Wed, Jun 25, 2014 page15

• World Business Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  TECHNOLOGY

  Google offers Glass in UK

  Google on Monday made Glass available in Britain to early adopters willing to spend ￡1,000 (US$1,700) for a chance to dabble with the Internet-linked eyewear. The California-based technology titan expanded an “explorer” program beyond the US for the first time by inviting British enthusiasts to virtually line for the gadget online at google.co.uk/glass. “Probably the question we’ve heard more than any other is: When will Glass be available outside the US?” the Glass team said in a post on its Google+ social network page. The eyewear became available in the US last month to anyone with US$1,500 to spare and a desire to become an “explorer.” In a possible sign of interest, the Glass page on the Google+ network has more than 736,000 followers and has been viewed more than 114 million times.

  PHARMACEUTICALS

  Shire flags new drugs

  Shire on Monday flagged the promise of existing and new drugs as evidence that AbbVie’s US$46 billion offer undervalued the company, the latest British firm to be targeted by a US group seeking lower taxes. Shire is taking a leaf out of AstraZeneca’s playbook by disclosing long-range internal forecasts — a tactic used successfully by its larger London-listed rival in fending off a US$118 billion bid from Pfizer. CEO Flemming Ornskov said on Monday that current products would generate sales of at least US$7 billion by 2020, with US$3 billion more coming from drugs still in the pipeline. The company, best known for hyperactivity and rare-disease drugs, had said on Friday it was aiming to more than double sales to US$10 billion by 2020 without giving details.

  AUTOMAKERS

  Ghosn top Japan exec in pay

  Nissan Motor Co CEO Carlos Ghosn earned more than US$10 million last year, putting him on track to become the best-paid Japan executive for the fourth time in five years. Ghosn was paid ￥995 million (US$9.8 million) in salary and bonuses for the fiscal year ended March 31, up 0.7 percent from a year earlier, he said at the annual shareholders’ meeting yesterday in Yokohama, Japan. Including dividends, his total compensation rises to more than ￥1 billion. The 60-year-old, among the few foreigners leading a Japanese firm, earned more than four times what Toyota Motor Corp president Akio Toyoda did last year despite Ghosn running an automaker with about a fifth the profit. Last year, Nissan had the smallest profit increase among Japanese carmakers aside from Daihatsu Motor Co, hurt by increased US incentive spending and recall costs.

  MACROECONOMICS

  German confidence dips

  Concern about the economic impact of the crises in Ukraine and Iraq pushed business confidence in Germany to a six-month low this month, data showed yesterday. The Ifo economic institute’s closely watched business climate index fell to 109.7 points this month — its lowest level since December — from 110.4 points last month. That is a slightly steeper fall than expected: Analysts had been pencilling in only a fractional dip to 110.2 points. “Assessments of the current business situation remained good, but companies were less optimistic about future business developments. The German economy fears the potential impact of the crises in the Ukraine and Iraq,” Ifo chief Hans-Werner Sinn said. The reading “adds to signs that the recovery in the eurozone’s largest economy might already be nearing a peak,” Capital Economics economist Jennifer McKeown said.
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