IN BRIEF (Page 16)
Merger plans
Dutch utilities Nuon and Essent are proceeding with plans to merge, to create a national energy champion, and have agreed on proposals to present to shareholders, Het Financieele Dagblad reported on Saturday.
Citing a source close to the talks, the Dutch financial newspaper said that Essent, which is slightly larger, would take 55 percent of the shares in the merged company.
Incentives unveiled
South Korea yesterday announced a set of measures to boost outbound investment by local companies as part of efforts to curb the won's rise against the dollar which has been putting pressure on exports.
Finance Minister Kwon O-kyu said the government would ease a cap on overseas property purchases by South Korean investors and exempt local investors from capital gains tax on earnings from equiy investments abroad for three years.
Spending up
US retail spending over the recent holiday period rose 4.4 percent in 2006, slightly below the forecasts of the country's largest retail association.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) said reports from its members showed sales were lifted by discounts on big-screen, high-definition televisions and other consumer electronics, but were below the group's forecast of 5.0 percent growth.
Italian output down
Italian industrial output fell 0.3 percent in November as a drop in consumer goods output cast some uncertainty over expectations of steady if modest economic growth in the final quarter of 2006.
A Reuters poll of analysts had produced an average forecast of a 0.2 percent output rise. The drop reported by national statistics institute ISTAT yesterday followed a 0.6 percent increase in October.
Employment rises
Canadian employers added 61,600 jobs in December, more than four times what economists expected and the fourth-straight gain, reducing speculation that the central bank will lower interest rates to stimulate demand.
The unemployment rate dropped to 6.1 percent from November's 6.3 percent, matching a 31-year low from May and June, Statistics Canada said yesterday in Ottawa.
Dispute resolved
India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp yesterday said it had resolved differences with British oil explorer Cairn Energy's Indian arm over the construction of a $340 million domestic pipeline.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Managing Director R.S. Sharma told reporters in New Delhi that the state-run firm had "reached an understanding" that the investment would be shared between Cairn and ONGC on a 70:30 basis.
Confectionery boss quits
The president of major Japanese confectioner Fujiya Co announced his resignation yesterday after the company admitted it had made cream puffs and other cakes with outdated milk, cream and eggs.
"I am responsible for creating concerns," Fujiya President Rintaro Fujii told a news conference.
Nuclear accident
Radioactive water has leaked at a nuclear power plant in western Japan spraying four workers, but it had no effect on their health, the plant's operator said yesterday.
"There was no external leakage either, and there was no radioactive effect on the environment," Kansai Electric Power Co said in a statement.
The accident occurred on Sunday afternoon at the company's plant in the seaside city of Takahama, some 480 kilometers west of Tokyo.
Agencies-Bloomberg News
(China Daily 01/16/2007 page16)
