GE Capital Buys Singapore SDL<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE: GE Capital, a financial services arm of General
\nElectric Co. (GE), has acquired automobile finance company SDL
\nLeasing Singapore Pte. Ltd. from UBS Capital Asia Pacific, UBS
\nCapital Asia Pacific said in a statement Friday.<\/p>\n
UBS Capital Asia Pacific is a private equity unit of UBS AG.<\/p>\n
Both UBS Capital Asia Pacific and GE Capital said they won't
\ndisclose the transaction price.<\/p>\n
Founded in 1983, SDL Leasing has assets of more than S$400
\nmillion (US$1=S$1.7851) and a major share of the used auto
\nfinance market and a smaller vendor leasing business specializing
\nin office equipment, UBS Capital Asia Pacific said.<\/p>\n
With the acquisition, GE Capital will use SDL Leasing as a
\nplatform for growth in Singapore, the statement said.<\/p>\n
GE Capital has assets totaling more than US$425 billion and
\noperates in 47 countries.--Dow Jones<\/p>\n
Opel sees 400-500 mln euros loss<\/p>\n
FRANKFURT: German car maker Opel, a unit of General Motors, is
\nexpecting to post an operating loss of 400-500 million euros
\n(US$372-465 million) this year, the Financial Times Deutschland
\nreported on Friday, quoting management comments to the
\nsupervisory board.<\/p>\n
Until now, Opel had said it was hoping to substantially narrow
\nits losses after booking a loss of 674 million euros in 2001.<\/p>\n
And a restructuring program had been implemented to bring the
\ncar maker back to profit by 2003.<\/p>\n
\"The market is not really helping us, with sales developing
\nworse than expected,\" the newspaper quoted an unidentified source
\nas saying, who attended the meeting of the management and
\nsupervisory boards earlier this week.<\/p>\n
Opel's sales fell by 24 percent in the first three months of
\nthis year.--AFP<\/p>\n
Puma ups 2002 sales, earnings forecasts<\/p>\n
FRANKFURT: Puma, the German maker of sportswear and equipment,
\nis expecting sales to rise by more than 40 percent this year and
\nearnings to rise even faster, chairman Jochen Zeitz said in a
\nnewspaper interview published Friday.<\/p>\n
Previously, the group had been forecasting sales growth of 30
\npercent and a similar rise in earnings both before and after tax.<\/p>\n
But Zeitz told the Friday edition of the daily Frankfurter
\nAllgemeine Zeitung that Puma was now forecasting an increase of
\nmore than 40 percent in sales \"and we believe we'll be able to
\nlift earnings by a further one percentage point on top of that,\"
\nhe said, without specifying whether he was referring to pre-tax
\nor net profit.<\/p>\n
Looking further ahead, Zeitz predicted that group sales would
\nsurpass the one-billion-euro (US$930 million) mark in 2003.
\n--AFP
\nBP cuts 800 contracting jobs<\/p>\n
LONDON: Energy group BP PLC said Friday it planned to shed 800
\njobs among its contractors as part of a restructuring of its
\nNorth Sea operations.<\/p>\n
The decision reduces the head count of contract employees for
\nthe oil giant from 3,300 to 2,500.<\/p>\n
The job losses will be spread among staff at the company's
\nheadquarters in Aberdeen, Scotland, other locations around
\nBritain and offshore oil fields.<\/p>\n
In March, BP announced a major restructuring and cost cutting
\nprogram designed to secure the long-term future of the oil
\ngiant's North Sea operations, including 500 job losses among its
\ninternal staff.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for the company, speaking on condition of
\nanonymity, said some of the 800 contractors will be redeployed by
\nthe contract companies.<\/p>\n
BP last month blamed lower prices for oil and natural gas, and
\npinched profit margins on refined products, for a 57 percent drop
\nin first-quarter earnings not including exceptional, one-off
\ngains or losses.<\/p>\n
The company earned US$1.58 billion in profits before taxes and
\nexceptional items for the three months ending March 31, compared
\nto $3.71 billion for the same period last year.<\/p>\n
The group's quarterly operating profit fell by 55 percent to $
\n2.78 billion from $6.20 billion.--AP<\/p>\n
Commerzbank says cost-cutting savings will fall short<\/p>\n
FRANKFURT: Commerzbank, the fourth-biggest bank in Germany,
\nsaid on Friday that its much-trumpeted cost-cutting program would
\nnot save so much as had been expected, given the difficult market
\nconditions at present.<\/p>\n
The original aim of the bank's ambitious CB21 program,
\nunveiled this time last year, had been to boost pre-tax profit by
\nsome 1.6 billion euros (US$1.5 billion) by 2003.<\/p>\n
But Commerzbank chairman Klaus-Peter Mueller told shareholders
\nat the group's annual meeting here on Friday that cost-cutting
\nwould now only likely contribute around 640 million euros to pre-
\ntax earnings by then.<\/p>\n
\"In view of the drastic deterioration in general market
\nconditions, we expect CB21 to generate only about 40 percent of
\nthe total profit contribution we had originally been aiming for,\"
\nMueller said.<\/p>\n
\"But we're still hoping to close some of that gap with
\nadditional appropriate measures,\" he added.--AFP<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ge-capital-buys-singapore-sdl-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}