Biz Scene

MARKET

Gome acquisition

Electronics retailing giant Gome has acquired another local retailer BF Electric Inc in Datong, Shanxi province, following the buyout of its competitor Dazhong for 3.65 billion last year.

A representative from Gome told Shanxi media that Gome had completed the acquisition of BF Electric but did not disclose the amount of money involved. With this acquisition, Gome has taken a lead over Datong's home appliance market. The company said it would retain the BF Electric brand and use both Gome and BF Electric brands.

Minsheng bonds

The country's first privately owned bank China Minsheng Banking Corp plans to sell bonds to raise 15 billion yuan after expansion in the US pushed its capital close to the regulatory minimum.

The Beijing-based company will sell 10-year bonds with call warrants to buy shares, it said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday. Shareholders will vote on the plan on Feb 18.

Earnings up

China's Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Union Co estimated yesterday that its unaudited net profit jumped more than 150 percent in 2007 from a year earlier, with earnings per share rising over 50 percent.

Its earnings were boosted by its purchase of steel manufacturing assets from its parent in the middle of last year, it said in a statement.

It reported a net profit of 653.8 million yuan for 2006 with earnings of 0.19 yuan per share.

BIZ UNUSUAL

Stay-in dinner

Forgot to make a restaurant booking for the Spring Festival family dinner? Or, are you more comfortable hosting the dinner at home rather than going out? If you are in Changchun, Jilin province, none of these is a problem. Some restaurants in the city are offering take-away meals. And, this is proving to be a major hit as many seem to be more interested in doing it quietly at home.

"We have received 10 take-away family feast orders as of now," said the owner of a local restaurant.

Cancellations rise

Air ticket cancellations increased more than 50 percent in the past three days due to heavy snowfall in many regions of the country, according to online travel agency Ctrip.com.

"Unprecedented snowfall has caused many flights to be postponed or cancelled and airports shut down over the past three days, so many customers came for refunds," said a director of Ctrip.com.

He said no airline is charging a cancellation or rescheduling fee if flights are affected by the snow. Usually low-priced tickets can't be cancelled and passengers are charged a fee for rescheduling.

Free cycles

A rental agency at Jinan International Airport has recently started lending bicycles for free. The company says it lends bicycles just on the basis of ID cards. The company expects to generate revenue through advertisements on bicycles.

Information on the ID card is recorded to ensure that the bicycles are returned in time. Besides, automatic tracing devices are planted in every bicycle.

The company plans to launch 70 rental agencies with 30 to 50 bicycles each by the end of March in different parts of the city.

GRAPEVINE

Cigarette brands picked

The government has chosen three Chinese cigarette brands to sell abroad with Philip Morris International Inc, the Wall Street Journal reported.

RGD, Harmony and Dubliss will be marketed overseas through a joint venture, the Wall Street Journal said, citing Philip Morris and the Chinese companies involved.

The Chinese cigarettes will be produced by factories that belong to Philip Morris and China National Tobacco Corp, the report said.

The cigarettes will be sold in central and eastern Europe and Latin America.

Bank stake

SinoPac Financial Holdings Co may buy a stake in Shanghai-based First Sino Bank, the Commercial Times reported, citing unidentified US investors. SinoPac may use proceeds from the sale of US-based Far East National Bank for the possible purchase, the report said.

SinoPac will probably earn as much as $217 million through the sale of Far East National, the newspaper said.

LOCAL

Vegetable switch

Farmers in Hainan province normally cultivate early rice around this time but this year they have started growing a second batch of vegetables as heavy snowfall has triggered vegetable in many provinces.

According to the Hainan agricultural bureau, the second batch of vegetables mainly consists of runner beans, kidney beans and cucumbers, which are easy to grow and can be harvested in two or three months.

Some experts from the Hainan agricultural bureau said the second batch in Hainan could at least contribute 200,000 tons of vegetables, which will help ease the shortage.

Catering standards

The first self-imposed standards in Beijing's catering sector came out on Tuesday and 72 restaurants in Guijie, a famous dining street in Beijing, will follow them.

According to the standards, a hot dish should be served within 20 minutes. Serving etiquette has also been specified.

A free training program will be launched by the local quality supervision department after Spring Festival. It aims to cover 80 percent of the serving staff in Guijie before the coming Olympic Games.

Travel rating

Travel agencies in Tianjin will be graded according to "Criteria for Grading of Travel Agencies" jointly issued by the Tianjin Tourism Administrative Bureau and the Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau.

Based on facilities, management, business credit, reputation and so on, travel agencies will be divided into five grades from "A" to "AAAAA", making it easy for tourists to pick their agencies of choice.

BIZ MOVE

Security fund head

Former central bank governor Dai Xianglong has been named head of China's $70 billion National Social Security Fund.

Dai replaces Xiang Huaicheng, a former finance minister. A brief statement from the fund yesterday did not say what new post, if any, Xiang would take up.

Dai was governor of the People's Bank of China from June 1995 to December 2002. He then became mayor of the northern port city of Tianjin, where he championed the municipality's Binhai New Area as a testing ground for financial reforms.

(China Daily 01/31/2008 page15)