■ Construction
Directors quit over asbestos
Three directors of building products company James Hardie, including its chairwoman, Meredith Hellicar, resigned yesterday after Australia's corporate watchdog launched legal action against the firm. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) accused James Hardie Industries earlier this month of allegedly misleading the stockmarket about its liabilities to asbestos disease victims. The ASIC action named 10 current and former executives and board members, including Hellicar. The two others who resigned were non-executive directors Michael Brown and Michael Gillfillan. ASIC chairman Jeffrey Lucy said the action would not affect the deal under which James Hardie agreed to pay US$1.55 billion into a compensation fund that will pay out an estimated US$4 billion over the next 40 years.
■ Internet
`Sex addict' vet sues IBM
A man who was fired by IBM for visiting an adult chat room during the workday is suing the computer company for US$5 million in White Plains, New York, claiming he is an Internet addict who deserves treatment and sympathy rather than dismissal. James Pacenza, 58, says he visits chat rooms as treatment for traumatic stress incurred in 1969 when he saw his best friend killed during an Army patrol in the Vietnam War. In papers filed in federal court in White Plains, Pacenza said the stress caused him to become "a sex addict, and with the development of the Internet, an Internet addict." He claimed protection under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
■ Aerospace
Bombardier unveils new jet
Canadian aerospace firm Bombardier on Monday announced plans to build a 100-seat regional jet to compete with Brazilian rival Embraer. The CRJ1000 will be launched at the end of 2009, four years after Embraer introduced its 190 model, the Montreal-based company said. Bombardier said it has already received 38 firm orders for the aircraft from Air France subsidiary Brit Air, Italy's My Way Airlines and a third unnamed airline, worth about US$2 billion. Two of these airlines may opt to buy another 23 jets, the company said. Company president Pierre Beaudoin said the CRJ1000 would weigh 12.5 tonnes less than Embraer's 190, use smaller engines and cost 15 percent less to fly.
■ Casinos
Virgin-Tabcorp tie-up fails
A proposed partnership between Britain's Virgin conglomerate and Australia's Tabcorp to open a casino in Macau has collapsed, a report said yesterday. "We can't see that partnership going anywhere," a source told the South China Morning Post English-language daily. Virgin boss Richard Branson had been tipped to join with Tabcorp on the US$3.0 billion project after he visited the city last month with the Australian gambling outfit's Matthew Slater.
■ Automakers
Hyundai sets up Brazil plant
South Korea's top automaker, Hyundai Motor, is building a car plant in Brazil, its first in Latin America, the company said yesterday. The CAOA group, a distributor of Hyundai cars in Brazil, will foot the entire bill for the construction while the South Korean firm supplies it with auto parts, a Hyundai spokesman said. Maeil Business Newspaper said CAOA was investing US$250 million in building the plant at Anapolis south of Brasilia. The plant, expected to open in the first half of this year, will produce 50,000 vehicles a year by 2009, Hyundai said.
■ Memory chips
Elpida sells line to Cension
Elpida Memory Inc, Japan's sole memory chipmaker, will sell its 200mm wafer production line to a partner of China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯) to focus on more advanced technology. Cension Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp, which is based in Sichuan, China, will buy the line in Japan for an undisclosed amount and make chips for Shanghai-based SMIC, Elpida said on Monday in a filing. "We are moving our resources from 200mm wafer lines to reinforce the 300mm wafer production line," Elpida said. "It's important for us to aggressively offer faster, less energy-consuming memory chips."
■ Petrochemicals
Firms fined for price rigging
South Korea's antitrust watchdog said yesterday that it had fined 10 local petrochemical companies a total of US$111 million for rigging the prices of plastic products. The Fair Trade Commission accused the companies of having held monthly price-fixing meetings since 1994 on their polypropylene and high-density polyethylene products, mostly used for plastic containers and bottles. The 10 companies were fined a total of 105.1 billion won (US$111.8 million), it said.
■ Aviation
Airbus to cut 10,000 jobs
Airbus' major restructuring strategy includes 10,000 job cuts, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin announced yesterday, adding that his government would oppose any cutbacks in the form of layoffs. A day earlier, Airbus said an announcement on its long-awaited restructuring plan -- called the "Power8" turnaround strategy -- had been delayed. The European aircraft maker called off a works council meeting and news conference at which the strategy would have been unveiled yesterday. Villepin told RTL radio that French President Jacques Chirac would discuss the issue with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a meeting on Friday.
■ Insurance
Rates pressure Prudential
Prudential Plc, the UK's second-biggest insurer, is coming under pressure to slash the value of its Taiwanese life business by as much as ?700 million (US$1.31 billion, NT$43.23 billion) when it reports full-year results next month, the Independent newspaper reported yesterday, without citing sources. The paper said Prudential would likely follow the lead set by Dutch rival ING in cutting the value of its business in Taiwan, where the UK firm has a large number of life insurance policies offering guaranteed returns of up to 7 percent. With local interest rates running at 2.75 percent, Prudential can no longer cover those guarantees by investing in government and local corporate bonds, the paper said.
■ State firms
Indonesia to cut holdings
Indonesia will reduce the number of state-owned companies from 139 to 69 by 2009 through privatization or liquidation, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said. "The target in 2009 is set at 69 state-owned companies. Some of them should be merged, privatised or liquidated," the official Antara news agency quoted him as saying late on Monday. Kalla said that number could be further cut to 25 by 2015. He said state firms' profit before tax was projected to grow 22.50 percent this year to reach 88.75 trillion rupiah (US$980 million), against a projected 72.44 trillion last year.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
RECORD LOW: Global firms’ increased inventories, tariff disputes not yet impacting Taiwan and new graduates not yet entering the market contributed to the decrease Taiwan’s unemployment rate last month dropped to 3.3 percent, the lowest for the month in 25 years, as strong exports and resilient domestic demand boosted hiring across various sectors, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate eased to 3.34 percent, the best performance in 24 years, suggesting a stable labor market, although a mild increase is expected with the graduation season from this month through August, the statistics agency said. “Potential shocks from tariff disputes between the US and China have yet to affect Taiwan’s job market,” Census Department Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling
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