■MINING
OZ Minerals wants Chinese
Debt-laden Australian miner OZ Minerals said yesterday it would go into receivership if a A$2.6 billion (US$1.7 billion) takeover offer from China’s Minmetals (五礦集團) does not proceed. While some Australian politicians have expressed unease at Chinese investment in the country’s resources sector, OZ Minerals chief executive Andrew Michelmore said last week’s offer had saved his company. “Having stared down the barrel of receivership or voluntary administration at least three times in the last few months, this is the best outcome for our shareholders,” Michelmore told ABC television.
■INTERNET
Yahoo may shuffle bosses
Yahoo Inc’s new chief executive, Carol Bartz, may announce a management restructuring as early as Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal said. The Journal, citing unidentified people, said in a report published on its Web site on Saturday that a memo from Bartz suggested there would be a reorganization and that many top executives knew few details about it.
■ELECTRONICS
Satyam seeks new investors
India’s troubled Satyam Computer Services Ltd said on Saturday it would seek new investors and replace its auditors in the wake of a US$1 billion fraud scandal. Following a board meeting on Saturday, the software services provider said in a statement that it has set up a process to line up potential strategic investors and would seek regulatory approval for that process this week. The company, one of India’s largest outsourcing companies, also said its board authorized chief executive A.S. Murty to take steps to retain key employees and endorsed efforts under way to cut expenses.
■TELECOMS
PCCW employees protest
Several hundred workers from Hong Kong’s leading phone operator marched yesterday to protest a cost-cutting plan that requires employees to take up to two unpaid days off a month. The PCCW Ltd (電訊盈科) workers chanted “PCCW lacks a conscience, smothers its employees,” as they marched peacefully in the central financial district toward Hong Kong’s government headquarters. Radio RTHK reported on its Web site that 300 people protested. The plan requires the company’s technicians to take up to two days off without pay starting in March.
■AVIATION
A380 orders in ‘good shape’
Airbus SAS, the world’s largest maker of commercial airplanes, said the order book for the A380 was in “good shape.” Airbus hasn’t received any cancellations from airlines in the Gulf, Habib Fekih, the Middle East president at Airbus, told reporters at the MEED Airport Projects conference in Dubai yesterday.
■BANKING
Seoul banks boost capital
Capital adequacy at 18 South Korean banks rose in the fourth quarter as loan expansion slowed and lenders boosted capital, the nation’s financial regulator said. Combined capital adequacy ratio — a measure of capital reserves against assets at risk — improved to 12.19 percent as of Dec. 31, from 10.86 percent at the end of the third quarter last year, the Financial Supervisory Service said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. South Korean banks including state lenders raised 16.2 trillion won (US$10.7 billion) in capital in the fourth quarter as they sought a buffer against a potential rise in bad debts, the regulator said.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source