Thu, Sep 11, 2008 page10

• World Business Quick Take

  • AGENCIES
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  ■ECONOMY

  CFOs optimist, survey shows

  Chief financial officers are more optimistic about the direction of the US economy, but remain concerned about consumer demand and weak credit markets, a quarterly survey showed. Compared with the previous quarter, 28.5 percent said they were more optimistic about the US economy, up more than 7 percentage points from June, said the Duke University/CFO Magazine survey of about 1,300 CFOs, including 524 from the US. Those saying they are less optimistic fell to 41.5 percent, from more than half in the previous survey and more than 72 percent in March. About half expect the US economy to begin recovering by the middle of next year.

  ■BEVERAGES

  Tsingtao buys brewery

  China’s biggest beer maker, Tsingtao Brewery (青島啤酒), said yesterday it would own a Shanghai brewery outright after agreeing to buy the 25 percent stake in the firm held by Denmark’s Carlsberg. The deal will cost the Qingdao-based company 51.3 million yuan (US$7.5 million) in cash and give it ownership of the Shanghai firm, Tsingtao said in a statement filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Tsingtao said the purchase would help to better manage the operation of the brewery, which posted a net income of 16.8 million yuan last year, up 30 percent from a year earlier, the statement said.

  ■FINANCE

  DFG in receivership

  One of New Zealand’s oldest finance companies, Dominion Finance Group (DFG), has been put into receivership, owing 6,055 debenture holders NZ$224 million (US$141 million), it was announced yesterday. About 30 finance companies have now been placed into receivership or are currently unable to repay debts in the last two years in the wake of the international credit crisis. DFG was incorporated in 1954 and specialized in loans to property developers and other businesses. Trading in its shares on the New Zealand stock market was suspended in June.

  ■MOBILE PHONES

  Nokia adds mail system

  Nokia Oyj, the world’s largest maker of mobile phones, said it had added Microsoft Corp’s e-mail system to some handsets targeted at business users and would roll out the service to a wider range of devices. Microsoft’s Mail For Exchange e-mail service will run on the third edition of Nokia’s S60 range, targeting about 80 million people who have bought the model to date, Espoo, Finland-based Nokia said in a statement yesterday. The messaging feature will also become available for all future versions of the E-Series as well as Nokia’s advanced N-Series mobile phones, the company said.

  ■TRADE

  China trade surplus soars

  China’s trade surplus hit a monthly record of US$28.7 billion last month, authorities said yesterday. China’s exports last month increased 21.1 percent from a year earlier to US$134.9 billion, while imports were up 23.1 percent to US$106.2 billion, customs data showed. The previous monthly surplus record was US$27.1 billion in October last year.

  Data from last month was likely to add new pressure on China to revalue its currency, as its foreign trade partners have argued an artificially low yuan is giving its exporters an unfair advantage. In the first eight months of the year, China’s trade surplus was US$152 billion, down 6.2 percent from the same period last year.
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