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