IN BRIEF (Page 16)
Debt sale
The Philippines, Asia's biggest sovereign debt issuer outside of Japan, said yesterday it planned to sell $1 billion in 25-year bonds to help finance its budget deficit.
Market sources said investors had placed buying orders well in excess of $3 billion for the bonds, which initial guidance suggests will be priced to yield 6.6 percent, plus or minus 5 basis points.
Surplus peaks
The German trade surplus again topped its highest level since unification in 1990 in November, propelled by surging exports, official data showed yesterday.
The surplus the balance between the volume of goods exported and the volume of goods imported rose to 18.5 billion euros in November from 17.4 billion euros in October and 13 billion euros in November 2005, the federal statistics office, Destatis, calculated in preliminary figures.
'Tough start'
Australian businesses predicted a tough start to the New Year yesterday as official data showed retail sales remained sluggish because customers were tightening their belts after recent interest rate hikes.
A monthly Dun and Bradstreet business expectations survey showed businesses expect falling profits in early 2007 as inflation and the worst drought in 100 years make trading conditions difficult.
Strike looming
South Korea's largest automaker Hyundai Motor moved a step closer yesterday to an all-out strike as its labour union gave the company until Thursday to pay a disputed bonus or face a walkout.
The union has also filed a lawsuit against the company, accusing the management of a breach of a management-union agreement by failing to pay the bonus and hire new workers.
Rothschild bid rumored
Shares in Alitalia were up nearly 2 per cent during early morning trading in Milan on Tuesday amid reports that Rothschild Bank was putting together a consortium of Italian and foreign investors with a view to making a bid for the ailing Italian national carrier.
Daily La Repubblica quoted unnamed sources close to the operation as saying the syndicate would include Italian entrepreneurs as well as European and United States private-equity funds.
Dispute settled
Dutch brewer Heineken said yesterday that a legal fight against Belgian-Brazilian rival InBev and electronics company Philips, accused by Heineken of copying its home-beer draught system, had been settled out of court.
The brewer would not give details of the settlement but said the matter had been resolved "in a mutually acceptable manner".
Sharp rise
Beiersdorf, the German maker of Nivea hand cream, said yesterday that bottom-line profits rose sharply last year as a result of substantial windfall gains from asset sales.
Beiersdorf said in a statement that net profit effectively doubled in 2006, rising to 665 million euros from 335 million euros a year earlier on a 7.2-percent rise in sales to 5.12 billion euros.
Higher close
South Korean share prices closed higher on bargain-hunting yesterday following a four-session retreat after Wall Street's overnight rally improved sentiment, dealers said.
The market lost 63.65 points or 4.4 percent in the first trading days of the new year to hit a more than two-month low on Monday.
Agencies-AFP-DPA
(China Daily 01/10/2007 page16)
