal. New York-based NYSE Euronext said it expected the acquisition to add to its earnings next year. The proposed combination, which has been approved by both companies' boards, will expand NYSE Euronext's scale in US options, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, structured products and cash equities, the exchange group said. The deal is expected to create annualized cost synergies of more than US$100 million within two years from closing, the company said.



■ PRINTERS

Xerox unveils new printer

Xerox Corp on Thursday announced it had developed a color printing technology that could help it grab a larger share of the market for high-speed printing. Known as "non-contact flash fusing," it allows color printers to reach speeds of nearly 500 pages a minute. The printers flash a high-intensity light more than 2,000 times a second, fusing color toner to paper. In contrast, conventional toner-based printers have print speeds of up to 110 pages a minute. The technology also will allow high-speed printing of plastic identity cards and peel-off labels on statements, price tags and stickers, Xerox said.
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