IN BRIEF (Page 16)
New chief
Zinifex Ltd, the world's third- largest zinc mining company, appointed former WMC Resources Ltd head Andrew Michelmore as its new chief executive officer.
Michelmore will start immediately and take on "full operational responsibility" on February 1, the Melbourne-based company said yesterday in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange. Zinifex has been five months without a CEO since Greig Gailey departed in June.
Skymark slides
Skymark Airlines Inc, Japan's largest low-fare carrier, fell the most in two months on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on concerns the shares were overvalued following a surge in the price.
Skymark closed down 9 percent at 314 yen, the biggest decline on a closing basis since September 20. The carrier climbed 15 percent this week before announcing results after markets closed on Wednesday.
Slim's spin-off
Billionaire Carlos Slim's Telefonos de Mexico SAB, the largest fixed-line telephone company in Mexico, plans to spin off the faster-growing operations it has elsewhere in Latin America.
The new company, called Telmex International, will include carriers in Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and Peru, according to a statement yesterday. Telefonos de Mexico, or Telmex, is based in Mexico City.
Zurich up
Zurich Financial Services AG, Switzerland's largest insurer, said profit in the third quarter rose 12 percent after premiums increased and a lack of hurricanes in the US limited claims.
Net income in the three months through September advanced to $1.47 billion from $1.32 billion a year earlier, the company said in a statement from Zurich yesterday. That beat the $1.14 billion median estimate of seven analysts.
British Land's loss
British Land Co, the United Kingdom's second-largest real estate investment trust, reported a fiscal second-quarter loss as the value of its malls and London offices dropped.
The loss in the three months ended September 30 was 2 million pounds ($4 million) compared with a profit of 578 million pounds a year earlier, London-based British Land said in a statement yesterday.
Bjoern Borg doubles
Bjoern Borg AB, owner of the fashion brand created by the Swedish tennis champion, said third-quarter profit doubled, helped by new stores in the Netherlands, and announced plans to expand into the United States.
Net income climbed to 35.2 million kronor ($5.6 million), or 1.41 kronor a share, from 17.3 million kronor, or 0.74 krona, a year earlier, the Falun, Sweden-based company said yesterday in a statement.
Protectionism slammed
Some electricity markets are still protected even after European Union measures designed to spur competition, Enel SpA Chief Executive Officer Fulvio Conti told Corriere della Sera in an interview.
"The liberalization is the driving force behind the evolution of the markets," Conti said, according to the Italian newspaper. The United Kingdom, Italy and Scandinavian countries have the most "liberalized" markets in Europe, Conti said.
Forecast cut
Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Australia's second-largest oil and gas producer, cut its forecast output for next year by as much as 20 percent because of slower start-ups of new projects and the sale of fields in Africa.
The expected production of 80 million to 86 million barrels of oil equivalent will still be about 15 percent above this year's output, Don Voelte, chief executive officer of Perth-based Woodside, said yesterday.
Bloomberg News
(China Daily 11/16/2007 page16)
