Bukit Asam moves to tempt buyers

Bukit Asam moves to tempt buyers

JAKARTA: Indonesia's state-owned coal producer PT Tambang
Batubara Bukit Asam will tempt buyers by granting two free
warrants with each share it offers in an initial public offering
later this year, according to a minister.

State Minister of State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi said
late Wednesday that the buyers can exchange the warrants for
shares in the future at a certain price, which is usually lower
than the prevailing market price.

But, the company hasn't decided the price yet, he noted.

Bukit Asam plans to offer 15 percent of its equity via an IPO
next month. The amount to be offered was slashed from the
original plan of 35 percent following the Oct. 12 Bali bombing,
which damaged market sentiment.

Laksamana added that the shares will carry a nominal value of
Rp 500 each. But, the company hasn't set the IPO price yet. --
Dow Jones

Nokia wins $393m deal from CHT

HELSINKI: Nokia, the world's leading mobile phone maker, said
Wednesday it had won a 400 million euro (US$393 million) deal
with Chungwa Telecom (CHT) to supply its third-generation mobile
phone network in Taiwan.

Nokia said deliveries of both 3G core and radio-access network
equipment would start during the next two months.

CHT is Taiwan's leading mobile phone operator, with a market
share of 32 percent, or 7.3 million subscribers.

Under the agreement, Nokia will supply a range of operator
services to help CHT maximize its operating efficiency and add
value, including network planning, site acquisition, project
management, and installation.

Nokia has been working with CHT since 1999, having supplied
the operator's GPRS core network, multimedia messaging solution
(MMS) and ADSL for high-speed fixed Internet access in addition
to the WCDMA trial system. -- AFP

Boeing Co.'s division to cut jobs

WASHINGTON: Boeing Co.'s Shared Services division, which
handles computing, telecommunications, building maintenance and
other in-house jobs for the aerospace company, plans to cut 1,200
to 1,500 jobs in the next six months.

The cuts, which will come through layoffs, attrition and
eliminating contract workers, amount to nearly 9 percent of the
Bellevue-based division's work force, spokeswoman Barbara Murphy
said Wednesday.

The reductions come on top of the 30,000 jobs that Boeing
plans to eliminate by the end of 2002 due to slashed commercial
jet production and the weak airline market since the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks.

The Shared Services division has already lost 2,741 positions
through attrition, layoffs and other reductions since the
terrorist attacks, although Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the
Puget Sound area-based division that builds jetliners, bore the
brunt of the company's reductions in the past year. -- AP

Fiat set to lay off 5,500 workers

MILAN: Fiat declared Thursday its auto business was in crisis
and began procedures to lay off 5,500 workers as part of a plan
to save the struggling division.

By declaring a state of crisis, Fiat can request funds from
the government to cover the layoffs at Fiat Auto.

Support for the struggling company appeared to be growing
after Bank of Italy governor Antonio Fazio said Fiat Auto had to
be saved, although some unions immediately went on strike.

The company said in a statement: "The opening of this
procedure does not compromise the current dialogue between the
institutions, public authorities and unions about the ways of
applying Fiat Auto's restructuring plan."

The plan, announced at the beginning of the month, calls for
8,100 job reductions mainly through a 12-month layoff periods
spread between December 2002 and July 2003. -- AFP

Citigroup moves to quell criticism

NEW YORK: Citigroup Inc. moved on Wednesday to quell criticism
of ties between investment bankers and stock analysts by creating
a new unit separating investment banking from research and
brokerage operations.

The new unit, which will still be fully owned by Citigroup,
will be run by Sallie Krawcheck, the head of Sanford C.
Bernstein, known for its objective research.

The move comes after months of scrutiny into Wall Street
practices by New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and
other regulators.

The move indicates Citigroup's desire to restore investor
confidence that has been bruised by accusations the bank's
research was biased to win fees for underwriting.

It also gets ahead of an expected broad settlement between
regulators and Wall Street regarding the research-banking
controversy.

"It's going to be an investor-client driven business,"
Krawcheck, 37, told Reuters in an interview at Citigroup's
Manhattan headquarters. -- Reuters