Sun, Apr 20, 2008 page11

• Business Quick Take

  • AGENCIES
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  ■ FOOD

  Units buy Want Want shares

  Uni-President Enterprises Corp (統一企業), Taiwan’s biggest food company, said two units bought a combined 0.98 percent stake in Want Want China Holdings Ltd (旺旺中國控股) for HK$401 million (US$51 million). The units bought about 132 million Want Want China shares at a price range of between HK$3.03 and HK$3.05 apiece from April 1 until Friday, the Taipei-based food company said in two separate filings on the TAIEX. The two units are President (BVI) International Investment Holdings Ltd and Uni-President China Holdings Ltd. Shanghai-based Want Want China is the country’s largest maker of rice cakes and flavored milk.

  ■ REAL ESTATE

  Transactions up 11 percent

  Real estate transactions in Taipei City were up by 11 percent in the first quarter compared with the last three months of last year, a sign of rebounding confidence in the local housing market. The figures released by the city government showed that the number of properties bought and sold in January had reached its highest level since the second month of last year. Real estate brokers said the figures showed that the confidence of residents of Taipei in the local housing market had recovered and that this trend should continue. Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋) president Yeh Ling-chi (葉凌棋) said that online surveys conducted by his company after the January legislative elections and the presidential election last month showed that a growing number of residents were optimistic about the housing market.

  ■ TELECOMS

  eBay may sell Skype

  EBay Inc is considering selling its Skype Internet telephone division unless it can be combined with other units, the company said. EBay will review Skype this year to see if it is helping its online auction and PayPal systems, eBay chief executive John Donahoe told the Financial Times on Friday. If the results don’t pan out, the company would take a new look at the situation. This could lead to selling Skype, the report said. But Donahoe dismissed reports that eBay wanted to sell the internet payment system PayPal, which Donahoe said brings huge advantages to eBay and which the company wants to hold on to “for many years,” Donahoe said.

  ■ TELECOMS

  AT&T announces cuts

  US telecommunications giant AT&T Inc said on Friday it will reduce its workforce by 1.5 percent, primarily among management employees, as part of a plan to streamline operations. The company said it expects to take a pre-tax charge of US$374 million during the first quarter related to the job cuts. AT&T said that despite the layoffs, which represent about 4,500 employees, the overall headcount was expected to remain stable this year, as it plans to hire additional employees to support growth areas.

  ■ INTERNET

  Europeans not all Web savvy

  Europe is home to some of the most Internet-savvy countries in the world: the Netherlands, Denmark and Finland. But 40 percent of EU citizens never use the Internet at all, the European Commission said on Friday, meaning many people risk being left behind as more public and commercial services go online. About two-thirds of Romanians, Bulgarians and Greeks are strangers to the online world. Elderly people, those out of work and those with less education are more likely to be offline, an EU report said, telling European governments to work harder to close the gaps.
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