IN BRIEF (Page 17)

China Daily | Updated: 2008-05-06 06:57

'Scrap takeover'

Bank of America Corp, the second-biggest US bank, should abandon its $4 billion takeover of Countrywide Financial Corp because the mortgage lender's loans will hurt earnings, according to Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co.

Bank of America's proposed purchase of Countrywide, the biggest US mortgage lender, may result in a writedown of up to $30 billion, analysts led by Arlington, Virginia-based Paul Miller wrote in a note to clients.

Drugmaker rises

Zentiva NV, the Czech drugmaker partly owned by Sanofi-Aventis SA, rose the most in three months after Dutch private equity company PPF Group NV offered to buy an undisclosed number of shares.

Zentiva rose as much as 42 koruna, or 4.5 percent, to 970 koruna in Prague trading. The stock was trading at 966 koruna at 9:43 am, giving a market value of approximately 36.9 billion koruna ($2.26 billion). Wood & Co. and Citigroup Inc analysts upgraded Zentiva to "hold" from "sell" in notes to investors.

Inflation warning

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, who chaired a meeting of central bankers from major industrialized nations yesterday, said the world economy continues to grow and inflation risks are significant.

"We see ongoing growth at a significant level, but somewhat lower than in the previous year," Trichet said at a press conference in Basel, Switzerland. "Inflation risks are significant," he added, because of the increase in commodity prices, which he described as "a very important phenomenon on a global level".

Agencies

(China Daily 05/06/2008 page17)