Fri, Jul 21, 2006 page10

• World Business Quick Take

  • AGENCIES
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  ■ Semiconductors
  Intel earnings take a dive

  Intel Corp on Wednesday reported a 57 percent dive in its quarterly net earnings to US$885 million on weaker demand for its computer chips. But at US$0.15, earnings per share for the company in the three months to June beat Wall Street forecasts by US$0.02. And the company said that with the effects of share-based compensation stripped out, its quarterly net earnings would have come to US$1.1 billion or US$0.19 cents per share. Nevertheless, Intel's revenues slipped 13 percent from the same quarter a year ago to US$8 billion.

  ■ Real estate

  Chinese to invest in Russia

  Five Shanghai state-owned companies will spend US$1.3 billion to develop a massive real estate project in St Petersburg, making it the largest Chinese investment in Russia, a report said yesterday. "The Pearl of the Baltic" project will develop a 208 hectare site that will be able to house 35,000 people, according to the South China Morning Post. The project will take six to eight years to complete, and the consortium will also build roads, power, water and gas lines, as well as schools, kindergartens, libraries and health clinics, the paper said.

  ■ Semiconductors

  Hynix profits rise sharply

  Hynix Semiconductor Inc said yesterday its second quarter profit rose sharply amid strength in personal computer chip prices and healthy shipments of flash memory chips used in digital devices. Hynix, the world's second-largest memory chip manufacturer, earned 324.4 billion won (US$339 million) in net profit in the three months ended June 30, the company said in a statement, 36 percent higher than the same period last year. "DRAM prices held up relatively firm," Hynix said, despite the traditionally slow nature of the second quarter. Weakness in prices for flash memory were offset by strong shipments, the company said.

  ■ Oil

  Yukos chief quits

  The president of the embattled Yukos oil company, Steven Theede, announced his resignation yesterday just hours ahead of a meeting of creditors that could decide to liquidate the company. Theede said he had "exhausted all possibilities ... to either preserve or recover value for the company as a result of the expropriation of Yuganskneftegaz," referring to the giant West Siberian production unit that was sold at a disputed auction in 2004 against Yukos' crippling, multibillion-dollar back tax claims. He mentioned in particular his inability to stop this week's initial public offering of the state-controlled OAO Rosneft company on the London stock exchange; Rosneft was the company that ultimately acquired Yuganskneftegaz.

  ■ M&A

  Firms join Westinghouse bid

  Japanese companies Marubeni Corp and Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co as well as Shaw Group Inc of the US are expected to join Toshiba Corp's bid to acquire Westinghouse Electric Co for US$5.4 billion, Kyodo News agency reported yesterday, without naming sources. The report said Toshiba is likely to acquire a stake of at least 51 percent and Marubeni around 20 percent. Toshiba signed an agreement with Westinghouse's parent British Nuclear Fuels PLC in February to acquire Westinghouse and obtained approval from US authorities for the purchase last month.
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